The title of my blog is a quote from a history book of my cousin as I watch him prepare for his upcoming class 10 exams.I wonder the political parties, at least those of Bengal have made history repeat itself a number of embarassing times and more remarkably continues to do so.
What really makes me write this is the remarkable change that the very nature of strikes , in common parlance hartals have underwent. When in the Gandhian era, strikes were voluntary,the 21st Century strikes can boast of sites of people being beaten up who try to defy it.
With laws passed in the country to allow people to go to work in amidst a hartal, we see people being beaten up while the police looks shamelessly at the horrendous scene.
I would like to draw the attention of the readers at a particular point.West Bengal recenty experienced a yet another successful strike. What draws my attention the most was the debate whether the IT industry of Bengal should be exempted from such a strike. In my opinion, its all about sending positive signals to outsiders (read as FII's) or more blatantly making a facade so that the the image of Bengal as a state dedicated to work can be created (or saved ?)
Well, to give the devil its due and to sound more politically responsible to the ruling party of my state, I would like to mention the exemption of people taking Haj flights from such a strike. It truly is something worth applauding.
On one hand, as a student, I am mighty happy ( lets accept it) , to get a holiday but on the other and a more serious and sad note as a citizen of Kolkata, I see my "city of joy" transforming into "city of bandhs".
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