Naugachhia

THE Naugachhia subdivision in Bhagalpur district can be divided into two parts — the diara area inhabited by mainly backward castes (Yadavas, Gangotas, Koiris, Baniyas, etc.) and the area by the side of the railway track and the natio­nal highway where landlords reside. The landlords are mainly Bhumihars and the majority of their holdings are in the diara area and are cultivated by Gangota labourers. Land is mainly concentrated in the hands of Bhumihar big landlords, each possessing hundreds of acres of land, though landlords and rich peasants are there among the Yadavas and Koirts, too. But the biggest of all landlords is Ram Ghulam Sahu of Parbatta (commonly known as Sahu Par-Iratta), a banlya, who possesses more than 30,000 acres of land. The entire area is infested with dacoits, dacoit gangs are formed along caste lines and they are often utilised and protected by the landlords of their respective castes.

Tenancy and surplus land (land over and above the ceiling) are the two major issues of peasant movement in this area. In contrast, wages have always been a minor issue.

This part of Bhagalpur has always been known for the activities of certain armed groups of peasant rebels. These groups, particularly the one led by Kailash Mondal, waged militant struggles on the two aforesaid issues. But ultimately they all degenerated into lumpen and dacoit gangs.

The beginning of our Party’s work in this area dates back to 1970. In the initial years, certain notorious landlords were killed no doubt, but the organisation remained quite weak.

The beginning of the second phase in 1976-77 was marked by a crop-seizure movement. Hundreds of peasants forcibly harvested the crop on 25 bighas of a landlord’s land. Thou­sands of peasants participated in the seizure of maize from 125 bighas of Sahu Parbatta’s land. In the absence of any mass organisation or peasant committee, the crops were distributed among the peasants under the direct supervision of the Party cadres. It was only in the late 70s, towards the end of the rectification movement that a village committee was formed here for the first time.

In one area, it was declared that no landlord or rich peasant would be allowed to sell his land without the concurrence of his tenants. As for seizing land, it was decided that (i) only that part of a landlord's holding would be seized which is cultivated through hired labourers, and the land thus seized would be leased out among agrarian labou­rers and poor peasants, and (ii) in case of vested/govern­ment land, such land should be seized and distributed among agrarian labourers and poor peasants. It was further deci­ded that struggles should also be conducted against money­lenders.

Soon the people from surrounding villages also started coming to the village committee with their problems. Subsequently, broad masses of agrarian labourers and poor peasants of the entire area were mobilised, and 30 bighas of uncultivated land were seized from the possession of one landlord. Through a land distribution committee, the land was then distributed among 26 landless peasants.

Regarding sharecropping it was decided that

    (i) the landowner would not be allowed to send his musclemen for inspection of the land leased out;

    (ii) he would not have any right to enquire about the produce; and

    (iii) the sharecroppers would themselves hand over a fixed amount of produce to the landowner.

One landlord had grabbed 6 bighas of vested land which were previously under the occupation of a poor peasant. The village committee organised a public meeting and forced the landlord to return the land.

By the end of 1979, such types of movements became a common occurrence. Consequently, massive repressive measures were let loose by the administration and a permanent police camp was set up in the area. During 1980-82, another area witnessed incessant struggles of the share­croppers. In one instance of anti-eviction struggle, 8 bighas of land were captured in 1983. But while the peasants were ploughing the land, the goons of the landlords opened fire, killing one peasant. After this incident, processions, mass meetings, protest demonstrations were organised in several villages in the area. Thousands of peasants participated in these programmes. Presently, about 15,000 peasants are associated with the Kisan Sabha.