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It is 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 organized tyranny of the minority over the unorganized majority. 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. 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. 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 paralyze a state, disrupting daily life, commerce, and movement, is an assault on the liberty of the common citizen. 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 We cannot aspire to be a modern, investor-friendly destination while adhering to outdated forms of agitation that the rest of the world — and indeed, the rest of India — has discarded. 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. #BharatBandToday