Agrarian Structure and Peasant Mobilisation : The Bataidari Struggle in Madhubani, 1967-75

Abstract

Of late the thickly populated North Indian district of Madhu bani in the State of Bihar has experienced ferments in the life of peasants. The seeds of political awakening among small peasants, sharecroppers and landless agricultural workers were sown by the communist Party of India (CPI) in the late 'forties and have now burgeoned into a vociferous section resisting the exploitative char acter of the landowning class. Even the former Zamindars, influen tial Muhanths and powerful landowners admit that there is a fast growing consciousness among their erstwhde dependents who had once been mute and inarticulate and who meekly bore with repres sion. The Madhubani peasant agitation is primarily a struggle of sharecroppers for their rightful cla;ms. A close scrutiny of the back ground and nature of the struggle of bataidars between 1967-75 launched by the CPI is intended here. The emphasis will be chiefly on the agrarian setting of the region, the programmes and objectives of the struggle, the organisation aimed at the realisation of these goals and the shaping influences of the movement. The analysis will be concluded with some general observafions on theoretical and methodological issues.