Peasant Movement in Maharashtra : a Case-Study of the Shetkarisanghatana
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PEASANT MOVEMENT IN MAHARASHTRA : A CASE-STUDY OF THE SHETKARISANGHATANA ARUNA PENDSE (MUDHOLKAR) Thesis submitted for the Ph.D. Degree of University of Poona ‘^une Under the guidance of Dr. Y.D. PHADKE Department of Politics and Public Administration February 199 CKkTIFIKD that Lhn work irn:orporal **d in tho thesis Peasant Hovpaent in Maharashtra : A Case Study of the Shctkari Sanghatari submitted by S«t. Aruna Pcndse (Mudholkar) was carried out by the candidate under tay supervision guidance. Such material as has been obtained froa other sources has been duly acknowledged In the thesis. .Til- ■’1 ( Y. D. Phadke ) Supervisor/ Research Guide. I want to express my sincere gratitude to Dr.Y.D. Phadke for his valuab]-^ guidance and encourai?ement. I am also grateful to him for m'jik ing available some valuable reference material. I wish to thank Principal K.B. Sakhalkar of Rirti College, Bombay, for hi^: cooperation and encouragement. He willingly granted me the necessary concessi'-ms for the completion of this work. I thank Dr.V.K. Kshire, Head of the Department of Politics, University jf Poona for providing me with the facilities of the department. I am indebted to Dr.R.M. Vora, Reader, Department of Politics, University of Poona for his valuable help in data collection, reference material and enlightening discussions. I thank t\\e library staff of th^'- Jayakar Library of the University Poona; Servants of India Soc.iety's Library, Poona; Kirt: College Library, Bombay; and the BUILD Document&tion Centre, Bombay for their cooperation. I am alsc thankful to my colleagues in Kirti College for their cooperation. I especially thank Prof. Pednekar for preparing the-’ map. Without the unstinting help of Hr Haresh Pathak and Mr Naushil Mehta it would not have been possible to process the text on a computer. I am indeed grateful to them. I also thank Hr Kulkarni of NICER for making available computer tim-;^ 'ind for assistance. I thank iny family for the unfailing support and encoaragenen*. they gave me to complete this work. This thesia would not have been possible without the cooperation and help of Mr Sharad Joshi of the Shetkari Sanghatana and his colleagues as well as the activists of the organisation. I am sincerely grateful to Mr Sharad Joshi for making available the material related to the organization and its activities, providing information and necessary access to various persons in the organization and hospitality at the rallies, conferences and conventions. I am especially grateful to him for sparing his own precious time for discussions. The activists of the Sanghatana were most cooperative and I am grateful to them for granting me interviews and for the help they willingly extended to me. CONTENTS ABSTRACT CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION CHAPTER II ... HISTORICAL BACKGROUND ..21 CHAPTER III... IDEOLOGY . .61 CHAPTER IV ... ORGANIZATION . 181 CHAPTER V REVIEW OF AGITATIONS .211 CHAPTER VI CONCLUSIONS .251 SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY .264 APPENDICES ... .306 ABSTRACT This is a study of the Shetkari Sanghatana, a contemporary peasant Eovenent in Maharashtra. The movement started in 1978 and soon spread in many parts of the state. This peasant unrest, which was witnessed also in other states in India at that time was due to the crisis the agriculture was then facing. The stagnation experienced after the initial phase of the Green Revolution was aggravated by a slump in the prices of farm products from mid 1970s, giving rise to a spate of peasant movements in different parts of the country. The Shetkari Sanghatana in Maharashtra organized farmers to demand 'remunerative prices' for agricultural products. It launched agitations demanding fair prices for cash-crops like onions, sugar-cane, tobacco, cotton etc. in succession, mobilising the peasantry of Maharashtra in large numbers. The use of techniQues such as rail-roko, raasta- roko and withholding of the agricultural produce from the markets was new in the peasant agitations, and their success widened the Sanghatana's support-base. The Sanghatana has evolved its own ideology which emphasises the role of the remunerative prices to ^arm produce as the key to the rural development. The main attack of the movement is on the "uneven terms of trade" between industry and agriculture which leads to the exploitation of agriculture. The Sanghatana believes that the remunerative prices to agricultural produce will correct this imbalance and result in a genuine development in the countryside and ultimately in the entire nation. This demand, however, is basically the demand of the rich and the middle farmers. The rich farmers used this Eoveoent to further their political interests, viz challenging the hegenony of the industrial bourgeoisie and asserting their own political strength. As the rich peasantry is a part of the ruling bloc, it does not directly oppose the hegemonic industrial bourgeoisie and uses the mass movement to serve this purpose. This movement, therefore, is not radical or revolutionary. It is a non radical populist movement which advocates agrarian class unity to serve the ends of one fraction of the ruling bloc. CHAPTER I INTRQDOCTIQH Peasantry is an ioportant section of any developing nation and the study of peasant movements, therefore, becomes very vital in the study of the development process of these nations. In the wake of peasant revolutions or rebellions in countries like China, Mexico, Peru, Vietnam etc., attention was drawn to the peasant movements. They were studied to examine their role as agents or catalysts of change and/or revolution and development. The revolutionary character of the peasantry, which was once a debatable point, has now been accepted. (Mitrany: 1951: pp.19-22.) Even the Indian peasantry, whose record was "unimpressive" compared to the other revolutionary movements; (Moore, Jr.: 1966: p p .379,453,459), is now seen to posses revolutionary potential which was demonstrated amply in history. The studies of peasant movements by A.R. Desai, Dhanagare and Sunil Sen as also the Subaltern Studies edited by Ranajit Guha, have clearly indicated the sensitivity of the Indian peasants to exploitation as well as subseQuent resistance to it through various forms of rotest. Historically, the peasant movements in India can be divided into pre-independence and post-independence periods. They are also classified according to their nature as revivalist, reformist, religious messianic, social banditry and mass insurrectionist.(Gough: 1979: pp.85-126) The peasant movements have acQuired labels also according to the ideology they embrace or the nature of the goals they strive for. The agitational methods also distinguish peasant movements. The peasant moveuents have generally been region specific and issue specific. Sone of. them were systematically planned struggles; while others were spontaneous uprisings. The peasant movements in the pre- independence period in the 19th century were mostly in the form of armed protests, Anti-British in nature, some of them aimed at driving the British out of this country. Other agitations during that period were anti-landlord and anti moneylender. By the end of the 19th century, with the emergence of the Congress and Kisan Sabha leaderships the peasant movements acQuired a clearer nationalist character. They at the same time made demands to abolish the Zasiindari system and implement agricultural reforms including land- reforms. The peasant movement in India under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi played an important role in the mainstream politics of the country. It was through these movements that millions of peasants and rural folk participated in the freedom-struggle. After independence the peasant movements were initially at a low key as the issues seemed to have chang-'d. The movements led by the left parties and the Congress earlier on the Questions of land distribution or rent increase, lost their momentum in the light of the promise of the new Goverr-nent to bring about land reforms legally. The a.nti-ZajDindari and land ceiling legislations were in the offing. The 1950s saw the introduction and implementation of the land reforms legislation. The laws, however, with loopholes favourable to the land owning rich peasantry, were implemented halfheartedly. This frustrated the rural poor who expected radical changes. The various developmental schemes and programmes of the Government for the rural areas also did not bring any relief to them. The result was the beginning of agitations in the rural areas from late 1960s. On the one hand there was a violent and strong reaction in the form of the Naxalite noveuent and on the other, non-violent Gandhian type land-grab agitations. The left parties organised poor peasants, landless labourers and tribal poor against exploitation and repression by landlords and moneylenders. In the mid-sixties the Government adopted the strategy of Green-Revolution for agricultural development. Its main objective was to increase productivity and reach self- sufficiency in food-grains to combat the persistent droughts haunting the country that resulted in politico-economic crises. The Green Revolution, with its thrust on technological development, mechanisation. High Yielding Varieties (HYVs) of seeds as well as chemical fertilizers etc. accelerated the process of capitalist development of agriculture. This development remained restricted only to areas with good irrigation facilities and to farmers capable of making high capital investments. It created pockets of prosperity and adversely affected poor peasants and landless labourers. Rural disparities widened further, giving rise to increasing discontent. The Green Revolution created widespread heavy indebtedness among the peasantry. The increasing prices of agricultural inputs and the comparative stagnation of the prices of agricultural commodities added to the frustration of even the middle and the rich peasants. The overall unemployment in the agrarian sector increased. The number of agricultural labourers in 1964-65 was 27.29 millions. This number increased to 47.49 million in 1974-75.(Surjeet: 1981: pp.12-17.) This deepening crisis led to countrywide peasant movements which encompassed every section of the peasantry.