200 ACCESSING AND GENERATING DATA
- The CNTS definitions of domestic protest can be found at http://www.databanks.sitehosting.net/www/
var_group.htm. Accessed April 4, 2006. See also Banks (2002). - Bandhs come in many forms, such as a “motor bandh,” which is limited to keeping motorized ve-
hicles off the road; they may exempt certain groups such as students taking exams; they may be limited to a
city or state. None of these variations is captured in counts of bandhs or demonstrations. - My awareness that the terms we use in the West to refer to protest do not adequately reflect Indian
reality came while I was teaching at the University of Kerala as a Fulbright scholar in the early 1990s.
There were several incidents. One day I was in class teaching and a group of students came to my door and
politely asked that I stop because there was a “strike.” I complied. Subsequently, I asked if any faculty
group had called a strike and discovered that none had done so. A group of politically active students
acting for a political party had simply enforced a “strike.” Some weeks later there was a group of students
surrounding one of the buildings on campus for some reason. On inquiry I found that the group was
engaged in a “gherao” against an administrator. They were determined not to let the administrator leave
until he agreed to their demands. We lived several kilometers from the campus in Thiruvananthapuram,
the state capital. Our accommodation was only about a block from the Secretariat, that is, the building that
housed the state’s parliament and bureaucracy. Just outside the “fence” around the Secretariat there were
constant protests with semipermanent signs of various sorts demanding action on a variety of issues.
Indeed, there were makeshift beds associated with the signs, and people milled around night and day. The
forms of active protest seemed to be in constant flux. Every now and then a mass of people would come to
support one group or another. Occasionally, bandhs were called and much of Thiruvananthapuram was
closed down. - “Thousands Form Human Fort,” The Hindu, June 17, 2003, http://www.thehindu.com/2003/06/17/stories/
2003061704590400.htm. The English phrase “human fort” is a translation of a Malayalam word, kota,
which means blockage. - For example, Anna Hazare has used the tool successfully in Maharashtra. See “Anna Hazare Starts
Silent Protest,” The Hindu, August 10, 2001, http://www.hinduonnet.com/2001/08/10/stories/0210000w.htm, ac-
cessed April 6, 2006. See also “Anna Hazare Ends Fast,” The Times of India, August 17, 2003, http://
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=134746. Accessed August 18, 2003. - “Nalgonda MLA’s Fast Enters Third Day,” Deccan Chronicle on the Web, March 10, 2003,
http://www.deccan.com/regional/default.shtml#MLA%E2%80%99s%20fast%20enter%20third%20day
%20draws%20good%20response. Accessed March 9, 2003. Unless otherwise noted, all articles cited from
the Deccan Chronicle on the Web were accessed on the date they appeared. Because of time differences
between India and California, the access date can be one day earlier than the publication date. As this e-
journal does not appear to archive its materials, the URLs only work for a while after publication date, and
those given here, while providing access at the time, may no longer be functional. - S. Viswanathan, “A Strike Suppressed,” Frontline, Vol. 20, Issue 15 (July 19–August 1, 2003),
http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2015/stories/20030801004201500.htm. Accessed July 19, 2003. - S. Viswanathan, “A Right Under Attack,” Frontline, Vol. 20, Issue 17 (August 16–29, 2003),
http://www.flonnet.com/fl2017/stories/20030829005102100.htm. Accessed August 15, 2003. - Among the most forceful objections came from the attorney general, Soli Sorabjee. See his “Right to
Strike,” The Sunday Express, August 17, 2003, http://www.indianexpress.com/print.php?content_id=29768. Also
see “‘The Working Class Will Oppose the Judgment,’ Interview with M.K. Pandhe, General-Secretary, CITU,”
Frontline, Vol. 20, Issue 17 (August 16–29, 2003), http://www.flonnet.com/fl2017/stories/20030829005402400.htm.
Accessed August 15, 2003. - S. Viswanathan, “A Right Under Attack.”
- “Strike Shifts Focus to Union, Opposition Rights,” The Hindu, August 18, 2003, http://www.thehindu.com/
2003/08/18/stories/2003081804120400.htm. Accessed August 18, 2003. - “Sena Bandh Gets Muslim Support,” The Times of India, August 3, 2003, http://
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=109969. Accessed August 3, 2003. - “TDP Shuts Down Anantapur,” The Times of India, June 8, 2003, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/
cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=12114. Accessed June 8, 2003. - T. Lakshmipathi, “Protest and Politics,” Frontline, Vol. 20, Issue 14 (July 5–18, 2003), www
.frontlineonnet.com/fl2014/stories/20030718002303300.htm. Accessed July 7, 2003. Also T. Sunil Reddy,
“TDP Reins in Paragodu Stir,” The Times of India, June 3, 2003, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/
html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=2634. Accessed June 2, 2003. - “SP, BSP Call Bandh on September 13,” Indian Express (Kochi), September 7, 1994, p. 13.