People's Democracy

Ashok Dhawale

OVER 50,000 peasants and agricultural workers in Maharashtra held large demonstrations in 60 tehsils spread over 23 districts and lit huge bonfires of foreign agricultural products, on October 2. Theirs was a novel form of protest against import liberalisation in particular and against the imperialist-dictated agricultural policies of the BJP-led central government in general. The call for this statewide action was given by the Maharashtra Rajya Shetkari-Shetmajur Sangharsh Samiti, which comprises six progressive organisations of peasants and agricultural workers.

These include the CPI(M)-led Maharashtra Rajya Kisan Sabha and Maharashtra Rajya Shetmajur Union (Lal Bavta), the CPI-led Maharashtra Rajya Kisan Sabha and Maharashtra Rajya Shetmajur Union, the PWP-led Shetkari Sabha and a breakaway group of the Shetkari Sanghatana, whose leaders have been consistently opposing Sharad Joshi’s brand of pro-imperialist agricultural policies for the last several years.

The Sangharsh Samiti, which was formed at its first meeting in Mumbai on August 17, 2001, gave the October 2 stir call around many burning demands of the peasantry and agricultural workers of Maharashtra. These were:

1) Stop import of foreign agricultural products by steeply increasing the import duty on them;

2) Provide drinking water, fodder, work, crop insurance and compensation to the drought-affected;

3) Waive the debts, electricity bills and land cess in drought-hit areas;

4) Expand the scope of the Employment Guarantee Scheme (EGS);

5) Give remunerative prices based on cost of production for all crops;

6) Provide adequate living wage to agricultural workers;

7) Cancel the proposed hike in power tariff and irrigation rates;

8) Vest forest plots and grazing pastures in the name of the tillers;

9) Stop import of cane harvesters and establish a mathadi board for sugarcane cutters;

10) With 60 million tones of foodgrains rotting in government godowns, put an end to the policy of destroying the PDS and provide grain at cheap rates to the people in both rural and urban areas.

October 2 is known as Gandhi Jayanti Day. But October 2 this year was significant for the Left peasant movement of the state in another way, too.

For, it marked the beginning of the birth centenary year of Comrade Shamrao Parulekar, founder of the Maharashtra Rajya Kisan Sabha, a militant leader, along with Godavari Parulekar, of the famed Warli Adivasi Revolt in Thane district during the pre-independence period, a staunch anti-imperialist freedom fighter, a national leader of the All India Kisan Sabha, a member of the first Central Committee of the CPI(M) and a communist member of the Lok Sabha elected in 1957 at the time of the Samyukta Maharashtra movement. Comrade Shamrao Parulekar passed away on August 3, 1965, while in detention along with several other CPI(M) leaders in the wake of the Sino-Indian conflict.

It may be recalled that last year the Left peasant movement in the state had celebrated the birth centenary year of Krantisimha Nana Patil, another legendary communist peasant leader. Comrade Patil was the founder and leader of the three year-long parallel government (Prati Sarkar) set up in Satara district challenging British rule, was a former president of the All India Kisan Sabha and a communist member of the Lok Sabha for two terms.

The Left peasant and agricultural workers movement in Maharashtra this year is also celebrating the birth centenary year of yet another outstanding fighter, Karmaveer Dadasaheb Gaikwad, a close associate of Dr B R Ambedkar. He not only led the RPI after Ambedkar’s demise, but was perhaps the only RPI leader to lead a massive satyagraha of landless peasants and agricultural workers in cooperation with the communists in the sixties. Nearly three and a half lakh landless filled the jails during this struggle. The CPI(M) has proposed that his centenary year be observed by leading another concerted struggle of the landless throughout Maharashtra.

In preparation for the October 2 struggle, the Sangharsh Samiti at the state level had published 16,000 posters; at the district level, tens of thousands of handbills were printed. Big and small meetings were held in several villages. Rural women participated in all the actions in a big way. The media in most centres gave good publicity to the bonfire actions.

The largest actions in this struggle took place in Nasik district, which mobilised over 20,000 peasants in actions conducted in 9 tehsils. The two biggest mobilisations here were in Surgana (12,000) and Dindori (6,000) tehsils. Next in line was Thane district, which mobilised over 10,000 peasants and agricultural workers in 7 tehsils.

Wardha, Beed and Aurangabad districts had demonstrations and bonfire actions of 2000 each in several tehsils, while Nanded, Yavatmal, Buldana, Amravati, Gondia and Gadchiroli districts accounted for demonstrations ranging from 1000 to 1500 each in several centres. Kolhapur, Latur, Raigad and Jalgaon districts mobilised over 500 each. Solapur, Satara, Nandurbar, Dhule, Pune, Sangli, Chandrapur and Parbhani districts held actions in several places ranging from 100 to 300 each.

The success of these actions has enthused the peasants and agricultural workers in several districts, and the united nature of this struggle has the potential of drawing in new sections of rural masses in the ambit of the growing resistance against the disastrous agricultural policies of the central and state governments.

The CPI(M)-led Kisan Sabha and Shetmajur Union took up this struggle seriously, and together mobilised over 40,000 peasants and agricultural workers in 21 districts for the bonfire actions. This was all the more remarkable since the October 2 joint action was taking place just four days after the September 25-27 All India Jail Bharo stir of the CPI(M), in which nearly 35,000 people had participated in 27 districts of the state.

The second meeting of the Sangharsh Samiti, held on October 25, in Mumbai, reviewed the October 2 actions and gave another statewide call for mass demonstrations at tehsil centres on November 6 to oppose the impending hike in power tariff. This hike will prove back-breaking not only for the peasantry but also for rural and urban domestic consumers. PWP general secretary N D Patil explained the details of the tariff hike proposals.

The Maharashtra State Electricity Board has submitted these proposals to the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission. These in effect seek to do away with all kinds of cross-subsidy in power tariffs. No effort whatsoever has been made to reduce the tremendous transmission losses and to control the theft of power by the rich, despite clear directives from the MERC itself. Apart from highlighting the power tariff hike issue, the November 6 demonstrations will also take up some of the other burning demands given above.

In this meeting, a policy draft for the Sangharsh Samiti was prepared and placed for discussion by AIKS CKC member Krishna Khopkar, and it was decided to study it in detail and finalise it in the next meeting. To make the ensuing joint agitation even more widespread and effective, and to further strengthen the coordination between the constituent organisations, it was decided to immediately set up Sangharsh Samitis at district level.

This meeting also unanimously elected the state-level office-bearers of the Maharashtra Rajya Shetkari-Shetmajur Sangharsh Samiti as follows: president -- N D Patil; general secretary -- Ashok Dhawale; vice-presidents -- Madhavrao Gaikwad, Vijay Javandhia, Kumar Shiralkar, Jiva Pandu Gavit, Manohar Taksal and Laxmanrao Golegaonkar; joint secretaries -- Krishna Khopkar, Sudam Jadhav, S V Jadhav, Rajan Kshirsagar and Shivkumar Ganvir.