Hartal culture

During a hartal, shops and road transportation remain most vulnerable. According to some knowledgeable people, if some how the shops and road transportation could be kept safe and open during a hartal, it would not be as damaging to the economy as it is now. But that is not to be because it is very easy to throw a stone/ cocktail towards a shop window or a car/bus from a picketing procession without being identified.

Our constitution (Article 37) guarantees that, "Every citizen shall have the right to assemble and to participate in public meetings and processions peacefully and without arms, subject to any reasonable restriction imposed by law in the interest of public order or public health". The spirit of this article is that there is no restriction on peaceful procession during a hartal, but a picketing procession does not have any right to cause inconvenience to public life e.g. by obstructing traffic or by breaking shop windows and breaking/burning cars and buses. The article is also open to enactment of new laws in the interest of public order or public health if the existing laws on the subject are considered inadequate.

In the light of the above, the authorities concerned may seriously think of enacting and implementing such laws which, during a hartal, would allow peaceful processions but at the same time would not allow public life to be disrupted.