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        The Supreme Court has done well to call the DMK and its allies' bluff in staying the bandh that was slated for today. The Apex Court's order in this issue has a larger import and implication, and gives rise to the hope that political parties, which are in power, can no longer cheat the nation by organising the morally-indefensible bandhs..The country's premier court has also exposed the hollowness in the DMK's argument that what was sought to be organised was a strike and not bandh. At a very basic level, the difference between the two is purely technical. Further, the duplicity in the DMK's line of reasoning has been further shown up when the Supreme Court sagaciously asked 'if it is a strike, it has to be against some institution.'

        The DMK, as the ruling party in Tamilnadu and a very senior player in the Central government, was actually trying to bark at 'reflected shadow'. The verdict is important in the sense that it should make clear to the irresponsible politicians that orchestrating strikes and bandhs cannot be an inalienable right in a society which is diverse and has disparate ideals. In a highly commercial world, strikes, hartals and bandhs (which are all more of the same) cost the public dear and pinches the pocket of everyone. This is unethical and callous on the part of the politicos. But having created chaos on the street they will have the impertinence to call the whole thing a success. After the stinging riposte from the Supreme Court yesterday, politicians should logically start behaving better. But that may be slightly unrealistic. Already one politico had disingenuously pointed out that the Supreme Court judges are appointed by Parliament (political system), and hence they (judges) had no right to stop the politicians on their track. This is stupid and crass for obvious reasons. But you cannot change the DNA of the Indian politicians overnight.

        Coming back to the Tamilnadu bandh, the Supreme Court has done well to take cognisance of the fact that today a bandh had been turned into some kind of a fait accompli by the ruling dispensation with all its brute power and other associated backdoor contrivances. The fact that the public transport system (controlled by the State government) had been grounded to a halt and many shops and commercial establishments closed due to the arm-twisting efforts of the goondas of the political system, the Apex Court is right in seeing its order being flouted with impunity by the those who should actually be implementing them. The Supreme Court is spot on when it says that the constitutional machinery in the State is not working and asked the right question as to why the State government should not be dismissed.

        This is a major slap in the face of the UPA that one of its prime constituents is being seen by the highest court of the land to be so irresponsible and irrational. The devotees of Lord Rama would doubtless see the contretemps to the Karunanidhi government to be something of an apposite comeuppance for the crude and senseless remarks that he made against a God who defines all that is good in the heart of Hindus. Karunanidhi and his lackeys would also doubtless try to portray the whole issue as one big hurdle against the implementation of the Sethusamudram project. But when you get down to it, the developments over the last two days after the Supreme Court struck down the bandh as illegal has nothing to do with the Sethu project. What we are witnessing is one of larger significance and has the potential to lay down some effective ground rules for ruling parties and the way they rule us. This whole sequence of events should logically lead to a more mature society and a more responsible political class that is in tune with the larger aspirations of the people. And we should thank Lord Ram for getting us to this.