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Bharatiya Kisan Sangh From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to navigationJump to search Not to be confused with Bharatiya
Kisan Union.
The Bharatiya Kisan Sangh (BKS) (English: Indian
Farmers' Association) is an Indian farmers'
organization that is politically linked to the Rashtriya
Swayam sevak Sangh,[1] and
a member of the Sangh
Parivar.[2][3][4] BKS
was founded by Dattopant
Thengadi in 1978.[5][3] As
of 2000, Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh claimed BKS had a
quarter million members, organized in 11,000
villages and 301 districts across
the country.[6] The
organization is dominated by landed gentry.[7] Founding[edit]
The first chapter of
BKS to be formed was its Rajasthan branch,
founded on 13 March 1978.[8][9] The
all India organization of BKS was announced by
Thengadi on 4 March 1979 at the first All India
Conference of BKS in Kota.[8][10] The
650 delegates at the 1979 conference had been
handpicked by Thengadi, who travelled across the
country to meet with farmers' representatives.[11] The
launch of BKS was preceded by earlier efforts of
RSS to organize the peasantry. In the 1960s, RSS
had organized farmers in the Vidharba region,
and again in 1972 in Uttar Pradesh.[6] The
RSS effort to build an agrarian front, parallel
to Bharatiya
Mazdoor Sangh trade union movement,
had however failed to attract major mass
support.[12] 1980s[edit]
On 26 February
1981 the BKS held a mass rally at the Andhra Pradesh
Legislative Assembly in Hyderabad,
the first major farmers mobilization after the Green
Revolution.[13] The
organizing of peasants in areas of Andhra
Pradesh such as Karimnagar District, Nizamabad District and Warangal
District led to tensions with the dominant Naxal movement
in the area, and in February 1984 BKS Karimnagar
District Secretary Gopal Reddy and Ramchander
Rao (a RSS taluk-level
organizer) were killed in Jagityal.[14] In
July 1985 BKS organized a mass rally at the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly,
a protest movement that forced the state
government to lower electricity prices.[8]
In 1986–1987 BKS led a mass movement in Gujarat,
culminating in a violent gherao of
the Gujarat Legislative Assembly in
March 1987.[15][16][17] The
campaign began in October 1986, following two
years of drought in the state.[18] On
1 January 1987 a mass rally of 400,000 people
was held in Vijaypur.[18] The
movement culminated in the gherao of the
Legislative Assembly, at which police fire
killed four demonstrators at the 19 March 1987
gherao, and one police officer was killed by the
demonstrators.[19] The
BKS leadership was arrested and the organization
declared an indefinite state-wide bandh following
the clashes.[20] The
1986–1987 Gujarat movement was marked by a
competition between BKS (based mainly in
northern Gujarat, with some influence in central
Gujarat) and the Khedut Samaj and Kisan
Sanghatana (based in south Gujarat).[17][13] Whilst
the movement had a larger charter of demands,
its key demand was the lowering of electricity
prices for farmers.[17] BJP
supported the BKS agitation, as means of
countering the influence of Sharad
Joshi in the state.[21] Later history[edit]
With its base among wealthier farmers, BKS
supported the privatization of inputs and
increased mechanization of agriculture in the
1990s.[22] In
Gujarat BKS became primarily dominated by cotton
farmers, an export-oriented cash crop.[22]
BKS held its sixth national conference in Hastinapur in
1999, addressed by RSS sarsanghchalak Rajendra
Singh.[23] At
the time, Kunvarji Bhai Jadhav, was the BKS
president.[23] Political line[edit]
BKS describes itself as an apolitical
organization, and its by-laws indicate that the
BKS banner is ochre colour
(rather than the nearly identical saffron colour
of the RSS banner).[11] The
organization describes itself as an organization
'by farmers, for farmers',[11] promoting
agricultural self-reliance.[24] Organizers
of BKS are generally RSS members or
sympathizers, its leader is largely pro-Bharatiya
Janata Party.[15] The
motto of the organization, in Sanskrit,
is 'Krithi Mit Krishwa' ('Do farming yourself'),
taken from the RigVeda.[11] The
organization opposes genetically modified crops
in oilseed production
Whilst politically close to BJP, its relations
with the party hasn't always been uncomplicated.
When Narendra
Modi,
as Chief
Minister of Gujarat,
increased electricity prices in 2003 the BKS
launched a protest movement against the BJP
government, with a 50,000 strong protest in Gandhinagar.[26]
The BJP responded by evicting the BKS from its
state headquarters at the Members of Legislative
Assembly quarters.[26] The
RSS intervened, trying to reconcile BKS and BJP
in the state.
But in
Gujarat BKS refused to support BJP in the 2004
Indian general election.[26] In
2007, the BKS showed resentment with the ruling Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP) government in Gujarat.
Dissatisfied with the prevailing cotton prices, it led to farmers' agitation in Saurashtra.[1]
In September 2020, the BKS also protested
against the agriculture bills passed by the
Parliament and asked for modifications to the
bill. . |
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