Bharatiya Kisan Sangh
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The Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) ( en, Indian Farmers' Union, italics=yes) is an Indian farmers' organization that is politically linked to the
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family" ...
, and a member of the
Sangh Parivar The Sangh Parivar (translation: "Family of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh" or the "RSS family") refers, as an umbrella term, to the collection of Hindu nationalist organisations spawned by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which rema ...
. BKS was founded by
Dattopant Thengadi Dattopant Bapurao Thengadi, (Marathi: दत्तोपंत ठेंगडी, 1920–2004) was an Indian Hindu Ideologue, trade union leader and founder of the Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh and the Bharatiya Kisan S ...
in 1978. As of 2000,
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family" ...
claimed BKS had a quarter million members, organized in 11,000 villages and 301
districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
across the country. The organization is dominated by landed gentry.


Founding

The first chapter of BKS to be formed was its
Rajasthan Rajasthan (; lit. 'Land of Kings') is a state in northern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the largest Indian state by area and the seventh largest by population. It is on India's northwestern si ...
branch, founded on 13 March 1978. The all India organization of BKS was announced by Thengadi on 4 March 1979 at the first All India Conference of BKS in Kota. The 650 delegates at the 1979 conference had been handpicked by Thengadi, who travelled across the country to meet with farmers' representatives. The launch of BKS was preceded by earlier efforts of RSS to organize the peasantry. In the 1960s, RSS had organized farmers in the
Vidharba Vidarbha (Pronunciation: id̪əɾbʱə is a geographical region in the east of the Indian state of Maharashtra and a proposed state of central India, comprising the state's Amravati and Nagpur divisions. Amravati Division's former name is Ber ...
region, and again in 1972 in
Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...
. The RSS effort to build an agrarian front, parallel to
Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh The Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (translation: ''Indian Workers' Union'') is a trade union in India. It was founded by Dattopant Thengadi on 23 July 1955. The BMS itself claims to have more than 10 million members. According to provisional statisti ...
trade union movement, had however failed to attract major mass support.


1980s

On 26 February 1981 the BKS held a mass rally at the
Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly The Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly or Andhra Pradesh Śāsana Sabha is the lower house of the Andhra Pradesh Legislature. The Legislative Assembly consists of 175 members which are elected by adult universal suffrage under the first-pa ...
in
Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...
, the first major farmers mobilization after the
Green Revolution The Green Revolution, also known as the Third Agricultural Revolution, was a period of technology transfer initiatives that saw greatly increased crop yields and agricultural production. These changes in agriculture began in developed countrie ...
. The organizing of peasants in areas of Andhra Pradesh such as
Karimnagar District Karimnagar district is one of the 33 districts of the Indian state of Telangana. Karimnagar city is its administrative headquarters. The district shares boundaries with Peddapalli, Jagityal, Sircilla, Siddipet, Jangaon, Hanamkonda district and ...
,
Nizamabad District Nizamabad district is a district located in the north-western region in the Indian state of Telangana. The city of Nizamabad is the district headquarters.It was known as " Indur " which was supposed to have originated from the name of the King ...
and
Warangal District Warangal district, formerly Warangal Rural district, is a district in the Indian state of Telangana. The district shares boundaries with Mahabubabad, Jangaon, Hanamkonda, Mulugu and Bhupalpally districts. As of June 2021, Hanamkonda tentativ ...
led to tensions with the dominant Naxal movement in the area, and in February 1984 BKS Karimnagar District Secretary Gopal Reddy and Ramchander Rao (a RSS
taluk A tehsil (, also known as tahsil, taluka, or taluk) is a local unit of administrative division in some countries of South Asia. It is a subdistrict of the area within a district including the designated populated place that serves as its administr ...
-level organizer) were killed in
Jagityal Jagtial is a city and the district headquarters of jagtial district of Telangana, India. It has an average elevation of . It is located about north of the state capital Hyderabad. Notable people *Duvvasi Mohan Actor and comedian in Telugu cine ...
. In July 1985 BKS organized a mass rally at the
Rajasthan Legislative Assembly The Rajasthan Legislative Assembly or the Rajasthan Vidhan Sabha is the unicameral legislature of the Indian states and territories of India, state of Rajasthan. The assembly meets at Vidhana Bhavan situated in Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan ...
, a protest movement that forced the state government to lower electricity prices. In 1986–1987 BKS led a mass movement in
Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
, culminating in a violent
gherao Gherao, meaning "encirclement", is a word which denotes a tactic used by labour activists and union leaders in India; it is similar to picketing. Usually, a group of people would surround a politician or a government building until their demands ...
of the
Gujarat Legislative Assembly Gujarat Legislative Assembly or Gujarat Vidhan Sabha is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Gujarat, in the state capital Gandhinagar. Presently, 182 members of the Legislative Assembly are directly elected from single-member cons ...
in March 1987. The campaign began in October 1986, following two years of drought in the state. On 1 January 1987 a mass rally of 400,000 people was held in Vijaypur. The movement culminated in the gherao of the Legislative Assembly, at which police fire killed four demonstrators at the 19 March 1987 gherao, and one police officer was killed by the demonstrators. The BKS leadership was arrested and the organization declared an indefinite state-wide '' bandh'' following the clashes. The 1986–1987 Gujarat movement was marked by a competition between BKS (based mainly in northern Gujarat, with some influence in central Gujarat) and the Khedut Samaj and Kisan Sanghatana (based in south Gujarat). Whilst the movement had a larger charter of demands, its key demand was the lowering of electricity prices for farmers. BJP supported the BKS agitation, as means of countering the influence of
Sharad Joshi Sharad Joshi was an Indian poet, writer, satirist and a dialogue and scriptwriter in Hindi films and television. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1990. Biography Early life and education Sharad Joshi was born on 21 May 1931 in Ujjain, Madhya ...
in the state.


Later history

With its base among wealthier farmers, BKS supported the privatization of inputs and increased mechanization of agriculture in the 1990s. In Gujarat BKS became primarily dominated by cotton farmers, an export-oriented cash crop. BKS held its sixth national conference in
Hastinapur Hastinapur is a city in the Meerut district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. ''Hastinapura'', described in Hindu texts such as the ''Mahabharata'' and the Puranas as the capital of the Kuru Kingdom, is also mentioned in ancient Jain tex ...
in 1999, addressed by RSS
sarsanghchalak The Sarsanghchalak (IAST: Sarasanghacālaka) is the head of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist organisation that is widely regarded as the parent organisation of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The RSS is o ...
Rajendra Singh Rajendra Singh (born 6 August 1959) is an Indian water conservationist and environmentalist from Alwar district, Rajasthan in India. Also known as "waterman of India", he won the Magsaysay Award in 2001 and Stockholm Water Prize in 2015. He ...
. At the time, Kunvarji Bhai Jadhav, was the BKS president. Anand Prakash Singhal, elder brother of VHP head Ashok Singhal and a US-educated agriculturist, played a significant role in the BKS. He was instrumental in India obtaining the patent for cow urine.


Political line

BKS describes itself as an apolitical organization, and its by-laws indicate that the BKS banner is
ochre Ochre ( ; , ), or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the colours produced ...
colour (rather than the nearly identical
saffron Saffron () is a spice derived from the flower of ''Crocus sativus'', commonly known as the "saffron crocus". The vivid crimson stigma and styles, called threads, are collected and dried for use mainly as a seasoning and colouring agent i ...
colour of the RSS banner). The organization describes itself as an organization 'by farmers, for farmers', promoting agricultural self-reliance. Organizers of BKS are generally RSS members or sympathizers, its leader is largely pro-
Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...
. The motto of the organization, in
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...
, is 'Krithi Mit Krishwa' ('Do farming yourself'), taken from the
Rig Veda The ''Rigveda'' or ''Rig Veda'' ( ', from ' "praise" and ' "knowledge") is an ancient Indian collection of Vedic Sanskrit hymns (''sūktas''). It is one of the four sacred canonical Hindu texts (''śruti'') known as the Vedas. Only one Sh ...
. The organization opposes
genetically modified Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of Genetic engineering techniques, technologies used to change the gene ...
crops in oilseed production. Whilst politically close to BJP, its relations with the party hasn't always been uncomplicated. When
Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...
, as
Chief Minister of Gujarat The Chief Minister of Gujarat is the chief executive of the government of the Indian state of Gujarat. The governor appoints the chief minister, whose council of ministers are collectively responsible to the assembly. The chief minister's term ...
, increased electricity prices in 2003 the BKS launched a protest movement against the BJP government, with a 50,000 strong protest in
Gandhinagar Gandhinagar (, ) is the capital of the state of Gujarat in India. Gandhinagar is located approximately 23 km north of Ahmedabad, on the west central point of the Industrial corridor between Delhi, the political capital of India, and Mu ...
.''Indian Express''.
The return of kisan politics
'
The BJP responded by evicting the BKS from its state headquarters at the Members of Legislative Assembly quarters. The RSS intervened, trying to reconcile BKS and BJP in the state. But in
Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
BKS refused to support BJP in the
2004 Indian general election General elections were held in India in four phases between 20 April and 10 May 2004. Over 670 million people were eligible to vote, electing 543 members of the 14th Lok Sabha. Seven states also held assembly elections to elect state governm ...
. In 2007, the BKS showed resentment with the ruling
Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...
(BJP) government in
Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
. Dissatisfied with the prevailing cotton prices, it led to farmers' agitation in Saurashtra. In September 2020, the BKS also protested against the agriculture bills passed by the
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
and asked for modifications to the bill.


References


External links


Official Website
{{Bharatiya Janata Party Political organisations based in India Sangh Parivar Agricultural organisations based in India Hindu organizations 1978 establishments in India Organizations established in 1978