AUGUST

August 1, 1997
CEASEFIRE AGREEMENT BETWEEN GoI AND NSCN (IM)
After sustained confrontation between the Nagas and the Indian State, a cease-fire agreement was signed between the Government of India and the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isaac Muivah) on July 25, 1997.
Articles:
Movement Features (2000-07), Kriti: New Delhi, Vol. I, No. i-vii, pp. 94.
Websites:
http://nagaland.nic.in/profile/history/peace.htm

August 1, 1999
RALLY FOR THE VALLEY BEGINS IN THE NARMADA VALLEY
The Rally for the Valley was a significant national mobilisation in support of the struggle in the Narmada valley. It aimed to widen the campaign to stop dam construction and focus on issues of comprehensive rehabilitation of those displaced. Thousands joined from all over the country. Hundreds of movements and organisations from all over the world expressed their solidarity.
Articles:
Vajpeyi, D. K., & T. Zhang (1998). 'To Dam or Not To Dam: India's Narmada River Basin Project'. In Water Resource Management: A Comparative Perspective.
Dwivedi, Ranjit (1999). 'Displacement, Risks and Resistance: Local Perceptions and Actions in the Sardar Sarovar', Development and Change, Vol. 30, No. 1, pp. 43-78.
McCully, P. (1999). 'Thousands More Narmada Villagers Face Submergence', World Rivers Review, Vol. 14 No. 2.
Venkatesan, V. (1999). 'The Threat of Submergence', Frontline, Vol. 16, No. 14 (www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1614/16140350.htm).
(2000) 'Dammed Future?', Indian Peoples Tribunal on Environment and Human Rights (www.iptindia.org/pdf/Dammed%20Future.pdf).
Bavadam, Lyla (2001). 'One More Indictment', Frontline, Vol. 18, No. 16 (www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1816/18160360.htm).
(2001). 'At the End of the Line', New Internationalist, Vol. 336, pp. 26-28. (http://newint.org/features/2001/07/01/sardarsarovar/).
(2001). 'Narmada: The Facts The River, 30 Dams, and the Narmada Bachao Andolan', New Internationalist, Vol. 336, pp. 18-19.
Biswas, A. K., & C. Tortajada (2001). 'Development and Large Dams: A Global Perspective', International Journal of Water Resources Development, Vol. 17, pp. 9-22.
Kothari, Smitu (2002). 'Globalization, Global Alliances and the Narmada Movement'. In Sanjeev Khagram, Kathryn Sikkink and James Riker, eds., Restructuring World Politics: Transnational Social Movements, Networks, and Norms.
Sangvai, S. (2002). 'Narmada Displacement: Continuing Outrage', Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 37, No. 22, pp. 2132-2133.
D'Souza, D. (2002). The Narmada Dammed: An Inquiry into the Politics of Development, New Delhi: Penguin Books.
Bavadam, Lyla (2003). 'Woes of the Displaced', Frontline, Vol. 20, No. 18 (www.thehindu.com/thehindu/fline/fl2018/stories/20030912008212700.htm) .
Levien, M. (2006). 'Narmada and the Myth of Rehabilitation', Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 41, No. 33, pp. 3581-3585.
Upadhyaya, Himanshu (2006). 'Dubious Record', Frontline, Vol. 23, No. 10
(www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/fline/fl2310/stories/20060602001604200.htm).
Books:
Narmada Bachao Andolan & Institute for Development Anthropology (Binghamton, N.Y.) (1992). Towards Sustainable and Just Development: The People's Struggle in the Narmada Valley.
Baviskar, A. (1995). In The Belly of the River: Tribal Conflicts over Development in the Narmada Valley, Studies in Social Ecology and Environmental History, Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Fisher, W. F. (1995). Toward Sustainable Development?: Struggling Over India's Narmada River, Columbia University Seminar Series, Armonk, N.Y.: M.E. Sharpe.
McCully, P. (1996). Silenced Rivers: The Ecology and Politics of Large Dams, London: Zed Books.
Drèze, J., Samson, M., & S. Singh (1997). The Dam and the Nation; Displacement and Resettlement in the Narmada Valley, Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Sangvai, S. (1998). The River and the Life: The People's Struggle in Narmada Valley, Baroda: Narmada Bachao Andolan.
Roy, A. (1999). The Greater Common Good, Bombay: India Book Distributor (Bombay) Ltd.
Narmada Bachao Andolan (1999). Narmada: The Struggle for Life, Against Destruction, Baroda, Gujarat: Narmada Bachao Andolan.
Dwivedi, R. (2006). Conflict and Collective Action: The Sardar Sarovar Project in India. New Delhi: Routledge.
Films:
A Valley Refuses to Die (1991), Directed by: K.P. Sasi & Ratna Mathur
Narmada: A Valley Rises (1994), Directed by: Ali Kazimi
A Narmada Diary (1995, 60 min), Directed by: Anand Patwardhan & Simantini Dhuru
Kaise Jeebo Re (How Shall We Survive!, 1997, 80 min), Directed by: Anurag Singh & Jharna Jhaveri
Words on Water (2002, 85 min), Directed by: Sanjay Kak
Drowned Out (2004, 75 min), Directed by: F. Armstrong, N. Wadia & A. Roy
Websites:
www.narmada.org
www.hinduonnet.com/2006/04/17/stories/2006041705231100.htm
www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mag/2006/01/08/stories/2006010800170400.htm

August 1, 2007
JALBIRADARI SATYAGRAHA AGAINST ENCROACHMENT OF YAMUNA BANK BEGINS
A sustained Satyagraha was launched to demand an immediate halt to all construction activities on the Yamuna floodplain for the 2010 New Delhi Commonwealth Games. Spearheaded by Rajendra Singh's Jalbiradari, among other groups, the mobilisation argued that the disturbance would cause irreversible ecological harm. The Satyagraha was suspended after the Supreme Court admitted a petition challenging the construction.
Websites:
http://indiawaterportal.org/Network/interview/ngos/rajendra_eng.html
http://delhigreens.com/2007/12/28/yamuna-satyagraha-campaign-to-save-a-river/
http://yamunajiyeabhiyaan.blogspot.com/2007_11_01_archive.html
www.ens-newswire.com/ens/may2007/2007-05-16-01.asp

August 2-4, 2006
OVER 5,000 WOMEN STAGE A DHARNA DEMANDING 33% RESERVATION IN PARLIAMENT
Ten national women's organisations came together to stage a dharna on new Delhi's Parliament Street to demand the passage of the Women's Reservation Bill seeking 33% reservation for women in Parliament and state legislatures. Introduced in September 1996, by the United Front government, the Bill still awaits approval.
Articles:
Gupta, Vaijayanti (2005). 'Parliament Still a Man's World'
(www.indiatogether.org/2005/sep/opi-reserve.htm).
Keating, Christine (2002). 'The Women's Reservation Bill in India: Disrupting the Postcolonial Sexual Contract', paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Political Science Association, Boston, Massachusetts, Aug 28, 2002.
Sumbul, Aysha (2004). 'Women's Reservation Bill A Critique', PUCL Bulletin, August 2004
(www.pucl.org/Topics/Gender/2004/womens -reservation-bill.htm).
Websites:
http://pd.cpim.org/2006/0813/08132006_womens%20dharna.htm
http://marginalmatters.wordpress.com/2008/05/06/no-country-for-thou/

August 3, 1982
DAHEJ VIRODHI CHETNA MANCH MARCH TO THE PARLIAMENT
The Anti-Dowry campaign gathered momentum in the 1980s, bringing practices considered a 'family matter' into the public domain. The Anti-Dowry Awareness Front, constituted by a number of national women's organisations, marched to Parliament to demand stricter legislation and strong action against those responsible for dowry-related deaths.
Articles:
Sharma, Kumud. 'Shared Aspirations, Fragmented Realities: Contemporary Women's Movement in India, Its Dialectics and Dilemmas' (www.cwds.org/OCPaper/SharedAspirationsKS.pdf).
Haksar, Nandita. 'Women and Public Interest Litigation: A Decade of Struggle', Samya Shakti, Vol. 2, No. 1. (1984). 'The Dowry (Prohibition) Act 1961: The Struggle for an Amendment', Samya Shakti, Vol. 1 No. 2, CWDS.
Singh, Kirti (2004). 'Violence against Women and the Indian Law, Savitri Goonesekere (Ed.), Violence, Law & Women's Rights in South Asia, New Delhi: Sage Publications.
Mathur, Kanchan (2007). 'Body as Site, Body as Space: Bodily Integrity and Women's Empowerment in India', Institute of Development Studies, Jaipur (www.idsj.org/wp-148.pdf).
AIDWA Records.
Books:
Kumar, Radha (1993). The History of Doing: An Illustrated Account of Movements for Women's Rights and Feminism in India, 1800-1990, Kali for Women Organisation, Zubaan.

August 4, 2002
RALLY DEMANDING CLOSURE OF COCA COLA PLANT AT PLACHIMADA
Marking the 105th day of the struggle against Coca Cola in Plachimada, Kerala, the anti-Coca Cola Struggle Committee organised a mass rally and a public meeting demanding closure of the bottling plant and holding Hindustan Coca Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd. liable for all damages to the livelihood resources of the people and environment.
Websites:
www.pucl.org/Topics/Industries-envirn-resettlement/2002/coke2.htm
www.indiaresource.org/campaigns/coke/2003/corpwatchindiaresponds.htm
[For more on anti-Coca Cola struggle, see April 22]

August 4, 2007
5,000 DALIT AND ADIVASI FAMILIES OCCUPY CHENGARA ESTATE IN KERALA
Over 20,000 landless Dalits, Adivasis and others occupied Chengara Estate, a rubber plantation being illegally held by Harrison Malayalam Plantations, in Pathanamthitta district of Kerala. Largely excluded from the 'first' round of land reforms in 1972, this land rights movement has been demanding implementation of a long-standing promise of the government of Kerala to distribute agricultural land to them.
Articles:
Peoples' Movements Solidarity Team (2007). 'A Report on Chengara Land Struggle in Kerala' (http://sanhati.com/articles/535/).
Films:
Dying for the Land (2008, 40 min), Directed by C. Sarathchandran
Websites:
http://updatecollective.wordpress.com/2008/02/12/chengara-land-struggle/
http://readerlist.freeflux.net/blog/archive/2008/06/15/reader-list-on-chengara-struggle-beyond-just-a-home-and-a-name.html
www.ajilal.blogspot.com/
www.mail-archive.com/zestcaste@yahoogroups.com/msg07301.html
www.mail-archive.com/greenyouth@googlegroups.com/msg02413.html
http://technorati.com/videos/youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DL8hu9KQBvNc Video clipping on the Chengara Land Struggle.

August 5, 1995
KARNATAKA RAJYA RAITHA SANGHA (KRRS) SUCCEEDS IN SHUTTING DOWN KFC OUTLET
The first Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet in India was set up in Bangalore in 1995. It met with widespread resistance by farmers led by the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (Karnataka State Farmers' Collective). Stating that the American fast food chain would disrupt the locally based agricultural system as well as negatively impact the health of consumers, they were successful in compelling the municipal corporation to shut down the outlet.
Articles:
Wall, Melissa (2000). 'KFC into India: A Case Study of Resistance to Globalisation Discourse'. In Robin Anderson and Lance Strate (Eds.), Critical Studies in Media Commercialism, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

August 5, 2006
MANIBELI AGITATION BEGINS FOLLOWING ITS SUBMERGENCE ON AUGUST 3
With the Sardar Sarovar Dam built up to the height of 119 meters, large parts of the historic village of Manibeli were submerged. A major agitation was launched following the submergence of homes and agricultural lands to highlight the grossly inadequate official rehabilitation measures.
Websites:
www.narmada.org/nba-press-releases/august-2006/Aug04.html
http://nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp/free/dams/narmada/2006/0804nba_update.html
www.tehelka.com/story_main15.asp?filename=Cr121705Ma_Rewa.asp
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GSN/message/33810
[For more on Narmada valley struggles, see September 28, March 30, August 1]

August 6, 2003
MOVEMENT AGAINST URANIUM PROJECTS (MAUP) PROTESTS IN ANDHRA PRADESH
About a dozen environmental organisations and NGOs came together to form the Movement Against Uranium Projects. They protested outside the Uranium Corporation of India Ltd's office in Nalgonda district of Andhra Pradesh against the proposed mining and processing plants highlighting the content and scale of environmental damage and health hazards that would ensue if UCIL's activities proceeded as planned.
Websites:
www.minesandcommunities.org//search.php?words=nalgonda&order=date
www.hyderabadgreens.org/
www.mmpindia.org/
www.mineralpolicy.org/
www.ieer.org/
www.antenna.nl/wise/index.html

August 6, 2002
KARNATAKA RAJYA RYOTA SANGHA ACTIVISTS DESTROY BT COTTON IN DAVANAGERE
In their fight against the promotion of Bt Cotton, KRRS activists symbolically destroyed the standing crop on two acres of land in the state's Davangere district, demanding a ban on the sale and promotion of the genetically modified seeds.
Websites:
www.mindfully.org/GE/GE4/Karnataka-Bans-Monsanto11aug02.htm
http://news.infoshop.org/article.php?story=02/08/16/8891740
[For more on KRRS' struggle against Bt Cotton, see April 17]

August 7, 1905
BOYCOTT OF FOREIGN GOODS PROCLAIMED INAUGURATING THE SWADESHI MOVEMENT
A nationwide protest inaugurated the Swadeshi movement. Imported goods were boycotted and local stores were set up to only sell locally manufactured products. This was the first articulation of economic independence within the freedom struggle.
Articles:
Bayly, C.A. (2003). 'The Origins of Swadeshi (Home Industry): Cloth and Indian Society, 1700-1930'. In Arjun Appadurai (Ed.), The Social Life of Things: Commodities in Cultural Perspective, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Biswas, A.K. (1995). 'Paradox of Anti-Partition Agitation and Swadeshi Movement in Bengal (1905)', Social Scientist, Vol. 23, No. 4/6, pp. 38-57.
Giri, Ananta Kumar (2004). 'Rethinking the Politics and Ethics of Consumption: Dialogues with the Swadeshi Movement and Gandhi', Journal of Human Values, Vol. 10, No. 1.
Books:
Mukherjee, Haridas and Uma Mukherjee (1958). India's Fight for Freedom: Or, The Swadeshi Movement (1905-1906), Calcutta.
Sarkar, Sumit (1973). The Swadeshi Movement in Bengal, 1903-1908, New Delhi: People's Publishing House.
Prasad, Basu Sankari (2004). Swadeshi Movement in Bengal and Freedom Struggle of India, Kolkata: Papyrus.
Trivedi, Lida (2007). Clothing Gandhi's Nation: Homespun and Modern India, Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Websites:
http://india_resource.tripod.com/freedom.html
www.bombaymuseum.org/ahimsa/sec5/swadeshi.html
http://banglapedia.search.com.bd/HT/S_0628.htm

August 7, 2005
SANKALP SABHA ORGANISED IN CHAMPARAN PLEDGING TO CARRY FORWARD THE PEASANT STRUGGLE
A Sankalp Sabha (assembly to take a pledge) was organised by the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) in Champaran, Bihar pledging to carry forward their struggle after facing brutal repression from the feudal-criminal-police-politician nexus. Facing the combined repression of these forces the peasant movement against these feudal forces continues.
Websites:
www.cpiml.org/liberation/year_2005/september/report2.htm

August 9, 1942
QUIT INDIA MOVEMENT BEGINS
At an All India Congress Committee session after the end of World War II, a unanimous resolution was passed demanding that the British 'Quit India'. Gandhiji gave his famous call to 'do or die'. The hoisting of the nationalist flag as a symbolic expression of the demand for independence inaugurated the 'flag satyagraha'.
Articles:
Chakrabarty, Bidyut (1992). 'Political Mobilization in the Localities: The 1942 Quit India Movement in Midnapur', Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 26, No. 4, pp. 791-814.
Books:
Hutchins, Francis G. (1971). Spontaneous Revolution: The Quit India Movement, Manohar Book Service.
________ (1973). India's Revolution: Gandhi and the Quit India Movement, Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Patil, V.I. (1984). Gandhi, Nehru and the Quit India Movement, Advent Books Division.
Shukla, Vivekananda (1989). Rebellion of 1942: Quit India Movement, HK Publishers.
Shinde, A.B. (1990). The Parallel Government of Satara: A Phase of the Quit India Movement, Allied Publishers.
Chakravarty, Shachi (2002). Quit India Movement, A Study, Delhi: New Century Publications.
Ram, S and R. Kumar (2008). Encyclopedia of Indian Freedom Struggle, Vol. VII. Quit India Movement 1942-45, New Delhi: Commonwealth Publishers.
Websites:
www.sscnet.ucla.edu/southasia/History/Gandhi/Quit.html
www.gandhi-manibhavan.org/activities/quit_india.htm
www.indianetzone.com/7/women_quit_india_movement.htm
http://banglapedia.search.com.bd/HT/Q_0017.htm
www.mapsofindia.com/personalities/gandhi/quit-india-movement.html
http://members.tripod.com/IndiaProject/quit.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_Satyagraha

August 9
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF WORLD'S INDIGENOUS PEOPLE
Websites:
www.un.org/depts/dhl/indigenous/

August 9, 2002
KARNATAKA RAJYA RYOTA SANGHA ORGANISES RALLY IN BANGALORE AGAINST CULTIVATION OF BT COTTON
In their fight against Monsanto-Mahyco and their promotion of Bt Cotton seeds, KRRS organised a huge rally in front Bharatiya Vigyan Kendra in Bangalore. The also demanded the ouster of American-based Monsanto Research Centre from the premises of the Indian Institute of Science. The Karnataka government temporarily banned Bt Cotton seeds on August 11.
Websites:
www.hinduonnet.com/2002/07/28/stories/2002072802620400.htm
www.mindfully.org/GE/GE4/Karnataka-Bans-Monsanto11aug02.htm
[For more on KRRS' struggle against Bt Cotton, see April 17]

August 9, 2006
PEOPLE'S FORUM AGAINST ADB STORM ADB OFFICE IN DELHI ON ADB QUIT INDIA DAY
Marking 'Quit India Day', members of movements and various sections of civil society under the banner of People's Forum against ADB stormed the Delhi ADB office. Shouting slogans like 'ADB Quit India, Quit Asia Pacific', they presented evidence on how, in the name of development, the ADB, along with other International Financial Institutions, was legitimising a deeper process of privatisation and projects that led to the sustained exploitation of natural resources and the widespread destruction of local livelihoods.
Articles:
Focus on the Global South (2005). 'The ADB and Policy (Mis)governance in Asia', Focus on the Global South.
Guttal, Shalmali (2005). 'Failure to Deliver: The Asian Development Bank's Policies, Projects and Governance', Focus on the Global South.
Websites:
www.asianpeoplesforum.net/twiki/tiki-print_article.php?articleId=28

August 9, 2007
NATIONWIDE PROTEST AGAINST THE COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT NOTIFICATION 2007
The Coastal Zone Management Notification 2007, proposed to 'improve' the Coastal Zone Regulation Act 1991, would actually open up the coast to powerful private interests increasing the vulnerability of traditional fishing communities. A wide cross-section of fishworker organisations and those concerned about the coastal ecosystem and the penetration of the hotel and tourist industry, came together to protest the notification.
Articles:
Dossier on Campaign against CZM Notification, 2007 (www.trinet.in/modules/mydownloads/viewcat.php?cid=63).
Menon, Manju, Sudarshan Rodriguez and Aarthi Sridhar (2007). 'Coastal Zone Management: Better or Bitter Fare?', Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 42, No. 38.
Mathew, Sebastian (2008). 'Coastal Management Zone: Implications for Fishing Communities', Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 43, No. 25.
Films:
Resisting Coastal Invasion (2007, 52 min), Directed by: K.P. Sasi
(Film Review - www.grain.org/seedling/?id=560 and www.thehindu.com/mag/2007/12/02/stories/2007120250110500.htm)
Websites:
www.icsf.net/icsf2006/ControllerServlet?handler=EXTERNALNEWS&code=getDetails&id=34475
http://keralafishworkers.org/czmimplementation.html

August 12, 2003
DHARNA STAGED BY FORUM FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE IN EDUCATION IN BANGALORE
Activists under the banner of Forum for Social Justice in Education, led by Forum coordinator and KRRS chief, Prof. M.D. Nanjundaswamy demanded the nationalisation of educational institutions in Karnataka in order to provide an equal basis for the delivery of educational services.
Websites:
http://againstprivatizationofeducation.8k.com/

August 13, 1997
SC LAID DOWN VISHAKHA GUIDELINES ON SEXUAL HARASSMENT AT THE WORK PLACE
Following the gang-rape of Vishakha, an employee of the State Women's Development Program who had been active in the campaign against child marriage in Rajasthan, a case was filed by social action groups and NGOs. A nationwide campaign was launched by women's organisations to fight sexual harassment in the workplace. In response, the Supreme Court laid down guidelines on sexual harassment, known as the Vishakha guidelines.
Articles:
Chatterji, Aruna. 'Sexual Harassment: Battling Unwelcome Sexual Attention'
(http://infochangeindia.org/200602095631/Agenda/Claiming-Sexual-Rights-In-India/Sexual-harassment-Battling-unwelcome-sexual-attention.html).
Desai, Mihir (2005). 'Starting the Battle', Combat Law, Vol. 4, No.1.
Books:
LeMoncheck, Linda and James P. Sterba (2001). Sexual Harassment: Issues and Answers, New York: Oxford University Press.
Goonesekere, Savitri (2004). Violence, Law and Women's Rights in South Asia, New Delhi: Sage Publications.
Websites:
http://ncw.nic.in/pdfreports/Sexual%20Harassment%20at%20Workplace%20(English).pdf The Judgement (pp. 1-11).
http://training.itcilo.it/
www.boloji.com/wfs5/wfs995.htm - Bhaduri, Aditi (2007). 'This Act Falls Short'.

August 14, 1947
NAGA NATIONAL COUNCIL DECLARES INDEPENDENCE OF PRESENT DAY NAGALAND
A day before India was to gain Independence, the Naga National Council declared independence of Nagaland following the backing out of Delhi from a proposed Pact that was to be signed between Delhi and the Nagas.
Articles:
Iralu, Niketu (2002). 'The Naga Story  Then and Now', in Combat Law, Vol. 1, No. 1.
(http://www.combatlaw.org/information.php?article_id=7&issue_id=1).
Jassal, R.S. (2002) 'The Truth and Naga Issue'. (http://manipuronline.com/Features/October2002/nagaissues31_1.htm).
Upadhyay, R (2005). 'Naga Insurgency  A Confusion of War or Peace', South Asia Analysis Group, Paper No. 1256.
(http://www.saag.org/common/uploaded_files/paper1256.html).
Books:
Lasuh, Wetshokhrolo (Ed.), Compiled by V.K. Nuh (2002). The Naga Chronicle, New Delhi: Regency Publications.

August 15, 1947
INDEPENDENCE DAY

August 15, 1972
DALIT PANTHERS PROTEST AGAINST SILVER JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS OF INDEPENDENCE
Formed in April 1972, the Dalit Panthers observe this day as 'Black Independence Day', asserting that the anniversary of Independence be observed as a day of mourning, given that millions continue to be subjected to the unfreedoms of the caste system with a state that does little to break this system.
[For more on the Dalit Panther Movement in India, see July 9]

August 15, 1992
WOMEN'S ANTI-ARRACK MOVEMENT SUCCEEDS IN INSTITUTING PROHIBITION IN MAHARASHTRA
Finding ways of banning the sale of liquor in villages in and around Gadchiroli in Maharashtra, the anti-liquor movement spearheaded by women and the youth was successful in forcing the Central Government to implement the Government regulation prohibiting sale of liquor in Adivasi areas. This met with some opposition from liquor vendors but was upheld by the High Court.
Articles:
Movement Features (2000-2007), Kriti: New Delhi, Vol. I, No. i-viii, pp. 15.
[For more on the Anti-Arrack movement, see September 11]

August 15, 2000
VILLAGERS ESTABLISHED FIRST MICRO-HYDEL PROJECT IN DOMKHEDI
On the 54th anniversary of Independence, amidst the struggle being waged in the Narmada Valley, the first micro-hydel project was set up in the village of Domkhedi in Maharashtra. Asserting the commitment to establish self-sufficiency in the village, the community affirmed their commitment to 'Hamare gaon mein hamara Raj' (Our rule in our villages).
Websites:
www.narmada.org/nba-press-releases/august-2000/secondfreedom.html
[For more on Narmada valley struggles, see September 28, March 30, August 1]

August 17, 2006
FIRST PUBLIC HEARING ON NREGA AT JANTAR MANTAR, NEW DELHI
The Indian Parliament enacted the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act in August 2005. A year later, the All India Agricultural Labour Association held the first Public Hearing (or Jan Sunwai) on its status. Representatives of about a fifth (110) of India's districts attended.
Websites:
www.khetmazdoorsabha.blogspot.com/
www.hinduonnet.com/2006/09/12/stories/2006091205181000.htm

August 18, 1942
SHERPUR VILLAGERS DECLARED INDEPENDENCE AND RAISED THE NATIONALIST FLAG
In a lesser known fight that was part of the Quit India Movement, eight villagers of Sherpur, Ghazipur were martyred on this day when the village raised the national flag and declared independence from the British. Many more lost their lives in the violent response of the British. The flag from the 1942 resistance is preserved and raised on August 18 every year -- unlike any other place in the country.
Websites:
www.proxsa.org/politics/sainathstories.html

August 20, 1921
THE MOPLAH REBELLION IN MALABAR
Fundamentally a peasant revolt, the Moplah Rebellion in Malabar, Kerala has often been portrayed as a process arising from the communal conflict between Muslim peasants and a Hindu landlord. However, while some communal tensions exist, revolt lay in the exploitative relationship that the landlord had with the peasants.
Articles:
Wood, Conrad (1974). 'Historical Background of the Moplah Rebellion: Outbreaks, 1836-1919', Social Scientist, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 5-33.
Dale, Stephen F. (1975). 'The Mappilla Outbreaks: Ideology and Social Conflict in Nineteenth- Century Kerala', The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 35, No. 1, pp. 85-97.
Wood, Conrad (1976). 'The First Moplah Rebellion against British Rule in Malabar', Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 543-556.
Dhanagre, D.N. (1977). 'Agrarian Conflict, Religion and Politics: The Moplah Rebellions in Malabar in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries', Past and Present, Vol. 74, No. 1, pp. 112-141.
Books:
Wood, Conrad (1987). The Moplah Rebellion and its Genesis, New Delhi: People's Publishing House.
Pannikar, K.N. (1989). Against Lord and State: Religion and Peasant Uprisings in Malabar 1836-1921, Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Websites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moplah_Rebellion

August 20, 1992
KONKANI, NEPALI AND MANIPURI RECOGNIZED AS NATIONAL LANGUAGES IN THE EIGHTH SCHEDULE OF THE CONSTITUTION
After significant cultural and political mobilisation, Konkani, Nepali and Manipuri, were finally included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, recognizing them as National Languages.
Websites:
http://www.e-pao.net/GP.asp?src=9.210807.aug07
http://www.hindu.com/2005/07/29/stories/2005072913820300.htm

August 21, 1936
'MANIFESTO OF DEMANDS OF THE KISANS OF INDIA' ADOPTED BY ALL INDIA KISAN SABHA
The All India Kisan Sabha adopted its Manifesto of Demands, which included the demand to abolish zamindari, cancel rural debts and substitute the land revenue system with a graded agricultural income tax. It also demanded the reduction of revenue and rent by half and the transfer of full occupancy rights to the tenants.
[For more on the All India Kisan Sabha, see April 11]

August 23
CHENGARA DAY
Observed as Chengara Day, protests were organised in various parts of the country including New Delhi, against the brutal economic blockade imposed by Trade Unionists on the struggle at Chengara Estate in Pathanamthitta district of Kerala. A strong protest was organised to highlight the extra-legal means being used to weaken a democratic struggle for land and dignity.
[For more on the Chengara land struggle, see August 4]

August 23, 1934
THE SEKHAWATI JAT PEASANTS SUCCEED IN THEIR DEMAND FOR REMISSION OF TAXES
The signing of the Jat-Sikar Thikana Agreement that conceded to the demands of the Sekhawati Jat peasants of Rajasthan to abolish various taxes. In continuation of the Jat Praja Pati Maha-Yagya, the process of signing was important to strengthen the struggle of the Sekhawati Jat peasants.
Websites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmers'_movements_in_India
[For more on the Sekhawati Jat Movement, see January 22]

August 27, 1965
HUNGER MARCHERS DAY OBSERVED IN MANIPUR
Marking the beginning of the students' movement in Manipur, this day commemorates the students killed in a police firing at a students rally taken out to protest the export of rice by the Government of Manipur creating conditions of an artificial famine. This day is observed every year by the All Manipur Students Union marking the memory of the martyrs and reaffirming their struggle.
Websites:
http://www.e-pao.net/GP.asp?src=9..260806.aug06
http://www.kanglaonline.com/index.php?template=headline&newsid=12983&typeid=1

August 29-31, 2007
NFF'S DO OR DIE AGITATION DEMANDING LIFT OF BAN ON FISHING SEA CUCUMBERS
The National Fishworkers' Forum temporarily withdrew their agitation, conditional on the implementation of promises made to them of lifting the ban on fishing and trading species like Sea Cucumbers. The promises made by the Minister of Environment and Forests, would reverse the ban which had infringed on the traditional rights of the fishworkers and hurt their livelihood security.
Websites:
http://pv.cgpi.org/2007_Sep2/Pv070916-30_link9.htm
www.indiatogether.org/economy/fishing/hscape0802.htm
[For more on fishworkers' struggle, see May 1]