[Assam] Bandh and its impact

Sat Feb 10 22:14:53 EST 2007

Dear Mukul da

You are absolutely correct:

>Why Bandhs are notanswer--like Prafulla Mahanta declared >every alternate
day in 1979>1985?

This of course goes for all the bandhos - even those forced upon the people
by insurgents every 26th Jan and 15th Aug. :)

--Ram

On 2/10/07, mc mahant <mikemahant at hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>  Analyze!
>
> Who loses?
>
> What were they otherwise achieving--which these Bandhees failed to--
> during the Bandhs?
>
> What will happen if OIL/GAS/TEA /POWER RAIL/ROAD transmission also BANDHed
> for 120 day?
>
> Why Bandhs are notanswer--like Prafulla Mahanta declared every alternate
> day in 1979>1985?
>
> What was his/cronies' net achievement to the Oxomiya Jatee--never mind
> Dilli's -divide-and rule tricks to separate  *SOME* Bodos
> temporarily/psychologically!
>
>  mm
>
>  ------------------------------
> From:  *Buljit Buragohain <buluassam at yahoo.co.in>*
> To:  *assam at assamnet.org, assamonline at yahoogroups.com,
> editor at brahmaputratimes.com, assam_dubai at yahoogroups.com*
> Subject:  *[Assam] Bandh and its impact -Bibekananda Gogoi ,"TheSentinel "
> 11.02.2007*
> Date:  *Sat, 10 Feb 2007 22:08:07 +0000 (GMT)*
>
> *Bandh and its impact -Bibekananda Gogoi*
>
>    North-east India is located between 2000 N lat and 29030' N lat and 890
> 46' E and 970 30' E long surrounded almost on all sides by foreign
> countries, except a narrow corridor which links it with the rest of the
> country. Top Industrialists hardly dare to invest capital in this region due
> to its geographical isolation, insurgency problem and the frequent bandh
> syndrome. Acording to Henry V Jardine , "Bandhs are disturbing, not just
> because people are denied basic public services. What is even more
> distrubing is the very negation of future prosperity, a resounding 'no' to
> investment and 'no' to future jobs." As compared to the other states
> statistical report reveals that our region is industrially below average
> although we have vast potential for agro-based and mineral-based industries.
> The root of this
> underdevelopment is that frequent calls for bandhs from political and
> other organizations often paralyze economic forces.
> It is observed that since 1979 till today, on an average 75 days of Bandh
> have been observed in a year particularly in the State of Assam besides paid
> holiday by the Govt. of Assam. Statistical reports have classified the
> number of bandhs called by different parties, organizations in the State of
> Assam during the period from 2001 to 2006 under three major categories as
> (A) Assam Bandh (B) Upper Assam/Lower Assam/Middle Assam Bandh and (C)
> District Bandh. If we consider the year 2001: (1) Total bandh of Assam 9
> days (2) Total Upper Assam/Lower Assam/Middle Assam Bandh 14 days and (3)
> District Bandh 36 days. In the year 2006, total bandh in Assam have been
> observed on about 17 days, Upper Assam/Lower Assam/Middle Assam bandh on 5
> days and District Bandh on 33 days. Of course, there are other forms of
> democratic protest like demonstration, lock-up,
> Hartal, Hunger strike etc. whereby political parties and other
> organizations take advantage of our democratic country for cheap popularity.
> However, despite all these bandhs, peace-rallies , protest meetings,
> demonstrations etc. violence is continuing unbated. Whenever something
> happens, a bandh call is given by some organization or other. Very often it
> is ridiculous how some organizations merely issue a statement through the
> media calling for bandhs and surprisingly they become successful without
> people even knowing the cause of bandh. It is easy to call for a bandh yet
> impossible to meet the losses incurred thereby. Bandhs do not bring peace or
> solve any problem but rather they bring in more unrest.
> Most of the bandh calls are given to protest some Govt. decision, but the
> common people are the worst sufferers. The affect of Bandh on various
> sectors of the economy of the State has been analysed and it has been found
> that the State Govt. of Assam loses average Rs 41.14
> crore in a single day due to these bands. A detailed study has been
> conducted by the Federation of Industries & Commerce of North Eastern REgion
> and NEDFi to study the impact of bandh on the Economy of Assam in the year
> 2001 to 2002. The main purpose of the study is to make an assessment of the
> impact of Bandh on various sectors like (a) Transport (b) Trade (c) Industry
> (d) Tourism (e) Banking Sector (f) Tax and Sales (g) Public Administration
> (h) Education and (i) State Domestic Product.
> It is observed that daily wage earners like manual labourers, vendors,
> hawkers, Dhobis, Rickshaw-Pullers etc. are the worst sufferers when their
> income plummets to almost zero and many of them even cannot manage to
> provide for for their family members. Bandhs are detrimental to the
> educational atmosphere, they are one of the main reasons forthe deplorable
> results of students in the North-east.Many students of the state migrate
> to other states further aggravating the poor economic
> condition of the region. It has been observed that the media also at times
> unnecesarily highlights the bandh calls given by the different
> organizations.
> Infact, the situation has come to such a pass that any organization calls
> for a bandh and the same is observed by the people religiously. The citizens
> do not have any protection for resenting such a bandh culture. An appeal by
> various Eminent Citizens of the State to the people of Assam to make an end
> to the Bandh culture in the state highlights the magnitude of loss the State
> suffers because of the bandhs.
> It is absolutely necessary in the interest of the public for judicial
> intervention to arrest the bandh culture. Various Hon'ble Courts of the
> country as well as the Hon'ble Supreme Court have come down heavily on the
> sponsors of these Bandhs.
> In Assam, the impact of the Bandhs on the economy of the State is very
> high as compared to other states .A public petition through PIL case No. 72
> of 2005 of Shri Mrinal
> Talukdar & Others vs The State of Assam & Others before the Hon'ble
> Gauhati High Court pleads for issuance of necessary directon to the state
> respondents to cut the menace of Bandh Culture in the State of Assam, while
> ensuring the security of its citizens.
> Our state as well as other parts in the NE has gone through uprecedented
> violence and terrorism has gnawed at the very root of this land. It is
> disheartening that Bandhs are called during National Festivals like the
> Independence Day and Republic Day, as a result of which the younger
> generation is debarred from commemorating these landmark dates.
> It is observed that on bandh called by any organisation, the state suffers
> substantial losses and also delay in decision making, planning and
> implementation of works for development of the States. Bandhs create
> negative impact and scare away outside investors interested in new business
> or in improving the existing sick industries of the States. Bandhs are
> called on
> diverse issues to fulfill their demands and also it may have
> justification. But there are other forms of democratic protests instead of
> calling for bandhs. The organisers of these bandhs may be reminded that
> bandhs do not bring peace progress and integrity but rather they hamper the
> peace process and welfare of the state.
>
>
>    "TheSentinel " 11.02.2007
>
>
>
>   ------------------------------
> Here's a new way to find what you're looking for - Yahoo! Answers<http://us.rd.yahoo.com/mail/in/yanswers/*http://in.answers.yahoo.com/>
>
> >_______________________________________________
> >assam mailing list
> >assam at assamnet.org
> >http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
>
>
> ------------------------------
> Crave for a healthier lifestyle? Ask an expert<http://g.msn.com/8HMBENIN/2734??PS=47575>
> _______________________________________________
> assam mailing list
> assam at assamnet.org
> http://assamnet.org/mailman/listinfo/assam_assamnet.org
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://assamnet.org/pipermail/assam_assamnet.org/attachments/20070210/cce4942f/attachment.html 