The Tanka movement ( bn, টঙ্ক আন্দোলন) was a militant agrarian struggle on behalf of the Hajong

tribal The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide usage of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. This definition is contested, in part due to conflic ...

people in

Mymensingh District Mymensingh ( bn, ময়মনসিংহ) is a district in Mymensingh Division, Bangladesh, and is bordered on the north by Meghalaya, a state of India and the Garo Hills, on the south by Gazipur District, on the east by the districts of Netr ...

British Bengal The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of the British Empire in India. At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia and ...

(later

East Bengal ur, , common_name = East Bengal , status = Province of the Dominion of Pakistan , p1 = Bengal Presidency , flag_p1 = Flag of British Bengal.svg , s1 = East ...

, Pakistan) 1937–1950. The movement was parallel, but distinct from, the

Tebhaga movement Tebhaga movement (1946–1947) was significant peasant agitation, initiated in Bengal by the All India Kisan Sabha of peasant front of the Communist Party of India. History At that time sharecroppers had contracted to give half of their harv ...

in other parts of

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 ...

. The Hajong movement was inspired by the struggles of

Moni Singh Moni Singh ( bn, মনি সিংহ; 28 June 1901, Durgapur Upazila, Netrokona – 31 December 1990, Dhaka) was a preeminent Bengali Communist politician popularly known as ''Comrade Moni Singh''. He was the founder of the Communist Party of ...

.Bal, Ellen.
They Ask If We Eat Frogs: Garo Ethnicity in Bangladesh
'. IIAS/ISEAS series on Asia. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2007. p. 176Schendel, Willem van.
The Bengal Borderland: Beyond State and Nation in South Asia
'. London: Anthem Press, 2005. pp. 99-100, 260 Bengali communist cadres had arrived in the Hajong areas in the 1930s, and helped to organise the Hajong peasants. During the period of 1942 and 1945, Hajong sharecroppers organized in the Kisan Sabha struggled against feudal domination of Bengali Hindu landlords. There was a severe crackdown against the movement in 1946. The Hajong then turned to guerrilla struggles. By the time of independence of Pakistan, the Hajong guerrillas operating along the Indo-Pakistani border were well organised.Sarkar, Sumit. Beyond
Nationalist Frames: Postmodernism, Hindu Fundamentalism, History
'. Bloomington .a. Indiana University Press, 2002. p. 237 Hajong armed communist rebels captured control over a number of villages and set up their own administration there. The Hajong rebels were led by Lulit Surkuhr Hajong and Podmolohchon Surkuhr Hajong. After being confronted by the

Pakistani Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the Partition of British India, which occurred as a result ...

, the rebels built up a base in Baghmara,

Garo Hills The Garo Hills (Pron: ˈgɑ:rəʊ) are part of the Garo-Khasi range in Meghalaya, India. They are inhabited by the Garo people. It is one of the wettest places in the world. The range is part of the Meghalaya subtropical forests ecoregion. De ...

on the

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 ...

n side of the border. For some time they conducted frequent cross-border raids against Pakistani police parties. Additional Pakistani police forces were sent to the area, patrolling the entire border area of the Mymensingh District.Sen Gupta, Susmita.
Radical Politics in Meghalaya: Problems and Prospects
'. Delhi: Kalpaz Publications, 2009. pp. 48-49 The Pakistani state forces conducted a violent campaign of repression against the Hajong people, and most Hajongs left Pakistan for India. Pakistani authorities claimed that "almost all" of the Hajong refugees were communist sympathizers, a claim that was used to motivate the expropriation of their households and lands. These lands were sold to

Bengali Muslim Bengali Muslims ( bn, বাঙালি মুসলমান; ) are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising about two-thirds of the global Bengali population, they are the sec ...

refugees from India at low rates. The rebels eventually settled down permanently in India. Lulit Surkuhr Hajong founded a branch of 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 ...

in the Garo Hills, whilst Podmolohchon Surkuhr Hajong founded a branch of the same party in the

Khasi Hills The Khasi Hills () is a low mountain formation on the Shillong Plateau in Meghalaya state of India. The Khasi Hills are part of the Garo-Khasi-Jaintia range and connects with the Purvanchal Range and larger Patkai Range further east. Khasi Hill ...

along with Ruh'imohon Hajong and Chondromohan Hajong.

Background

Both the meaning and origin of the word "Tanka" are unknown. The system of assured payment of agricultural land rent through paddy was called Tanka in Mymensingh region. In other parts of Bengal this method of payment of rent was known by different names. The poor landless farmers of Mymensingh region chose this method of payment of rent as it was more profitable to pay paddy as rent than the money that had to be paid under the conventional system of payment of rent. According to the Tanka rule, the

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 auctioned the land every year and the farmer who auctioned the most paddy was given that land. The minimum rate of Tanka at auctions tends to increase over time. At one point this rate increased so much that in 1937 the minimum rate of Tanka at auction was approximately 555 kg for 3/4 of an acre. After the

Chittagong armoury raid The Chittagong armoury raid, also known as the Chittagong uprising, was an attempt on 18 April 1930 to raid the armoury of police and auxiliary forces from the Chittagong armoury in the Bengal Presidency of British India (now in Bangladesh) b ...

incident, the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was himsel ...

started arresting politicians arbitrarily. Five years after the arrest of

member

in 1930, he was placed on parole at his home in Mymensingh District. At that time the local farmers complained to him about the Tanka. He was then arrested again and released in 1937. After returning home to his village, the local farmers pressed him to launch a movement for the abolition of the Tanka system. In November 1937, he started the Tanka movement by bringing together the farmers. As part of the movement, farmers refused to pay paddy as rent and demanded the traditional method of payment of rent.

Background

References

Citations

Bibliography

Further reading