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 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 ...

, an important peasant movement formed by Sahajanand Saraswati in 1936.

History

The Kisan Sabha movement started in Bihar 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 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. All these radical developments on the peasant front culminated in the formation of the All India Kisan Sabha at the Lucknow session of the Indian National Congress in April 1936, with

Swami 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 ...

elected as its first president. The other prominent members of this Sabha were

N.G. Ranga Gogineni Ranga Nayukulu (7 November 1900 – 9 June 1995), also known as N. G. Ranga, was an Indian freedom fighter, classical liberal, parliamentarian and farmers' leader. He was the founding president of the Swatantra Party, and an exponen ...

Ram Manohar Lohia Ram Manohar Lohia ; (23 March 1910 – 12 October 1967) was an activist in the Indian independence movement and a socialist political leader. During the last phase of British rule in India, he worked with the Congress Radio which was broadcast s ...

, Jayaprakash Narayan,

Acharya Narendra Dev Acharya Narendra Deva (; also Dev; 30 October 1889 – 19 February 1956) was one of the leading theorists of the Congress Socialist Party in India. His democratic socialism renounced violent means as a matter of principle and embraced the '' sa ...

and Bankim Mukerji, and it involved prominent leaders like

E.M.S. Namboodiripad Elamkulam Manakkal Sankaran Namboodiripad (13 June 1909 – 19 March 1998), popularly known as EMS, was an Indian communist politician and theorist, who served as the first Chief Minister of Kerala in 1957–1959 and then again in 1967–1969. A ...

, Indulal Yagnik, Sohan Singh Bhakna,

Z.A. Ahmed Z.A. Ahmed (29 October 1908 – 1999) was an Indian politician from Uttar Pradesh, belonging to the Communist Party of India. In the 1930s, acting on instructions from the CPI, he joined the Congress Socialist Party in which he served as All ...

Pandit Karyanand Sharma Karyanand Sharma (1901–1965) was a nationalist and peasant leader who led movements against zamindars and the British. Biography Karyanand Sharma was born in a middle class Bhumihar Brahmin family of Sahoor village in Munger (British India) no ...

Pandit Yamuna Karjee Jamuna Karjee (1898-1953) was an Indian independence activist. Biography Early life and education Yamuna Karjee was born in a small village name Deopar near Pusa in Darbhanga District of Bihar in 1900. His father Anu Karjee was a farmer who di ...

Pandit Yadunandan (Jadunandan) Sharma Yadunandan Sharma (also spelled Jddunandan) (1896–1975) was an Indian peasant leader and national liberation figure from the Indian state of Bihar. He had started a movement for the rights of tillers against the zamindars and Britishers at ''R ...

Rahul Sankrityayan Rahul Sankrityayan (born Kedarnath Pandey; 9 April 1893 – 14 April 1963) was an Indian writer and a polyglot who wrote in Hindi. He played a pivotal role in giving travelogue a 'literary form'. He was one of the most widely travelled scholars ...

P. Sundarayya Puchalapalli Sundarayya (Born Sundararami Reddy on 1 May 1913 – 19 May 1985) popularly known as Comrade PS was an Indian Communist politician leader including of the peasant revolt in the former Hyderabad State of India, called the Telangan ...

Yogendra Sharma Yogendra Sharma (20 August 1915 – 15 March 1990) was an Indian politician. He was a Member of Parliament, representing Bihar in the Rajya Sabha the upper house of India's Parliament. He also represented Begusarai Lok Sabha Constituency in ...

and

Bankim Mukherjee Bankim Mukherjee (c. 1896–1961) was an Indian Bengali communist politician. He had taken part in the Civil Disobedience Movement, the Indian Communist movement and had organized various trade unions and Kisan sabhas (Farmers' organization). ...

. The Kisan Manifesto, released in August 1936, demanded abolition of the zamindari 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 session of the Congress, under the presidency of

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose ( ; 23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945 * * * * * * * * *) was an Indian nationalist whose defiance of British authority in India made him a hero among Indians, but his wartime alliances with Nazi Germany and Imperi ...

, the rift became evident and by May 1942, the

, which was finally legalised by the government in July 1942, had taken over All India Kisan Sabha all across India, including Bengal 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 The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Kranti Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule in ...

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

, Indulal Yagnik and Swami Sahajananda 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

, paperback, 2005). * ''Sahajanand on Agricultural Labour and the Rural Poor'' translated and edited by Walter Hauser Manohar Publishers, paperback, 2005). * ''Religion, Politics, and the Peasants: A Memoir of India's Freedom Movement'' translated and edited by Walter Hauser 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, Paper for the Peasant Symposium, May 1997 University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia *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 Judith Margaret Brown (born 9 July 1944) is a British historian, academic and Anglican priest, who specialises in the study of modern South Asia. From 1990 to 2011, she was the Beit Professor of Commonwealth History and a Fellow of Balliol Col ...

, 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, 1981, ''Agrarian Unrest and Socio-economic Change in Bihar, 1900-1980'', Delhi : Manohar. * Arvind Narayan Das (ed.),1982, ''Agrarian Movements in India : Studies on 20th Century Bihar'', London : Frank Cass. * Arvind Narayan Das, 1992, ''The Republic of Bihar'', New Delhi : Penguin. * Arvind Narayan Das, 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, 1921, "The Zamindar and the Ryots", ''Young India'', Vol. III (New Series) No. 153, 18 May. * Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, 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, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. 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

History

Conferences and office bearers

Activities

Protest against three Agri-bills

References

External links

Further reading