All India Kisan Sabha ( AIKS;
lit. ''All India Farmers Union'', also known as the Akhil Bharatiya Kisan Sabha), is the peasant or farmers' wing of the
Communist Party of India, an important
peasant movement
A peasant movement is a social movement involved with the agricultural policy, which claims peasants rights.
Peasant movements have a long history that can be traced to the numerous peasant uprisings that occurred in various regions of the wor ...
formed by
Sahajanand Saraswati
Sahajanand Saraswati( real name Navrang Rai ) (22 February 1889 – 26 June 1950) was an ascetic, a nationalist and a peasant leader of India.
Although born in United Province (
present-day Uttar Pradesh), his social and political activities ...
in 1936.
History
The Kisan Sabha movement started in
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...
under the leadership of Sahajanand Saraswati who had formed in 1929 the Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha (BPKS) in order to mobilise peasant grievances against the
zamindari
A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as ...
attacks on their occupancy rights, and thus sparking the farmers' movements in India.
[''Peasant Struggles in India'', by Akshayakumar Ramanlal Desai. Published by Oxford University Press, 1979. ''Page 349''.]
Gradually the peasant movement intensified and spread across the rest of
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. All these radical developments on the peasant front culminated in the formation of the All India Kisan Sabha at the
Lucknow
Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...
session of the
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British E ...
in April 1936, with
Swami Sahajanand Saraswati elected as its first president. The other prominent members of this Sabha were
N.G. Ranga,
Ram Manohar Lohia,
Jayaprakash Narayan
Jayaprakash Narayan (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), popularly referred to as JP or ''Lok Nayak'' ( Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian independence activist, theorist, socialist and political leader. He is remembered for l ...
,
Acharya Narendra Dev and Bankim Mukerji, and it involved prominent leaders like
N.G. Ranga,
E.M.S. Namboodiripad,
Indulal Yagnik
Indulal Kanaiyalal Yagnik (22 February 1892 – 17 July 1972) was an Indian independence activist, who purchased indian tri colour flag from Germany to India. He was a leader of the All India Kisan Sabha and one who led the Mahagujarat Movement, w ...
,
Sohan Singh Bhakna
Baba Sohan Singh Bhakna (22 January 1870 – 21 December 1968) was a Sikh revolutionary , the founding president of the Ghadar Party, and a leading member of the party involved in the Ghadar Conspiracy of 1915. Tried at the Lahore Conspiracy ...
,
Z.A. Ahmed,
Pandit Karyanand Sharma,
Pandit Yamuna Karjee,
Pandit Yadunandan (Jadunandan) Sharma,
Rahul Sankrityayan,
P. Sundarayya,
Ram Manohar Lohia,
Yogendra Sharma and
Bankim Mukherjee. The Kisan Manifesto, released in August 1936, demanded abolition of the
zamindari
A zamindar ( Hindustani: Devanagari: , ; Persian: , ) in the Indian subcontinent was an autonomous or semiautonomous ruler of a province. The term itself came into use during the reign of Mughals and later the British had begun using it as ...
system and cancellation of rural debts; in October 1937 it adopted the red flag as its banner.
[''Mahatma Gandhi'', by Sankar Ghose. Published by Allied Publishers, 1991. . Page 262.] Soon, its leaders became increasingly distant with Congress and repeatedly came in confrontation with Congress governments, in Bihar and United Province.
In the subsequent years, the movement was increasingly dominated by Socialists and Communists as it moved away from the Congress. By the 1938
Haripura
Haripura is a village located near Kadod town in the Surat district of Gujarat, India. It is around 13 kilometres north east of Bardoli. During the Indian independence movement, it was the venue of annual session of the Indian National Congress ...
session of the Congress, under the presidency of
Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, the rift became evident
and by May 1942, the
Communist Party of India, which was finally legalised by the government in July 1942, had taken over All India Kisan Sabha all across India, including
Bengal
Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...
where its membership grew considerably.
[''States, Parties, and Social Movements'', by Jack A. Goldstone. Cambridge University Press, 2003. . Page 192.] It took on the Communist Party's line of People's War and stayed away from the
Quit India Movement which started in August 1942, though this also meant losing its popular base. Many of its members defied party orders and joined the movement. Prominent members like
N.G. Ranga, Indulal Yagnik and
Swami Sahajananda
Sahajanand Saraswati( real name Navrang Rai ) (22 February 1889 – 26 June 1950) was an ascetic, a nationalist and a peasant leader of India.
Although born in United Province (
present-day Uttar Pradesh), his social and political activities ...
soon left the organisation, which increasingly found it difficult to approach the peasants without the watered-down approach of pro-British and pro-war, and increasing its pro-nationalist agenda, much to the dismay of the British Raj.
Conferences and office bearers
*First conference held at Lucknow
President:Swami Sahajanand Saraswati
General secretary:N.G.Ranga
*Second conference held at Faijpur on 25,26 December 1936
President: N.G.Ranga
*Third conference held at Comilla now in Bangladesh on 11–14 May 1938
President:Swami Sahajanand Saraswati
*Fourth conference held at Gaya, Bihar on 6–10 April 1939
President: Acharya Narendra Deo.
Swagtadhyaksh: Pandit Yadunandan Sharma
*Fifth conference held at Palasa Andhra Pradesh on 26–27 March 1940 in presidency of Baba Sohanasing Bhakhna.
Pandit Rahul Sanskrityan was set as president but he was arrested before conference so Sohansing Bhakhna elected as president.
*Sixth conference held in Patna on 29-30-31 May 1942.
President: Indulal Yagnik
*Seventh conference held at Bhakhna, Punjab on 1–4 April 1943.
President: Bankim Mukherjee.
*Eighth conference held at Vijayawada Andhra Pradesh on 14–15 March 1944
President: Sahajanand Saraswati
*Ninth conference held at Netrakona now in Bangladesh on 7–9 April 1945
President: Muzaffar Ahmed
*Tenth conference held at Secunderabad Aligarh on 22–26 May 1947
President: Karyanand Sharma.
*Eleventh conference held at Kananoor Kerala on 22–23 April 1953
President: Indulal Yagnik
General secretary: N. Prasad Rao.
*Twelfth conference held at Moga Punjab on 13–19 September 1954
President: Indulal Yagnik
General secretary:N.Prasad Rao
*Thirteenth conference held at Talasari, Dahanu-Maharashtra on 17–22 May 1955
President: Com.Nana Patil
General se: N. Prasad Rao.
*Fourteenth conference held at Amritsar 28–30 September 1956
President: A.K.Gopalan.
*Fifteenth conference held at Bangaon West Bengal on 28 October to 3 November 1957.
*Sixteenth conference held at Mayuram District Tanjaur Tamil Nadu.
*Seventeenth conference held at Gazipur on 17–19 May 1960.
President:A.K.Gopalan
General secretary: Bhavani Sen.
*Eighteenth conference held at Thrisoor on 30 March to 2 April 1961
President:A.K.Gopalan.
General Secretary: Kavitet Sing Layalpuri.
*Nineteenth conference held at Amravati on 10–12 January 1968
President: Com.Teja Sinh Swatantra
General Secretary: Z.A. Ahmed.
*Twentieth conference held at Barasat, West Bengal on 1–5 April 1970
President: Teja Sinh
General Secretary: Z.A.Ahmed
*Twenty-first conference held at Bhatinda on 19–23 September 1973.
*Twenty second conference held at Vijayawada Andhra Pradesh on 7–10 June 1979
President: Z.A.Ahmed
General Secretary: Indradeep Sinha
*Twenty third conference held at Barabanki Uttar Pradesh on 28–31 December 1986
President: Indradeep Sinha
General Secretary:Y.V.Krishna Rao.
*Twenty fourth conference held at Madhubani Bihar on 16–19 June 1993
President:Com. Y.V.Krishna Rao
General Secretary: Com. Bhogendra Jha.
*Twenty fifth conference held at Bihar.
President:Com.Bhogendra Jha
General Secretary:Com. Y.V.Krishna Rao.
*Twenty sixth conference held at Thrisur.
President: Com.Bhogendra Jha
General Secretary:Com. Atulkumar Anjan
*Twenty seventh conference held at Kauntai West Bengal
President:Com.C.K.Chandrappan
General Secretary:Com. Atulkumar Anjaan
*Twenty eighth conference held at Aurangabad Maharashtra on 10–12 December 2010
President:Com. Prabodh Panda
General Secretary:Com. Atulkumar Anjaan
*Twenty ninth conference held at Hyderabad, Telanagana on 27–29 March 2015
President:Com.Prabodh Panda
Working President: Com. Bhupindar Sambar
General Secretary: Com.Atulkumar Anjaan
Activities
Protest against three Agri-bills
AIKS led nationwide protests against Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
*2 October 2018: AIKS organized march of farmers at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border.
* 26 January 2021: AIKS organized tractor rally in national capital.
*26 February 2022: AIKS led Thousands of farmers started marching to Dhule District (Maharashtra) Collector's Office demanding forest land certificate.
References
External links
Official Facebook Page
Further reading
* ''Swami Sahajanand and the Peasants of Jharkhand: A View from 1941'' translated and edited by
Walter Hauser
Walter Hauser (1 May 1837, in Wädenswil – 22 October 1902) was a Swiss politician and member of the Swiss Federal Council (1888–1902).
He was elected to the Federal Council on 13 December 1888 and died in office on 22 October 1902. He was a ...
along with the unedited
Hindi
Hindi ( Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...
original (
Manohar Publishers, paperback, 2005).
* ''Sahajanand on Agricultural Labour and the Rural Poor'' translated and edited by
Walter Hauser
Walter Hauser (1 May 1837, in Wädenswil – 22 October 1902) was a Swiss politician and member of the Swiss Federal Council (1888–1902).
He was elected to the Federal Council on 13 December 1888 and died in office on 22 October 1902. He was a ...
Manohar Publishers, paperback, 2005).
* ''Religion, Politics, and the Peasants: A Memoir of India's Freedom Movement'' translated and edited by
Walter Hauser
Walter Hauser (1 May 1837, in Wädenswil – 22 October 1902) was a Swiss politician and member of the Swiss Federal Council (1888–1902).
He was elected to the Federal Council on 13 December 1888 and died in office on 22 October 1902. He was a ...
Manohar Publishers, hardbound, 2003).
*Swami And Friends: Sahajanand Saraswati And Those Who Refuse To Let The Past of Bihar's Peasant Movements Become History By
Arvind Narayan Das Arvind Narayan Das (popularly known as Aravind N. Das) was a social scientist, journalist, activist and a documentary filmmaker from Bihar, eastern India..
He was influenced by Naxalbari, the peasant rebellion, while a student at St. Stephen's ...
, Paper for the Peasant Symposium, May 1997
University of Virginia
The University of Virginia (UVA) is a public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson, the university is ranked among the top academic institutions in the United States, with highly selective ad ...
,
Charlottesville
Charlottesville, colloquially known as C'ville, is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia. It is the county seat of Albemarle County, which surrounds the city, though the two are separate legal entities. It is named after Queen Ch ...
,
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
*Bagchi, A.K., 1976, "Deindustrialisation in Gangetic Bihar, 1809- 1901" in ''Essays in Honour of Prof. S.C. Sarkar'', New Delhi.
*Banaji, Jairus, 1976, "The Peasantry in the Feudal Mode of Production: Towards an Economic Model", ''Journal of Peasant Studies'', April.
*Bandopadhyay, D., 1973, "Agrarian Relations in Two Bihar Districts", ''Mainstream'', 2 June, New Delhi.
*
Judith M. Brown, 1972, ''Gandhi's Rise to Power: Indian Politics, 1915–1922'', London.
*Chaudhuri, B.B., 1971, "Agrarian Movements in Bengal and Bihar, 1919-1939" in B.R. Nanda, ed., ''Socialism in India'', New Delhi.
*Chaudhuri, B.B., 1975, "The Process of Depeasantisation in Bengal and Bihar, 1885-1947", ''Indian Historical Review'', 2(1), July, New Delhi.
*Chaudhuri, B.B., 1975a, "Land Market in Eastern India, 1793-1940", ''Indian Economic and Social History Review'', 13 (1 & 2), New Delhi.
*
Arvind Narayan Das Arvind Narayan Das (popularly known as Aravind N. Das) was a social scientist, journalist, activist and a documentary filmmaker from Bihar, eastern India..
He was influenced by Naxalbari, the peasant rebellion, while a student at St. Stephen's ...
, 1981, ''Agrarian Unrest and Socio-economic Change in Bihar, 1900-1980'', Delhi : Manohar.
*
Arvind Narayan Das Arvind Narayan Das (popularly known as Aravind N. Das) was a social scientist, journalist, activist and a documentary filmmaker from Bihar, eastern India..
He was influenced by Naxalbari, the peasant rebellion, while a student at St. Stephen's ...
(ed.),1982, ''Agrarian Movements in India : Studies on 20th Century Bihar'', London : Frank Cass.
*
Arvind Narayan Das Arvind Narayan Das (popularly known as Aravind N. Das) was a social scientist, journalist, activist and a documentary filmmaker from Bihar, eastern India..
He was influenced by Naxalbari, the peasant rebellion, while a student at St. Stephen's ...
, 1992, ''The Republic of Bihar'', New Delhi : Penguin.
*
Arvind Narayan Das Arvind Narayan Das (popularly known as Aravind N. Das) was a social scientist, journalist, activist and a documentary filmmaker from Bihar, eastern India..
He was influenced by Naxalbari, the peasant rebellion, while a student at St. Stephen's ...
, 1996, ''Changel : The Biography of a Village, New Delhi'' : Penguin.
*Datta, K.K., 1957, ''History of the Freedom Movement in Bihar'', Patna.
*Diwakar, R.R., ed., 1957, ''Bihar Through the Ages'', Patna.
*
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
, 1921, "The Zamindar and the Ryots", ''Young India'', Vol. III (New Series) No. 153, 18 May.
*
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
, 1940, ''An Autobiography or The Story of My experiments in Truth'', Ahmedabad.
*Mishra, G., 1968. "The Socio-economic Background of Gandhi's Champaran Movement", ''Indian Economic and Social History Review'', 5(3), New Delhi.
*Mishra, G., 1978, ''Agrarian Problems of Permanent Settlement: A Case Study of Champaran'', New Delhi.
*Mitra, Manoshi, 1983, ''Agrarian Social Structure in Bihar: Continuity and Change, 1786–1820'', Delhi : Manohar.
*Pouchepadass, J., 1974, "Local Leaders and the Intelligentsia in the Champaran Satyagraha", ''Contributions to Indian Sociology'', New Series, No.8, November, New Delhi.
*Prasad, P.H., 1979, "Semi-Feudalism: Basic Constraint in Indian Agriculture" in Arvind N. Das & V. Nilakant, eds., ''Agrarian Relations in India'', New Delhi.
*
Shanin, Teodor, 1978, ''Defining Peasants: Conceptualisations and Deconceptualisations: Old and New in a Marxist Debate'', Manchester University.
*Solomon, S., 1937, ''Bihar and Orissa in 1934-35'', Patna.
* ''Socialism in India'', by
Bal Ram Nanda
Bal Ram Nanda (1917 – 30 May 2010) was a writer from New Delhi, India. He was the preeminent Indian biographer of Mahatma Gandhi.
Career
After studying student of History at Lahore University, B.R. Nanda joined the Indian Railways Servi ...
,
Nehru Memorial Museum and Library
The Nehru Memorial Museum & Library (NMML) is a museum and library in New Delhi, India, which aims to preserve and reconstruct the history of the Indian independence movement. Housed within the Teen Murti House complex, it is an autonomous ins ...
. Published by Vikas Publications, 1972.Page 205.
* ''A History of the All India Kisan Sabha'', by Md. Abdullah Rasul. Published by National Book Agency, 1974.
* ''Peasants in History: Essays in Honour of Daniel Thorner'', by Eric J. Hobsbawm, Daniel Thorner, Witold Kula, Sameeksha Trust.Published by Oxford University Press, 1981.
* ''Bihar Peasantry and the Kisan Sabha, 1936-1947'', by Rakesh Gupta. Published by People's Pub. House, 1982.
The Constitution of All India Kisan Sabha''Encyclopaedia of Political Parties'', by O. P. Ralhan, Published by Anmol Publications Pvt. Ltd., 2002. . ''Page 1-10''.
{{Indian Independence Movement
Nonviolent resistance movements
Communist Party of India mass organisations
Organizations established in 1936
1936 establishments in India
Peasants
Organisers of 2020–2021 Indian farmers' protest