Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 27 : Technopark Founder CEO and former Kerala State Planning Board member G Vijaya Raghavan, reacting to the state-wide hartal called by Left Democratic Front (LDF) in solidarity with the farmers’ agitation today, remarked that Kerala is back to the “old normal” when the whole world is moving towards a “new normal,”.
Reacting to the hartal called by political parties in Kerala in solidarity to the nation-wide Bharat Bandh called by the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), the technocrat said “I am not questioning the cause for which the hartal has been called or discussing the merits or demerits of the agitation.”
“One thing that we will all notice is that across the country it is called a Bandh, in Kerala it is Hartal,” he said.
“Across the country except for certain small pockets life is normal while in Kerala life is disrupted, in most places in the state as people were forced to close their shops and establishments.
Government-run KSRTC stopped plying buses and all exams were postponed,” he noted.
“When I checked with people around the country I was told that farmers are protesting but that has not affected other businesses or factories from functioning and except in areas where there are protest marches etc life is like normal.
In fact that is the case even in Punjab and Haryana,” Mr Vijaya Raghavan said.(UNI)