At the end of each nationwide strike, ordinary people in Kerala, who have no politics, tend to ask one question. What did you gain from this strike? It's a question that will never be answered. The same question will surely arise at the end of the strike that lasted for two days and two nights against the policies of the central government.

Although it was a nationwide strike, Kerala was affected the most by the strike. In some other states, the strike affected industrial areas but did not disrupt public life. There are also areas that were not at all affected by the strike. It’s high time to introspect on how effective these strikes are. The time has come for the unions and service organizations calling for the strike to change their approach.

There is no point in mentioning the damages and hardships caused to the people of the state by the two-day strike. Kerala society is doomed to take such blows from time to time. The two-day strike was mainly in response to the anti-labour policies of the central government. It is natural for workers to be part of it. But how can we accept the denial of civil rights behind the insistence that every store be closed and no one be allowed on the road? This primitive form of strike, which restricts the freedom of movement of the common man, blocks and damages moving vehicles, and assaults passengers, can be seen as a challenge to the common people. Ordinary people and mercenaries have not yet recovered from the economic collapse caused by the Covid pandemic. The country and the state are just beginning to recover from the pandemic. Although industrialists and governments may be capable of bearing the brunt of the two-day production loss, no one can make up for the loss suffered by millions of ordinary people who work to support their families. It is not a good sign in a democracy to see everyone, including the street shop vendors, hotel workers and others, being forced to participate in the strike and those unwilling to take part in the strike getting assaulted.

The timing of the strike was not very good. It is exam time in Kerala. The strikes disrupted the exams. The two-day-long traffic halt affected the lives of people from all walks of life.

The High Court had declared that it was illegal for government employees and teachers to take part in the strike. However, a large number of employees absented themselves from work on Tuesday as well. Despite the government announcing dies non, the service organizations decided to give up their wages and continue the strike.