Date:03/10/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/10/03/stories/2007100353921002.htm

Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Welcome intervention

Though the judge’s comments on the dismissal of the State government were uncalled for, it is clear that the ruling DMK and its allies conducted the bandh by proxy on Monday. Life came to a virtual standstill causing hardship to the people. The only beneficiaries of the exercise were political parties and children who had an extended weekend.

Arvind Narayan,
Mauritius

* * *

Tamil Nadu observed a virtual bandh on October 1, with shops remaining closed and government buses remaining off the roads, despite the Supreme Court’s order restraining the DMK and its allies from observing a bandh. Bandhs have become the order of the day, throwing life out of gear. The organisers are least worried about the inconvenience caused to the people. It remains to be seen if the order in the Tamil Nadu case will make bandhs a thing of the past.

B.H. Shanmukhappa,
Davanagere

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Political parties have every right to express their dissent. But they should not in any way hinder normal life. The hunger strike by DPA leaders on October 1 paralysed the State as the government machinery was used to ensure that nothing worked.

What was the need for the DMK to call for a bandh when the Centre has asked for three months’ time to find a solution to the Ramar Sethu issue?

S. Jayachandran,
Chennai

* * *

Will the DMK and its allies please tell us what they achieved through the hunger strike? Has the Centre agreed to expedite the Sethusamudram project? Have the opposition parties relaxed their stand on the issue? All the hunger strike did was to disrupt normal life and cause inconvenience to the people.

T.R. Nanda Kumar,
Tiruninravur

* * *

I am sure a responsible party has better ways of expressing itself than calling for a bandh. Whenever a party exercises its right to oppose through bandhs, the people’s freedom of movement and rights are affected.

G. Ravi Kanth,
New Delhi