The business community, which had last month resolved to observe 2019 as ‘anti-hartal year’, on Wednesday decided not to down shutters during Thursday’s State-wide hartal announced by Sangh Parivar outfits.
The Hartal Virudha Koottayma (the anti-hartal collective), a platform of 92 organisations of merchants, traders, restaurateurs, bus and lorry operators, said its affiliates would run their services on Thursday.
BJP threat
However, BJP leaders in Kozhikode have threatened the business community to forcibly get the shops and businesses closed. “If anyone is planning to open their shops on Thursday, they will have to face the consequences,” BJP Kozhikode district president T.P. Jayachandran has warned.
T. Nazirudheen, president of the Kerala Vayapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samiti, which is the leading member of the Koottayma, told The Hindu that the Samiti had urged the Chief Minister to provide protection to all the businesses on the hartal day. He said district leaders of his Samiti would tour all the 14 districts to encourage the businesses to remain open. Samiti units had been asked to videograph any violence or attacks against any business unit and present the evidence before courts and other authorities.
“Our decision to keep open our shops and businesses on the hartal day has nothing to do with the Sabarimala issue,” Mr. Nazirudeen said. “It is born out of the denial of our right to earn our daily bread and butter.”
He said the business community, which was the biggest sufferers of any hartal or strike, was tired of the frequent hartals. He noted that because of the ongoing economic recession in Kerala, businesses were very badly hit. The frequent hartals, several in each month, had worsened their woes.
It was following last month's flash hartal forced by the Sangh Parivar against the alleged immolation of a middle-aged man in Thiruvananthapuram that the Hartal Virudha Koottayma decided to observe 2019 as anti-hartal year.
However, the Bus Operators Organisation indicated that its members would not operate buses on Thursday. K. Radhakrishnan, general secretary, told The Hindu that since the organisation feared violence and huge damage to their buses, the nearly 700 buses owned by the organisation members might not be on the road.
But tour vehicle operators, chambers of commerce and host of other business outfits have asserted that they would keep their businesses and services open on the hartal day.