Today in this article we are going to tell you about the contribution of farmers of Bihar in the freedom movement.
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Contribution of farmers of Bihar in the freedom movement
In 1917, Mahatma Gandhi organized a satyagraha in Champaran regarding the problems of the farmers growing indigo in Bihar. By the end of 1918 AD in Bihar, about 92% of the people were directly or indirectly engaged in agricultural work for their livelihood. The employment of people in industry and business was very less. The system of agriculture was also based on the old system and the land revenue system was very exploitative.
Instead of producing food grains by the British rulers, farmers were forced to produce commercial crops like indigo etc. Indigo cultivation was extremely harmful to the farmers. Initially indigo cultivation was confined to rice growing areas in Bihar. But, later it started happening in other areas as well. As a result, the influence of the indigo planters was increasing.
Due to certain reasons the agricultural economy became very harmful and the farming class became poor. Most of the farmers became sharecroppers and landless laborers after being evicted from the land and their land went to the rights and responsibilities. In these circumstances, the background of the rebellion against the British rule and their allies was prepared.
Due to Gandhi's Satyagraha movement, the British government had to pass the Champaran Farmers Act 1918. Although the farmers did not get special relief in this act, but there was a demonstration of farmer's unity and Gandhiji got fame as a pro-farmer leader.
The contribution of Swami Vidyanand is significant in raising the fundamental issues related to land. He exposed the evils of zamindari system and awakened the farmers. In the light of the slogan of the 1920 Nagpur session of the Indian National Congress, the landlords were not paid rent in some places of Bihar. In North Bihar, rent was not paid to many princely states and planters. The situation in Saran district was more serious.
The farmers of Bihar participated with great enthusiasm in the civil disobedience movement. In 1930, the entire Bihar did not do chowkidari campaign, which was very successful. The economic slowdown of the 1930s also affected the farmers of Bihar. His condition had become more serious.
The situation in Gopalganj's Bhore and Koutaya became very serious. The farmers here also attacked the police stations. Movement was going on in these places under the leadership of Deoria Sub-Divisional Kisan Sabha President Sachidanand. In the Kisan Sammelan held in Jehanabad in May 1931, the repression of the farmers by the landlords of the district was condemned and a committee was appointed to investigate the grievances of the farmers.
Swami Bhavani Dayal Sanyasi was very active in Shahabad at that time. In Bihar, the Congress appointed a farmers inquiry committee under the chairmanship of Rajendra Prasad, the other members being Abdul Bari, Baldev Sahai and Rajendra Mishra. Due to this Inquiry Committee, some landlords feared an intense publicity and also gave a lot of exemption in rent.
In the civil disobedience movement that started again in 1932, the peasant movement became more violent and there were attacks in the police stations at Sheohar, Belsand, Bairgania, Tarapur, Munger. Swami Sahajanand Saraswati was the most influential and important leader of the farmers in Bihar.
Sahajanand Saraswati and his associates kept the spirit of nationalism alive in the farmers and gave a new direction to the peasant movement. In early 1933, the bill was introduced in the council despite opposition from the Kisan Sabha. This caused a wave of rose among the farmers and the farmers held a meeting in Munger and decided that they would not pay more than half the rent.
In the meeting of Patna, Sahajanand Saraswati declared that the Congress would not be allowed to use the Kisan Sabha for the fulfillment of its purpose. An attempt was made to give a formal form to the Kisan Sabha at the Provincial Kisan Sabha in Madhubani in March 1933. Although the Maharaja of Darbhanga did not allow this to happen, but in spite of this, the second Provincial Kisan Sabha was organized in Bihta within a month and after that Sahajanand Saraswati became the undisputed leader of the farmers.
By 1935, the number of members of the Kisan Sabha increased to 80,000. The Kisan Sabha gradually separated itself from the Congress and thus by 1935, the Kisan Sabha had become a powerful and leftist organization of Bihar. In 1937, a conflict arose between the Left and the Congress over the Anant:Bakasht land. It was a clear struggle between the social classes, which also led to a conflict between the farmers and the British government.
By 1938-39, the Congress government had to struggle a lot with the Kisan Sabha. But due to the resignation of the Congress government at the beginning of the Second World War, the conflict and tension subsided. In the election of 1940, the Congress in its election manifesto spoke of permanent land management or the abolition of the Zamindari system. This caused the fear of the landlords being deprived of their tenancy rights, and on the other hand the British rulers feared that the British Raj would be abolished.
After 1946, the Congress party came to the government. This gave hope to the farmers that the Zamindari system would be abolished. In 1946, the farmers of Bihar regrouped on the old issues of bakasht, lack of revenue rate. On the question of Bakash, a large scale peasant revolt started in different parts of Bihar.
At this time the farmers were being led by Swami Sahajanand Saraswati and the Left parties were playing an active role in the movement. The farmers got excited and forcibly started harvesting crops and plowing the land, which turned violent in nature.
Another issue of conflict between the peasants and the zamindars was Bholi (revenue payment in jeans), cash (town rent payment) of land and conversion of land. Farmers started illegally occupying these lands. As a result of this many violent conflicts took place all over Bihar.
The Congress government passed the Bihar Public Order Maintenance Act in 1947 to control the peasant movement. The Act's available were extremely harsh. According to a provision, the farmer of one village could not go to another village, where the Bakashat struggle was going on. The highest number of farmers were arrested in Darbhanga and Begusarai. Despite this, the farmers did not give up and kept fighting.