Karnataka Bandh

Yesterday was Karnataka bandh, called by a few pro-Kannada activists. The news reports say that the bandh was total in many parts of Karnataka. In districts like Mandya and Mysore, where people are more emotionally tied to the river Kaaveri ( I do not like splling it Cauvery), there were some incidents of destruction of public property and violence, but it has been peaceful otherwise.
Near my home at Basaveshwaranagar, there was absolute silence. There were a few stray two-wheelers moving about, but otherwise, the roads were so deserted that children were playing cricket outside, without any hesitation. It was nice to see kids playing outside the house, for a change.
This said, was the bandh really necessary? I would accept a bandh as necessary if and only if I had a legitimate demand, and that demand was not even considered by the government. This bandh would have been necessary if the state Govt. were happy to abide by the orders of the tribunal. Now that the Govt. has already decided to appeal against the verdict, where was the necessity to do all that was done yesterday? Bandh is wrong, think of the implications on the economy! This was like cutting the nose to spite the face! Aren't there more effective ways to let others know the opinion of the public? Like hanging placards outside your houses/shops, etc? Writing about it to the almighty - newspaper? Non-violent protest-marches? I suppose asking people to think, would be too much!
Interesting read here -
http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/feb132007/dhforum.asp