On November 26, 2020, India witnessed an unprecedented event: an estimated 250 million workers and farmers participated in a massive nationwide general strike. This staggering display of collective action, known as a Bharat Bandh, brought large parts of the country to a standstill and made headlines across the globe. It wasn’t just a one-day event; it was the starting point for sustained protests that captured international attention for months.
But what compelled a quarter of a billion people to leave their workplaces and take to the streets? This was not a protest about a single grievance. It was a powerful convergence of anger and anxiety from India’s vast working and agricultural classes against a series of new, far-reaching government policies. In this article, we’ll break down the core reasons behind this historic general strike, the key players involved, and the demands that fueled their movement.
What Exactly is a Bharat Bandh?
Before diving into the specifics, it’s important to understand the term itself. “Bharat Bandh” translates to “India Shutdown.” It is a powerful form of protest used in India where workers, traders, and activists call for a voluntary shutdown of all non-essential activities across the nation. This includes:
- Closing shops and commercial establishments.
- Halting public and private transport.
- Workers staying away from factories and offices.
- Organizing rallies, marches, and blockades.
A Bharat Bandh is designed to be a non-violent but highly disruptive tool to grab the government’s attention and demonstrate widespread opposition to its policies. The success of a bandh is often measured by its impact on daily life and the economy, signaling the scale of public discontent.
The Core Demands: Why the Nationwide Strike Happened
The 2020 general strike was a unified front organized by a coalition of ten central trade unions and over 200 farmer organizations. Their protest centered on three main pillars of contention: new agricultural laws, new labor codes, and the government’s privatization agenda.
1. Fierce Opposition to the New Farm Laws
At the heart of the protests, especially for the millions of participating farmers, were three controversial farm laws passed by the Indian government in September 2020. The government argued these laws would modernize agriculture, give farmers more freedom, and attract private investment. However, farmers and their unions viewed them as a direct threat to their livelihoods.
Their main fears were:
- Dismantling of the MSP System: Farmers feared the laws would weaken the Minimum Support Price (MSP) system, a government price guarantee that acts as a safety net for key crops. They believed that without this protection, they would be at the mercy of large corporations for price discovery.
- The End of APMC Mandis: The laws allowed farmers to sell produce outside the government-regulated Agricultural Produce Market Committees (APMCs), or mandis. Protesters argued this would eventually make the mandi system obsolete, leaving them with no bargaining power against corporate buyers.
- Favoring Corporate Interests: A major concern was that the laws were designed to benefit large agribusinesses at the expense of small and marginal farmers, who make up over 85% of India’s farming population.
The demand was simple and unwavering: a complete repeal of the three laws and a legal guarantee for MSP on all crops.
2. Protesting the New Labor Codes
While the farm laws grabbed most of the headlines, the new labor codes were a primary driver for the 250 million workers on strike. The government consolidated 44 existing federal labor laws into four broad codes, claiming the move would simplify regulations and improve the ease of doing business.
However, trade unions saw these codes as a direct assault on workers’ rights. Their key objections included:
- Erosion of Job Security: The new codes made it easier for companies with up to 300 employees to hire and fire workers without government permission, a significant increase from the previous threshold of 100. Unions argued this would lead to rampant job insecurity.
- Weakening of Trade Unions: The codes introduced new, stricter conditions for workers to legally call a strike, making it significantly harder for unions to organize and protest. This was seen as an attempt to crush collective bargaining power.
- Impact on Social Security: While the government promoted a universal social security system, unions feared that the new framework would exclude a large portion of India’s informal workforce from critical benefits like pensions and health insurance.
The unified call from the trade unions during the Bharat Bandh was for the government to scrap these labor codes, which they labeled as “anti-worker.”
3. The Fight Against Privatization
The third major catalyst for the strike was the government’s aggressive policy of privatization and disinvestment in Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs). For decades, PSUs in sectors like banking, insurance, railways, defense, and coal have been major employers, offering stable, well-paying jobs with social security benefits.
Trade unions argued that selling off these national assets would lead to:
- Massive Job Losses: Private companies, focused on profit maximization, would likely downsize the workforce, leading to widespread unemployment.
- Loss of Reservation Benefits: Government jobs in PSUs have reservation quotas for historically disadvantaged communities. Privatization would end this affirmative action, disproportionately affecting marginalized groups.
- Higher Costs for Citizens: Unions claimed that privatizing essential services like railways and electricity would lead to higher prices for consumers.
The strike was a powerful statement against what the unions called the “sale of the country’s assets.”
Who Participated in the Bharat Bandh?
The sheer scale of this general strike was due to the unprecedented unity shown by diverse groups from across the country. The participants included:
- Ten Central Trade Unions: Major unions like the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC), All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), and the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU).
- Independent Federations: Unions representing bank employees, insurance workers, defense sector workers, transport workers, and government employees.
- Farmer Organizations: Hundreds of farmer unions, most notably under the banner of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha.
- Other Participants: The strike also saw support from student organizations, women’s groups, and various civil society movements who stood in solidarity.
This wide-ranging participation was crucial, transforming the event from a simple workers’ strike into a comprehensive Bharat Bandh that resonated across all sectors of society.
A Historic Moment in Global Labor History
The 2020 Bharat Bandh was more than just a day of protest. It was a historic mobilization, widely considered the largest organized strike in human history. It demonstrated the immense power of collective action and the deep-seated anxieties of India’s working and farming populations.
The strike successfully brought national and international attention to the protesters’ demands and set the stage for the year-long farmers’ protest at the borders of Delhi. It served as a powerful reminder that in the world’s largest democracy, the voices of millions, when raised in unison, cannot be ignored. The event stands as a significant chapter in the ongoing struggle for economic justice and workers’ rights in India and around the world.