(i) Peasants' Movements: Peasants movements or agrarian struggles have taken place from pre-colonial days. The movements in the period between 1858 and 1914 tended to remain localised, disjointed and confined to particular grievances. Well-known are the Bengal revolt of 1859-62 against the indigo plantation system and the 'Deccan riots' of 1857 against moneylenders. Some of these issues continued into the following period, and under the ledership of Mahatma Gandhi became partially linked to the Independence Movement. For instance, the Bardoli Satyagraha (1928, Surat District) a 'non-tax' campaign as part of the nationwide non-cooperative movement, a campaign of refusal to pay land revenue and the Champaran Satyagraha (1917-18) directed against indigo plantations. In the 1920s, protest movements against the forest policies of the British government and local rulers arose in certain regions.

Between 1920 and 1940 peasant organisations arose. The first organisation to be founded was the Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha (1929) and in 1936 the All India Kisan Sabha. The peasants organised by the Sabhas demanded freedom from economic exploitation for peasants, workers and all other exploited classes. At the time of Independence, we had the two most classical cases of peasant movements, namely the Tebhaga movement (1946-47) and the Telangana Movement (1946-51). The first was a struggle of sharecroppers in Bengal in North Bihar for two thirds share of their produce instead of the customary half. It had the support of the Kisan Sabha and the Communist Party of India (CPI). The second, directed against the feudal conditions in the princely state of Hyderabad and was led by the CPI.

(ii) New Farmers Movement: Certain issues which had dominated colonial times changed after independence. For land reforms, zamindari abolition, declining importance of land revenue and public credit system beganto alter rural areas. The period after 1947 was characterised by two major sociaI movevements. The NaxaIite struggle and the ‘new farmer’s movements. The Naxalite movement started from the region of Naxalbari (1967) in Bengal.

The so called ‘new farmer’s movements began in the 1970s in Punjab and Tamil Nadu. These movements were regionally organised we non-party and involved farmers rather than peasants. (farmers are said to be market involved as both commodity producers and purchasers). The basic ideology of the movement was strongly anit-state and anti-urban. The focus of demand were ‘price and related issues' (for example price procurement, remunerative prices, prices for agricultural inputs, taxation, non-repayment of loans). Novel methods of agitation were used; blocking of roads and railways, refusing politicians and bureaucrats entry to villages, and so on. It has been argued that the farmers' movements have broadened their agenda and ideology and include environment and women's issues. Therefore, they can be seen as a part of the world wide ‘new social movements'.

Introduction: Different tribal groups spread across the country may share common issues. But the distinctions between them are equally significant. Many of the tribal movements have been largely located in the so called ‘tribal belt’ in middle India, such as the Santhals, Hos, Oraons, Mundas in Chota Nagpur and the Santhal Parganas. The region constitutes the main part of what has come to be called Jharkhand.

Tribal Movement in Jharkhand:

(i) Jharkhand is one of the newly-formed states of India, carved out of south Bihar in the year 2000. Behind the formation of this state lies more than a century of resistance. The social movement for Jharkhand had a charismatic leader as Birsa Munda, an Adivasi who led a major uprising against the British after his death.

(ii) Birsa became an important icon of the movement. Stories and songs about him can be found all over Jharkhand. The memory of Birsa's struggle was also kept alive by writing. Christian missionaries working in south Bihar were responsible for spreading literacy in the area. Literate Adivasis began to research and write about their history and myths. They documented and disseminated information about tribal customs and cultural practices. This helped create a unified ethnic consciousness and a shared identity as Jharkhandis.

(iii) Main issues taken by Jharkhand Tribal leaders:

The issues against which the leaders of the movement in Jharkhand agitated were:

• acquisition of land for large irrigation projects and firing ranges;

• survey and settlement operations, which were held up, camps closed down, etc;

• collection of loans, rent and cooperative dues, which were resisted;

• nationalisation of forest produce which they boycotted.

Result and achievement of Jharkhand tribal movement:

(a) Literate Adivasis were also in a position to get government jobs so that, over time, a middle-class Adivasi intellectual leadership emerged that formulated the demand for a separate state and lobbied for it in India and abroad.

(b) Within south Bihar, Adivasis shared a common hatred of dirkus - migrant traders and money-lenders who had settled in the area and grabbed its wealth, impoverishing the original residents.

(c) Most of the benefits from the mining and industrial projects in this mineral-rich region had gone to dikus even as Adivasi lands had been alienated.

(d) Adivasi experiences of marginalisation and their sense of injustice were mobilised to create a shared Jharkhandi identity and inspire collective action that eventually led to the formation of a separate state.

Tribal Movement in North-East India:

(a) The process of state formation initiated by the India government following the attainment of independence generated disquieting trends in all the major hill districts in the region. Conscious of their distinct identity and traditional autonomy the tribes were unsure of being incorporated within the administrative machinery of Assam.

(b) One of the key issues that bind tribal movements from different parts of the country is the alienation of tribals from forest lands. In this sense ecological issues are central to tribal movements. Just as cultural issues of identity and economic issues such as inequality are. This brings us back of the question about the blurring of old and new social movements

Tips: -

V. Imp.

Imagination is a situation far away from reality. I have been asked to imagine a society where there has been no social movement. I imagine such society of the following kind of set-up.

(i) I imagine a very progressive society. People all living in a very peaceful, cooperative and harmonious social atmosphere. People are having a family of six-seven persons in all. Grandfather, Grandmother, a couple and their two or three children in a house. This family is not having any domestic help or servant. All members accept dignity of labour and like to do their own work themselves. There is a self-discipline. Elders like that their youngers and youngsters should regard their elders and serve them whenever they feel to provide help or co-operation to eldery members of the family.

(ii) The family has three sleeping room and one common room. In common room they are having a TV, Radio, Dining Table, Sofa and Central Table alongwith book Almirah.

(iii) There is an MTNL telephone. All members of the family take there meal together at least one time in a day. Grandmother and grandfather live at home both are government servants, daughter lines at home, children go to school for study and the father of the children goes to market. He is a clock merchants.

(iv) This house is situated at a housing society. Generally lower and upper middle class people living in this society. There are nearly 150 houses in this group housing society. There is a temple and a gurudwara on east and west corner of the area of the housing society. Most of the people are religious minded. There is a common library also. Every month there is a common meeting in the society. People of different caste, classes and communities live together. If there is any dispute or difference of opinion among members of the society. Some of the people sit together in community hall of the society and they decide. This society is very old. Most of the families have been living since last 55 years here. They did not require any social movement of regligious/social-economic or cultural type. These people believe in democracy, liberalison, liberty, equality, communal harmony, gender equality, patriotism, education for all and to help each other at the time of suffering or adverse situation.

(v) I have described such type of society to give a reasonably model type of society which is needed by our country. We should do our work, we should love our country, our neighbour, our religion but did not hole religion of other people or fast and ritual of other people. We should participate in most of the festival and national festivals together with good feelings and gesture.

Women's Movement:

(i) The 19th century social reform movements raised various issues women concerning such as sati, infanticide, illiteracy among women bad treatment and social position of windows, polygamy, Pardah system early marriage among the girl gender inequality due to Hindu laws of inheritence, Dowry system ill-treatment with the female child, degrading system of Devdasis.

(ii) The early 20th century saw the growth of women's organisations at a national and local level. The Women's India Association (WIA) (1917) All India Women's Conference (AIWC) (1926), National Council for Women in India (NCWI) (1925) are ready names that we can mention. While many of them began with a limited focus, their scope extended over time. For instance, the AIWC began with the idea that ‘women’s welfare‘ and ‘politics’ were mutually exclusive.

(iii) It can be argued that during the years of first-half of the Twentieth Century most of the activities taken by different women organisation and association did not constitute a social movement. It can be argued otherwise too. Let us recall some of the features that characterise social movements. It did have organisations, ideology, leadership, a shared understanding and the aim of bringing about changes on a public issue. What they succeeded together was to create an atmosphere where the women's question could not be ignored.

(iv) Participation of women in agrarian struggle and revolts: It is often assumed that only middle class educated women are involved in social movements. Part of the struggle has been to remember the forgotten history of women's participation. Women participated along with men in struggles and revolts originating in tribal and rural areas in the colonial period. The Tebbaga movement in Bengal, the Telangana arms, struggle from the erstwhile Nizam's rule and the Warli tribal’s revolt against bondage in Maharashtra are some examples.

(v) Women's movement during Post Independence period:

(a) An issue that is often raised is that if there was an active women's movement before 1947, whatever happened afterwards. One explanation has been that many of the women activists who were also involved in the nationalist movement got involved in the nation building task. Others cite the trauma of Partition as responsible for the lull.

(b) In the mid-1970s there was a renewal of the women's movement in India. Some call it the second phase of the Indian women's movement. While many of the concerns remained the same. There were changes both in terms of organisational strategy as well as ideologies.

(c) There was the growth of what is termed as the autonomous women's movements. The term ‘autonomy’ referred to the fact that they were ‘autonomous’ or independent from political parties as distinct from those women's organisations that had links with political parties. It was felt that political parties tended to marginalise issues of women.

(vi) New issues concerning women such as violence against women, land right, sexual harassment and dowry: Apart from organisational changes, there were new issues that were focussed upon. For instance, violence against women. Over the years there have been numerous compaigns that have been taken up. You may have noticed that application for school forms have both father's and mother's names. This was not always true. Likewise important legal changes have taken place thanks to the campaign by the women's movement. Issues of land rights, employment have been fought alongside rights against sexual harassment and dowry.

(vii) Gender inequality and women reformation: There has also been greater recognition that both men and women are constrained by the dominant gender identities. For instance men in patriarchal societies feel they must be strong and successful. It is not, manly, to express oneself emotionally. A gender-just society would allow both men and women to be free. This of course rests on the idea that for true freedom to grow and develop injustices of all kinds have to end.

No doubt in India it is difficult upto great extent to make a clear distinction between the old and new social movement. We can discuss this point into the following two paragraph.

(i) India has experienced a whole array of social movements involving women, peasants, dalits, adivasis and others. Can these movements be understood as 'new social movements'? Gali Omvedt in her book Reinventing Revolution points out that concerns about social inequality and the unequal distribution of resources continue to be important elements in these movements. Peasant movements have mobilised for better prices for their produce and protested against the removal of agricultural subsidies. Dalit labourers have acted collectively to ensure that they are not exploited by upper-caste landowners and money-lenders. The women's movement has worked on issues of gender discrimination in diverse spheres like the workplace and within the family.

(ii) Nature of new social movement and 'taken up of old issues of economic inequality: At the same time, these new social movements are not just about 'old' issues of economic inequality. Nor are they organised along class lines alone. Identity politics, cultural anxieties and aspirations are essential elements in creating social movements and occur in ways that are difficult to trace to class-based inequality. Often, these social movements unite participants across class boundaries. For instance, the women's movement includes urban, middle-class feminists as well as poor peasant women. The regional movements for separate statehood bring together different groups of people who do not share homogeneous class identities. In a social movement, questions of social inequality can occur alongside other, equally important, issue.