Consider the following statements with respect to Tebhaga movement:1. ...
- In September 1946, the Bengal Provincial Kisan Sabha gave a call to demand - Tebhaga - two-thirds’ share - to the bargardars, the share croppers instead of the one-half share. The storm centre of the movement was north Bengal. The central slogan was “nij khamare dhan tolo”- i.e., sharecroppers taking the paddy to their own threshing floor and not to the jotedar’s house, as before, so as to enforce tebhaga. Hence statement 1 is not correct and statement 2 is correct.
- The share croppers were encouraged by the fact that the Bengal Land Revenue Commission, popularly known as the Floud Commission, had already made this recommendation.
- The movement received a great boost in late January 1947 when the Muslim League Ministry led by Suhrawardy published the Bengal Bargadars Temporary Regulation Bill. The Muslim League Ministry failed to pursue the bill in the Assembly and it was only in 1950 that the Congress Ministry passed a Bargadars Bill which incorporated, in substance, the demands of the movement.
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Consider the following statements with respect to Tebhaga movement:1. ...
Statement 1: The movement started in the Telangana region.
Statement 2: The Sharecroppers started the movement to demand a two-third share of the crop grown in the fields.
The correct answer is option 'B' - 2 only.
Explanation:
The Tebhaga movement was a peasant movement that took place in Bengal, not the Telangana region. So, statement 1 is incorrect.
The Tebhaga movement was initiated by the sharecroppers or Bargadars in Bengal, who were demanding a two-thirds share of the crop produced in the fields. The Bargadars were mostly poor peasants who cultivated land owned by the Zamindars (landlords) and were forced to give half of the produce as rent. They were often exploited and kept in a cycle of poverty.
The term 'Tebhaga' means 'three shares' in Bengali, referring to the demand of the Bargadars for a larger share of the crop. They argued that they provided two-thirds of the inputs, including labor, seeds, and fertilizers, and thus deserved a larger share of the produce.
The movement gained momentum in the late 1940s and early 1950s, with the Bargadars organizing themselves under the banner of the Kisan Sabha, a peasant organization affiliated with the Communist Party of India. They conducted protests, strikes, and demonstrations to assert their demands.
The movement was met with strong resistance from the Zamindars and the government, which sided with the landlords. The government implemented repressive measures to suppress the movement, including arrests, violence, and evictions of the Bargadars.
Despite facing severe repression, the Tebhaga movement played a crucial role in raising awareness about the exploitative system of sharecropping in Bengal. It paved the way for land reforms in the state and eventually led to the implementation of Operation Barga in the 1980s, which aimed to provide security of tenure and fair shares to sharecroppers.
In conclusion, the Tebhaga movement started in Bengal, not the Telangana region, and was initiated by sharecroppers who demanded a two-thirds share of the crop produced in the fields. Therefore, statement 1 is incorrect and statement 2 is correct.
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