Hartal: A countrywide strike. A hartal can be called by any
political group at anytime. A while back, I explained hartal on facebook in the
comment section of a post so I imagine that many people may not know what this
is.
I will explain the best I can and add a Wiki link if you
care to explore more about it. I have not done any research on hartal. I have
just have experienced them, listened to others explanations and added my own
history knowledge.
Hartals date back to when the British governed the Indian subcontinent.
The Indian people (modern Indians, Pakistanis, and Bangladeshis) had no control
over their government and were ruled by a relatively small group of British
officials. When there was a decision made that the public did not approve of
the Indian people would call a hartal, or strike, and the British would be
forced to compromise on demands. This method of strike was quite effective for
many years.
In 1947, when the British separated the countries of the subcontinent,
making India a Hindu state and East and West Pakistan two separate Muslim
states (under one ruling government in West Pakistan) and then left, modern day
Bangladesh (old East Pakistan) was still being ruled from afar so the hartals
continued as an effective way of influencing government. Bangladesh only became
its own country in 1971 so it is no wonder that hartals are still continuing
even though their effectiveness wanes.
To explain my terms: Pretend that the Republican Party is
upset with a recent proposal or decision from the democrats. In response, a
leader of the Republican Party could call a countrywide strike. The
Republicans, depending on: personal feelings and how staunch the person is,
could choose to take part in this strike. Imagine if half the registered
Republican Party took part in the strike. A large portion of the population
would not work or shop and this may cause shops, work places, and schools to
close due to lack of shoppers, staff, and students, effectively shutting down
the country for a day or longer. These strikes are meant to be peaceful but when too many people of like minds get
together and are angry about something, we all know how that can escalate.
This year, 2013, is an election year in Bangladesh and this
has caused a large number of hartals. Prior to winter break there were so many
strikes that the last two weeks of school were pretty much called off. The US
embassy recommends that US citizens stay within the “diplomatic enclave” which
consists of three parts of the city, (I live and work within the “diplomatic
enclave”) because riots and violence can happen at any time the night before the
hartal and the day of. I have not witnessed this and I hope not to. The
newspaper reported a number of cars that were set on fire last night. Today the
strike was called in reaction to a rise in gas prices. Before the winter
holiday, a man was beat and hacked up with machetes buy a large group of men
because he was mistaken for a member of an opposing party. The weeks following
his death many articles in the paper about rounding up the people who were
responsible, interviews with witnesses and the family and friends of the man
killed and the killers and if hartals should continue. Graphic pictures from
security cameras filled many pages. The outrage over the incident was palpable.
The general feeling about hartals, from the people I talk
to, is that it is a nice, unexpected day off but also a pain because they fall
behind on work and school, having to makeup days on the weekends. The shops are
also closed on strike days, which is bad for the merchants and hard on the
shoppers who have to plan around these days.
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