Maharashtra bandh: ‘Traders have always been soft targets’

Shops remain closed in Thane. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Commuters found themselves stuck without conveyance in most areas of the city with BEST deciding to stay off the roads for most part of the day. Eleven BEST buses were vandalised earlier in the day. Cabs and autos, too, plied cautiously, with only trains operating without a hitch. Shopkeepers were angry at being forced to stay closed in a festive week. Most schools switched to online mode for the day as some teachers found it hard to get to school. In Thane, auto and cab drivers said Shiv Sena workers were quite aggressive, with protesters beating up those who were working.

Stores kept their shutters down, losing out on vital festive sales as the bandh call resonated across.

Sunil Shah, president of Dadar Vyapari Sangh, said, "It is time we look at the picture holistically, rather than just one day of bandh. Though by and large Dadar establishments are closed on Mondays, this is the festive season and we all would have kept shops open as buying peaks for Dussehra on October 15. So, we have lost not just one day but the swell in buying that happens before any festival."

The message

Shah also said that for people who expected stores to be open on Monday, the enforced closure sends a wrong message to society. "I am not referring to a particular political party. This is about traders being soft targets in every bandh call. Parties want to show their strength through keeping the shops closed, which means there will be less people on the road too; and the bandh will be ‘successful' like they say."

A deserted Linking Road in Bandra with shops shut. Pic/Shadab Khan

There was the sentiment that this was not so much about the cause of the Lakhimpur Kheri incident where the son of a BJP minister has been accused of running over farmers at a protest, but an attempt to flex political muscle. Representatives of all retail associations claimed they did not side with any party, but were inadvertently being dragged into political tug of wars. They did feel for the farmers but were irked at always becoming a show window for different political parties. With plate glass windows, storefronts and prominent locations on roads, the entrepreneurs are very visible and that, ironically, is what protestors want to show that their call has been heeded.

Clear message

Viren Shah, president of Federation of Retail Traders Welfare Association (FRTWA), said, "It is unheard of that a ruling party calls for a bandh, but this is what happened. We decided to cooperate by keeping stores closed for the day. We feel for the farmers and for the cause. The message from the ruling party was quite clear."

Shah had earlier said in a message that FRTWA opposes the killing of farmers and that they want the guilty to be punished. They, however, opposed the bandh and hoped shopkeepers would not be forced or harassed to observe the bandh. Then a few hours later, Shah said FRTWA was willing to cooperate in the bandh. Shah said, "Ee thought if we opened our establishments, there will be arguments. Buyers will anyway not arrive as fear prevailed, so we observed at least a half-day bandh, even amid the festive season. I, however, hope that we do not get continually dragged into political slugfests. We just want to be able to continue doing our business."

The FRTWA head also said they have cooperated with the state government at every turn, in spite of being hard hit during the pandemic. "We have asked the government for a waiver of licence fees and property tax during the outbreak. I hope they accede to that," he said.

Halt call

Meanwhile, Colaba Causeway became Pauseway, as stores remained shut on Monday. Colaba Shopkeepers and Residents Association (CSRA) member Haresh Hathiramani said, "The bandh breaks the rhythm of retail. We had just started functioning like some other parts of the city, and then, there was an atmosphere of fear and intimidation, and a call for a bandh came in."

Some South Mumbai shopkeepers said, "We had people visiting our establishments [over the weekend] and telling us in no uncertain terms that we needed to ‘observe' the bandh."

Huge setback

Hathiramani said this was demotivating for staffers and owners alike. "Retail needs attention and encouragement. For people in general, it is a joy to go out to shop. Actions like this mean we go back a couple of steps every time. In a climate of uncertainty and restrictions, these are huge setbacks," he said.

All the traders' responses raise the question about the efficacy of a bandh as a tool of political protest. It is not about which party calls it. People are irked at the losses and brakes it puts on their life. Though some sections may identify with the cause, the methods of protest may need transformation. People are chafing at the inconvenience, and with COVID-19 already restricting the pace and space of life, this may not gain sympathisers but make citizens angry and helpless about having to bow down to threats masquerading as requests.

4pm
Time till when shops in the city stayed closed