# Hindi/Urdu: a form of extortion



## lcfatima

Someone asked me how to say in English a word from Hindi films (not sure if it is slang but he is an Urdu speaker and knew the word from Urdu also) that means when gangsters, mafia, or even the police illegally force residents of specific areas or owners of small business to pay money to avoid being harassed or physically harmed, sometimes under the pretense of a fee for protecting them territorily. I could not find a concise word for this in English, even after posting here in the English forums. I had suggested extortion or exaction but these words were rejected as not being precise enough. But now I have forgotton the word in Hindi/Urdu. (I had never heard it before that conversation.) I think it started with /b/ or /bh/. Do you know this word?​


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## Qureshpor

"bhattaa" comes to mind.


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## lcfatima

Yes, thanks. That was it. Any suggestions as for a concise word for "bhattaa" in English?


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## Qureshpor

lcfatima said:


> Yes, thanks. That was it. Any suggestions as for a concise word for "bhattaa" in English?



Those people who receive this "bhattaa" are running a "Protection racket".


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## UrduMedium

Extortion sounds pretty good to me. Perhaps "extortion mafia"? 

Also, found this news reference equating bhattaa to extortion.


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## greatbear

Do you mean "blackmail", lcfatima?


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## Alfaaz

English words suggested in dictionaries for_ bhatta_: pittance, allowance, duty. These, however, would probably not fit into the scenario you are describing...for which extortion, protection, tribute, exaction, or even blackmail and shakedown might be better. extortion, bhatta (UED), bhatta (UD), bhatta (Platts)


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## JaiHind

The word "bhatta" is not very appropriate in this case because it means "pension" or "allowance", mainly by the government or a firm to support a person especially in old age or in cases like disability.

More appropriate word here would be "haftaa" हफ्ता. Literally it means "weekly" and stands for the extortion money which gangsters ask people like businessmen and road side vendors to give to them for the so called "protection" they provide to them.


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## UrduMedium

JaiHind said:


> The word "bhatta" is not very appropriate in this case because it means "pension" or "allowance", mainly by the government or a firm to support a person especially in old age or in cases like disability.
> 
> More appropriate word here would be "haftaa" हफ्ता. Literally it means "weekly" and stands for the extortion money which gangsters ask people like businessmen and road side vendors to give to them for the so called "protection" they provide to them.


This is very interesting to hear. At least in Pakistani Urdu, this meaning is almost non-existent for _bhattaa_. So curiously, I looked up my Feroz-ul-Lughaat Jaami3 dictoinary, and found the following:

_bhattaa: ... safar xarch, voh raqm jo mulaazim ko tanxaah ke ilaavah mile (allowance)

_So I suppose bhattaa=extortion is more of an 'applied' meaning, or sarcastic usage?

Also, I have never heard _haftaa/haftah_ used in this context. Opinions?


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## greatbear

Well, I do agree with JH here: "bhaTTaa" means allowance or pittance in Hindi, certainly not extortion money. At the most, the extortion amount can consist of a regular "bhaTTaa", but I haven't found "bhaTTaa" to mean extortion money itself, which would be a metonymic construction anyway.

"Haftaa" is a very common construction used for extortion money, and the only word used in such a context in Mumbai (hence also very common in Bollywood films).


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## JaiHind

Thanks greatbear... Also, I agree with what you say - "haftaa" means extortion which has come from the language in Mumbai...


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## Cilquiestsuens

In Pakistan, as already mentioned by the above Urdu experts, *bhatta* is now the universal word for '_extortion money_', it is used all the time in the media and it has got its derived words, such as:

بھتہ خوری - bhatta-khorii (भत्ता ख़ोरी), _money extortion_
بھتہ خور  - bhatta-khor (भत्ता ख़ोर), _money extortionist_

I guess all these words come from Karachi, where the said practice is found the most.


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## greatbear

Very interesting, for in Hindi, the word "bhattaa" usually is a near synonym of "vetan", that is, salary, allowance, etc., never extortion. There is another word, "bhaTTaa", which I commented upon in my earlier comment, which could signify "extortion" sometimes, though is rather used to mean pittance.


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## bakshink

In India bhatta will definitely be understood as an allowance. 'Hafta' as popularized by Bollywood is more or less understood as the money collected by the goons or police for whatever it is given for but it literally means week and the Hindi equivalent for it Saptah cannot be used to mean the same. However in Shabdkosh.com I found a very interesting word combination "संरक्षण धन" sanrakshaN dhan which is a literal translation of 'protection money'.

Navneet


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## Qureshpor

bakshink said:


> In India bhatta will definitely be understood as an allowance. 'Hafta' as popularized by Bollywood is more or less understood as the money collected by the goons or police for whatever it is given for but it literally means week and the Hindi equivalent for it Saptah cannot be used to mean the same. However in Shabdkosh.com I found a very interesting word combination "संरक्षण धन" sanrakshaN dhan which is a literal translation of 'protection money'.Navneet


The meaning of the word "bhattaa" in Urdu, is identical to Hindi. It is just that it has taken a new meaning in a certain environment just like haftah has taken a new meaning in a similar environment.


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## marrish

^I agree with this analysis.


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## Sheikh_14

Never have I come across haftah being used in such a manner, could Urdu speakers elaborate on whether haftah has or has not taken on a similar connotation to what we understand as bhatta?

Coming back to its Mumbai origins is haftah exacted weekly as its name would suggest or did it at least begin so?


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## tonyspeed

lcfatima said:


> Someone asked me how to say in English a word from Hindi films (not sure if it is slang but he is an Urdu speaker and knew the word from Urdu also) that means when gangsters, mafia, or even the police illegally force residents of specific areas or owners of small business to pay money to avoid being harassed or physically harmed, sometimes under the pretense of a fee for protecting them territorily. I could not find a concise word for this in English, even after posting here in the English forums. I had suggested extortion or exaction but these words were rejected as not being precise enough. But now I have forgotton the word in Hindi/Urdu. (I had never heard it before that conversation.) I think it started with /b/ or /bh/. Do you know this word?​




the word in English as I know it is "protection money"


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