Nine years ago, Raju P. Nair and his cause seemed amusing to many. In a state like Kerala, known for all sorts of protests, questioning hartals (public shutdowns) made Nair's initiative, 'Say NO to Harthal', look funny. When Say NO to Harthal was started, most people doubted whether it could help curb the practice of public shutdowns as these were mostly organised by political outfits.
Say NO to Harthal aims to create awareness against hartals, provide transportation services and legally fight this form of protest. Inaugurated in 2010 by late justice V.R. Krishna Iyer, the initiative had to, ironically, organise protests to fight hartals! Say NO to Harthal has used vehicle processions, WhatsApp campaigns, debate shows and other means to promote awareness.
The team at Say NO to Harthal did not want to just settle with awareness campaigns. They were thinking of a way to defy the hartal organisers on the ground. “So we established a parallel service. Initially, our team had only around eight vehicles to help stranded tourists, patients and members of the public. Currently, 40 vehicles are operating,” says Nair, who is the founder and general convenor of Say NO to Harthal.
Nair, who is also the general secretary of the Ernakulam District Congress Committee, has not supported hartals organised by his own party. Speaking about the times he had to defy causes of the Congress, Nair says, “When hartals were organised by the party I was part of, I did not back off. I was ready to face the consequences or actions taken against me for not supporting.” Fortunately for Nair, no action has been taken against him by the Congress.
Realising that the 'fear factor' gripping the common people has to be addressed, Say NO to Harthal has been encouraging the public to come out of their houses during hartals. “We have to openly defy them [hartal organisers] and do what they are asking us not to do,” Nair said.
For the past several years, Nair and the Say NO to Harthal team has been appealing to trade unions and the general public to treat hartals like a normal day. A study found that direct losses incurred by the government on a hartal day during the previous UDF regime was approximately Rs 900 crore. Taking indirect revenue into consideration, the losses came to more than Rs 2,000 crore, Nair explains.
Opponents of hartals question the way these protests are organised. In most cases, political parties organise hartals for their own benefit even as the daily lives of the general public get affected. To compensate for the loss of productivity for one day, every bread earner has to work more.
“Hartal organisers are hand in glove with political parties and to beat that, all of us have to work together,” says Nair.
Evaluating the changes seen in the eight years of activism by Say NO to Harthal, Nair proudly declares
parties have started thinking twice before announcing a hartal. “No political party will speak against hartals, as at one point even they will have to organise one. They must understand that the common man does not accept this,” Nair adds.
“After declaring a hartal, if the organisers do not disturb public life or force people to stay at home, everybody considers such protests as being unsuccessful; this [perception] should change.”
The Say NO to Harthal team has been looking for ways to expand the reach of their activism and has lately started looking into the possibility of operating autorickshaws and taxis on shutdown days. For instance, during the last few hartals organised in Kerala, autorickshaws operating in the South Ernakulam area helped ferry stranded tourists and patients. In Thrissur Railway Station, station master Joseph Nainan requested autorickshaw drivers to work on hartal days and, as a result, the vicinity of the railway station remains lively even on a hartal day.
The most recent hartal, called by rightwing groups against the entry of two women in Sabarimala, provided an impetus to the Say NO to Harthal team to work harder. Amid serious threats, shopkeepers courageously opened their shops, not thinking of the consequences. “In Ernakulam Broadway, 30 to 40 per cent of shops were functioning. The January 3 hartal shows that if public join together, we can fight hartals easily,” says Nair.
The entire state did not have a single hartal for 15 days after December 15, bucking the trend of at least one part of the state seeing a shutdown at different administrative levels (panchayat, district etc.) on a daily basis.
Say NO to Harthal is inspired by Gandhian philosophy. “During hartals, if the supporters come to attack us, we ask them to do that. This is our reaction to the attackers,” Nair declares.
According to the Regulation of Hartal Bill—which was introduced in 2015 but has not come into effect—hartal organisers have to intimate the media three days prior. The bill also gives authorities the right to cancel a hartal if the situation turns violent. In a recommendation submitted by Say NO to Harthal, the state-, district- or panchayat-level officers are also to be intimated prior to a hartal. Say NO to Harthal has approached the Kerala High Court to make these provisions of the bill mandatory for all hartal organisers.
Say NO to Harthal has been issuing legal notices to constitutional bodies and other institutions including universities and KSRTC, arguing that measures such as postponing examinations and suspending bus services violated various court orders. The team has warned it would move contempt of court proceedings against such organisations. Currently, chapters of Say No to Harthal operate in Ernakulam, Thrissur, Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, and Kozhikode.
