Fertile women Ayyappa-darshaneers Kanaka Durga and Bindu, who share the blame for Thursday’s ‘hartal’, are reportedly running for their life, last seen heading towards Trichur under police escort. Alleged RSS workers are giving hot chase. Families of both women haven’t set eyes on them since December 24. Ayyappa-darshan comes with a price for 10-50 age group women. At least they have the protection of a Constitution-backed Supreme Court ruling.

It’s the Constitution which gave the Pinarayi Vijayan regime reason and conviction to assist “age-and-acharya-restricted” Kanaka Durga and Bindu gain entry into the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple. The fundamental right to mobility rests on the entire range of motor vehicles. It’s a sad commentary that buses have no fundamental rights.

Public transport buses are the first casualty in a ‘hartal’ situation. The most common bus-injury they sustain on ‘hartal-days’ is broken windshields. The worst is to be set on fire. Public transport buses have never understood why ‘hartalists’ direct their ire against them. Mere mention of the word ‘hartal’ brings buses to a grinding halt. If the occasional bus escapes injury it is more luck than driver-ingenuity. The relationship between bus and driver is very close and happy is the bus with a driver who knows his ‘hartal’ well.

The bus, like the shop and commercial establishment, is collateral victim of ‘hartal’. Wednesday, shop-owners put shops at risk, stating that shops, hotels and restaurants will remain open during Thursday ‘hartal’. Some shop-owners chickened out and kept shutters down. The Traders Coordination Committee in Kochi and entities such that it in other districts are at the forefront of the resolve to keep shops open.

It’s confusing because police cannot guarantee protection. And those who give calls for ‘hartals’ do not care what happens to shops and buses and commercial establishments. Morning 10 am and it would be known whether shops and establishments are opened. The uncertainty is killing. Mob attack on shops is devastating. The floods crippled shops but fire is worse than water. That said life for a shop is fulfilling when goods on shelves keep moving. Shops that don’t sell are pathetic entities.

The hartal-mob is the biggest enemy of buses and other vehicles, shops that remain open and markets that refuse to pull shutters down. The mob is merciless. Add to them, police going on the front-foot, swinging lathi, and the terror is multifold. Set-upon by arsonist and vandal, no shop, vehicle or office can stand the assault. The mindless violence and blood-spilling on shop-floor and bus-interior is heart-rending.

What do buses have to do with Swami Ayyappa and women’s entry into the temple? Shops, buses and commercial establishments are secular though owners place all kinds of religious symbols on/in them. If shops and commercial establishments fear vandals and arsonists the most, buses have to deal with stone-throwers also. Brickbats hurled at buses leave them shattered and stranded on roads, which themselves are collateral victims, pitted with scars from stone-throwing and stained by fire and water – tyres left burning on tar.

In human currency, the loss is in the millions and billions. Destruction of property (buses, private vehicles, shops, offices) hurts not just owners but also the property. Shops selling milk and medicines are hurt the most. Hartals should learn to know the difference between essential services and sport-shoes! But that is asking for too much. The ‘hartal’ is the enemy of buses, shops and commercial establishments. Becoming a collateral victim is no life. There are more ‘hartals’ planned for the coming days. (IPA Service)