Chennai, October 1
Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi hurriedly cut short a fast called to demand early completion of the Sethusamudram canal today and rushed to the office after the Supreme Court threatened to have his government dismissed for letting Tamil Nadu get crippled with an unannounced general strike.

Having sat on a dais with some 35 ministers and leaders of the DMK and allies, the 83-year-old Chief Minister abruptly ended what was to have been a day-long fast after a little over three hours when he was told that the Supreme Court was furious that its order banning a state-sponsored “bandh” had been disobeyed.

The judges threatened to slap contempt of court charges against Karunanidhi.

A DMK leader told reporters at the protest site near the cricket stadium in the Chepauk area here that Karunanidhi was not feeling well and that he had to meet a doctor. A visibly rattled Karunanidhi clarified to Sun TV as he left that he had not taken on the Supreme Court.

“I am not against the Supreme Court. I have not violated any law. The Supreme Court has not banned us from going on fast,” he said in remarks clearly directed at the apex court. He then drove straight to his office and later went home.

But, by then Tamil Nadu was virtually crippled with a de facto strike quietly enforced by activists of the DMK-led ruling coalition bringing life to a virtual halt in all parts of the sprawling coastal state.

Most shops and business establishments did not open in Tamil Nadu. Both private and state-owned buses did not ply, with pro-DMK workers gathering outside bus stations. There were few autos and taxis on the roads. Most schools announced a closure fearing violence. Many flights to and from Chennai were cancelled.

“It is a de facto bandh,” a resident of Rameswaram town in the southern tip of Tamil Nadu said. It was the same scene everywhere in Tamil Nadu.

In Chennai, young men claiming to be DMK supporters, forced closure of few restaurants and government offices. A chartered accountant in the T. Nagar area in Chennai said: “I was having coffee when a few men entered an eatery and asked the owner to either close for the day or see it destroyed.” At a Tamil Nadu State Electricity Board office also near T. Nagar, a bunch of thugs threatened to strip the few women employees if they did not stop accepting electricity bills from the public.

Today, the apex court followed its yesterday’s order by asking the central government why President’s rule could not be imposed in Tamil Nadu if its order prohibiting a strike could not be implemented.

The court was hearing a petition by the state’s main opposition party AIADMK, which said there was a shutdown despite the court ban order.

In his defence, Karunanidhi tried to draw a line between the de facto strike his DMK and its allies did not publicly call for and the fast in which he took part to demand speedy construction of the Sethusamudram project.

“Communal forces are attempting to stop the Sethu project with an eye on elections,” the Chief Minister said as he began his protest. “Only people’s power can achieve the Sethusamudram shipping canal,” he told the over 1,000 supporters.

“Not only will the people of Tamil Nadu benefit from it, entire Southeast Asia will benefit,” he added.

But, even as he sat on the fast, his aides kept whispering to him about the happenings in the Supreme Court. After a while, Karunanidhi decided to call it quits.

The government later released photographs showing state chief secretary L.K. Tripathy carrying official files to Karunanidhi, to signify that the administration did function today.

Though except for essential services the bandh was total, Karunanidhi asserted that normal life functioned as usual in the state and there was no question of break down of Constitutional machinery. Commenting on observations by the media at the secretariat that everything remained closed, he shot back, “It might be for you, not for us. Those who were born as Tamils have voluntarily closed their shops.” Karunanidhi said, “We have strictly adhered to yesterday’s verdict of the Supreme Court, which had not stated that we cannot go on fast. Nobody has filed a case or made a comment against the fast.”