Asserting that her government has zero tolerance to incidents of rape, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday said an amendment to existing laws will be passed in the state assembly next week to ensure capital punishment to convicted rapists.
Normal life was paralysed in Assam during a 12-hour-long state-wide bandh led by the Bajrang Dal and supported by the Bharatiya Janata Party, Vishwa Hindu Parishad and several other organisations demanding action against the All India United Democratic Front and its leader Badaruddin Ajmal for alleged links with 'jihadi forces in Bangladesh'.
Scattered incidents of violence, including torching of buses and clashes, occurred and 1,600 people were arrested during the 12-hour bandh.
The day-long bandh has been called by the VHP to give vent to the feelings of Hindus over the unjust arrest of the Kanchi seer.
The anti-talks faction of the United Liberation Front of Assam has called for 12-hout Assam bandh on May 26 to protest the visit of the united Progressive Alliance chairman and Congress President Sonia Gandhi to Guwahati on that day.
Madhya Pradesh police said violence in Bhind and Morena districts was 'sponsored'.
Rail and road blockade, demonstrations, and impromptu rallies by the Opposition marked the shutdown in the state affecting normal life to some extent.
Mobile internet services have been banned in top towns of the state like Ahmedabad, Surat, Rajkot and Mehasana. The restriction will continue till midnight on Monday.
Enraged community members took out rallies in towns and cities, blocking roads, damaging buses.
Bandh supporters say it is an important tool to register a protest. Critics say it hurts the people, their livelihood and the economy.
'The Dalits have always asserted themselves, but there has never been any gain for Dalits.' 'But now the most significant thing that has emerged, and which has got all the political parties in denial mode, is the assertion of smaller OBCs along with the Dalits.' 'I accept that the Dalits by themselves are not in a position to make a Mumbai bandh successful.' 'It was only because of the participation of the smaller OBCs that the bandh has become a success.'
The Assam Police have issued notices to opposition parties 'ordering' them to 'withdraw' the hartal over the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act and warned that 'legal action' will be taken against them if they fail to follow the diktat.
Normal life remained paralysed for the second consecutive day in the 13 districts of the coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions of the state following the bandh call by Andhra Pradesh Non-Gazetted Officers and YSR Congress against the tabling of the Telangana bill in Lok Sabha.
Normal life remained crippled for the second day on Saturday in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema regions where a bandh is being observed to protest the Centre's decision to bifurcate the state.
Although West Bengal is increasingly becoming a preferred investment destination for the American investors, frequent disruptions like "bandhs" are sending a negative message.
Three police vehicles were damaged by agitators during bandh call in Saran district on Wednesday over the death of 22 children due to eating poisonous mid-day meal in a government school, police said.
Trading activity was adversely affected at the Interbank Foreign Exchange market early on Wednesday because of thin attendance due to the Mumbai bandh called by the Opposition parties in the state.
The NDA has called the dawn-to-dusk bandh to protest against the removal of D P Ojha from the post of director general of police.
It said in the name of bandh no person had the right to cause inconvenience to any other person or to cause any damage to property.
The bandh call was initially given to protest against the spiralling prices of food items, but later issues like alleged terror by Communist Party of India-Marxist cadres ahead of next month's panchayat election and the alleged attack on Banerjee were added.
An alert has been sounded across the state and patrolling has also been intensified in view of the bandh, they said.
Schools, public transport and other government offices remained shut after several organisations, including the Asom Gana Parishad, called for a bandh to protest police brutality in the Golaghat district. Anurag Kashyap reports
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday said the bandh against UPA government's policies was a success and its message was to roll back FDI in retail, diesel price hike and rationing of gas cylinders.
Normal life remained badly affected on Friday as shops and market places were closed and vehicles off the roads in response to a bandh over the Amarnath land transfer issue. The bandh, called by Shri Amarnath Yatra Sangharsh Samiti to demand transfer forest land to the shrine board, entered the 62nd day on Friday amid no signs of immediate rapprochement between the Samiti and the government.
Normal life was severely hit in Bihar's Gaya district, where the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Rashtriya Janata Dal on Monday gave separate bandh calls to protest against the state government's alleged security lapses that led to the terror attack in the temple town on Sunday, official sources said.
Demanding that the Centre concede separate Telangana demand immediately in the wake of en masse resignations of members of Parliament and members of legislative assembly, the Telangana political Joint Action Committee on Monday called for a series of protests that include a two-day shutdown and rail blockade. Vicky Nanjappa reports.
The strike call is against the imposition of local body tax and local panchayat tax that the Maharashtra government had imposed in lieu of Octroi.
Nine major trade unions have called for a 24-hour long nationwide bandh on Tuesday to protest against price rise, disinvestment of public sector, retrenchment and entry of foreign capital in retail market.
A bandh called by the YSR Congress, Telugu Desam Party and other anti-Telangana political parties is being observed in Seemandhra region of Andhra Pradesh on Wednesday to protest against the passage of the AP Reorganisation Bill-2013 in the Lok Sabha.
Normal life was hit for the third day in Darjeeling Hills on Friday in response to the indefinite bandh called by the Gorkha Janamukti Morcha to protest police firing at Sipchu in Jalpaiguri district that left two persons dead.
Opposition leaders took out processions in Patna shouting anti-government slogans to enforce the bandh in defiance of prohibitory orders.
Four policemen were injured in an attack by Naxals, who first triggered a landmine blast and then opened fire at them in Sukma district in Bastar region of Chhattisgarh during their 'Bharat Bandh' on Wednesday, police said.
The petitioner submitted that the bandh was unwarranted as the matter relating to the Ram Sethu project was already pending before the apex court.
Even as the Opposition is going hammer and tongs to enforce the nationwide strike call against the petrol price hike on Thursday, the common man seems to be backing off from joining the protest.
Normal life was disrupted in the Telangana region on Monday due to a bandh called by the Telangana Joint Action Committee to protest police action against members of parliament and Members of Legislative Assembly during Saturday's rail roko.
AAKRSU supporters claimed the violence was triggered by a conspiracy hatched by people opposed to a separate Kamtapur state.
This is the second bandh on the Nandigram issue in less than a fortnight after the state was paralysed by Trinamool Congress' 'halt Bengal' on October 31.
CAIT had last month also filed a petition in National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) against the Competition Commission of India's decision to approve the deal.
