Cachar Pratibadi Mancha's bandh finds no space in Police shielded Cachar

Strike or ‘Bandh’ as it is locally called is a very common phenomenon in Assam and entire Eastern part of the country, but not always we get to see such heavy deployment of police and other security officials as we saw today.

A local organisation named Cachar Pratibadi Mancha had called for a 12 hours Cachar strike today. Last evening district administration strictly condemned the organisation’s attitude and questioned its integrity. There was always a communal colour to the way Pratibadi Mancha has been campaigning about the strike and that could be one of the reasons why such heavy protection was deployed today.

Despite district administration’s strict warning in few areas the strike did cause some problem to daily life, in town areas it was just another day. Rallies, Roadblock, picketing and other form of demonstration was witnessed in Bashkandi, Sonabarighat and some other areas in the outskirts of the city. Police forces took prompt action to scatter the assembly of people and hence these demonstrations did not last long. Even daily wagers and shop-runners in Silchar and other town areas did not face any problem while doing business. Few teachers and government employees who travel to interiors did face some problems and some had to return back.

Yesterday, DC S. Lakshmanan urged people to open their shops, ply their vehicle and approach it as just another day. He went ahead to appeal to the residents of the district to not believe in the fake news delivered through social media and other easily accessible media.

So far apart from a few minor incidents in the outskirts of the city everything has been very normal. Pratibadi Mancha had called for a 12 hours strike today as a protest against Senior VHP Spokesperson Surendra Kumar Jain’s recent speech in Silchar. Everything heated up after few Hindu Organisations came out opposing the Bandh, hope the dust will settle down now and peace and harmony will sustain in the valley.