I asked Sudeb, the vegetable vendor in the local bazaar today morning, if he would open tomorrow in view of bandh called by left trade unions. “Not a chance,” he said without looking up, “but I must sell all that is here.” He busied himself with arranging his stuff, keeping the fresh and old stock mixed so that he could have most of that moved before noon. That may be a tough call since today is a weekday and there won’t be many customers coming to market.
Sudeb will suffer loss in two ways. His unsold vegetable will perish, which will be a drag on his meager profits. Further, he cannot hope to earn a dime tomorrow since markets will remain closed and no vehicles will ply. Sudeb’s plight is not uncommon. In fact whoever earns his/her bread through daily labor will have no earnings tomorrow.
Let’s remember tomorrows’ is not a spontaneous protest, this has been announced months back, and so no one can say it wasn’t known. If that is so, the question that pops up is who supports the bandh. Truth be told, very few people support bandh, yet everyone enjoys it.
If you notice a dichotomy here, there’s no mistaking that it’s so indeed. Bandh in Bengal has become a social event that occurs almost every month. People weigh its likely effects depending on who calls it. If called by ruling party or any of its wings, the bandh will perforce be ‘successful’.
Which means that a ruling party bandh called months in advance is a firm signal of a holiday ahead. Which also means that daily wage earners can afford to have very little reason to complain. After all, hadn’t they known about the bandh long back?
It’s another matter that tomorrow’s all-India bandh will have no bearing whatsoever anywhere in the country, save the 3 leftist states. Work stoppages planned in advance always lack truth and spontaneity. For that matter, no bandh bereft of strong emotional appeal can ever succeed in the whole country.
Why then is such a farce enacted in Bengal ever so often? This can be a good topic for social scientists to ponder over.
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