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PEASANT PROTEST AND AL ELITE STRATEGIES IN ASIA Case Studies of India, the Philippines and Sri Lanka VICTOR PRASAD KARUNAN ^*m ^шеме-ж PEASANT PROTEST AND RURAL ELITE STRATEGIES IN ASIA Case Studies of India, the Philippines and Sri Lanka PEASANT PROTEST AND RURAL ELITE STRATEGIES IN ASIA Case Studies of India, the Philippines and Sri Lanka EEN WETENSCHAPPELIJKE PROEVE OP HET GEBIED VAN DE SOCIALE WETENSCHAPPEN PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van Doctor aan de Katholieke Universiteit Nijmegen volgens het besluit van het College van Decanen in het openbaar te verdedigen op maandag 9 november 1992 des namiddags 1.30 uur precies door Victor Prasad Karunan geboren op 7 augustus 1954 te Bangalore (India) (i) Promotor : Prof. Dr. G.J. Huizer (U) PREFACE & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work is a contribution to an ongoing Third World debate on the role of peasants and peasant movements in rural development. The present study was actually intended to be a sequel to my first publication, "The History of Peasant Movements in Thailand and the Philippines", Plough Publications, Hong Kong, 1984, when I began to document and study the history of peasant movements in India and Sri Lanka. In the course of this work, my involvement with peasant organisations in these two countries, as well as continued contact with the peasant movement in the Philippines, stimulated me to document the emerging struggles of the peasants in these countries. Through this experience I was led into new areas of inquiry, and the peasants and peasant leaders with whom I interacted during this period urged me to carry forward their own struggle by broadening the scope of my study. This thesis is, therefore, the end result of this process. The background study and preparation of initial drafts of this thesis was undertaken in 1985 when I was granted a scholarship by CEBEMO (Catholic Organisation for Development Cooperation the Netherlands) to spend about 6 months in the Netherlands to document my experiences of involvement with peasant movements in India and Sri Lanka. During this period I was fortunate to be granted a Research Fellow status with the Institute of Social Studies (ISS) in the Hague, which provided me the opportunity to work closely with many distinguished scholars and researchers and to utilise secretarial and library facilities at the ISS. I am grateful to the ISS for the assistance provided and the encouragement I received from, among others, Ben White, Vicky Meynen, Peter Waterman and Aurora Carreon. It was during this research work in the Netherlands when Professor Gerrit Huizer at the Third World Studies Center in the Catholic University of Nijmegen, urged me to write up my experiences of work with peasant movements in Asia for a Ph.D. programme. Since then, Gerrit has been my chief mentor, colleague and friend helping me along the way as my work progressed. I am deeply indebted to Gerrit for his close supervision, stimulating insights and constructive criticism of the many drafts of this thesis which he closely monitored during several years. Without his constant encouragement and guidance, this entire project would not have been possible given the nature of my international work and frequent travels since 1985. My stay in the Netherlands during this period was facilitated by the warm and self-less hospitality of Frans van Vliet, Anita and their children - Geertje, Sam and Hilda - who put up with my long hours of work day and night and many meetings and discussions at the "Open House". Other Dutch friends who have encouraged me and also shared in the successes and difficulties of the many years of work on this Ph.D. thesis include Fr. Piet Van Dongen, Tony Femandes, and the staff of CEBEMO and VASTENAKTIE in the Netherlands. m On completion of the case studies on India, Sri Lanka and the Philippines, I received useful comments and suggestions to my earlier drafts from friends and colleagues in these countries to whom I owe at least a word of gratitude. In India, valuable comments and criticisms were received from, among others, Mohan Ram, Professor Т.К. Oomen, Stan Lourduswamy, Paul Guerviere, Manuel Alphonse, Professor A.R. Desai, and Ajit Roy. Some peasant activists and organisations, who prefer to remain anonymous, provided me valuable grassroot information and rich insights during my study of their specific struggles. In Sri Lanka, the All Lanka Peasant Congress, the Social Scientists Association of Sri Lanka, Devasarana Development Centre and others facilitated my field-visits in 1986-1987 and commented on earlier drafts. In particular, I would like to thank Charles Abeysekera, Hector Abeywardena, Sarath Fernando, Patrick Fernando, Yohan Devananda, Kumudu K. Kumara, Newton Gunasinghe, and S.Balakrishnan. There were others, especially peasant leaders and activists in Monaragela district whom I met and interacted with during the course of my field work, many of whom have today laid down their lives for the peasants struggle in Sri Lanka. To one in particular, Ananda Weerakoon, a 62-year old peasant leader of the All Lanka Peasant Congress, who was assassinated by unidentified armed youth in front of his family in his home in Monaragela -1 am specially grateful for his valuable contribution to my study of peasant struggles in Sri Lanka. In the Philippines, my regular visits and fieldwork was facilitated by, among others, Philippine Peasant Institute, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Filipinas (KMP), Forum for Rural Concerns, Farmers Assistance Board, REAPS, National Federation of Sugar Workers, and others. In particular, I would like to acknowledge the solidarity and assistance provided by long­ standing friends as Pancho Lara, Jaime Tadeo, Joel Rodrigues, June Rodrigues, Charlie Ocampo, Prof. Randolf David, and many other leaders of the peasant and sectoral movements in the Philippines. I also wish to express my thanks and appreciation to M S Shivakumar from the Division of Human Settlements, Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok (Thailand) for his assistance in formatting and typesetting this manuscript, and to my Dutch friends - Mr. Toon van Kaan, Prof. Dr. Jan Nuchelmans and others - who provided valuable assistance in enabling me to make the necessary arrangements for the printing of this thesis in the Netherlands. Finally, my personal sustenance to complete this work over the years was made possible by the support and understanding of my dear family members in India. A special thanks for their unlimited patience, concern and tolerance while I went through the tedious process of compiling and writing this work. My wife, Wanida (Lek) has been a constant inspiration and support, especially after January 19,1991 when our first child, Mallika was bom in Geneva. It has been a struggle for her to put up with my late nights and working holidays while I completed the final sections of this thesis and, at the same time, to care for our baby girl. On completion of this work, I share the happiness of success with Lek and Mallika - an acknowledgement of the love, concern and support shared by them both in my work. (iv) CONTENTS Preface & Acknowledgements 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Nature and Context of Study 1.2 Theoretical Considerations 1.3 Active Involvement as a Research Methodlogy 1.4 Outline of the Study 2 THE AGRARIAN CONTEXT IN ASIA : AN OVERVIEW 2.1 The Politics of Land and US Policy in the Asian Countryside 2.2 Japan : Тор-Down Land Reform to Eliminate Fascism and Radical Peasant Protest 2.3 Taiwan : US-Managed Land Reform against the Communist Threat 2.4 South Korea : Land Reform, US Food Dumping and Peasant Protest 3 INDIA 3.1 Peasant Struggles in India under British Colonialism 3.2 The All India Kisan Sabha M 3.3 Peasant Resistance under Communist Party Leadership i The Tebhaga Struggle (1946-47) ii The Telangana Peasant Uprising (1946-51) 3.4 The Naxalite Movement : Maoist Agrarian Resistance (1967-71) 3.5 The Politics of Agrarian Protest From Above (i) The Bharatiya Kisan Union in Punjab (ii) The Tamil Nadu Agriculturists Association (iii) The Kamataka Farmers' Association (iv) The Shetkari Sanghatana in Maharashtra 3.6 Peasant Power : The Politics of Competitive Populism 4 THE PHILIPPINES 4.1 History of Peasant Movement in the Philippines (i) Peasant Struggles under Spanish and American Colonialism (ii) Peasant Struggles against the Japanese : The Huk Rebellion (1942-45) (iii) The Peasantry and the Marcos Regime (iv) The Armed Peasant Resistance 4.2 Agrarian Reform under Martial Law 4.3 Land Reform as Counter-Insurgency 4.4 People's Power and Agrarian Reform : The Continuing Struggle 4.5 Peasants and National Liberation (vi) SRI LANKA 92 5.1 The Colonial Context and Introduction of a Dependent Export Economy in Ceylon .. 92 5.2 The Colonial Period : Peasant Rebellions in 18th and 19th Century Ceylon .. 94 (i) Popular Revolts in the Maritime Provinces .. 95 (ii) The 1818 Rebellion against British Colonialism .. 96 (iii) The Great RebeUion of 1848 .. 98 (iv) Traditional Nationalism in the 19th century Rebellions : Its Origins and Consequences .. 99 5.3 Agrarian Policies and Change in Independent Sri Lanka .. 102 (i) Peasant Colonization and Green Revolution (1948-1971) .. 106 (ii) Land Reform and Nationalisation (1972-1977) .. 110 (iii) The Open Economy (1977-1985) .. 113 5.4 International Capital and the Sri Lankan Peasantry .. 118 (i) The Mahaweli Development Scheme .. 120 (ii) The Ceylon Tobacco Company .. 122 (iii) Sugar TNCs in the Agricultural Promotion Zones .. 123 5.5 Agrarian Protest : The Politics of a Marginalised Peasantry .