Workers, Peasant and Tribal Movements in Goa

Workers Peasant and Tribal Movements in Goa

Tribal Movement

The tribals of India, like other social groups, participated in the anti-colonial movement.
The tribal anti-colonial movements were of two types –

The movements against their oppressors i.e. landlords, money-lenders, traders, thekedars (contractors), government officials and Christian missionaries and
The movements which were linked to and merged with the Indian , National movement.

The first type of movements can be called as anti-colonial because these movements were directed against those classes which were the creation of British colonialism and who collaborated with the tribals.
These classes were considered outsiders by the tribals.
According to an estimate there were more than 70 tribal revolts over a period of 70 years (1778 to 1948). These revolts were anti-colonial in varying degrees.
The tribals responded to their exploitation and oppression in the form of revolts and movements.
They identified their enemies in the outsiders (dikus) – landlords, money-lenders, thekedars and missionaries and European government officials.
They launched movements against their oppressors in their respective regions.
Their agitations against the outsiders called anti-colonial.
They revolted against them because of their exploitation in the form of encroachment on their land, eviction from their land, annulment of their traditional legal and social rights and customs, against enhancement of rent, and for transfer of land to the tiller, abolition of feudal and semi-feudal form of land ownership.
On the whole, these movements had social and religious implication but they were directed against the issues related to their existence.
These ‘movements were launched under the leadership of their respective chiefs. Although the movements initially began on social and religious issues and against the oppression of outsiders, in course of time, they merged with the National movement and with the no-tax campaign.
The tribals fought against their enemies with their conventional weapons i.e. bows, arrows, lathis and axes.
Their movement often took a violent turn resulting in the murder of oppressors and the burning of their houses.
Most of the movements were ruthlessly suppressed by the government.
The tribals had to comply with British policies: which were detrimental to their interests.
The government introduced protective administration in tribal areas.
The government thought that the normal laws could not be applied in the tribal areas.
The government passed Scheduled District Act (1874) and categorised the tribal areas as excluded area in the Govt. of India Act of 1935.
Tribal movements are further subdivided into two categories along two main divisions of tribes based on the geographical region occupied.

Non- Frontier Tribe: constitute 89 percent of the total tribal population. The nonfrontier tribes were mainly confined to central India, West-Central India and Andhra. Among the tribes that participated in the movements were Khonds, Savara, Santhal, Munda, Oraon, Koya, Kol, Gond and Bhil. The uprising of these tribes were quite volatile and constitute some of major uprising.
Frontier Tribes: of the seven North-eastern frontier states of Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Assam, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura

Cause of Tribal Movement

Imposition of Land revenue Settlement: Expansion of agriculture by the non- tribals to tribal area or over forest cover let to the erosion of tribal traditions of joint ownership and increased the socio-economic differentiation in the egalitarian structure of the tribal society.
Work of Christian Missionaries brought about additional changes in the socio economic and cultural equation of the tribals and the mainstream society plus in turbulent times, the tendency of the missionaries to refuse to take up arms or in discouraging people from rising against the government made the missionaries to be viewed as extension of colonialism and were often attacked by the rebels.
Increasing demand for good from early nineteenth century– first for the royal navy and then railways, led to increasing control of government over forest land. The establishment of the Forest department in 1864, Government Forest Act(1865)and Indian Forest Act in 1878 together established complete government monopoly over Indian forest land. Shifting Agriculture, a wide spread practice amongst the various tribal communities was banned from 1864 onwards on the reserved forest. Restrictions were imposed on the previously sanctioned timber and grazing facilities.
Extension of settled agriculture led to influx of non tribals in the tribal areas. These outsiders exploited them and extension of settled agriculture led to the loss of land by the tribals which reduced them to agricultural labourers.
Some of the tribal uprising took place in reaction to the effect of the landlords to impose taxes on the customary use of timber and grazing facilities, police exaction, new excise regulations, exploitation by low country traders and money lenders, and restrictions on shifting cultivation in forest.
The rebellions by the non-frontier tribals were usually reactions against outsiders (dikus), local landlords and rulers, the support provided to the later by the British administration and intervention by them in the life of the tribals. The indigenous names for these tribal movements were Meli, Hool and Ul-Gulan.
Introduction of the notion of private property- Land could be bought, sold, mortgaged which led to loss of land by the tribals.

Tribal Movement in Goa

For the first time in the tribal history tribal’s raised their voice in public for their rights at Rajendra Prasad Stadium, Margao, Goa in the year 1974.
The demand was to include them in Schedule list.
In the middle of 1980s people came on roads under the GAKUVED Federation banner to re-assert the demand for scheduling plus demanding government schemes for the upliftment of the community.
In 1987 GAKUVED Federation observed black day on November 14, the birthday of Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister by tying black cloth strip to mouth & hands.
Agitation continues for further years.
In August1989 the big convention at Navelim was organized under the banner of Mull Goenkarancho Ekvott.
The purpose of this convention was to expose Goa Government for not including Goa tribes in the schedule list.
Instead tribes from Daman and Diu such as Dhodia, Dubla (Halpali), Naikada (Tulasia), Siddi (Nayaka) and Varle.
In 1994 the Goa State Assembly passed resolution of including four communities in Schedule list.
The four communities included Gawdas, Kunbis, Velips and Dhangars. This resolution was sent to Central Government for further action.
However it remained pending with the Central Government till movement further intensified in the year 2000. Unrest caused due to pending resolution with Central Government resulted in year 2000 agitation.
First time in the tribal history of Goa on 1st March 2000 tribal people from all over Goa came together in Morcha in Goa’s Capital Panjim giving ultimatum to Government.
About 2000 tribal people in their traditional costume marched through the city of Panjim and created a history.
This morcha not only created awareness of rights and dignity within tribal communities of Goa but also won the support of other communities in Goa at a mass scale for inclusion of four communities in Schedule list and implement the schemes meant for tribal community completely.
In June 2000 realizing that State did not respond to the demands raised during morcha, Gawda Kunbi Velip and Dhangar Federation took up the initiative to strengthen the movement demanding Scheduled Tribe (ST) status invited other Organisations such as Gomantak Goud Maratha Samaj, Mull Goenkarancho Ekvott and Dhangar Unnati Samaj and forged an alliance called The Goa State Schedule Tribe Action Committee. This movement was popularly known as GAKUVED movement.
GAKUVED movement then called for four big public conventions that were held at Shristhal in Cancona, Mardol in Ponda, Quepem municipal area in Quepem, Arlem-Raia in Salcete and Cortalim in Marmagoa.
GAKUVED filed the petition though the then South Goa MP to raise the issue in the Parliament.
The Parliamentary committee then was sent to Goa to study the tribal issue in Goa.
The Chairman and the other members visited Goa and GAKUVED welcomed them in their traditional dress at Dabolim airport and later took them around in tribal habitats in South Goa for a field trip and also had discussions with government.
Based on these discussions Parliamentary Committee recommended Goa tribes (Gawdas, Kunbis, Velips and Dhangars) to be included in the Scheduled list of the Constitution.
Print and electronic media played supportive role towards the movement. Print media in Goa paid special attention in daily newspapers.
Some national newspapers and Indian television – Doordarshan and All India Radio (AIR) also highlighted tribal agitation of 2000 and its demands to people in different parts of India.
Media magnified the demands of the movement also by way of supportive editorials and bringing about special supplements on agitation.

Worker Movement

Labour movement has been an inevitable reaction to the industrialisation process that caused labour problems.
Problems like employment of women and children even for heavy manual work, long hours of work, low wages, lack of elementary facilities, bad working and living conditions, heavy workload and inhuman treatment of workers formed the aftermath of industrialisation.
Most of these problems were caused due to the desire of employers to gain maximum profits, transformation of industry from domestic to large-scale production, migration of labour from rural to urban areas and political reasons as well.
Hence there was a need for establishing an organisation that will protect the labour from the evils of industrialisation.
The labour movement is however not only a reaction to the evil influences of a life in industry but also an attempt to mobilize the competitive forces of our society to the betterment of the conditions of workers at large.
The wage-earners when confronted with the hazards of life in an industry, spontaneously resort to collective action to protect their interests and accordingly the union movement takes different forms at different times. Thus emerges trade unionism with the birth of trade unions in the country.
A trade union is an association of workers in any trade or allied trades for protection and furtherance of their interests regarding wages, conditions of labour and provision of pecuniary assistance to its members during strikes, unemployment, sickness, old age etc.
The basic task for unions was recruitment of members, improve economic status of their members, pursue members’ cases to the labour courts and tribunals and to associate with the political elements to bring about changes through legal enactments.
Union behaviour thus covered a multitude of activities like organization of members, formulation of bargaining demands, ratification of new agreements, striking and picketing, grievance presentation and settlement, convention resolutions and decisions, political activities, educational and publicity programs, labour solidarity actions, union disciplinary measures and administration of benefit plans.
Regarding India, trade unionism seemed to be basically dominated by loose and complex structure and did not conform to any single pattern.
During the last quarter of the 19thCentury, some forms of organisations were established after the factories were set up in India. N. M. Lokhande founded the organized labour movement.
Later World War I, mass movement by political leaders, International Labour Organisation and the Russian Revolution promoted the growth of the movement.
The first union to be set up in India was the Madras Textile Labour Union which was formed in 1918 and the first Central Organisation (A. I. T. U. C) was formed in 1920.
By 1924, there were 8 Federations of labour in India and that a number of legislative measures were introduced such as the Indian Factories Act (1923 ), Indian Mines Act (1923 ) and the Trade Disputes Act (1929).
In 1933, the National Trade Union Federation (N. T. U. F) was formed. Later, several Central Organisations came into existence namely I. N. T. U. C (1946) H. M. S (1948), U.T.U.C (1949 ) etc. Indian trade unions have achieved a remarkable status.
The unions have created for them a platform to air their views, policies and ideologies both at state level and national level in the Standing Labour Committee and the Indian Labour Conference.
Regarding the trade union movement in Goa, it was characterized by struggles, encounters and conflicts.
Research findings by Desai, Khristanand (1993) showed that trade unionism in the State of Goa dates back to the last years of Portuguese rule in the form of spontaneous and sporadic assertions but unions in a definite form evolved only after the liberation of Goa.
According to the Statistical Hand Book of Goa (2000), during the year 1995, 184 unions were registered with a membership of 73084 members at the end of the year, while, in 1997, 206 registered unions existed in Goa but its total membership declined to 39411 only.

Peasants Movement

The peasants movements created an atmosphere for post- independence agrarian reforms, for instance,’ abolition of Zamindari.
They eroded the power of the landed class, thus adding to the transformation of the agrarian structure.
The growth of peasant movement’s exercised considerable pressure on the Indian National Congress.
Despite this, the Karachi Congress Charter did not even touch the fringe of the peasant problem. But the political pressure of the Kisan Sabha succeeded in the Faizpur Congress agrarian programme.
However, the Congress could not under the pressure of the native bourgeoisie grant any radical concession to the peasant demands, at the cost of jeoparadizing the interests of zamindars
This was amply demonstrated by the performances of the Congress ministers during the short period that they were in office before independence.
The peasants suffered from high rents, illegal levies, arbitrary evictions and unpaid labour in Zamindari areas.
In Ryotwari areas, the Government itself levied heavy land revenue.
The overburdened farmer, fearing loss of his only source of livelihood, often approached the local moneylender who made full use of the former’s difficulties by extracting high rates of interests on the money lent.
Often, the farmer had to mortgage his hand and cattle.
Sometimes, the moneylender seized the mortgaged belongings.
Gradually, over large areas, the actual cultivators were reduced to the status of tenants-at-will, share croppers and landless labourers.
The tyranny of zamidars along with the exorbitant rates of British land revenues led to a series of spontaneous peasant uprisings in different parts of the country during this period.
The periodic recurrence of famines coupled with the economic depression during the last decades of the 19th century further aggravated the situation in rural areas and consequently led to numerous peasant revolts.
The peasants often resisted the exploitation, and soon they realised that their real enemy was the colonial state.
Sometimes, the desperate peasants took to crime to come out of intolerable conditions.
These crimes included robbery, dacoity and what has been called social banditry