Farmers' movements in India

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The farmers in India had to undergo great struggle in all the states to stop exploitation by the Jagirdars and Zamindars. Some of the movements were successful, but others failed. The farmer movements in 1907 under the leadership of Sardar Ajit Singh and in 1921 under Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel were successes, but others, such as the revolts in Chauri Chaura, Avadh and Mopla, were great losses. ^[1]

At the global level the French Revolution had changed the course of history, as it was the working class which became the vanguard of revolution in Europe. During the first half of the 20th century, national liberation struggles started against colonisation. In these colonies, very little industry was present and their working class, if it existed at all, was still in infancy, making the impetus for these rebellions have to come from somewhere else. It was Mao's peasant revolution in China which became a catalyst for national liberation movements in many colonies, including India.

Contents 1 Farmer movements in Punjab 2 Farmers’ movements in Gujarat 2.1 Bardoli Satyagraha 3 Farmer movements in Rajasthan 3.1 Shekhawati farmers’ movement 3.2 Marwar farmers’ movement 3.3 Gharsana farmers' movement 4 Leaders of peasant movements 5 See also 6 References 7 External links 8 Further reading

[edit] Farmer movements in Punjab

It was in Punjab that India's first farmers’ movement emerged. The role played by Ghadar party, led by Raja Mahendra Pratap, in the political awakening of India was an important step. The Sikhs of Punjab were the first to migrate to the United States and Canada in the 19th century. They financed and helped the formation of Ghadar party which when gave the call to Indians abroad to return home and fight British imperialism, had its call immediately heeded to. The majority of those who did return, 8000 of them comprised Punjab's Sikhs. Despite its apparent failure, the Ghadar Movement was to have a powerful impact on Punjab politics and especially on the peasants. It established a tradition of militant and secular anti-imperialism, enriched in subsequent years by social radicalism, which was to continue to inspire subsequent generations.

The peasant conferences were held in Lahore, Faislabad, Lyallpur and other places of West Punjab -- the most famous of them being 1938-39 Long Morcha in Lahore when peasants from all over Punjab courted arrests for nine months in front of the assembly building.

The slogan of Pagri Sambhal O jatta (Hold your head high, O peasant) was first raised at a mass gathering in Lyallpur in 1907. Ten Thousand people -- the Hindus, the Muslims and the Sikhs alike -- attended this gathering.

[edit] Farmers’ movements in Gujarat

Mahatma Gandhi had led two great revolts of communities of poor Indian farmers against the tyranny of the British government and allied landlords in Champaran, Bihar, and Kheda, Gujarat. Success in both struggles had helped win the farmers economic and civil rights, and electrified India's people.

In 1920, the Indian National Congress under Gandhi's leadership launched the Non-Cooperation Movement. Millions of Indians revolted against the British, boycotting the courts, government services, schools and disavowing titles, pensions and British clothes and goods. The freedom fighters, known as Satyagrahis, peacefully protested authoritarian British laws, and called for India's independence. Many thousands were beaten, tortured and arrested.

[edit] Bardoli Satyagraha

Bardoli Satyagraha of 1925 in the state of Gujarat, India during the British Raj was a major episode of civil disobedience and revolt in the Indian Independence Movement.

In 1925, the taluka of Bardoli in Gujarat suffered from floods and famine, which hurt the crop produce, leaving farmers facing great financial troubles. However, the Government of the Bombay Presidency had raised the tax rate by 30% that year, and despite petitions from civic groups, refused to cancel the rise in face of the calamities. The situation for the farmers was grave enough, that they barely had enough property and crops to pay-off the tax, let alone for feeding themselves afterwards.

The Gujarati activists Narhari Parikh, Ravi Shankar Vyas and Mohanlal Pandya talked to village chieftains and farmers, and solicited the help of Gujarat's most prominent freedom fighter, Vallabhbhai Patel. Patel had previously guided Gujarat's farmers during the Kheda struggle, and had served recently as Ahmedabad's municipal president. He was widely respected by common Gujaratis across the state. Patel and Gandhi decided that the struggle be left entirely to the people of Bardoli taluka.

Governor of Bombay ignored the request made by Patel to reduce taxes but reciprocated by announcing the date of collection. Patel instructed all the farmers of Bardoli taluka to refuse payment of their taxes. Aided by Parikh, Vyas and Pandya, he divided Bardoli into several zones - each with a leader and volunteers specifically assigned. Patel also placed some Gujarati activists close to the government, to act as informers on the movements of government officials. Patel instructed the farmers to remain completely non-violent, and not respond physically to any incitements or aggressive actions from officials. He reassured them that the struggle would not end until not only the cancellation of all taxes for the year, but also when all the seized property and lands were returned to rightful owners.

The Government declared that it would crush the revolt. Along with tax inspectors, bands of Pathans were gathered from northwest India to forcibly seize the property of the villagers and terrorize them. The Pathans and the men of the collectors forced themselves into the houses, took all property, including cattle.

The government began to auction the houses and the lands. But not a single man from Gujarat or anywhere else in India came forward to buy them. Patel had appointed volunteers in every village to keep watch. As soon as he sighted the officials who were coming to auction the property, the volunteer would sound his bugle. The farmers would leave the village and hide in the jungles. The officials would find the entire village empty. They could never find out who owned a particular house.

Members of the legislative councils of Bombay and across India were angered by the terrible treatment of the protesting farmers. Indian members resigned their offices, and expressed open support of the farmers. Even many in the Raj’s offices heavily criticized the Government.

In 1928, an agreement was finally brokered by a Parsi member of the Bombay government. The Government agreed to restore the confiscated lands and properties, as well as cancel revenue payment not only for the year, but cancel the 30% raise until after the succeeding year.

While Patel credited Gandhi's teachings and the farmers' undying resolve, people across the nation recognized his vital leadership. Gandhi and his fellow satyagrahis called him Sardar for the first time, which in Gujarati and most Indian languages means Chief or Leader. It was after Bardoli, that Sardar Patel became one of India's most important leaders.

[edit] Farmer movements in Rajasthan

Rajasthan is known as the land of kings and palaces and whose history is replete with encomium of their kings, the land known for “Sati”, the land known for its vast tracts of deserts was witness to a history in making, the successful agitation of farmers and peasants for their right to livelihood.

The twenty-two princely states of erstwhile Rajputana state did not form a common political collectivity which can be termed as a unified political action model. Each state had its own territorial area, which was exclusive politically in that it had its separate administration nag and army. Each state retained its cultural and linguistic distinctiveness. Political authority varied from ruler to ruler depending upon the terms of contract or covenant with the paramount power dating back to the period of subsidiary alliance of Lord Wellesley. Obviously in a state like this, the freedom movement was bound to be divided and segmented, depending upon the degree of unity and cohesiveness among political players in each state. The two states of Jaipur and Jodhpur provided differential patterns of political movements. ^[2]

Justice Kan Singh Parihar , the retired Judge of High Court of Rajasthan, has written about exploitation of farmers by Jagirdars prior to Independence as under:

“Every thing that the Kisan had, never treated as his own. In Jagir areas all cultivators were really landless. There was no tenancy law and one could be thrown away from the land one cultivated at the pleasure of Jagirdar, his "malik". In most of the Jagirs a Jagirdar would in the first instance be taking fifty percent of the produce. This would be taken by actual division of the produce on the thrashing floor or by appraisal of the standing crop (kunta). Then over and above the share of the produce the Kisan had to pay numerous "lags" or cesses.

Together with the share of the produce known as "Hasil" these cesses meant that the Kisans had to part with more than eighty percent of their produce. The findings of the Sukhdeonarain Committee in the years 1940-42 bear this out. If a Kisan had to marry his daughter he had to pay "Chavri Lag", if he held a dinner then a "Kansa Lag"; if members of the family separated then "Dhunwa Lag" and so on. If the Jagirdar had a guest then fodder for his mount had to be supplied. Then there was "begar" that is forced labour, for tilling the personal lands of the Jagirdar. The homestead in which the Kisan lived in the Abadi had to be vacated in case he ceased cultivating the land. He could not alienate the plot to anyone.” ^[3]

Shri Kan Singh Parihar played a great role in drafting and enactment of Marwar Tenancy Act of 1949 and Marwar Land Revenue Act of 1949. Shri Parihar's idea of fixing all tenants in cultivatory possession as Khatedars thus making all of them almost the proprietors of all their fields, wells etc. without paying any premium or compensation and further being relieved from paying any lag bag (Cesses) etc., impacted these documents. This Marwar Tenancy Act of 1949 and Marwar Land Revenue Act of 1949 became a role model for the Rajasthan Assembly in 1955 and similar laws were passed based on these Acts, thus greatly benefiting the farmers of Rajasthan.

[edit] Shekhawati farmers’ movement

The farmers of the Sekhawati region are considered to be the most advanced in the state of Rajasthan. The Shekhawati region has the highest literacy in the state. The most dominating farmer community in the rural areas of Shekhawati is Jat. The Jats are politically and economically very sound. The major land holdings in the present times are with Jats. Then comes the Rajput community who were the jagirdars before independence. The farmers of the region have done great struggle to come to the present status. ^[4]

Before independence the conditions of the farmers were worst. The farmers of the Shekhawati region were exploited and oppressed by the Jagirdars during British Raj. They were deprived of fundamental rights. They were given inhuman treatment when the Jagirdars did not get cesses known as lāg (tax) or begār (unpaid work) in time, they were given hard punishments and their crop used to be destroyed. There were 37 kinds of begārs (work without pay) prevalent in Shekhawati. A newly married bride was forced to go first to Jagirdar. ^[1]

The Shekhawati Jat farmers’ movement had its genesis in the Jat Praja Pati Maha-Yagna a socio-religious festival held in January, 1934. It lasted ten days and was the biggest of its kind in Rajputana. It facilitated a widespread involvement of Jats in a community festival. Each Jat household attending it was to contribute some cash and an unspecified quantity of ghee. A total of two hundred maunds of ghee were used in the sacrificial flame. The function concluded with a triumphal elephant ride hitherto prohibited by the rules of Sikar Thikana. The success of this movement encouraged the Jats to hold more meetings on local levels and print literature to glorify Jat history. The Yagna became a dominant symbol of folklore which glorified it as the beginning of an anti-feudal struggle. The peasants demanded remissions in taxes and finally a Jat-Sikar Thikana Agreement was signed on August 23, 1934, by which the Thikana authorities conceded to abolish various lags (taxes) and agreed to provide for a mobile dispensary. The following year, the Kisan Sabha formally came into existence and under its aegis the famous Sikar Andolan of 1935 was launched. With outside mediation efforts of Jamnalal Bajaj, Sir Chhotu Ram - a renowned Jat leader of Punjab and Ratan Singh of All India Jat Mahasabha, a settlement was arrived at and the Jats were promised remissions of rent, abolition of internal cesses and an introduction of fixed rent tenure. The Jats were also promised equal opportunities in Thikana administration and were permitted to ride elephants and horses and to construct schools for their children. The formation of a Jat Kisan Panchayat was officially sanctioned and the right to agitate for redressal of grievances in non-Khalsa areas was conceded. Much however, could not be made out of these agreements for two reasons. First, the subordinate Thikanedars of Sikar did not fully cooperate with Sikar authorities to ensure compliance with the terms of these agreements. Secondly, the beginning of settlement operations and reform of revenue administration was a time-consuming process which entailed enormous delay. This was interpreted by the Jats as a breach of agreement and hence, they indulged in acts of disorder and violence, which were perceived by Thikana authorities as signs of bad faith. In the meanwhile two unsavoury incidents led to a termination of agreements. The first, occurred at Khudi village, where the sight of Jat bridegroom riding a horse incensed the local Rajputs and the two sides readied themselves for an armed combat. The state authorities asked the two parties to disperse but the Jats refused. The state police charged and in the melee that followed, several people were injured. The second incident took place at Kudan village, where about one hundred armed Jats attacked Sikar revenue officials. The police fired upon the armed mob, which resulted in several casualties and injuries. A total of 104 Jats were arrested. ^{[2] [5]}

Farmers of the Shekhawati, mainly the Jats, united against oppression of Jagirdars by forming ‘Sikar Jat-Kisan-Panchayat’ and stopped giving "lags" or cesses to the Jagirdards. The ‘Jaipur Praja-Mandal’ also supported the Shekhawati farmers’ movement against abolition of Jagirdari system. The leaders of ‘Bijoria-Kisan-Movement’ of 1922, 1931, and 1932 supported the movement of Shekhawati farmers. ^[6]The Jagirdars tried to suppress the movement in many ways. Many farmers were killed and a large number were sent to jail. A Jat farmer was beaten to death in the market of Sikar town; his dead body was thrown and insulted. This movement got support from famous Kisan leaders like, Baldev Ram Mirdha, Nathuram Mirdha and Kumbharam Arya. After a long struggle the farmers got rid of oppression and got the ownership right over the land they were cultivating. ^[1]

The leading Jat farmers of Shekhawati region, who played important role in the movement for abolition of the Jagirdari system, were: ^[1]

• Sardar Har Lal Singh, Mandasi
• Iswar Singh Bhamu Bhairupura,
• Hari Singh Burdak and Hardeva Palthana,
• Prithvi Singh Gothra,
• Ganeshram Kudan,
• Panne Singh Bataranau,
• Goru Singh Katrathal,
• Deva Singh Bochalya,
• Chandrabhan Singh,
• Hardev Singh Nehra Harsawa.

Shekhawati farmers’ movement against abolition of Jagirs got great support from outside Kisan leaders like Sir Chhotu Ram from Haryana, Kunwar Ratan Singh and Thakur Deshraj from Bharatpur, Kunwar Hukum Singh from Aangai.

[edit] Marwar farmers’ movement

The farmers of the Marwar region are considered to be the most simple in the state of Rajasthan. The most dominating farmer community in the rural areas of Marwar is Jat. The Jats are politically and economically very sound. The major land holdings in the present times are with Jats.

Though the position of Kisān (farmer) in what was Khālsā (under the direct control of the state) was better in comparison to a Kisan of the Jagir areas, he was only a little above a beast of burden. In Jagir areas of Marwar state before independence all cultivators were really landless. There was no tenancy Law and one could be thrown away from the land one cultivated at the pleasure of Jagirdar, his "malik". In most of the Jagirs a Jagirdar would in the first instance be taking fifty percent of the produce. This would be taken by actual division of the produce on the thrashing floor or by appraisal of the standing crop (kuntā). The latter method proved at times more onerous as the appraisal depended on the whims of the Kāmdār. Then over and above the share of the produce the farmer had to pay numerous "lags" or cesses. There were 64 kinds of begars (work without pay) prevalent in Marwar. Then the bigger Jagirdars had judicial powers including magisterial powers. Further they had their own police force besides the revenue staff. This enabled them to keep their stronghold on the farmers. Over and above this policy of divide and rule was fully practiced. By offering the temptation of giving better land for cultivation one farmer would be set against another. There were no schools worth the name in rural areas and the masses were steeped in ignorance.

The oppression of the public by traditional Samantas (chiefs) and Jagirdars (feudatories) of Marwar state made their life difficult, which led to a class war. In urban areas, Jaynarayan Vyas started agitation against oppression, under the banner of "Marwar Lok Parishad" founded on 16th May 1938. This movement was supported by National Congress. The persons who played important role in "Marwar Lok Parishad" were: Shiv Dayal Dave and Jorawar Singh Oswal of Nagaur, Rajpurohit Manji Jagarwal of (Bagra,Jalore), Kishanlal Sahu, Manak Chand Konari and Sari Mal of Kuchaman City, Tulsiram of Didwana, Srikishan Pandit of Kolia and Sukhdev Dipankar of Ladnu.

Rural masses of Marwar were united by Kisan Kesari-Baldev Ram Mirdha under the banner of "Marwar Kisan Sabha" founded in 1940. After the formation of Rajasthan, Baldev Ram Mirdha who had by then retired from Government service formed the "Rajathan Kisan Sabha" and unified the Kisāns of Rajasthan under its banner. He was its first president. Since the broad objectives of the Kisān Sabhā and the congress were identical the congress leaders approached Baldev Ram Mirdha to unite the Rajasthan Kisān Sabhā with the Congress. Baldev Ram Mirdha was a visionary and he realized that the two could not and should not remain separate. Therefore, he just made one demand from the national leaders that the Jagirs be abolished forthwith in Rajasthan. This was agreed to by the Congress high command with the result that the Jagirs were soon abolished. A tenancy law was passed and the cultivating farmers were made the owners of the land.

[edit] Gharsana farmers' movement

The tehsil town of Gharsana and the neighbouring Raola in Sriganganagar district of Rajasthan is currently site of clashes between the police and the farmers agitating for irrigation water. The farmers, and their leaders who led the agitation under the banner of Kisan Mazdoor Vyapari Sangarsh Samiti, were either nursing their injured or in hiding. About 20 injured have been admitted to the Gharsana hospital and the district hospital in Sriganganagar. The authorities said curfew was clamped in Raola as a precautionary measure as in the previous agitation by the farmers on the same issue in October-November 2004 both Raola and Gharsana had witnessed serious violence. ^[7]

Earlier in in October 2004, Defying prohibitory orders, hundreds of farmers had gheraoed the SDM’s office at Gharsana town in Sriganganagar district, reviving their agitation for irrigation water after the October 27, police firing which claimed five lives. With a view to appeasing the agitating farmers, the Vasundhara Raje Government ordered the removed of the Divisional Commissioner of the region, Mr Ramavtar Raghuvanshi, and Superintendent of Police, Mr Sunil Dutt, while two officers of the Rajasthan Administrative Service, Mr Indra Singh Rao and Mr Hitesh Kumar, have been placed under suspension.^[8] The farmers' agitation led the Government to impose curfew in July 2005 also. ^[9]

Farmers of Gharsana, at Ganganagar in Rajasthan, are on path of confrontation with the BJP government for the release of water from Pong Dam to the Phase I areas of Indira Gandhi Canal, the lifeline of farmers in the Gharsana-Raola agriculture belt. At a juncture when India is importing wheat from other countries, the state government is dissuading farmers in the region from cultivating wheat during the rabi season. The farmers have been told to sow barley or mustard, rather than wheat, which is a water-intensive crop. The movement has gained momentum with the Kisan Mazdoor Vyapari Sangharsh Samiti, the committee of farmers, labourers and agro-traders of the region deciding to go ahead with sowing wheat. The strife over water has seen the peasants and the state administration clash often in the past three years. Seven farmers were killed and many were injured when police fired at protesters in 2004. ^[10]

[edit] Leaders of peasant movements

• Mahatma Gandhi
• Vallabhbhai Patel
• Abraham George
• Sir Chhotu Ram
• Jamnalal Bajaj
• Baldev Ram Mirdha
• Raja Mahendra Pratap
• Charan Singh
• Chaudhari Devi Lal
• Chaudhari Kumbharam Arya
• Daulatram Saran
• Gyan Prakash Pilania
• Mahendra Singh Tikait
• Nathuram Mirdha
• Sardar Ajit Singh
• Sardar Har Lal Singh
• Rajpurohit Manji Jagarwal

[edit] See also

• History of tax resistance
• Moplah rebellion
• Farmers' suicides in India
• The Jat Uprising of 1669

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• http://www.spiritualjourneys.net/Venues/Bardoli.htm
• http://www.freeindia.org/biographies/freedomfighters/sardarpatel/page10.htm
• http://www.angelfire.com/in/farmersforfreedom/fffdefault.html
• The George Foundation
• http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~dludden/aha-bib2.htm
• http://www.mirdhadak.com

[edit] Further reading

• Dr Mridula Mukherjee : Peasants in India's Non-Violent Revolution Practice and Theory, Published by Sage Publications, New Delhi, India

• Sunhil Sahasrabudhey, Sunil Sahasraludhey: Peasant Movement in Modern India, Publisher: South Asia Books (03/01/1990) ISBN 81-85076-66-9
• Brass, Tom (ed.), New Farmers' Movements in India, London: Frank Cass, 1995.
• Dhanagare, D. N. Peasant Movements in India, 1920-1950. Delhi: 1983
• Land Tenure and peasant in South Asia. New Delhi: Orient Longman, 1977
• Ghosha, Aruna. Agrarian Structure and Peasant Movements in Colonial and Post-Colonial India (An Annotated Bibliography). Calcutta: K.P.Bagchi and Company, 1990
• Guha, Ranajit. Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency in Colonial India. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1983
• Peasant resistance in India, 1858-1914. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1992
• Henningham, Stephen. Peasant Movements in Colonial India, North Bihar, 1918-1942
• Pandey, Gyanendra. "Peasant Revolt and Indian Nationalism: The Peasant Movement in Awadh, 1919-1922." in Subaltern Studies, I, Editor Ranajit Guha. ed rpt in Ranajit Guha and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1982
• Government, Landlord and Peasant in India: Agrarian Relations under British Rule, 1865-1935. Wiesbaden: Franz Steiner Verlas, 1978
• Stokes, Eric. The Peasant and the Raj: Studies in Agrarian Society and Peasant Rebellion in Colonial India. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1978