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Bharat Bandh:Nobel laureate Michael Levitt stranded, life crippled in Kerala
The shutdown in Kerala was forced in some places, shop owners said. Many trade bodies had earlier said they will open for business but they later succumbed to the pressure. Sabarimala devotees were also left stranded at several places as transport was off roads.
The nation-wide 24-hour shutdown by the trade unions crippled normal life in Kerala on Wednesday as shops and business establishment were shut and several private vehicles kept off the roads.
Nobel laureate and renowned biophysicist Michael Levitt and his wife were also stranded in a houseboat in Alappuzha when protestors prevented their boat from leaving for more than three hours. It was allowed to go after the boat operator called the police for help.
Levitt, who won the Nobel in 2013 in chemistry, was on a three-day visit to the state. His boat, anchored near Alappuzha after a trip to Kumarakom, was not allowed to leave by jetty protestors, who threatened the crew.
It was allowed to leave around three hours later after the boat operators alerted officials.
Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) leader P P Chitaranjan said the tourism sector was exempted from the strike and Levitt’s boat shouldn’t have been stopped. He added the union will look into the incident. Similarly, many tourists complained that their vehicles were blocked by those enforcing the strike.
The shutdown was forced in some places, shop owners said. Many trade bodies had earlier said they will open for business but later they succumbed to the pressure of the strikers.
Pilgrims visiting Ayyappa’s shrine in Sabarimala were exempted from the strike in the peak season but were still seen stranded at several places due to the absence of transport. Similarly, tourism was hit despite being exempted from the bandh. The Joint Action Committee of Trade Unions had also exempted other essential services like hospital, milk and newspaper distribution from the shutdown. Rail and air traffic functioned as usual. Three major IT parks of the state also functioned without any hitch. No violent incident was reported from the state.
The Bharat Bandh was called by all 10 Central trade unions apart from the RSS-affiliated Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) against the Centre’s alleged “anti-labour” policies. The agitating unions have a 12-point charter of demand.
