People's Democracy

AIKS EXHIBITION

Kindling Hope through Past History

Catherine

AFTER its cunning victory through deceit in the battle of Plassey in 1757, the British East India Company’s regime under Robert Clive, the governor of Bengal (1757-60 and 1765-67) and one of the most brutal English colonisers during their conquest of India, began collecting land tax from the people of Bengal. This, then, soon paved the way for introduction of the zamindari system in India. Starting from this event, an exhibition organised by the Tamilnadu state unit of the All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) depicted how the zamindars and other feudal lords, intermediaries etc cheated the poor peasant farmers and tribes in India and how the valiant people of this country fought several battles against the exploitation of the rulers.

The exhibition was organised at the sidelines of the 33rd national conference of the All India Kisan Sabha, held in Cuddalore on July 24-27.

The exhibition made references to all the rebellions of the peasant and tribal masses. These included, among others, the Santhal rebellion of 1855-56 when the British raj brutally killed around 25 thousand people, the Moplah rebellion in Malabar region (1920-21) when more than 10 thousand people were butchered and more than 3000 sent to the Andaman Jail, the historic struggles and valorous heroes in various other areas like Titumir of the Wahabi movement and Birsa Munda who struggled for a free Munda land. These were not just information but great heart-rending history that the younger generation should definitely know.

The exhibition, which was worked out by senior writer N Ramakrishnan and artist Sri Rasa, also succeeded in registering all the struggles waged by the Kisan Sabha since its formation in April 1936. These included the Worli tribal revolt under Shamlal Parulekar and Godavari Parulekar, Telangana armed struggle under P Sundaraiya, M Basavapunniah and others, and the anti-betterment levy struggle of the Punjab farmers under Harkishan Singh Surjeet.

Photographs depicting the real land reforms carried out by the first communist government in Kerala, headed by E M S Namboodiripad, by the Left Front government in West Bengal, headed by Jyoti Basu, and by the Left Front rule in Tripura were also among the important highlights of the exhibition.

In Tamilnadu, most of the agricultural lands in Thanjavur were in the hands of the landlords while the agricultural labourers here were in a very pathetic condition, with no adequate food, and were punished with whipping and forced to take in cowdung water even for small mistakes. The struggle led by Comrade B Srinivasa Rao in the region resulted in the abolition of this kind of slavery in the farms. This resulted in the formation of farmers’ associations in every part of the region. Along with these developments, the exhibition also depicted the cruel genocide of 44 agricultural workers, including women and children, in Keezhvenmani village. The exhibition also threw light on the historic role of comrades like N Sankaraiyah, K P Janaki Ammal, G Veeraiyan, Dr Annaji and Lalitha Annaji. This provided an insight into the valiant struggle of AIKS leaders, to the younger generations who visited the exhibition. However, the exhibition did not confine just to the past history but also exhibited the recent and ongoing militant struggles in Tamilnadu. In 1992, tribal women of a village named Vaachathi were gangraped and the entire community was brutally attacked and tortured by the police and forest officers. It was the continuous and decisive struggle under the leadership of the Kisan Sabha over 20 years that finally brought justice to the affected people. The depictions of this protracted and arduous struggle were heart-rending.

This exhibition --- a joint work of many comrades and the M S Swaminathan Foundation --- turned out to be a huge success, and gave the present generation a glimpse of the future through the past history.