Highways have become a favorite stage for the protestors in the recent times, to stage demonstration. In just about three month’s time, the national highways in India have witnessed to agitation by protestors of diverse groups. The recent one is the blocking of NH1A off Jammu by the Shri Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti, which is protesting against the revocation of Amaranth land transfer order.
Holding the city at ransom by agitators by means of strikes, halting traffic is not new. But withholding the economy of a state by blocking the highways to register protest is something new, which the state administration in India is not equipped with to handle yet. The trend was started by the Gujjars while protesting for a Scheduled Tribe status. It caught the attention of the entire nation when they blocked two arterial highways connecting Rajasthan, for a week in May-June 2007, halting the supply of essential goods to the state. And this year too, they blocked the NH11 from 23 May to 27 June, thus, paralyzing the state’s economy. The protests destroyed public poverty worth crores and also affected the revenue earning that comes from the toll charges. At the end, they reached an agreement with the State Government of Rajasthan, which met their demand.
Taking a cue from the success of the agitation of the gujjars, other protestors also are leading their protests to the highways. Gorkha Janmukti Morcha too blocked the NH13 in June. Later in the month, Sikh- Dera Sacha Sauda row also resulted in blocking of NH10 and NH1A near Sirsa and Jammu respectively.
And the recent one is the blocking of NH1A by the Shri Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti from the beginning of August till date.
The recent one is proving to be very costly to the economy of the valley. This blockade has great political ramification as well. Immediate steps needs to be taken by the government, so that separatist and communal forces are not able to come to their true colors. But there seems to be a lack of political will to find a solution to the problem immediately as the government is loosing its night’s sleep over getting the Nuke deal with the US cleared than resolving this issue.
The Supreme Court bench recently made this remark regarding government’s response to the amendment of the law to prosecute those illegally occupying government accommodations: “Even God will not be able to save this country”. The bench headed by B N Agarwal added that “they (government) don’t have the guts to differ with opinion of the clerks.” This remark perfectly reflects the will of the political bosses in this country. They take decisions, make or undo amendments to please those who resort to hooliganism to get their demands sanctioned and thus, will be a vote bank for the future. Whether these decisions will be good for the country is not their concern, but creating vote banks surely is.
Holding the city at ransom by agitators by means of strikes, halting traffic is not new. But withholding the economy of a state by blocking the highways to register protest is something new, which the state administration in India is not equipped with to handle yet. The trend was started by the Gujjars while protesting for a Scheduled Tribe status. It caught the attention of the entire nation when they blocked two arterial highways connecting Rajasthan, for a week in May-June 2007, halting the supply of essential goods to the state. And this year too, they blocked the NH11 from 23 May to 27 June, thus, paralyzing the state’s economy. The protests destroyed public poverty worth crores and also affected the revenue earning that comes from the toll charges. At the end, they reached an agreement with the State Government of Rajasthan, which met their demand.
Taking a cue from the success of the agitation of the gujjars, other protestors also are leading their protests to the highways. Gorkha Janmukti Morcha too blocked the NH13 in June. Later in the month, Sikh- Dera Sacha Sauda row also resulted in blocking of NH10 and NH1A near Sirsa and Jammu respectively.
And the recent one is the blocking of NH1A by the Shri Amarnath Sangharsh Samiti from the beginning of August till date.
The recent one is proving to be very costly to the economy of the valley. This blockade has great political ramification as well. Immediate steps needs to be taken by the government, so that separatist and communal forces are not able to come to their true colors. But there seems to be a lack of political will to find a solution to the problem immediately as the government is loosing its night’s sleep over getting the Nuke deal with the US cleared than resolving this issue.
The Supreme Court bench recently made this remark regarding government’s response to the amendment of the law to prosecute those illegally occupying government accommodations: “Even God will not be able to save this country”. The bench headed by B N Agarwal added that “they (government) don’t have the guts to differ with opinion of the clerks.” This remark perfectly reflects the will of the political bosses in this country. They take decisions, make or undo amendments to please those who resort to hooliganism to get their demands sanctioned and thus, will be a vote bank for the future. Whether these decisions will be good for the country is not their concern, but creating vote banks surely is.
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