Explainer: Hartal and oborodh, what's the difference?

As political unrest in the country unfurls with the national election inching closer, the opposition political parties have been announcing movements to press home their demands. 

Two of the most common of the "tougher" movements are hartal and oborodh.

Hartal (Strike) and Oborodh (Blockade) may essentially seem like the same thing, but there is a small fundamental difference.

In a broader sense, calling for a hartal means urging the public to refrain from all kinds of movement, which ultimately means the closure of all kinds of offices, shops and courts.

Whereas oborodh signifies a forceful suspension of all kinds of communication along with a closure of shops, organisations and educational institutions, irrespective of public support.

Oborodh

A deliberate and forceful measure to actualise a demand is a blockade. Announcing a blockade means informing the public that all communication on road, rail and waterways will be cut off.

Public support is of no consideration in this case.

The history of blockade or siege is seen in different eras. In Greek mythology, the siege of Troy is described in the Iliad and the Odyssey.

BNP called for a blockade on all vehicular movement on roads, rails and waterways on 31 October, 1 and 2 November to press home their one-point demand of immediate resignation of the ruling government. BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said the blockades will be organised to protest against Sunday's detention of the party's General Secretary Mirza Fakhrul Alamgir, the attacks on the 28 October citywide rallies and the killing of numerous party activists.

Jamaat followed suit and called for blockades during the same period. The blockade was called in protest against the arrest of activists, including Ameer Shafiqur Rahman, the police's obstruction of the mass meeting announced by Jamaat on 28 October, and the unjust arrest of the leaders and activists who came to attend the mass meeting.

Hartal

A hartal is a collective movement of people against the government. It is only successful when people voluntarily close down all workplaces, shops, and courts during the hartal period.

Usually, ambulance, fire brigade, and mass media remain out of the scope of hartals.

However, the opposition that calls for the hartal does not implement it forcefully. If all closures are observed, hartal holds more gravitas as silence often speaks louder than words.

As for the word hartal, it is of Gujarati origin - "Har" means everywhere and "Tal" means lock. In other words, hartal means a lockdown of everything

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi initiated hartal during the anti-British movement. Since "Tamuddin Majlis" called the first hartal in 1948 to demand making Bangla the national language of Bangladesh, hartal has been a common programme in the politics of this country.