Bandh (Hindi:बंध, बंद,romanized: bandh, band,lit. 'closing; shutting down') is a form of protest used by political activists inSouth Asian countries such asIndia andNepal. It is similar to ageneral strike. During a bandh, a political party or a community declare ageneral strike.[1] For example, aBharat bandh is a call for a bandh across India, and a bandh can also be called for an individual state or municipality.
The community or political party declaring a bandh expects the general public to stay at home and not report for work. Shopkeepers are expected to keep their shops closed, and public transport operators are expected to stay off the road. There have been instances when large cities have been brought to a standstill.[2] A bandh is a form ofcivil disobedience.[3]
TheSupreme Court of India banned bandhs in 1998,[4] but political parties still organize them. In 2004, the Supreme Court of India fined two political parties,Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) andShiv Sena, for organizing a bandh inMumbai as a protest against bomb blasts in the city.[4] Supreme Court permits only voluntary closure of establishments during bandhs.[5]
Bandhs are often byopposition parties.[6] TheNational Democratic Alliance (NDA) and 13 parties not belonging to theUnited Progressive Alliance parties called for a nationwide bandh on 5 July 2010, to protest a fuel price hike. The bandh prevented Indians from carrying out day-to-day tasks, especially in states that were ruled by the NDA and the Left.[7] InNepal, calls for bandhs have increased due to political instability.
On 20 September 2012, the BJP and other parties called for a nationwide bandh in response to economic reforms undertaken by Prime MinisterManmohan Singh and his finance ministerPalaniappan Chidambaram. Chief among their grievances were the cut insubsidies fordiesel and cooking gas and the decision to allowforeign investors to own majority stakes in theretail sector, includingsupermarkets anddepartment stores.[8]
On 3 January 2018,Prakash Ambedkar called for a bandh in response toan attack onBuddhists, as well as someHindudalit andSikh people by supporters of theHindutva ideology atKoregaon Bhima inPune district,Maharashtra, and the lack of police action against the culprits. More than 50 percent of Maharashtra's population supported or participated in the bandh.[9][10][11][12][13][14][15]
In August 2024 a bharat bandh was called by twenty one organisations in protest at theIndian Supreme Court ruling of 1 August 2024 allowing states to sub-classifyscheduled castes andscheduled tribes for preferential employment quotas.[16]
