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'SC order on TN bandh is judicial intrusion'
CPI(M) General Secy Prakash Karat says there cannot be any blanket prohibition on the right to strike.
The Supreme Court's restraining Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK front from going ahead with today's state-wide bandh is a "judicial encroachment" which is "uncalled for", the CPI(M) said on Monday.
"This is an uncalled for judicial encroachment. There cannot be any blanket prohibition on the right to strike," CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat told a crowded press conference after the party's three-day Central Committee meeting.
The DMK-led front in Tamil Nadu had called a state-wide bandh on Monday to demand early completion of the Sethusamundram Shipping Canal Project.
Karat said the situation in Tamil Nadu today was not a manifestation of breakdown of law and order.
Referring to the transport strike in the state, he said that the workers' unions have voluntarily responded to the strike call. "Can the Supreme Court declare the strike illegal?"
Earlier, pointing out that the alignment of the Sethusamundram canal was made when the BJP-led NDA was in power at the Centre, Karat condemned the efforts of the BJP and RSS to obstruct the project on religious grounds, saying they were trying to gain political capital out of it.
All evidence showed there was only a natural geological formation along the alignment of the canal, he said.
"The BJP is grossly mistaken if it thinks it can arouse religious sentiment on the issue and make political capital out of it," Karat said. The Central Committee demanded that the project be executed without delay.
