B.A. FIRST YEAR NATIONALISM IN INDIA UNIT 4 CHAPTER - 7 SOCIAL MOVEMENTS : WOMEN, CASTE, PEASANT, TRIBAL AND WORKERS NOTES

Women And The National Struggle

One Of The Important Facts Of India's Freedom Movement Was The Growing Participation Of Women. Women Played Crucial Role In The Economic Boycott Compaigns And Often Participated In The Non Cooperation Movement With As Much Or Even Greater Then Their Husbands For Male Relatives. Women Attendant In Large Numbers Orphan With Little Children In Tow.

In The Group Led By Surya Sen They Acted As Messengers And Custodians Of Arms And Fought Or Gans In Hand When They Need. In December 1931 Two School Girls Of Comilla, Shanti Ghosh And Suniti Chaudhary Shoot The District Magistrate In February 1932 Bina Das Fired Point Blank At The Governor While Receiving Her Degree At The Convocation. When The Entire Congress Leadership Was Put In Jail In  1942 Women's Leaders Like Aruna Asaf Ali And Sucheta Kriplani Emerged With Achyut Patwardhan And Ram Manohar Lohiya And Others To Lead The Underground Resistance.Usha Mehta Ran The Congress Radio. 

The Journey Of Women's Liberation Thought Can Be Said To Have Started With Raja Ram Mohan Roy Who In Bengal Demanded That Womens Not Regarded As Weak. After That Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, Devendra Nath Tagore, Supported The Views Of Ram Mohan.

In Uttar Pradesh Huzur Maharaj Rai Salig Ram Worked For The  Removal Of Illiteracy Among The Women. In The South In Madras The Social Reformer Virsalingam Work For Advancement Of Women Through The Education And Marriage Reforms. Swami Dayanand Saraswati Also Advocated Female Education Widow Remarriage.

The Movements Of Depressed Castes

Another Major Population Subgroup That Saw Major Movement Were The Depressed Classes Also Known As The Backward Castes Or Dalits. Jyotirao Phule, Periyar And Ambedkar Emerged As Amongst The Most Prominent Of The Dalit Leaders.Dalit And Backward Caste Ideologies Launched A Full Fledged Attack Against The Caste System And The Brahmanism Maintaining And Pushing Forward The Movements First Launched By Mahatma Phule Fine Tuned By Periyar In South And Finally Polished By Ambedkar.

Gandhi Realised That For The Cause Of Forging Our National Identity And National Street The Leadership Will Have To Eliminate Or Dilute Social Divisions. And One Of The Worst Division Unique To India Was The Caste Divide And Untouchability As Its Ugliest Manifestation. Gandhi Also Choose The Reformist Approach To Unite India  Particularly Hindus For The Struggle Against The British.

The contribution of peasant movements

The Indian peasantry it may be argued rose for the first time in protest during the 1857 revolt, tired and exhausted with the revenue taxes imposed by the British which was breaking their back.The Farmer In India Rose Against Two Kinds Of Exploitation One From The Jamidar And Jagirdars And The British.

The Kisan Sabha Movement Started In Bihar Under The Leadership Of Swami Sahajanand Saraswati Who Had Formed In 1929 The Bihar Provincial Kisan Sabha (BKPS) In Order To Mobilise Presents Against The Exploitation Of Jamidar On Filmsy. Gandhi Had Led To Very Successful Revolts One Against The Taxation And Allied Landlords In Champaran Bihar And Another In Kheda Gujarat. 

In 1920 The Indian National Congress Under Gandhi Is Leadership Launched The Non Cooperation Movement And Their Was Peasant Participation. The Bardoli Satyagraha Of 1925 In The State Of Gujarat Was Almost Entirely A Peasant Uprising. The Peasants Of Bardoli In Gujarat Suffered From Floods And Famine Which Hurts The Crops Produce.

The Movements Of Tribals

Another Populations Of Group That Revoltedand Carried On Moments During The British Era Contributing To The National Struggle Were Tribals. British Rule And Its Accompanying Commercialization Strengthood Already Present Tendencies Towards Preparation Of Tribals Area By Outsider From The Plains Money Lenders Traders Land Grabbers And Contractors Hated By The Tribals. There Were Various Revolts Under The Different Inspiration From Time To Time In 1868 The Naikda Forest Tribe Attacked Police Station In a Bid To Established Dharm-raj. In 1882 Tha Kacha Nagas Of Cachar Attack The Whites.

Workers and labour movement

The Low Wages And An Imaginable Living Condition Of The Workers Enabled The Capitalists Whether British Or Foreign To Pile Up Huge Profits. Britishers And The Capitalist Exploits All The Workers And Labours. It Was A Inevitable That People Living In Such Conditions Would Rise And Revolt. Socialism And Trade Union Have Brought The Power Of Combination And The First Vision Of A Goal Which Can end Their Misery. After That Many Moments And Meeting Held In The Favour Of Workers And Labours And They Demand For Limitation Of Hours Of Work, A Weekly Rest Day, In On Time Recess And Compensation For Injuries.