Roads everywhere in the world are used for transportation of people and goods…but not in Kerala , the Gods Own Country…
Here, they appear to have been built for an entirely different purpose – for political parties and other ‘aggrieved’ groups to show off their collective might . These people attempt to achieve this by blocking busy roads through the mechanism of an ‘indegenously’ developed ingenuous methodology called ‘Processions’ –also known as “Demonstrations” , equally deadly ! Perhaps that is one reason why the maintenance of the roads doesn’t rate very high in the our Government’s priorities. After all, they are not meant for people or vehicle movement…so why bother?
There are Processions and Processions. Some are ‘nano’-sized, a few numbers in strength and moving in a single file , mewing mildly as it were. Then there are ‘Mother of all Processions’ which comprise of hundreds or even thousands of people advancing belligerently and occupying entire width of roads, sometimes even spilling over the edges. They roll broad side on and like “Godzilla”, raze everything in their path to the ground , leaving behind mind-boggling amounts of trash , waste and empty rum bottles…
Irrespective of their make up , political leanings or their so called ‘cause’, they all achieve the same ultimate end…. block the roads and traffic movement for varying lengths of time , depending on the speed of their progress and the whims of their organisers .
The progress of these Processions varies from slow to dead slow. And during their passage the traffic and public wait stoically, albeit cursing silently. Most Processions follow the dictum: “Maximum Inconvenience to Maximum People”. Of course, the hardships caused by them to the general public may not be as severe as those caused by ‘Bandhs ‘and ‘Hartals’. But they clock on the Richter scale for public life disturbance- had there been one – only a couple of notches below those of the latter variety.
Slogans are an inseparable part of these shows of stage-managed anger… They however appear to be of a standard format with ‘place holders’ where the words appropriate to the event being enacted are substituted. These slogans are chanted by the leader in a sonorous voice and repeated by the followers in a mindless drone with badly orchestrated body movements .
It is a moot question whether any of those who mouth these slogans really understand or care about what they say . It is alleged that for the ‘heavy weight’ processions , bus loads of people are invariably brought in from outside with the promise of food , drink and money . It has become just another job and a means of lively hood for these ‘Professional Processionists’…
All Processions are invariably organised on working days and at a time when the office goers and school going kids are sure to get hit hard. Neither the Police nor the Administration seems to be able to do anything about it. Violence is invariably a part and parcel of these events which needs only a small catalyst to erupt . The police stand as mute spectators of these undemocratic manifestations-ostensibly for crowd control , instead of being elsewhere looking after other more pressing law and order situations …
In Hyderabad , it was mentioned in the papers, there is a law banning rallies and processions, albeit in anticipation of the forthcoming elections… Here we fret and fume, Haplessly…Helplessly…
I sometimes wonder what really is achieved through these demos! Sorry… bad thinking!
Will the people of Kerala ever get a respite from these ‘pain in the bottom’s ? From the look of things…..narry a chance!… Unless we organise an antidote for this nuisance .
CLICK HERE..>>Road blockers of the worst kind
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