Broken Promises Popular Protest, Indian Nationalism and the Congress Party in Bihar, 1935-1946

by Damodaran, Vinita

• ISBN13: 9780195629798
• ISBN10: 0195629795
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1993-05-27
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Concentrating on a nine-year period, this study examines the changing relationship between the Congress and its mass base in the penultimate phase of the Raj. This phase of the national movement was particularly important as, in the course of it, the Congress changed from being a movement of opposition to being a party in power. Twice within the period, in 1937-39 and again in 1946, the Congress accepted office. This had far-reaching implications for the nature of the organization and its relationship with its mass constituency. Soon after the Congress assumed office in 1937 a large-scale peasant agitation emerged which aimed to persuade the Congress to abide by its promises to the people and restore peasant rights eroded by landlord attacks and a growing resource crisis. The book highlights the critical ecological context of these agitations. Following the withdrawal from office in 1939, the pressures on the Congress shifted dramatically. This process was to culminate in the Quit India movement in 1942. Immediately after this mass upsurge, the Congress retreated underground and became a more amorphous organization allied to dacoit gangs in the countryside. The activities of these underground organizations, known as the Azad Dastas, have not been described previously, and provide an instructive picture of the nature of popular nationalism.

Table of Contents

Preface
Abbreviations
Introduction	p. 1
Working the Imperial Constitution: Office Acceptance, the Indian National Congress and Bihar, 1931-7	p. 15
Bihar and the Congress Organization in Bihar in the 1930s	p. 37
Political Developments and the Nature of the Bihar Congress, 1917-37	p. 45
Peasant Agitation, the Congress and the Kisan Sabha in Bihar, 1937-9	p. 65
The Differentiation of the Peasantry and the Erosion of Tenant Rights in Bihar in the 19th and Early 20th Centuries	p. 66
The Dynamics of the Subsistence Economy and the Ecological Basis of Peasant Protest	p. 75
Growing Peasant Unrest and Tenant Disputes	p. 89
Suppressing Opposition: The Congress and the Kisan Sabha, 1937-9	p. 98
The Bakasht Agitation	p. 119
Agitation in the Kosi Diara Area	p. 128
The Congress Response	p. 137
The Bakasht Movement Tapers Off	p. 153
Marking Time: The Congress in a Quandary, 1939-42	p. 158
The Politics of Withdrawal from Office	p. 158
Individual Satyagraha in Bihar	p. 172
Popular Perceptions and Faces in the Crowd: The Quit India Movement of 1942 in Bihar	p. 183
The War Situation and Congress Policy	p. 189
The Economic Situation and Popular Perceptions in Bihar	p. 201
Organization and Leadership	p. 218
The August Movement and the Anatomy of Crowd Actions	p. 223
The Repression of the Quit India Movement in Bihar	p. 241
The Wilderness Years: The Congress and Underground Activity in Bihar, 1942-4	p. 245
The Economic Context, Food Scarcity and Crime in Bihar, 1943	p. 248
Underground Activity in Bihar 1943-4: The Azad Dastas and Dacoit Gangs	p. 257
Communal Rioting, Agrarian Unrest and the Second Congress Ministry in Bihar	p. 284
The Food Crisis, Decline in Industrial Production, and the Effects of Demobilization	p. 288
Changes in the Land Structure	p. 293
The Political Context in India on the Eve of the Second Congress Ministry	p. 295
Towards Elections	p. 301
The Congress Organization in Bihar in the 1940s	p. 307
The Muslim League, Hindu Communal Organizations and the Elections	p. 313
The 1946 Bihar Elections	p. 315
The Congress Return to Power, Strikes, Agrarian Unrest and Communal Rioting	p. 318
The Land Question and the Bakasht Agitation in 1946	p. 322
Communal Riots and Killings in Rural Bihar	p. 337
The Party in Power: Congress Reactions to the Communal Upheavals	p. 354
The Congress Intervenes: The Debate on Zamindari Abolition	p. 356
Conclusion	p. 370
Glossary	p. 377
Bibliography	p. 381
Index	p. 395
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