To know about the public opinion about a party which tries to find a place in the history of strikes by calling hartal for a person who ended his life out of distress, one just needs to stand near a chattering class and listen to their conversation.

The unexpected announcement of hartal gave the impression that the BJP was eagerly looking for a chance to observe hartal. If we browse through the list of hartals, we shall come to know the number of times the BJP had inconvenienced the people locally and state-wide in the name of Sabarimala women’s entry issue.

Wasting a whole day of people for a suicide attempt made by a disillusioned man in the middle of the night is not only deplorable but also laughable. Such strike patterns are something that no party with some sense of social obligation and social respect would do.

The BJP had called hartal last Tuesday in protest against the police action on Yuva Morcha march. It is surprising that none of the decision-making leaders in the party thought about the inaptness of calling hartal two days after the earlier one.

Hartal that throws normal life out of gear should be used only judiciously and with complete restrain. If it is used even in the name of a body found lying somewhere, what will be the end of this?

Hartal will be 100 pc success, whoever observes it, even by issuing a mere press statement. Society has conditioned its mindset to this. It is regrettable that those who observe hartal have not come to think about its miserable repercussions. Like any other strike, it will badly affect the poor people in the lower strata of society.

As general transport gets literally stalled during the hartal, people will be finding it difficult to go to hospital, marriage or other important engagements. The unexpected hartal will affect the exam calendar in schools at this time of Christmas exams. But as there will be no change in PSC exams, the candidates will find it difficult to attend the exam and interviews. Above all, is the loss that it brings to daily wage labourers.

It is an irony that such intermittent hartal dramas are happening when strong orders against them exist. People, however, are ill-fated to silently suffer such eccentricities of politicians. Though they harbour strong resentment against such hartal observers, they are tongue-tied and also have their hands tied.

The government also often takes a stand that help hartal supporters. The government don’t operate bus services and don’t give security to shops. Not only during hartal but during any other occasion, destruction of public property is punishable under existing laws but no government will take interest is moving legally against hartal hooligans since all parties use this tool called hartal according to their wishes and needs. This is why even paper organisations can easily call hartals and paralyse public life fearlessly.

It is high time that the government came forward to maintain law and order during hartals, which have now become a common phenomenon.