With 21,966 protests in a year, U’khand trounces other states
HALDWANI : Uttarakhand may be one of the smaller states in India, but that hardly matters as far as the disgruntlement quotient of its residents is concerned.
A report released by the Bureau of Police Research and Development shows that the state witnessed as many as 21,966 protests in 2016, topping national charts and leaving many giants such as Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra behind.
And there is no change in the situation even now, with residents organising protests every other day against the shifting of liquor shops to residential areas in the aftermath of a Supreme Court verdict.
In 2016, many protests were held when President’s rule was imposed on Uttarakhand.
According to the report, Tamil Nadu came second on the list with 20,450 protests due to the pro-Jallikattu movement that hogged the headlines in the latter part of 2016. While Punjab came third with 11,876 protests, Delhi took the fourth position with 10,039, and Telangana ranked fifth at 8,926.
In utter contrast, the northeastern state of Nagaland figured at the bottom with just one protest through 2016.
Social activist Anoop Nautiyal admitted that Uttarakhand witnesses a large number of protests every year, most of which arise from factors such as administrative apathy, civic problems and unemployment.