Kochi, May 8, 2009 
The dawn-to-dusk hartal on May 7, 2009 called by the UDF to protest against the government’s decision denying permission to the CBI in going ahead with the prosecution of CPI(M) State secretary Pinarayi Vijayan in the SNC Lavalin case proved to be another one of those headache hartals that hinder normal life in the State, aptly justifying the sobriquet it has earned as ‘harthal’s own country’.
It was reportedly a near total hartal in all the districts this time, with mixed reactions from the agitators and protestors.As usual, shops and commercial establishments downed their shutters or were forced to; transport and public utility services were crippled; long distance passengers found themselves stranded; sporadic incidents of violence marked the day, while a good majority of the hapless public stayed indoors for security reasons.Those who did venture out, obviously for emergency purposes, landed up as victims of violence.
Hartal supporters shamelessly involved themselves in acts of hooliganism such as deflating tyres of buses, smashing glass panes of offices and showrooms, assaults inlicting injuries, stone hurling, manhandling, disruption of services, coercion, scuffle with police etc.
Carrying anti-hartal placards and posters, some social activist groups like the Hartal Virudha Munnani did manage to make their presence felt by staging public demonstrations at various places.
The UDF hartal – Keralites look at it as just one more hartal coming from Hartal’s own land – So, has it served a purpose? Has it made any difference at all? Will it open the eyes of those concerned? One’s left to wonder about the sorry state of affairs in God’s own country….
Vanaja Varma
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Yet another hartal day in Kerala…. to whose benefit?