Call for a Bangalore bandh on July 31, Thursday

Mangalore Today News Network

Bangalore, July 29, 2014:   The 6 am to 6 pm bandh call has been given to protest against the increasing incidents of sexual assaults on women and children in the city.  The 12-hour ‘Bangalore bandh’ called for Thursday (July 31) is likely to hit normal life in the city, with more than 50 pro-Kannada organizations hinting at disrupting transport services and allowing only hospitals, ambulance services, medical shops and milk vans to operate.

Protestors are also against a recent government decision to allow nightlife in Bangalore to be extended up to 1.00 am, instead of the earlier 11.30 pm deadline. Vatal Nagaraj, leader of the Kannada Chaluvali Vatal Paksha, which is organizing the bandh, while speaking to the media said that the protest was against crimes against women and children, asserting that the pro-Kannada bodies will not allow Bangalore to turn into a ‘rape city’.

Newspapers quoted Nagaraj as saying that women have also become unsafe in the city, following the extension of nightlife in Bangalore.  Asserting that no vehicular traffic would be allowed to move in or out of the city on July 31, he added that only essential services would not be affected. He also said that a rally would march from the Town Hall to the chief minister’s residence to submit a memorandum to him.

There is no clarity yet on whether schools, colleges, bus/auto-rickshaw/metro services, theaters, malls, technology companies, etc. would remain open on July 31. Decision on whether businesses and educational organisations will be shut on July 31 is likely to be taken on July 30, after assessing the ground realities.

Meanwhile, the state government’s employees’ associations, including schoolteachers,  have extended moral support to the bandh. Also extending support to the bandh are organisations like the Karnataka Rakshana Vedike, Dr Rajkumar Abhimanigala Sangha, the Communist Party of India, Kannada Sene, and Advocates’ Association, media reports stated.