THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even as the city was left reeling from the effect of back-to-back hartals, representatives of the Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samithi (VVES), Thiruvananthapuram District have decided not to participate in hartals called by any political party unless it is for the development of the state. The decision was taken in an emergency meeting convened by the district committee headed by VVES, East region general secretary Y Vijayan on Saturday. According to him, at least 5,000 shops have decided to stay away from such hartals.
"In Chalai alone, we have nine units. All of us have decided to boycott such unwarranted and sudden hartals which are merely based on political vendetta. Our shops will open with police protection. The hartals are taking a toll on our finances. We have to pay a fine of Rs 3,000 if the bank bounces a cheque even due to a one-day delay. If 100 cheque are bounced, we need to face a loss to the tune of Rs 3 lakh. It is not only the traders who are facing the loss. It is affecting several departments," said Rafeeq APP, Chalai main unit President.
There was an era when Malayalees used to celebrate hartal. However, this is becoming a thing of the past. Going with the number of memes, petitions, online campaigns and more, there is a general air of disapproval.
The members of Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samithi have condemned the recently held hartal citing it had nothing to do with the business community. They opine that closing shops during an unnecessary hartal rendered it successful. Most of the hartals are called by political parties and it is high time they understand the hartal is doing more harm than good, said Rafeeq.