Karyanand Sharma (1901–1965) was a nationalist and peasant leader who led movements against
zamindar
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 a ...
s and the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
.
Biography
Karyanand Sharma was born in a middle class
Bhumihar Brahmin
Bhumihars, also called Babhan, are a Hindu caste mainly found in Bihar (including the Mithila region), the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh, and Nepal.
The Bhumihars claim Brahmin statu ...
family of Sahoor village in
Munger
Munger, formerly spelt as Monghyr, is a twin city and a Municipal Corporation situated in the Indian state of Bihar. It is the administrative headquarters of Munger district and Munger Division. Munger was one of the major cities in Eastern In ...
(British India) now in
Lakhisarai
Lakhisarai (archaic spelling: Luckeesarai) town is the administrative headquarters of Lakhisarai district in the Indian state of Bihar. The town has a population of 99,931 (2011 census). it is situated about 45 km west of Munger.
Demographics
...
district of
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 Be ...
,
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 ...
. Although he started studying in 1906, he had soon to leave school and help the family in cultivation. However, between 1914 and 1920, he educated himself and matriculated in 1920 just in time to join the
non-cooperation movement
The Non-cooperation movement was a political campaign launched on 4 September 1920, by Mahatma Gandhi to have Indians revoke their cooperation from the British government, with the aim of persuading them to grant self-governance. .
Contribution to freedom movement and peasant movement
He was arrested and sentenced to one year. After release from jail, he became more and more involved in peasant issues and in 1927 organized a struggle of the tenants at Chanan against arbitrary extortions by the zamindars. This was particularly directed against the Giddhaur Raj and Kaira estate. Since these zamindars and their minions were particularly oppressive, the local
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 Em ...
leaders permitted Karyanand to carry on the struggle though they themselves did not extend much help. Nevertheless, because of the unity among the tenants, the zamindars had to bow down and this victory became a great morale-booster for the peasants in
Munger
Munger, formerly spelt as Monghyr, is a twin city and a Municipal Corporation situated in the Indian state of Bihar. It is the administrative headquarters of Munger district and Munger Division. Munger was one of the major cities in Eastern In ...
.
After the famous
Barahiya Bakasht Andolan in 1937-39, strictures were passed against him and in 1938 he was arrested by the then Congress government. After his release from prison when he joined the Kisan Movement he was jailed again and again. During these long sojourns he got a chance to read
Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 p ...
ist literature and joined the
Communist Party of India
Communist Party of India (CPI) is the oldest Marxist–Leninist communist party in India and one of the nine national parties in the country. The CPI was founded in modern-day Kanpur (formerly known as Cawnpore) on 26 December 1925.
H ...
although, until 1943 he remained a member of the
All India Congress Committee
The All India Congress Committee (AICC) is the presidium or the central decision-making assembly of the Indian National Congress. It is composed of members elected from state-level Pradesh Congress Committees and can have as many as a thousan ...
. After independence, he became one of the top leaders of the Communist Party of India and leader of its legislature party until his death. It was under the able leadership of Karyanand Sharma that the Communist Party of India waged some important agrarian struggles in the 1950s, the most notable among them being Sathi farm struggles in
Champaran
Champaran is a region of Bihar in India. It is now divided into an East Champaran district and a West Champaran district.
Notable people
* Manoj Bajpai – Indian film actor
* Dinesh Bhramar – poet and noted figure in Hindi and Bhojpuri l ...
.
References
* Also refer :people.indiatimes.com/articleshow/813210.cms
Swami and Friends- By Arvind N Das http://www.virginia.edu/soasia/symsem/kisan/papers/swami.html
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharma, Karyanand
Indian independence activists from Bihar
Communist Party of India politicians from Bihar
People from Munger district
1901 births
1965 deaths