Gherao

Gherao, meaning "encirclement," is a word originally from Hindi/Bengali/Marathi. It denotes a tactic used by labour activists and union leaders in India. Usually, a group of people would surround a politician or a government building until their demands are met, or answers given. This principle was introduced as a formal means of protest in the labour sector by Subodh Banarjee, the PWD and Labor Minister in the 1967 and 1969 United Front Governments of West Bengal, respectively.[1][2]

Owing to its popularity the word “gherao” was added to the Concise Oxford English Dictionary in 2004. Page 598 has the entry: “Gherao: n (pl. gheraos). Indian; a protest in which workers prevent employers leaving a place of work until demands are met; Origin: From Hindi” and Subodh Banarjee was referred to as the Gherao minister.[3] In usage, the past tense of the verb, gheraoed, is more common.

See also

References


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, April 26, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.