The Kisan Sabha and Adivasi Struggles in Thane District After 1947 Saqib Khan*
RESEARCH ARTICLE The Kisan Sabha and Adivasi Struggles in Thane District after 1947 Saqib Khan* Abstract: This article traces the history of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) in Thane district, Maharashtra, after 1947, that is, after the Warli Adivasi revolt of 1947. It is based on oral narratives by AIKS activists and leaders and on secondary sources. After the Warli revolt, the AIKS in Thane district mobilised the people around issues of land, forests, water, wages, and other livelihood issues. The article documents and analyses the nature of this mobilisation, the demands raised by the AIKS, and the extent to which these demands achieved success. Our evidence suggests mobilisation was successful because the people posed continuous challenges to multiple forms of exploitation by means of mobilisation by the AIKS on issues of Adivasi livelihood, and as a result of the initiation of welfare programmes through participation in local-level electoral politics. Keywords: Adivasi struggles, Thane district, All India Kisan Sabha, oral history, agrarian relations in Maharashtra, Scheduled Tribes, land rights, Forest Rights Act. Introduction Historically, during the period of British colonial rule as well as after India gained Independence, the Adivasi people of India have been victims of economic and social exploitation and marginalisation. A recent contribution to the literature has characterised the principal means of exploitation of the Adivasis as being alienation from land and the denial of access to common property resources by violent, coercive displacement, and a corresponding loss of livelihoods (Karat and Rawal 2014, Shah 2004). British colonialism effected and aggravated the alienation of the Adivasi people from land and forests in a number of ways (Desai 1979, Prasad 2006–7, Chattopadhyay 2012).
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