https://indianpedia.org/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=HartalHartal - Revision history2026-07-30T19:00:36ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.4https://indianpedia.org/index.php?title=Hartal&diff=451915&oldid=prevSidneyBecnel at 10:16, 20 February 20262026-02-20T10:16:49Z<p></p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Short description|Strike action associated with South Asia}}<br />
{{about|the type of strike action|the Canadian painter and poet|Paul Hartal}}<br />
{{Labor|selected=strikes}}<br />
'''Hartal''' ({{IPA|hns|ɦəɽ.t̪aːl|pron}}) is a term in many [[Languages of India|Indian languages]] for a [[strike action]] that was first used during the [[Indian independence movement]] (also known as the nationalist movement) of the early 20th century. A hartal is a [[mass protest]], often involving a total shutdown of workplaces, offices, shops, and courts of law, and a form of [[civil disobedience]] similar to a labour strike. In addition to being a [[general strike]], it involves the voluntary closure of schools and places of business. It is a mode of appealing to the sympathies of a government to reverse an unpopular or unacceptable decision.<ref>[https://archives.sundayobserver.lk/2003/08/10/fea04.html Online edition of Sunday Observer] - 10 Aug 2003</ref> A hartal is often used for political reasons, for example by an [[opposition party]] protesting against a governmental policy or action.<br />
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The term comes from [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]] ({{Langx|gu|હડતાળ|translit=haḍtāḷ|label=none}}, or {{Langx|gu|હડતાલ|translit=haḍtāl|label=none}}), signifying the closing down of shops and warehouses with the goal of satisfying a demand. [[Mahatma Gandhi]], who hailed from [[Gujarat]], used the term to refer to his pro-independence general strikes, effectively institutionalizing the term.<br />
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Hartal is step 118 in [[Gene Sharp]]'s ''198 Methods of Nonviolent Action''.<ref name="Sharp198">{{cite web |last1=Sharp |first1=Gene |title=198 Methods of Nonviolent Action |url=https://www.aeinstein.org/nonviolentaction/198-methods-of-nonviolent-action/ |website=Albert Einstein Institution |access-date=1 March 2021 |archive-date=4 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200704094543/https://www.aeinstein.org/nonviolentaction/198-methods-of-nonviolent-action/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><br />
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== History ==<br />
The contemporary origins of this form of public protest date back to the [[Colonial India|colonial period]] of [[History of India|Indian history]]. Unpopular policies, particular [[Tax resistance|regarding taxation]] by the colonial authorities and [[princely state]]s often triggered such localized public protests, as in [[Benares]] (present day [[Varanasi]]) and [[Bardoli]].<ref name="Gross99">{{cite book |last=Gross|first=David M.|year=2014|title=99 Tactics of Successful Tax Resistance Campaigns|publisher=Picket Line Press|isbn=978-1490572741|page=144}}</ref><br />
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=== In South Asia ===<br />
Hartals are still common in [[India]], [[Pakistan]], [[Bangladesh]], and in parts of [[Sri Lanka]], where the term is often used to refer specifically to the [[1953 Ceylonese Hartal]].<br />
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=== In Southeast Asia ===<br />
The word is used to refer to various general strikes in the 1940s, the 1950s, and the 1960s such as the All-[[Malayan Union|Malaya]] Hartal of 1947 and the [[1967 Penang Hartal riot]].<ref name="Gross99" /><br />
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The term was revived in modern [[Malaysia]] to the [[Hartal Doktor Kontrak]], a strike by doctors in July 2021 during the [[COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia|COVID-19 pandemic]] in response to the lack of permanent employment opportunities provided for them.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2021/07/26/contract-medical-officers-walk-out-nationwide-in-support-of-hartal-call-for-immediate-reform|title=Contract medical officers walk out nationwide in support of Hartal, call for immediate reform|work=[[The Star (Malaysia)|The Star]]|date=26 July 2021|access-date=28 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Chua|first=Minxi|date=23 July 2021|title="We Are All Hartal": Malaysian Contract Doctors to Strike|url=http://newnaratif.com/we-are-all-hartal-malaysian-contract-doctors-to-strike/share/wtbyqoret/23ac5c7a4f5baf9388a7ef179f045907/|access-date=28 July 2021|website=New Naratif|language=en-GB}}</ref><br />
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==See also==<br />
*[[Gherao]]<br />
*[[Dharna]]<br />
*[[Bandh]]<br />
*[[Raasta roko]]<br />
*[[Rail roko]]<br />
*[[List of hartal in Bangladesh]]<br />
* [[Political activism in Kerala]]<br />
* [[Rowlatt Act]] (1919)<br />
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==References==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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==Further reading==<br />
* {{cite book |last1=Metcalf |first1=Barbara D. |author-link1=Barbara D. Metcalf |last2=Metcalf |first2=Thomas R. |author-link2=Thomas R. Metcalf |year=2006 |orig-year=First published 2001 |title=A concise history of modern India |edition=2nd |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=168 |isbn=978-0-521-86362-9}}<br />
* {{cite book |last=Chowdhury |first=Mahfuzul H. |year=2003 |title=Democratization in South Asia : lessons from American institutions |publisher=Ashgate |pages=84, 92 |isbn=0-7546-3423-X}}<br />
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Baxter |editor1-first=Craig|editor1-link = Craig Baxter |editor2-last=Malik |editor2-first=Yogendra K. |editor3-last=Kennedy |editor3-first=Charles H. |editor4-last=Oberst |editor4-first=Robert C. |year=2002 |orig-year=First published 1987 |title=Government and politics in South Asia |publisher=Westview Press |edition=5th |page=296 |isbn=0-8133-3901-4}}<br />
* {{cite book |last1=Riaz |first1=Ali |author1-link=Ali Riaz |last2=Sajjadur Rahman |first2=Mohammad |year=2016 |title=Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Bangladesh |publisher=Routledge |pages=17–18 |isbn=978-0-415-73461-5}}<br />
* {{cite journal |last1=Hossain |first1=Akhtar |title=Anatomy of Hartal Politics in Bangladesh |journal=Asian Survey |date=May–June 2000 |volume=40 |issue=3 |pages=508–529 |doi=10.2307/3021159 |jstor=3021159}}<br />
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{{Organized labor}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Strikes (protest)]]<br />
[[Category:General strikes in India|*]]<br />
[[Category:Labour disputes in Bangladesh]]<br />
[[Category:Labour disputes in Pakistan]]<br />
[[Category:Labour disputes in Sri Lanka]]<br />
[[Category:Labour disputes in Malaysia]]<br />
[[Category:Labour disputes in Singapore]]<br />
[[Category:Political terminology in India]]<br />
[[Category:Political terminology in Bangladesh]]<br />
[[Category:Political terminology in Pakistan]]<br />
[[Category:Political terminology in Sri Lanka]]<br />
[[Category:Political terminology in Malaysia]]<br />
[[Category:Gujarati language]]<br />
[[Category:Culture of South Asia]]<br />
[[Category:Culture of Southeast Asia]]<br />
[[Category:Bengali words and phrases]]</div>SidneyBecnel