The World - News from Jan. 22, 1987

More than 2 million workers in India struck state-run factories, mines, offices and the national airlines to protest Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s economic policies, especially “the privatization of the public sector.” It was the largest protest yet against economic changes introduced by Gandhi’s two-year-old government and came a day after Gandhi criticized state-owned industries for inefficiency. The strike, called by all national labor federations with the exception of one allied with Gandhi’s Congress Party, was held in violation of laws that ban walkouts in vital industries.