In the age of imperialism and nationalism, when people were getting united against different kinds of oppression and backwardness, we saw the emergence of peasants' movement in many parts of the world, and peasants identity started to shape as a separate class. In the context of the 18th century peasantry in France, Karl Marx highlighted that their mode of production had isolated them from one another. To him, 'they are formed by simple addition of homologous magnitude, such as potatoes in a sack form a sack of potatoes' (Marx, 1852, p. 231). To Lenin (1972, pp. 497-498), however, peasantry in late 19th and early 20th century Russia was differentiated by the unequal patterns of landholding, income and by their contact with the market as well. Antonio Gramsci has seen the peasantry in the context of Italy as a part of a larger socio-political order and not a discrete entity whose subordination could be broken through the alliance of workers and through the development of class-consciousness (Arnold, 1984, pp. 161-162). Frantz Fanon studied the peasantry in the context of Algeria and highlighted that peasants were posited to a situation where 'they have nothing to lose and everything to gain' by way of their participation in the change (Fanon, 1971, pp. 4-7). Alavi (1965, pp. 245-275) highlights the crucial roles played by the middle peasantry in the Russian and Chinese revolutions. However, in his observation on the peasantry in South Asia, he points out that the peasant 'finally and irrevocably takes the road to revolution only when he is shown in practice that the power of his master can be irrevocably broken then the alternative mode of existence becomes real to him' (ibid., pp. 245-275). To Barrington Moore, the revolutionary role of the peasantry in the radical movements is dependent on the structure of power and the class alignments within a society. Turning to India, he mentions Note
See Full PDF See Full PDF
Download Free PDF View PDF
Tebhaga movement was basically a movement of the sharecroppers demanding two-third instead of half as their share of the produce. Tebhaga in Bengali means to divide into three parts. The sharecroppers had no right over the land, they had only taken 50 percent of the produce even after bearing the entire cost of cultivation. The main issue of this struggle was reduced rent to Jotedars from 50 percent to 33 percent of production by the Adhiars or Bargadars. This exploitation was going on, as a result, the sharecroppers revolted against Jotedars. We have seen in different fields that exploitation may not always lead to a movement without the political organization of the exploited. Here, the Tebhaga movement was led by the Communist Party of India. The CPI played a vital role to mobilize the peasants and went for a mass movement. Historically, it is seen (British Records) that the peasant unrest has been frequent in Dinajpur District right from the advent of British rule. 1 So, the focus of my work is on the role of CPI to organize the peasants in Dinajpur District Before going to details picture of the Tebhaga movement in Dinajpur District, I draw the actual picture of the land system in this issue. The land system of the Dinajpur emerged from a new relationship over and above the jotedar-bargadar. Actually, the land was to be reclaimed from jungles by the poor hardworking Santals, Oraons and Rajbanshisand then they were given an incentive in the beginning. These poor people were on the verge of demanding some type of tenancy rights after 12 years of tenure they were uprooted. 2 The conflict between the sharecropper and the jotedar was always there in the system. The clear picture of exploitation by jotedars was given by Colebrooke. He said, "The under-tenants depressed by an excessive rent in kind and by usurious returns for the cattle, seed, and subsistence advanced to them can never extricate themselves from debt…. whenever the system of an intermediate tenancy subsists, the peasant is indignant, the husbandry ill-managed." 3 These zamindars used to charge 'abwabs' or illegal exaction with the connivance of the jotedars. The Zamindars-jotedars became a great source of exploitation of the actual tillers from the early 19 th century. Buchanan Hamilton gave a real picture of the land system in Dinajpur.
Download Free PDF View PDF
Abhijeet Publications, New Delhi
Download Free PDF View PDF
Concept Publishing House
