'Kerala’s Reputation Suffered Enough': Shashi Tharoor Slams 'Militant Unionism' Amid Bharat Bandh

Last Updated:February 12, 2026, 14:38 IST

Shashi Tharoor said Kerala’s reputation has “suffered enough” from militant unionism, criticising the Bharat Bandh’s near-total shutdown in the state.

Senior Congress leader and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor on Thursday said Kerala’s reputation has already “suffered enough from militant unionism that extends beyond factory floors to our very streets and homes", asserting that the state cannot aspire to be a modern, investor-friendly destination while adhering to outdated forms of agitation.

In a post on X amid the 24-hour Bharat Bandh, Tharoor wrote, “Kerala’s reputation has suffered enough from militant unionism that extends beyond factory floors to our very streets and homes."

“We cannot aspire to be a modern, investor-friendly destination while adhering to outdated forms of agitation that the rest of the world — and indeed, the rest of India — has discarded," he mentioned.

He described it as “a lamentable irony that today’s ‘Bharat Bandh’ is, in reality, merely another ‘Kerala Bandh.’ While the rest of India has evolved beyond such coercive disruptions, Kerala remains uniquely held hostage by this organised tyranny of the minority over the unorganised majority."

Reiterating his long-held position on protests, Tharoor said, “My stand has been consistent since I entered politics: I support the right to protest, but not the right to obstruct. No Indian has the constitutional right to impede the free movement of another."

He further stated, “We have driven industry away with our militant unionism; now, by clinging to these antediluvian methods of ‘muscle power’ that forcefully confine citizens as prisoners in their own homes, and oblige shopkeepers to down their shutters, we are ensuring our state remains unwelcoming to youth and enterprise."

“It is high time we outgrew this self-destructive habit. We can always replace it with constructive dissent," the senior Congress leader mentioned.

Tharoor added that he has maintained this position even when his own party has been involved in such protests.

“I have long argued, even when my own party is involved, that the right to strike does not include the right to enforce a shutdown on others. To paralyse a state, disrupting daily life, commerce, and movement, is an assault on the liberty of the common citizen," he said.

Calling for a balance between dissent and civil liberties, he wrote, “Let us respect the right to dissent, but let us also fiercely defend the right to disagree and the freedom to work and travel. Protest should be a moral statement, not a physical blockade."

Kerala came to a near-total halt during the bandh called by joint trade unions against the Centre’s four new labour codes and related legislations, a report with IANS suggested.

Shops, markets, offices and educational institutions across the state were shut, significantly disrupting daily life and livelihoods, the report mentioned.

State-run and private buses remained off the roads, while auto-rickshaws and taxis were parked.

With public transport paralysed, passengers arriving by long-distance trains and inter-state buses were left stranded at railway stations and terminals.

Daily wage earners, small traders and street vendors bore the brunt of the shutdown, losing an entire day’s income.

Though organisers largely avoided coercive enforcement and instead persuaded vendors to close voluntarily, economic activity remained minimal.

Police protected staff buses ferrying employees to ISRO units and ensured limited access to certain IT campuses, while the Kerala High Court functioned as usual.

Exemptions were granted for Sabarimala pilgrims and for the ongoing Maramon Convention near Thiruvalla.

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