New Delhi [India], February 12 (ANI): Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Thursday said the “Bharat Bandh” organized against the policies of the central government had effectively turned into another “Kerala Bandh,” criticizing what he described as coercive disruptions that have held the state back.
Tharoor said he supports the right to protest but not the right to obstruct, condemning what he called “militant unionism,” which he believes has driven industries away from Kerala. He argued that while much of India has moved beyond such forms of protest, Kerala continues to be constrained by what he termed an organized minority imposing its will on the broader public.
“It is a lamentable irony that today’s ‘Bharat Bandh’ is, in reality, merely another ‘Kerala Bandh.’ While the rest of India has evolved beyond such coercive disruptions, Kerala remains uniquely held hostage by this organized tyranny of the minority over the unorganized majority,” Tharoor said in a post on X.
“My stand has been consistent since I entered politics: I support the right to protest, but not the right to obstruct. No Indian has the constitutional right to impede the free movement of another,” he added.
Tharoor criticized protest methods that he said confine citizens to their homes and compel shopkeepers to close their businesses, urging people to move away from what he described as a self-destructive approach.
“We have driven industry away with our militant unionism. Now, by clinging to these antediluvian methods of ‘muscle power’ that confine citizens as prisoners in their own homes and oblige shopkeepers to down their shutters, we are ensuring our state remains unwelcoming to youth and enterprise. It is high time we outgrew this self-destructive habit. We can always replace it with constructive dissent,” he said.
He reiterated that disrupting daily life amounts to an assault on the liberty of ordinary citizens.
“I have long argued, even when my own party is involved, that the right to strike does not include the right to enforce a shutdown on others. To paralyze a state, disrupting daily life, commerce, and movement, is an assault on the liberty of the common citizen,” Tharoor said.
He added that such “militant unionism” has damaged Kerala’s reputation and called for discarding what he termed an outdated form of agitation.
“Kerala’s reputation has suffered enough from militant unionism that extends beyond factory floors to our very streets and homes. We cannot aspire to be a modern, investor-friendly destination while adhering to outdated forms of agitation that the rest of the world — and indeed, the rest of India — has discarded,” he said.
The remarks come as a nationwide strike was called by various trade unions, including AITUC, CITU, LPF, and several farmers’ associations, pressing a 10-point charter of demands. Key demands include withdrawal of the central government’s labor law amendments, repeal of the 2025 Electricity Amendment Bill, withdrawal of the Draft Seed Bill 2025, scrapping of new nuclear power projects, and restoration of revised provisions of the 100-day employment scheme (MGNREGS) with increased funding.
In Kerala, Kerala State Road Transport Corporation buses were not operating from the Vadasery bus stand. Markets, educational institutions, and business establishments were also affected. (ANI)
About The Author
