Anti-bandh initiative leaves parties cold

By Our Staff Reporter

Guwahati, Nov 7: An open house brainstorming session called by the youth wing of Liberal Democratic Party to oppose bandhs and find out an altertive mode of protest turned out to be a damp squib, as none of the thirty political and apolitical organizations invited for the event turned up.

The session - titled 'Evolving Altertive Mode of Protest Other Than Assam Bandh' - was convened by the LDP Yuva Morcha at Gauri Sadan on Saturday morning.

Disappointed at the failure of the event, LDP advisor Shantikam Hazarika said it pointed to the fact that everyone is in favour of bandhs. "No one is willing to oppose the bandh culture. We have even taken up the matter with the Chief Minister who said a task force has been formed to look into it," Hazarika said.

He said that the government cannot "forcefully" thwart shutdown calls as then the reactions could be dangerous.

Hazarika also felt that the State government did not have the political will to adhere to the directives of various courts regarding bandhs. "Even Mahatma Gandhi had opposed bandh calls," he added. Last year, the State witnessed 68 Assam bandh calls, due to which the cumulative loss was estimated at over Rs 2,900 crore.