17 Contemporary social movements

Ushvinder Kaur Popli

Content Outline:

Ø  Introduction

Ø  Types of Cotemporary Social Movements

Ø  Telengana Peasant Movement

Ø  Farmers movement

Ø  Save Silent Valley Movement

Ø  Worker’s movements

Ø  Women’s movement

Ø  Dalit movement

Ø  THE BACKWARD CLASSES MOVEMENTS

Ø  Governance movement

Ø  People’s Movements Against Nuclear Energy: Koodankulam Anti-Nuclear Movement

Ø  Conclusions

LEARNING OUTCOMES

After studying this module, you shall be able to

·  Understand nature and concepts of various contemporary social movements

• Understand the role of social movements in social change
• Evaluate the relevance and importance of contemporary social movements in present scenario

INTRODUCTION

Social movements are organized collective efforts working towards achieving change. All social movements have an ideology; to identify what is wrong with the present and what needs to be done in the future. Social movements are a type of group action for changing problematic situations. They are large, sometimes informal, groupings of individuals or organizations, which focus on specific political or social issues. Cotemporary social movements are mainly classified into the following nine types based on the socioeconomic characteristics of the participants and the issues involved:

Figure 1 Showing Types of Cotemporary Social Movements

PEASANT MOVEMENTS

Peasants in India generally represents a huge mass of landless agricultural labourers, sharecroppers, tenants, poor artisans and small and marginal cultivators and a close social interface with the socially deprived people like scheduled tribes, scheduled castes, other backward classes and women. They are “outcastes” of the Varna hierarchy. In the other words peasants are denoted by terms like “kisan”, “krishak”, “roytu”, “chashi”, etc, more or less indicating cultivators that cultivate land with their own labour, and also the categories, namely, “adhiar” and “bhagchashi” (sharecropper and tenant) and “majdoor”, “majur”, “collie”, “pait”, “krishi” “shramik”, etc, agricultural labourers (Roy, 2005). The contemporary peasant movements in India are categorised into two; the first types of movements are those of small peasants, the poor and the marginal. They generally demand to improve the economic condition, for example, demand for wage hike and better working condition. The second types of movements are more prosperous peasants, those who produce a considerable surplus of the rural economy. These movements in social science literature referred to as ‘Farmers’ Movement’ or ‘New Agrarianism’ or ‘New Peasant Movements’.

TELENGANA PEASANT MOVEMENT

As early as in 1947 revolutionary peasant movements had slowly been forming, led by communist leaders in Telengana (Gene, D. Overstreet and Marshall Windmiller, 1959). Telengana was the eastern half of the erstwhile princely state of Hyderabad, comprising eight districts having an area of 44,000 sq miles, populated mainly by the Telugu-speaking people. Under the Nizam a notoriously semi-feudal agrarian system had been perpetuated and the peasantry were ripe for radical leadership. On the eve of

independence Hyderabad became a large question mark in the heart of India, being a Hindu majority area, entirely in the hands of a Muslim sect. In September 1948, the Indian government forcibly marched into Hyderabad and Nizam gave away. When the interim Congress government was set up in Hyderabad after the merger, the Communist refuse to surrender their arms and went into underground operations against the government. The Communist set in motion an indigenous mass campaign against the landlords mainly in the districts of Nalgonda and Warangal. The armed Communists emerged at night to murder the landlords and to divide their land among the poor. According to the Communist claim, a total 3,000 village had been Sovietized, and one million acres of land had been seized. The Indian Communist leaders claimed that the Telengana peasant riot shook for the first time ‘the main bastions of feudal orders in India to its very foundations’ and ‘blazed the path of Indian peoples Democratic Revolution (G. Adhikari, 1956).

FARMER’S MOVEMENTS IN COTEMPORARY INDIA

In India today we might say that there are primarily two types of agricultural mobilizations. One is of the poor agricultural labourers and marginal labours. The other is of the more prosperous and independent owner-cultivators who produce a considerable marketed surplus (Gupta, 2002). The various rural wings of established political parties like the Kisan Sabhas, or the agricultural labourer unions of the CPI and the CPI (M), and the various factions of the CPI (M-L) generally sponsored these movements. This has led by many observers to underline the sharp class basis of agrarian movements such as in Kerala where the poorer peasants and agricultural labours are in forefront (Oommen, 1985). The second types of farmer’s movements (not peasants) are like Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) in west Utter Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana; Shetkari Sangathan in Maharashtra; or the Rajya Ryota Sangha in Karnataka.

The new farmer’s movement in India gathered momentum in the 1970s. Its ripples were first felt in Tamil Nadu, down South, where the Farmer’s Association had launched a series of agitations demanding fair price for agricultural produce. The leaders like Ramaswamy Naidu mobilized impressive support from the farm sector for its ‘road blocking’ and similar types of agitations. The Kisan Union of Punjab was equally active. It demanded higher remunerative price for wheat in 1973 itself and had even asked farmers to boycott mandis (Market-yards) and not to sell wheat to any government agency. The Shetkari Sanghatana’s emergence of Maharashtra in 1979 happened with a big bang. It first agitated for remunerative price for onion- a perishable produce whose price dropped dramatically during the 1978-79 consecutive harvest. The rise of the Karnataka Rajya Rayyat Sangha (KRRS) under professor Najundaswamy’s leadership was almost simultaneous.

The spate of farmers’ mobilizations in different parts of the India appeared almost as a well-orchestrated action, though it was not so. Similarity in problems the farmers faced in Maharashtra, Punjab, Karnataka and Tami Nadu was very striking though.

SAVE SILENT VALLEY MOVEMENT

Save Silent Valley is a social movement aimed for the protection of Silent valley an evergreen tropical forest in the Palakkad district of Kerala. It started in 1973 to save the Silent Valley Reserve Forest from being flooded by a hydroelectric project of Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB).

The Background of the Movement: The Kuntipuzha is a major river that flows 15 km southwest from Silent Valley. It takes its origin in the green forests of Silent valley. In 1928, Kunthipuzha River was identified as an ideal site for electricity generation and a hydroelectric project of 120 MV and costing Rs. 17 crore. The Kerala State Electricity Board decided to implement the Silent Valley Hydro-Electric Project cantered on a dam across the Kunthipuzha River in 1973. From 1974 to 1975, a very large number of trees were fallen in the area.

After the announcement of dam construction, the valley became the central point of “Save Silent Valley”. Romulus Whitaker, founder of the Madras Snake Park and the Madras Crocodile Bank, was probably the first person to draw public attention to the small and remote area. In 1977, the Kerala Forest Research Institute carried out an Ecological Impact study of the Silent Valley area and proposed a Biosphere Reserve.

The major actors: Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad (KSSP) published a Techno-Economic and Socio-Political assessment report on the Silent Valley Hydroelectric project. The poet activist Sugathakumari played an important role in the silent valley protest and her poem “Marathinu Stuthi” (Ode to a Tree) became a symbol for the protest at the intellectual community. Dr. Salim Ali, eminent ornithologist visited the Valley and appealed for cancellation of the Project. A petition of writ was filed before the High Court of Kerala, against the clear cutting of trees and the court ordered a stop to the clear cutting. Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, the renowned Agricultural Scientist, and then Secretary to the Department of Agriculture, suggested that the reserve forests in the area should make into a National Rainforest Biosphere Reserve. In January 1980, the High Court of Kerala lifted the ban on clear cutting, the Prime Minister of India requested the Government of Kerala to stop further works in the project area until all aspects were fully discussed. In December, the Government of Kerala declared the Silent Valley area, excluding the Hydroelectric Project area, as a National Park.

WORKER’S MOVEMENTS

B.P. Wadia, a social worker and member of the Theosophical Society was established the first trade union of India in April 1918 at Madras. The same year, found the Textile Labour Association (TLA) in Gujarat. In 1920, the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) was formed in Bombay. The AITUC was a broad-based organization involving diverse ideologies. The main ideological groups were the communists led by S.A. Dange and M.N. Roy, the moderates led by M. Joshi and V.V. Giri and the nationalists, which involved people like Lala Lajpat Rai and Jawaharlal Nehru. During the few years communists gained considerable control over the AITUC. The Indian National Congress chose to form another union called the Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) in May 1947.

WOMEN’S MOVEMENTS

Anti-Dowry Movements emerged as 1979 and was largely urban based. In 1974, the Committee on the Status of Women in India (CSWI) identified dowry has spread to all castes, communities, religions, and regions. Dowry has to come to encompass the entire character of gift exchange of the two groups. By 1982, women’s organization was insisting that majority of young bride death is due to the reason for dowry or suicide is because of the insisting dowry problems. Some organization like Mahila Daksataha Samiti, National federation of Indian Women, All India Democratic Women’s Association, Nari Raksha Samiti, come to oppose the system by possessing the notorious murder of Sudha Goul. In 1983 high court sentenced husband with death penalty and mother in law, brother in law as life imprisonment. In 1984, government amended the dowry bill and further implementation was in 1985 October.

One of the important contemporary women’s movement was Anti Arrack Movement; the movement was started in a small village called Dubagunta in Nellore district of Andra Predesh. The main reasons for this movement were the successful literary mission of Nellore district of Andra Predesh. In Dubagunta village Rossamma was the leader who gave slogan ‘Give up Drink and Wake up from Ignorance’. They stopped Arracks (local liquor) from making it. Anti-arrack community with 24 members blocked the roads conducted darnas. Renuka Chowdary as the chairperson of Anti arrack community played a pivotal role in this movement. In 1st October 1993 arrack was prohibited because of the movement and 1st January 1995 selling liquor became offensive.

DALIT MOVEMENTS

One of the major important social movements was Dalit Women’s Movement. The Dalit of Maharashtra launched the Dalit Panthar movement in the early 1970s. Panthar discards the dominant culture and identity for the oppressed classes especially for women. The weapon for this movement was mainly from intellectuals. They fought against devadasi system. Another incident was from Kerala under the leadership of C K Janu she fought for the justice of Wayanad Adivasi people. There are some other Dalit women’s movements like Anti Untouchable movement, Harijan movement, Dalit Liberation movement. Dalit women participated in these Movements. Some associations stand for the justice of Dalit women that are Rural Community Development Association, Rural Harijan Agricultural Development Society, and association of Poor.

THE BACKWARD CLASSES MOVEMENTS

The backward classes, who suffered from different degrees of relative deprivation, became aware of their status with the spread of new liberal ideas and alternative source of legitimacy that were ushered in by British rule and the Indian national movement. They began to organize themselves in different parts of India, establishing new identities based on diverse ideologies. One may identify three kinds of ideologies (Rao, 1977).

First, many castes belonging to the Other Backward Classes claimed a higher varna status through reinterpretation and recasting of appropriate mythologies of origin. The Sri Narayana Dharma Paripalana Movement (Movement propagated by Sri Narayana Guru Swamy) developed another variation of this approach of reinterpreting Hindu religion and search for self-determination, among the Izhavas of Kerala. Until 1935, the Izhavas belonged to the scheduled caste category and they formed twenty-six percent of Kerala’s total population, suffered many religious, economic, educational and political disabilities. A charismatic leader Sree Narayana Guru Swamy, gave them a new religion of one God, one religion and one caste which transformed their life style and outlook.

A second variety of protest ideology was based on the rejection of the Brahmanical Aryan religion and culture. The Dravida Kazhagam Movement of Tamil Nadu idealized the Dravidian culture and religion and attacked the Aryan religion and culture. For the followers of Dravida Kazhagam Movement, Ravana was virtuous whereas Rama (an incarnation of God) was wicked. The Self-Respect Movement started by Ramaswamy Naicker advocated that his followers should have their own priests. Its leaders worked hard to escape the tyranny of the Brahmin and their culture.

The Mahar movement under the leadership of Ambedkar exemplifies a variation of the principles of rejection in protest ideology; namely, abandoning Hinduism altogether and embracing another religion (In this case Buddhism). The Mahars formed an important section of the scheduled caste of Maharashtra, constituting about ten percent of that state’s population. Dr. Ambedkar vacillated between adopting one of two themes of identity to fight against the discriminations imposed by the upper castes- whether to stay within the Hindu fold or to abandon Hinduism altogether. He finally resolved the dilemma in 1956 by accepting Buddhism.

Third, the ideology of class conflict provides another secular source for establishing a separate identity as the exploited class. The Dalit Panther Movement, fashioned after the Black Panthers of America, emerged among the Mahars of Bombay and Poona in 1972. The Dalit Panthers included all the revolutionary parties seeking to destroy the Hindu caste system. Its declared enemies were the landlords, capitalists and money-lenders. It aimed at an all round revolution. In the ideology of the Dalit Panthers, class struggle cannot be separated from an anti-caste Hindu attitude.

GOVERNANCE MOVEMENT: LOKPAL

The mechanisms available in the regular government are inadequate to check corruption in administrative departments. However, this mechanism has inherent flaws and officers enjoy departmental fraternity with those against whom complaints are made. Political corruption is mounting this is more dangerous than bureaucratic corruption. Among the organs of state, the judiciary has proved itself to have highest credibility in protecting individual right. However, due to procedural complexities involved in the court cases-right from the filing a case to the delivery of final verdict-there are inevitable delays of justice, which often are considered as denial of justice. The existing devices for checks one elected and administrative officials have not been effective as the growing instances of corruption cases suggest. The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) is designed to inquire into allegations of corruption by administrative officials only but cannot punish the guilty. The CBI, the premier investigation agency of the country, functions under the supervision of the Ministry of Personnel, public grievances and pensions (under the Prime Minister) and is therefore not immune from political pressure during investigation. It can be said, the CVC is independent but does not have powers while CBI has power but is not independent. As a result, the first cannot punish while the latter cannot investigate fairly. All these have necessitated the creation of an independent and high-powered Lokpal with its own investigation team. Therefore, there is a need for a mechanism that would be simple, independent, speedy and inexpensive means of delivering justice by redressing the grievances of the people.

Entry of Anna Hazare in Lokpal Movement

Political corruption is an ongoing problem not only in India, but internationally. Transparency International ranked India 95 out of 182 on its 2011 Corruption Perceptions Index, with a score of 3.1. Since 2011, large numbers of anti-corruption movements have emerged in India in response to a series of scandals that has exposed by the media. The growing public dissatisfaction with corruption in public life triggered the emergence of a civil society movement that forced the government to initiate the establishment of a powerful People’s Ombudsman (the Jan Lok Pal), with the powers to prosecute corruption at even the highest levels of government. One of the most recent social movement witnessed in India was the campaign on ‘India against Corruption’, headed by a group of social activists led by an octogenarian Gandhian -Anna Hazare.

Anna Hazare, a follower of Gandhian principles, opted for fasting unto death and demanded the enactment of the long pending Jan Lokpal Bill (Anti-Corruption Law). The movement considered as a milestone in the constitutional history of India forcing the government to accept civil society’s demand to have a say in drafting the stringent anti-corruption law, the Lokpal Bill. However, after massive protest across the country, a strong Lokpal bill introduced in Lok Sabha, which excludes the top government officials, but Anna rejected it and the movement continued and later the stronger version of the Lokpal bill developed has not passed. On December 27, 2011, the Lok Sabha, approved the government’s latest version of the bill and the demand of strong Lokpal by Anna remained a dream. The positive things about this movement are,

·         It is a new wave of patriotism. Some of them called a ‘second freedom struggle’ led by Anna Hazare and feel the patriotism associated with the movement.

·         The people of India became the citizens of India. The nation never witnessed such a massive crowd on the streets in history. We became more responsible, aware and active as individuals as well as a group.

·         The pessimism of people around the country that nothing could change was transformed into hope that we can change the future of the country and it is in our own hands.

·         Casteism, politics, languages, religion all went to the background and patriotism emerged at the forefront.

·         Indian people got a new method of demonstrating their anger and frustration through a peaceful and non-violent protest.

India against Corruption led by Anna Hazare proves that it is an upsurge relatively unique, distinctive and inimitable in nature. It has not only established deeper connections with the ordinary citizens, irrespective of the socio-economic backgrounds that they represent, but has also brought out the relationships between the State on one hand and the civil and political societies on the other (Goswami & Bandyopadhyay, 2011).

PEOPLE’S MOVEMENTS AGAINST NUCLEAR ENERGY: KOODANKULAM ANTI-NUCLEAR MOVEMENT

Anti-nuclear movements all over the world have pursued different strategies with different levels of impact on energy policies (Kitschelt, 1986: 57). In the West anti-nuclear movements branched out of environmental movements in the second half of the 1970s. These were further catalyzed by several nuclear accidents, the Three Mile Island nuclear accident in 1979 had triggered several protests in the US and elsewhere. These movements in the West were typically characterized as ‘new social movements’. They were different from the classical working class movements. The support base of the anti-nuclear movement is typical of the environmental movement – middle classes from suburban regions. The emergence of the anti-nuclear movement in India has been different. It was mainly due to the two events. First, the success of the Chipko Movement in the 1970s and second, the Bhopal gas tragedy in the mid-1980s raised doubts over industrial safety and hazards. By 1980s, the Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) had also made its presence felt by questioning the construction of dams, displacement of people and related environmental costs. This was influenced by other grass-root movements in the country. Thus, the antinuclear movement in India was based on issues like livelihood and displacement.

Koodankulam is a rather big village with a population of 11,029 by 2001 census with 2,386 households of which 944 belong to Dalits. It was situated in the southern part of Tamil Nadu state in Tirunelveli district and is part of the state’s coastal line. The main occupations of the people of these villages are fishing. In Koodankulam around 80 percent of the employable workforce is jobless (Moorty, 2000).

The Koodankulam nuclear power plant rooted in 1974-Pokhran tests of India. Soon after the tests, India isolated from the West. The US stopped fuel shipments to the Tarapore nuclear power plant after the 1974 test. In 1979 during Morarji Desai regime, the nuclear deal with the Soviet Union was discussed. The deal was finally concluded when the Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev and the Indian Prime Minister, Mr. Rajiv Gandhi, signed the Koodankulam Nuclear Power Project deal in 1988. Initially, there was a strong opposition to the Koodankulam power plant from farmers, intellectuals, fisher folk, scientists and activists.

Later an umbrella organisation called the Samathuva Samudaya Iyakkam (Social Equality Movement) was formed. People from three districts of Tamil Nadu-Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari and Tuticorin- organized a massive rally at Tirunelveli in 1988. However, with the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Gorbachev losing power and the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi, Nuclear Power Corporation (NPC) declared that Koodankulam nuclear power project had been called off and the government’s permission was sought to set up two 500 MW indigenous reactors at the same site.

In March 1997, Indian Prime Minister, H D Deve Gowda, and the Russian President, Boris Yeltsin, signed a supplement to the 1988 agreement and commissioned a detailed project report on Koodankulam. Accordingly, Russia agreed to supply two standard high-pressure VVER-1000 water-cooled and water-moderated reactors. The initial phase of the movement was centered on the issue of using water from Pecheiparai dam for the nuclear plant (Anumukti, 1990: 7-8). Later on when the Koodankulam plant authorities planned for a water re-cycling and desalination plant on its premises, the issue of water took the back seat and other issues like displacement, radiation hazards and, in particular, concerns about radiation contaminating the food chain through fish, dominated the movement.

In the initial phase many people from Koodankulam supported the plant as many of them got job and sub-contracts in the plant. When it was decided to install the additional four reactors in the same plant, certain amount of displacement was required. This made the people of Koodankulam join protest movement. Earlier only the neighbouring fishing community was part of the movement. The threat of displacement and subsequent loss of livelihood forced the people of Koodankulam into the movement. In the light of new developments the People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE), an umbrella organisation, was formed. The PMANE argues that the region is rich in Thorium and Monazite due to which there is natural radiation that is 40 times higher than the normal level. The movement has also networked with many like-minded organisations both nationally and internationally (Udayakumar, 2004: 300-15).

Thus, the first two units of the nuclear power plant were constructed without a public hearing, but it was demanded for the expansion of the plant. Accordingly, a public hearing was scheduled for October 6, 2006, at the Tirunelveli District Collectorate. However, this public hearing was postponed indefinitely as the activists from Tirunelveli, Tuticorin and Kanyakumari districts protested against the plant and also against the manner in which public hearing was announced. The activists also demanded that the public hearing be held separately in the three districts- as people in all the three districts would be affected. Finally, June 2, 2007, was fixed as the date for the public hearing. People from the three districts came in large numbers for the public hearing. On the other hand, tight security was arranged with around 1,200 police officers all over (Ramana and Bidwai, 2007)

The state has not overtly claimed indifference towards the movements and yet some like the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu requested the public to stay away from the ‘false campaign’. The defence of the State claimed that an amount of Rs 500 crore had been allocated for the rehabilitation and for the development of the local people. Yet, these issues have not been addressed properly. The protests that mostly speak about the plant’s threat to livelihood prove two things- the huge gap between promises and their execution in India and the lack of awareness amongst people on such plans (Srikant, 2009).

CONCLUSION

A social movement undoubtedly involves action as distinct from individual action. However, only when the collective action is somewhat sustained, as distinct from a sporadic occurrence, does it take the form of a movement. This collective action, however, need not be formally organized, but should be able to create an interest and awakening in a sufficiently large number of people. The cotemporary social movements are generally oriented towards bringing change, either partial or total, in the existing system of relationship, values and norms, although there are efforts that are oriented towards resisting change and maintaining the status quo.

References

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