3. INTRODUCTION
The Tebhaga Movement is probably the greatest present movement in the
history of India.
The Tebhaga Peasant Movement started at “Thakurgaon” in Dinajpur sub-
division in North Bengal.
The Tebhaga Movement was an independence campaign initiated in
Bengal by the Kisan Sabha (peasants front of Communist Party of India) in
1946–47. At that time sharecropping peasants (essentially, tenants) had to
give half of their harvest to the owners of the land.
The Tebhaga Movement was a movement of the share croppers of Bengal
demanding two - thirds instead of half as their produce. Basically from this
principle demand the name Tebhaga Movement comes.
4. Origin of Tebhaga movement
In September of 1946 the Bengal Provincial Kisan Sabha (Peasant's
Organization) called for a mass struggle among sharecroppers to
keep ‘Tebhaga' (two-thirds) of the harvest. Young Communists went
out to the countryside to organize peasants to take the harvested
crop to their own threshing floor and make the two-thirds share a
reality. The movement began in North Bengal and gradually spread
throughout the rest of the province.
5. SLOGANS OF MOVEMENT
“Jotedarer kholan bhango” (Break the yards of the
jotedar)
and
“Jan Debo Tobu Dhan Debo Na,” (We will give our
lives, but not the paddy).
6. IMPORTENCE OF WOMEN
Women in Tebhaga Movement were the prominent players of the
movement. They gave the movement the push that it needed in order to
be successful. The Tebhaga movement owed a lot to the efforts of
various women leaders, especially Bimala Maji who organized and
mobilized women to demand and collect harvest.
Women in Tebhaga movement played a rather significant role. After the
end of the Second World War, there were a number of educated women
who were participating in the various peasant rebellions that were
springing up all over the country. The legacy of female nationalists,
taking part in the Quit India Movement and accepting prison-sentence
for the nation, had ignited the flame of protest in the hearts of women.
Thus there was seen the active participation of women in these
movements and rebellions of which the Tebhaga movement was one.
7. The Tebhaga Movement was a militant campaign initiated in Bengal by the
Kishan Sabha in 1946 - 47. At that time share - cropping peasants had to give
half of their harvest to the owners of the land. The demand of the Tebhaga
(sharing by thirds) movement was to reduce the landlord share to one third.
8. The Flood Commission recommended for two-third of the crop, instead of half, for
the sharecroppers. In September 1946, the Bengal “Pradeshik Kisan Sabha” gave a
call to implement the recommendation of the Flood Commission.
In many areas the agitations turned violent, and landlords fled, leaving parts of the
countryside in the hands of Kisan Sabha. In 1946, sharecroppers began to assert that
they would pay only one-third and that before division the crop would stay in
their godowns and not that of the Jotedars. The sharecroppers were encouraged by
the fact that the Bengal Land Revenue Commission had already made this
recommendation in its report to the government. The movement resulted in clashes
between Jotedars and Bargadars.
9. The Tebhaga Peasant Movement failed on account of various reasons.
When peasant militants wanted arms, the communists could not provide them.
The tribal peasants pressed hard for more militancy which was declined by
middle and rich peasants.
The professional classes in the urban areas of North Bengal did not support the
movement.
At last, with the outbreak of the communal riot in 1947 and under pressure of
British police the movement ended.
10. Communist cadres went out into countryside to organize sharecroppers. Under the
leadership of the Communist leaders, particularly Bhavani Sen, Ila Mitra
Sharecroppers of Dinajpur, Rangpur and Jalpaiguri districts launched the movement.
Other important leaders were a Rajbanshi widow, popularly known as Burima of
Deviganj, Hazi Mohammad, Danesh, Charu Majumdar, Manikuntala Sen, Rani Mitra
Dasgupta, Renu Chakrabarty, and Bimala Maji etc.
Both Hindu and Muslim peasants were involved in the movement.
12. The history of the Tebhaga movement is especially important for a history of
women in India. The Communist cadres and Kisan Sabha were content to have
women play equal role in the movement. As the movement became more militant
and police repression more violent, the leaders of the movement lagged behind
their followers. This was when peasant women stepped forward to play a
significant role and formed the “naribahini”. Thus there was a strong connection
between the increasingly spontaneous character of the uprising and the more and
more prominent role played by women. The Tebhaga Movement was an important
phenomenon in the pages of history, because it was the women gave the
movement its momentum. It proved beyond doubt the efficacy of a group of united
women fighting for a just cause.
