Karnataka - Mysore   

Mysore bandh total, officials describe it as ‘illegal’

— PHOTO: M.A. SRIRAM

Angry: Activists of the Hindu Jagran Vedike staging a demonstration in Mysore on Saturday.

Mysore: The Mysore city bandh called by the Hindu Jagran Vedike and other right-wing groups in protest against the recent communal violence which it described as an assault on Hindus was total and threw normal life out of gear here on Saturday.

The bandh took the public unawares as the call was given late on Friday night following the assault on the city BJP Yuva Morcha president Giridhar who is in serious condition.

Though the Deputy Commissioner P. Manivannan denied having granted permission for the bandh and described it as illegal, business establishments, commercial organisations, educational institutions closed for the day while functioning of the public offices was paralyzed.

Business establishments were closed in the main commercial areas including D. Devaraja Urs Road, Sayyaji Rao Road, Ashoka Road, Irwin Road, Chamaraja Double Road, Devaraja Market, Santhepete, Agrahara, K.T. Street and surrounding areas, Vani Vilas Double Road, Chamundipuram, Ashoka Circle (Ballal Circle) given the sensitivity of the situation.

Though bandhs do not normally affect residential areas, activists of the vedike and other pro-Hindu groups went around residential localities including Kuvempunagar, Sarawathipuram, Jayanagar, J.P. Nagar, T.K. Layout, Yadavgiri, Vivekananda Nagar, Gokulam, K.G. Koppal. A few shops and commercial establishments which were open closed later.

Generally business establishments in the main market area of the city desist from functioning during bandhs and this is more an act of prudence to insure against loss of property rather than expression of solidarity to any cause. But the residential areas tend to get away as a rule but it was not the case on Saturday as the lockdown was total except for a few medical shops which were spared.

A majority of the people were oblivious of the bandh and hence school children attired in uniforms went as usual only to be turned back by the management who closed down the institutions for the day in view of the safety of the students. Government offices like the RTO and a few public sector banks were seen functioning with skeletal strength and there was little commercial transaction in the absence of customers.

Public transport system was affected after 11 a.m. as the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) ran only few buses leaving passengers in the lurch. Autorickshaws, private taxis and private buses too were off the road and so was the movement of goods carrier and trucks.

Passengers arriving at the inter-State bus stand and the city railway station later in the day were affected as autorickshaws went off the road and the tourists were left to fend for themselves.

Though the city bus services were crippled by noon, Mysore-Bangalore services remained near normal as also other mofussil services.

The situation was similar in parts of Nazarbad, Bamboo Bazaar, Siddarthanagar, Gayatripuram etc which are close to the riot-affected areas of Kyatamaranahalli, Ghousianagar and Shanti Nagar in Udayagiri police station limits.

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