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gather data on some of the dimensions that seem to be missing in Banks’s summary frequencies
for these three forms of protest, many of the problems relevant to the Banks data are also relevant
to them—the simplifications necessary for the creation of indices gut the concepts of critical
information.^2 Banks, basing his definitions on earlier ones of the American scholar Rudolph
Rummel, defines the three concepts as follows (all quotes from Rummel 1972, 132):

General strike: “Any strike of 1,000 or more industrial or service workers that involves

more than one employer and that is aimed at national government policies or authority.”^3

Antigovernment demonstration: “Any peaceful public gathering of at least 100 people for

the primary purpose of displaying or voicing their opposition to government policies or

authority, excluding demonstrations of a distinctly anti-foreign nature.”^4

Riot: “Any violent demonstration or clash of more than 100 citizens involving the use of

physical force.”^5

In India, there are many forms of protest that do not fit neatly into these categories. Their
character is lost or distorted by defining them as strikes, demonstrations, and riots. Among
these are:

Bandh: a protest that shuts down normal activity. It may be peaceful or violent; it may or

may not involve industrial and service organizations; it tends to be antigovernment, but may

be in support of the government.^6

Dharna: a generic term for protest, often involving a sit-in.

Gherao: a protest in which an official is surrounded by protestors and not allowed to leave.

Hartal: a temporary closing of businesses and transport. It is normally by voluntary appeal,

but it may take on some of the characteristics of a bandh.

Jail bharo: a form of protest where many people court arrest.

Roko: a blockage of traffic, for example, a rail roko is where trains are not allowed to pass

and a rasta or road roko is where a highway is blocked.

Satyagraha: a fairly generic term referring to some form of nonviolent resistance.

Stir: a general term for a protest demonstration.

Yatra: a journey, procession, or pilgrimage that may be used for political purposes with

stops along the way, speeches, and people joining it for portions of the trip. A padayatra is

a “foot” yatra, though much of it may be by other means.^7

Even with those forms that fall most closely within Banks’s broad category of demonstrations,
there is a problem. To equate a protest against the state’s policy of allowing the mining of sand, in
which thousands of people extended themselves for forty-two kilometers along the coast of the
state of Kerala, calling themselves a “human fort,”^8 with a gherao, in which an official is sur-
rounded by protestors, results in considerable loss of information.
There are forms of protest that are significant in India but that may not meet the minimum
number of participants stipulated by Banks to be counted as protests. Perhaps the most significant
is the fast. The significance of the fast is exemplified by the oft-cited case of Potti Sriramulu, who
in 1952 fasted until he died for the purpose of getting the national government to create the state
of Andhra. Almost immediately following his death, the national government conceded his re-
quest. His protest, though, would not be included in Banks’s data. A large number of other ex-
amples might be cited.^9 In 2003 local government leaders in a part of the state of Andhra Pradesh
sought to pressure the state to release Krishna River waters to their villages. In response to their