I'm a proud resident of Andhra Pradesh too. Was born here, and paid most of my taxes here. Helped create a bit of employment in the region too.
For the last month, I've been a party to all the anguish my brothers and sisters have been going through by trying to keep the state united, and I feel guilty for not participating in their struggle.
So here is what i'm doing to do. For the month of August, I choose to withhold my taxes.
I will not declare income I earned in this month, and won't pay taxes for it.
If you're a Samaikya-vadi, just skip this section and go to the end of the article. If you're a rationalist, here's some logic. Honestly, I think all of us have anyway spent more than what we would normally pay as tax for these 30 days - because of the repercussions of 'our' struggle. Here are a few samples in case you doubt my statement -
- Public transport hasn't been plying, and private transport is charging an arm and a kidney to get us to anyplace.
- Schools were out for 2 weeks and to placate my daughter's pent-up energy, I had to take her to movies, outings, the beach, and more. That costed me probably 10 times of the normal school fees - which I had anyway paid in advance.
- Unknown number of hours spent waiting at traffic jams owing to the ubiquitous human chains at major junctions, several hours wasted waiting in lines the day before the petrol pumps went on a strike, several more hours wasted because we could not open our office till the 'protesters' finally went home, days wasted because the banks would not allow us to transact, and I'm sure there are more!!
- Increased prices of almost everything in the state - because of non-availability of transport options.
- And the sheer mental anguish of worrying about our state - fuelled constantly by our ultra-responsible media.
There are more, but i'm sure you get the gist. If you're a rationalist, i'm sure this logic should make sense.
If you're on the Samaikyandhra side, people protest in all novel ways - there are mass-feeding programs happening at cross-roads, half-naked marches on the beach, thousands of effigies being burnt all over the state (no wonder the smoke got to Mrs. Gandhi and she got sick yesterday), and today there were boats protesting the bifurcation on the beach. I can't do any of those. So I choose to protest in the way of my choosing, and in my heart, I'm with you guys!
And yes, do take this till the election. I won't declare income at all. Small price, considering all the angst we're going through!!
