ACTA UNIVERSITATIS STOCKHOLMIENSIS Stockholm Studies in Social Anthropoplogy 60 ‘When Women Unite!’ The Making of the Anti-Liquor Movement in Andhra Pradesh, India Marie Larsson Stockholm University © Marie Larsson, Stockholm 2006 ISBN 91-7155-249-9 Cover illustration by G. Srinath Typesetting: Intellecta Docusys Printed in Sweden by Intellecta Docusys, Stockholm 2006 Distributor: Stockholm University Library Contents 1. Introduction……………………….………………………….5 Conceptual Frameworks of Alcohol and Gender…………………………..………….…….9 Conceptual Frameworks of Social Movements and Gender…………………………......14 Anthropological Studies of South India…………….………………..…….………………..21 Andhra Pradesh………………….…………………………………………………………….22 Methodology………………………………………………………...……..…………..…...….25 An Outline of the Book…..………………..……………..…………………..………………..28 2. How Temperance Became A Woman’s Issue: A Review of Social Movements from the Colonial Period Onwards……………………………...…..…31 The Social Reform Movement…………………………………………….………...………31 The Temperance Movement……………………………..…………………………….…...33 The Caste Association…………………………………..………………….…………….….35 The Nationalist Movement…………………………….………………………..……….…...37 The Extremists………………………………..….…………….……………….……..37 Gandhi…………………………………………….…..…….…………………….…...38 Women’s Movement………………………….…………..…………….….…………41 The Post-Independence Period………………………….………………………...……..…41 The Women’s Movement…………………………………………….…….………...44 Protests Against Alcohol Consumption…………………….……………..………..45 Mobilization for Women’s Rights and Temperance in Andhra Pradesh………..……….48 The Social Reform Movement……………………...………………………….…….48 Caste Associations………………………………….……..…………….……………49 The Nationalist Movement…………………………………..……....………….……50 The Communist Party…………………………………………..….…………………53 The Telangana Armed Struggle……………………….………………..…………..54 The Post-Independence Period……………………….……….…..………………..56 The Naxalites in Andhra Pradesh………………….…………….......……………..58 3. The Anti-Arrack Movement in Nellore District...….......61 Nellore District………………………..…………………………….………….………..….…62 The Literacy Campaign……………………………..………………………....……..……...66 The Anti-Arrack Movement……………………………..………….…….……..…..……..71 Chintala Palem………………………………………………………….……………...…..80 Local Anti-Liquor Agitation………………………………………….…………………......86 The Senses of Nellore………………………………………………………..…..………...91 4. Intra-Households Relations and Discourses on Gender in Rural Andhra Pradesh.………………….....…...95 Marriage…………………………………………………………………………….…….…..96 Married Life……………………………………………………………….……….………….98 The Daughter-in-Law………………………………..………………………...……..99 Married Life and Breadwinning……………………..…………………………..….100 Motherhood………………………………………..………………..…...…………..107 Discourses on Gender…………………………………………..……..………..………….109 Purity and Impurity………………………………………………….……………….109 Auspiciousness…………………………………………………..……………...…..110 Female Energy (strii śakti)………………………………..………………...………111 Self-Control and Household Responsibility………………..……………...…...…113 The Gender of Drinking………………………………………………...……………...…...115 Limitations of Women’s Participation in the Protest…………………………….… ……120 The ‘House’ and the ‘Street’……………………..………………………...……….121 Age and Marital Status…………………………..………………...………………..123 From Hidden to Open Resistance………………………………..………..…...………….126 5. Protest Politics Among the Middle Class………..…...130 The Movement Organizations………………...………..………………………………..…131 Nellore District………………………...………………...………………..………….133 Chittoor District………………………...……………………………….....…………138 The Middle-Class Activists………………………………………..………………………..141 Narrating Personal Involvement……………………...…………………..…...…...145 Experiences of Female Activists……………………………...............…………..146 Discourses on Villages……………………………...…………………..…..………149 Leadership within the Movement……………………………..………..….………….…...152 Collectivism and Individuality…………………………..……..……………………153 Charismatic Leadership………………………………..……..…………………….154 Multiple Leaders……………………………………...……….………………….….155 P.S. Manohar…………………………………..…………..……..……………..156 Reena ……………………………………...……………………………………..157 Movement Intellectuals……………………………………………….……………..………158 Marxist Frameworks…………………………………………...…………..………..160 The Feminist Controversy………………………….………...…………….…...….161 Two Writings………………………………..………………………………………..161 Saaraamśam……………………………………..……………...………………162 Again Liquor……………………………………………………………...………163 6. Advocates, Adversaries, and Beneficiaries Within the Prohibition Field…………………………...…...166 Social Structure and the Market for Liquor………………………………………….…...167 The Liquor Industry……………………………………………………………………...….169 The Toddy Tappers…………………………………………………...……….……169 Arrack Businessmen……………………………………….……………….…..…..172 Manufacturers and Traders of Foreign Liquor and Beer……………………......174 Sellers of Illicit Liquor………………………….……………….……………..…….178 The Political Field…………………………………….………………………….……..……179 Advocates from the Political Field…………….....…………………….……..……180 Politicians in the Liquor Trade…………………………………..…… ...……..…..184 The Excise Staff………………………..…….…………….……......………….…..186 The Withdrawal of Prohibition………….…….………….………...…..…………..209 Curbing the Protests……………………………………………………….……..…………192 The Court……………………………………..……………………..………….……193 The Police…………………………………………………….…………….....……..194 Hired Gunmen…………………………………………….…..……………..……....198 7. The ‘Imagined Community’ of Protest..…………….…200 The Press…………………………………………….……...……….…………..…………..201 The ‘Newspaper Revolution’……………………………....………....…………….201 The Telugu Press……………………………………….…..………….…………...202 The Journalists…………………………………………..…...…..….………………205 The TV……………………………………………………..…….…….……………..206 Cultural Constructions of the Movement………………………………...………………..207 Shared Origin………………………………………….….…….………...……..208 Shared Aim(s)……………………………………………….…..……………….208 Shared Experiences……………………………………..…………...…………209 Collective Action……………………………..………………….…………………...……...209 Protests at District and State Level……………….……………………………..…...……214 Demonstrations………………………..……………………..……………………...214 Public Meetings……………………………………..…………………..……….…..216 The Power of Speech……………………………..………………..……….………217 Dharnas and Rasta Rokos…………………………………………………....……219 Historicity and the Importance of Memory………………………………...….…..220 The Travel of Activists…………………………………………….……………..………….221 Travelling by Train……………………….…………………….………...………….221 The Padayatra……………………………………………….………………………222 Cultural Activities………………………………………………..…….……..……….....…..224 The Street Theatre in Andhra Pradesh………………….……………………......224 Music in Andhra Pradesh……………………………………...……….....………..228 The Artistes…………………………………………………….…………………….230 Visual Art………………………………………………………...………….………..232 8. The Anti-Arrack Movement Between Global/National Processes and Local Contexts……………………..….....238 Struggle Against Liquor at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century……………….….…245 Acknowledgements.……………………………...…………252 Abstract…………………………………..……………………254 References….……………………………………….………...255 Index.…………………………………………………………...272 Tables and Illustrations Tables Inhabitants in Chintala Palem (1996)…………………………….……….……83 Figures Alcohol consumption in Andhra Pradesh……………..…………….…...…...168 Revenue receits..……………………..…………………………………….…..188 Excise revenue derived from shops in Andhra Pradesh ………….…….....189 Maps Andhra Pradesh…………………...……………………………………..……….23 Nellore District……...…………….………………………………………….…...64 Illustrations Mural painting from Tirupati ……………………..……………………….……233 State placard from Tirupati ………….………….……………………………..233 Painting by Nellore artist ………………………….………….…….………….234 Cartoon from Eenadu……………………..……………………………………234 Abbreviations AIWC All-India Women’s Conference APCLC Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee BC Backward Classes BGVS Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samithi (the India Science Knowledge Association) BJP Bharatiya Janata Party CPI Communist Party of India CBCID Central Bureau of Criminal Investigation CPI(M) Communist Party of India-Marxist CPI-ML Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist DRO District Revenue Officer ENA Extra Neutral Alcohol FCRO Foreign Contribution Regulation Act IMFL Indian-Made Foreign Liquor IAS Indian Administrative Service IPTA Indian People’s Theatre Association JVV Jana Vignana Vedika (People’s Science Forum) KSSP Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad (Kerala Science Literacy Society) MGR Minimum Guaranteed Quantity MRO Mandal Revenue Officer NAWO National Alliance of Women’s Associations NGO Non-Government Organization NLMA National Literacy Mission Authority NTR Nandamiri Tarak Rama Rao OPDR Organization for Protecting Democratic Rights PDSU Progressive Democratic Students’ Union POW Progressive Organization of Women PWG People’s War Group RISE Rural Institute of Social Education SC Scheduled Castes SHG Self-Help Groups RDO Rural Development Officer SFI Student Federation of India TASMAC Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation TDP Telugu Desam Party ii TCS Toddy Shops’ Cooperative Societies TTS Tree for Tapper Scheme VAO Village Administrative Officer WCTU Women’s Christian Temperance Union Notes on Transcription All words are transcribed from Telugu in accordance with the model presented by Gwynn (1991). However, proper names, geographical names, and the names of castes as well as those of movement organisations and state programmes are spelled in their anglicised forms. iv Introduction In 1991 women from Dubagunta, Nellore District in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, drove the liquor contractors out of their village. This is said to have been the beginning of the so-called Anti-Arrack Movement (Saara Vyathireka Udyamam), which finally led to the prohibition of alcohol in the state on 16