JANUARY
January 1
THEATRE ACTIVIST, SAFDAR HASHMI'S MEMORIAL DAY
Veteran political activist, playwright and actor who revolutionised street theatre in North India, Safdar Hashmi was beaten up on this day in 1989 by goondas from the Congress Party while performing his play 'Halla Boll' at Sahibabad near Delhi, succumbing to injuries the following day. On January 4, Jana Natya Manch, (the theatre group founded by Safdar), came back to perform the play.
Articles:
Van Erven, Eugene (1989). 'Plays, Applause, and Bullets: Safdar Hashmi's Street Theatre', The Drama Review, Vol. 33, No. 4, pp. 32-47.
Venkatesan, V. (2003). 'Delayed Justice', Frontline, Vol. 20, No. 24.
Ghosh, Arjun (2005). 'Plays for the People', Frontline, Vol. 22, No. 2.
Books:
SAHMAT (1989).The Right to Perform: Selected Writings of Safdar Hashmi. Delhi: SAHMAT.
Srampickal, J. (1994). Voice to the Voiceless: The Power of People's Theatre in India, London: Hurst & Co.
Hashmi, Qamar Azad (Translation) (1997).The Fifth Flame: The Story of Safdar Hashmi, New Delhi: Penguin.
Cohen-Cruz, Jan (1999). Radical Street Performance: An International Anthology, New York: Routledge.
Deshpande, Sudhanva (Ed.) (2007). Theatre of the Streets: The Jana Natya Manch Experience, New Delhi: Janam.
Films:
Safdar (1990, 35 min), Directed by: Sashi Kumar
Natak Jaari Hai (2005, 84 min), Directed by: Lalit Vachani
Websites:
www.sahmat.org/
www.jananatyamanch.org/
www.cpim.org/pd/2007/0107/01072007_janam.htm
www.proxsa.org/culture/safdar.html
January 1, 1975
CHHATRA YUVA SANGARSH VAHINI, YOUTH WING OF JAYAPRAKASH NARAYAN'S MOVEMENT FORMED
The Vahini, formed at the youth wing of the Gandhian-Socialist JP Movement, evolved into one of the most powerful youth movements of the time.
Websites:
http://lowflyingheroes.blogspot.com/2007/03/life-of-struggle.html
[For more on JP Movement, see March 6]
January 2 - February 3, 1920
GENERAL STRIKE IN BOMBAY CARRIED OUT BY 200,000 MEN
Emblematic of the extent of mass political action by industrial workers in 1920, the general strike carried out in Bombay saw the participation of 200,000 men, mostly textile mill workers. The strike lasted for a month, ending on February 3.
[For more on Mill Workers' strike in Bombay, see March 12].
January 2, 2006
KALINGANAGAR POLICE FIRING
Local Adivasi communities have been protesting the acquisition of land for a proposed steel plant to be set up by Tata Iron and Steel Co. Ltd. (TISCO) and the Orissa Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation. Police fired at a protest meeting killing twelve Adivasis. The firing has only strengthened the resolve of the communities to oppose undemocratic development interventions in their area.
Articles:
Adve, N. and Ranjana Padhi (2006). 'Endemic to Development: Police Killings in Kalinga Nagar', Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 41, No. 3, pp 186-87.
Mishra, B. (2006). 'People's Movement at Kalinga Nagar: An Epitaph or an Epitome?', Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 41, No. 7, pp. 551-54.
(2007). 'Déjà vu: 1 year after the Kalinganagar massacre', Indigenous Rights Quarterly, Vol. II, No. 1.
Books:
Kujur, J.M. and Ramesh C. Nayak (2007). State Aggression and Tribal Resistance: A Case of the Police Firing at Kalinga Nagar, New Delhi: Indian Social Institute.
Films:
Mahua Memoirs (2007, 80 min), Directed by: Vinod Raja
Websites:
http://firstpeoplesfirst.in/download/Kalinga_FFT_Report_Jan%2006.doc 'Massacre of the Adivasis at Kalinga Nagar: A Fact Finding Report', JOHAR and JMACC, 2006.
www.pucl.org/Topics/Dalit-tribal/2006/kalinganagar.htm - 'Police firing at Kalinganagar', People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Orissa, 2006.
www.aitpn.org/
www.countercurrents.org/hr-pattanayak110107.htm
www.minesandcommunities.org/search.php?r=927&words=kalinga+nagar
www.cpimlnd.org/miscellaneous/bistapan-birodhi-sankalpa-janasamabesh.html
January 2-7, 2003
ASIAN SOCIAL FORUM HELD AT HYDERABAD
Following the first World Social Forum in Brazil in 2001, the Asian Social Forum was an attempt to strengthen and unite alliances and networks in Asia. Since the first WSF, a number of such regional social forums have sprung across the world, providing an open space for movements, groups and individuals challenging economic globalisation and defending justice, peace and democracy.
Articles:
Chenoy, Kamal Mitra (2003). 'The Asian Social Forum: A New Public Space', at www.opendemocracy.net/democracy/article_1005.jsp
Jain, D. (2003). 'The Empire Strikes Back: A Report on the Asian Social Forum', Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 38, No. 2, pp. 99-100.
Muralidharan, Sukumar (2003). 'Globalising Resistance', Frontline, Vol. 20, No. 2.
(www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2002/stories/20030131009100400.htm)
Websites:
www.wsfindia.org
http://socialistworld.net/eng/2003/01/12india.html
http://internationalviewpoint.org/article.php3?id_article=265
www.ukzn.ac.za/ccs/files/reader_wsf_bibliography.pdf - Bibliography on World Social Movements.
www.apwld.org/pdf/THE_PEOPLES_MOVEMENT.pdf - Statement of the People's Movements Encounter at the Asian Social Forum.
January 3, 2006
PROTEST AGAINST URANIUM CORPORATION OF INDIA'S PROPOSED URANIUM UNITS IN ANDHRA PRADESH
Lambada Adivasis have successfully sustained resistance to Uranium Corporation of India Ltd (UCIL)'s proposed uranium mining in Andhra Pradesh. Many of them had traveled to Jaduguda in Jharkhand and witnessed the adverse impacts of mining.
Websites:
www.wise-uranium.org/upin.html
www.hindu.com/2006/01/07/stories/2006010714950300.htm
[For more on anti-uranium mining in Andhra Pradesh, see August 6]
January 4, 2003
ADIVASIS OCCUPY THE WAYANAD WILDLIFE SANCTUARY
A significant proportion of Dalits and Adivasis were not part of Kerala's land reforms. One estimate suggests that over ninety percent of Adivasis are landless. In this context, the Adivasi land rights movement spearheaded by the Adivasi Gothra Maha Sabha demanded in 2001 that parts of Government-owned land be redistributed to them, largely those lands claimed as Forest Lands. In 2003, they occupied the Muthanga Forest, part of the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary. They were brutally attacked by the police losing six people as a result of the forced eviction.
Articles:
Kjosavik, Darley Jose and N. Shanmugaratnam (2004). 'Integration or Exclusion? Locating Indigenous Peoples in the Development Process of Kerala, South India, Forum for Development Studies, Vol. 31, No. 2, pp. 232-273.
Damodaran, A (2006). 'Tribals, Forests and Resource Conflicts in Kerala, India: The Status Quo of Policy Change, Oxford Development Studies, Vol. 34, No. 3, pp. 357-71.
Kjosavik, D.J (2006). 'Articulating Identities in the Struggle for Land: The Case of the Indigenous People (Adivasis) of Highland Kerala, South India'
(www.mpl.ird.fr/colloque_foncier/Communications/PDF/Kjosavik.pdf)
Movement Features (2000-2007), Kriti: New Delhi, Vol. I, No. i-vii, pp. 79.
Films:
Photographer (2006, Malayalam), Directed by: Ranjan Pramod
Websites:
www.pucl.org/Topics/Dalit-tribal/2003/wayanad-killings.htm
www.combatlaw.org/information.php?article_id=272&issue_id=8
www.hinduonnet.com/mag/2003/02/16/stories/2003021600120400.htm - Suchitra, M (2003). 'Suicidal Strategy?, The Hindu. Sunday, February 16
January 6, 1900
SECOND PHASE OF BIRSA MUNDA'S UPRISING BEGINS
In his fight against the exploitative and extractive policies of the colonial state, Birsa Munda launched the second phase of his struggle. He was captured by the British and taken to Ranchi jail where he succumbed to illness.
[For more on Birsa Munda, see October 1]
January 7, 2008
AGITATION BEGINS TO PRESSURISE MEGHALAYA GOVERNMENT URANIUM MINING
Local communities launched a three-day agitation to prevent the Meghalaya Government from issuing a no-objection certificate to the Uranium Corporation of India Ltd. to set up a mining unit in the state. The agitation feared that they would be faced with similar conditions as those prevalent in and around the uranium mines in Jaduguda, Jharkhand.
[For more on anti-uranium struggles in Meghalaya, see April 6]
January 8, 1797
PAZHASSI REVOLT AGAINST UNPOPULAR REVENUE POLICIES IN MALABAR
Opposing the taxation policy of the British who demanded high taxes from the King (as opposed to direct collection from the people as practiced earlier), the Kerala Verma Pazhassi Raja of the royal family of Kottayam, mobilised a popular revolt refusing to pay taxes to the British for over a year.
Books:
Menon, Sreedhara (1976). A Survey of Kerala History, Kottayam: Sahitya Pravarthaka Co-operative Society
Films:
Pazhassi Raja (2008), Directed by: Hariharan
Websites:
www.keralastatearchives.org/
www.naturemagics.com/kannur-kerala/kannur-pazhassi-revolt.shtm
http://kannur.nic.in/hist.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pazhassi_Raja
www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/thscrip/print.pl?file=2006052100310400.htm&date=2006/05/21/&prd=mag&, Varma, Shreekumar (2006). 'The Royal 'rebel' of Kottayam, The Hindu, Sunday, May 21
January 8, 1999
THOUSANDS CAPTURE MAHESHWAR DAM SITE
In the struggle to halt construction of the Maheshwar Dam thousands stormed the dam site and took control of the area -- an act repeated several times over the course the following months. The state government was given a warning that work could not resume until comprehensive dialogue with the affected communities and their representatives was announced and initiated.
[For more on Maheshwar Dam struggle, see October 3]
January 9-18, 1920
JUTE MILLS WORKERS' STRIKE IN CALCUTTA CARRIED OUT BY 35,000 MEN
Besides Bombay, the second largest hub of industrial activity was Calcutta. One of the most labour-intensive sectors was the jute sector intimately linked to the export-oriented economic activity of the British. The historic strike contributed to a maturing of the labour movement and inaugurating a period of labour struggle that manifested itself in as many as 119 strikes between 1918 and 1920.
Articles:
Mukherji, Abani. (1922). 'Indian Labour Movement: A Review of the Situation', The Communist Review,
Vol. 3, No. 5.
Mitra, Ira (1981). 'Growth of Trade Union Consciousness among Jute Mill Workers, 1920 40', Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 16, pp. 1839-1848.
Bose, Sanat (1986). 'A Note on Labour Movement in Bengal (1920-21),' Social Scientist, Vol. 14, No.1, pp. 23-33.
de Haan, Arjan and Samita Sen (2005). 'Working Class Struggles, Labour Elites and Closed Shops: The Lessons from India's Trade Unions and Experiences of Organisation,' Paper for the SEWA/Cornell/WIEGO conference, Ahmedabad (www.wiego.org/ahmedabad/papers/de_Haan_Work-class-strugg-17dec.doc)
Websites:
http://sanhati.com/front-page/347/
January 9, 1979
SUNDERLAL BAHUGUNA BEGINS FAST UNTO DEATH
Protesting against indiscriminate felling of trees in Badiyargarh forests in Tehri, Sunderlal Bahuguna, one of the leaders of the Chipko Movement, began a fast unto death, succeeding in bringing an end to the felling. The contractor withdrew from the region and Bahuguna, who had been put in jail was released on January 30.
Articles:
Shiva, Vandana and Jayanto Bandhyopadhyay (1986). 'The Evolution, Structure, and Impact of the Chipko Movement', Mountain Research and Development, Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 133-142.
Bahuguna, Sunderlal (1988). 'Chipko: The People's Movement with a Hope for the Survival of Mankind', IFDA Dossier, Vol. 63, pp. 3-14.
Shiva, Vandana (1991). 'The Chipko Movement'. In Ecology and the Politics of Survival, New Delhi: Sage Publications.
(www.unu.edu/unupress/unupbooks/80a03e/80A03E08.htm)
Dangwal, D. D. (2003). 'The Chipko Movement Reconsidered', Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 38, No. 31, pp. 3251-3253.
(2004). 'My fight is to Save the Himalayas' (Interview with Sunderlal Bahuguna), Frontline, Vol. 21, No. 17.
(www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2117/stories/20040827002803600.htm)
Hegde, P (2005). 'Silent Revolution - The Chipko Movement in India', New Internationalist, Vol. 383, No. 16.
Books:
Misra, A & S. Tripathi (1978). Chipko Movement: Uttarakhand Women's Bid to Save Forest Wealth, New Delhi: People's Action.
Dogra, B (1983). Forests and People: A Report on the Himalayas, New Delhi: Dogra.
Weber, Thomas (1989). Hugging the Trees: The Story of the Chipko Movement, New Delhi: Penguin Books.
Guha, Ramchandra (1990). The Unquiet Woods: Ecological Change and Peasant Resistance in the Himalayas, Berkeley: University of California Press.
Kedzior, S (2006). A Political Ecology of the Chipko Movement, University of Kentucky, Lexington (http://lib.uky.edu/ETD/ukygeog2006t00413/KedziorThesis.pdf)
Films:
Sudesha (1983, 30 min), Directed by: Deepa Dhanraj
On The Fence: Chipko Movement Re-visited (1997, 29 min), Directed by: Spotfilms
Websites:
www.rightlivelihood.org/chipko.html
www.pucl.org/from-archives/Gender/chipko.htm - Joshi, G (1982).'The Chipko movement and women', PUCL Bulletin
January 10, 1929
MEMBERS OF NAGA CLUB SUBMIT MEMORANDUM TO SIMON COMMISSION
Members of Naga Club, formed in 1918, submitted a memorandum to the Simon Commission demanding that they retain the right to decide their future as a people after the departure of the British. The memorandum articulated, for the first time, the plan for a distinct Naga nation heralding Naga nationalism that continues to define Naga politics today.
Articles:
Prongo, K (2002). 'Dawning of Truth to Crown Indo-Naga Talks/My Rendezvous with Truth'.
(http://www.manipuronline.com/features/September2002/crownnagatalks22_1.htm).
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.
January 12-13, 2002
THE BHOPAL DECLARATION ON DALITS IN THE 21ST CENTURY ADOPTED
At a conference held in Bhopal on 'Charting a New Course for Dalits in the 21st Century', a wide cross-section of Dalit movements and groups unanimously adopted the Bhopal Declaration, highlighting issues of land, access to common property resources, equity in wages, equal access to education, restoration of Adivasi lands, proper implementation of legislations against atrocities on Dalits and recognition of categories Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes women in all representative bodies.
Articles:
Venkatesan, V (2002). 'The Dalit Cause', Frontline, Vol. 19, No. 3. (www.hindu.com/fline/fl1903/19030920.htm)
Books:
Pendse, S (1994). At Cross-Roads, Dalit Movement Today, Bombay: Vikas Adhyayan Kendra.
National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights, India (2002). Dalit Rights Advocacy Materials and Documents, Hyderabad: National Campaign on Dalit Human Rights.
Babu, D Shyam (2003). Dalits and New Economic Order: Some Prognostications and Prescriptions from the Bhopal Conference, New Delhi: Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies.
Debroy, Bibek and D Shyam Babu (Eds.) (2004). The Dalit Question: Reforms and Social Justice, New Delhi: Globus Books and Rajiv Gandhi Institute for Contemporary Studies.
Websites:
http://ambedkar.org/News/TheBhopalDeclaration.htm
www.hinduonnet.com/2002/01/30/stories/2002013000040800.htm - Ilaiah, Kancha (2002). 'The Bhopal Dalit Declaration', The Hindu, Wednesday, January 30.
www.indiatogether.org/Dalit/events/bhopal.htm
www.ncdhr.org.in/
www.Dalitfoundation.org/
www.Dalitwomenpower.org/
http://drpf.in/
January 15, 1992
FORMATION OF ADIVASI MUKTI SANGATHAN, MADHYA PRADESH
The Adivasi Mukti Sangathan is a front that has been fighting for Adivasi rights and empowerment of Adivasis in the context of an increasingly hostile environment for indigenous peoples with the onslaught of economic globalisation, growing corporate control of natural resources and a hostile state privileging capital rather than the democratic rights of ecosystem people.
Articles:
Subramaniam, C.N. (1997). 'The Tribal Question and Tribal Movements in Central India', Revolutionary Democracy, Vol. 3, No. 2. (www.revolutionarydemocracy.org/rdv3n2/tribe.htm)
Baviskar, Amita (2001). 'Written on the Body, Written on the Land: Violence and Environmental Struggles in Central India'. In Nancy Lee Peluso and Michael Watts (Eds.), Violent Environments, USA: Cornell University Press. (http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/EnvirPol/WP/10-Baviskar.pdf)
Behar, Amitabh (2002). 'Peoples' Social Movements: An Alternative Perspective on Forest Management in India', Overseas Development Institute, London, UK
(www.odi.org.uk/publications/working_papers/wp177.pdf)
Sah, D.C. (2005). 'Commons and Community: Evidence from Southwestern Tribal Belt of Madhya Pradesh', CRPC-IIPA Working Paper. (www.chronicpoverty.org/pdfs/IIPA-CPRC2005Seminar/chap-22.pdf)
January 16-21, 2004
WORLD SOCIAL FORUM HELD AT MUMBAI
The first World Social Forum was held in 2001 in Porto Allegre, Brazil, a city where progressive movements had influenced a spate of people-centred planning programmes, including worker control, participatory budgeting and pubic transport. Latin America is itself emblematic of some of the most powerful and creative social and political movements. The WSF, with its slogan, 'Another World is Possible' evolved as a movement space for global economic, political and cultural justice, a forum to bring together struggling people from across the world, to exchange their experiences and discuss other futures. This was the fourth World Social Forum.
Articles:
Research Unit for Political Economy (2003). 'The Economics and Politics of the World Social Forum: Lessons for the Struggle against Globalisation', Aspects of India's Economy, No. 35.
Ching, P.-Y. (2004). 'Critical views of the World Social Forum - from Mumbai Resistance', Inter Asia Cultural Studies, Vol. 5, No. 2, pp. 331-335.
Menon, M. (2003). 'Making Waves - Meena Menon talks about the World Social Forum in Mumbai India', New Internationalist, Vol. 363, No. 33.
Muralidharan, Sukumar (2004). 'Globalised Struggle, Frontline, Vol. 21, No. 3. (www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2103/stories/20040213007100400.htm)
Simonsin, Karin (2004). 'World Social Forum Mumbai: The World's Second Superpower?', NGO & Civil Society Perspectives,
(www.casin.ch/web/pdf/worldsocialformumbai.pdf)
Vanaik, Achin (2004). 'Rendezvous at Mumbai', New Left Review. (www.tni.org/detail_page.phtml?act_id=2245&username=guest@tni.org&password=9999&publish=Y&print_format=Y)
Wallerstein, I (2004). 'The Rising Strength of the World Social Forum' (www.sociologistswithoutborders.org/essays/The%20Rising%20Strength%20of%20the%20World%20Social%20Forum.pdf)
Goldsmith, T., & J. Kovel (2005). An Interview with Teddy Goldsmith at the World Social Forum, in Mumbai, India on January 21, 2004, Capitalism Nature Socialism, Vol. 16, No. 3, pp. 95-106.
Blanding, M (2006). 'The World Social Forum: Protest Or Celebration?', The Nation (New York), March 6.
Becker, M (2007). 'World Social Forum', Peace and Change, Vol. 32, No. 2, pp. 203-220.
Books:
Fisher, William F. and Thomas Ponniah (Eds.) (2003). Another World Is Possible: Popular Alternatives to Globalisation at the World Social Forum, London: Zed Books.
Louis, P (2004). World Social Forum 2004 16th to 21st January 2004 Mumbai, India: an introductory document. New Delhi: Indian Social Institute.
Sen, Jai and Peter Waterman (2004).World Social Forum: Challenging Empires, New Delhi: The Viveka Foundation.
Leite, Jose Correa (2005). The World Social Forum: Strategies of Resistance, Haymarket Books.
Santos, B. d. S. (2006). The Rise Of The Global Left: The World Social Forum And Beyond, London: Zed Books.
Smith, J and Marina Karides (2007). Global Democracy and the World Social Forums, Boulder, Paradigm Publishers.
Films:
Rumble in Mumbai: The 2004 World Social Forum (2004, 58 min), Directed by: Jawad Metni
Websites:
www.wsfindia.org/
www.forumsocialmundial.org.br/main.php?id_menu=14_4&cd_language=2
www.alliance-editeurs.org/wsf/
January 16, 1995
WOMEN'S ANTI-ARRACK MOVEMENT SUCCEEDS IN INSTITUTING PROHIBITION IN ANDHRA PRADESH
One of the most powerful movements led by women, the anti-arrack movement in Andhra Pradesh saw women take control of the crisis that alcoholism had created in their lives and livelihoods, including a rise in domestic violence. Organising themselves to disallow the sale of arrack, forcing liquor vendors out of their villages, the movement was successful in instituting prohibition in the state.
[For more on the Anti-Arrack movement in Andhra Pradesh, see September 11]
January 18, 1982
TEXTILE WORKERS' STRIKE BEGINS IN BOMBAY
Led by the militant trade union leader, Datta Samant, textile mill workers of Bombay went on a strike that over a year evolved into one of the greatest mobilisations in the labour history of India. The demands included an increase in wages, scrapping of the Bombay Industrial Act, 1947 and de-recognition of the Rashtriya Mill Mazdoor Sangh as the only official union of the textile industry. However, due to an uncompromising stand on both ends, many textile-owners began to move out of Bombay and thousands of mill workers were rendered jobless. Recent proposals to sell mill land brought a fresh wave of mobilisation which was also betrayed as a powerful economic and political nexus managed to dilute promised shares to textile workers.
Articles:
Lakha, S (1988). 'Organized Labor and Militant Unionism: The Bombay Textile Workers' Strike of 1982', Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars, Vol. 20, pp. 42-53.
Patankar, Bharat (1988). 'The Bombay Textile workers' Strike of 1982: The Lessons of History', Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars, Vol. 20, pp. 54-56.
Tulpule, B (1993). 'Bombay Textile Strike', Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 28, No. 3/4, pp. 101.
Remesh, Babu (2007). 'Recalling the Bombay Textile Workers' Strike, 1982', Labour File, Jan-Apr. (www.labourfile.org/ArticleMore.aspx?ID=885&Col=%20Labour%20in%20Those%20Years)
Books:
Factsheet Collective (Organisation) (1982). The 10th Month, Bombay's Historic Textile Strike, Factsheet, Bombay: Factsheet Collective.
Bakshi, Rajni (1986). The Long Haul: The Bombay Textile Workers' Strike, Bombay: Build Documentation Center.
van Wersch, Hubert W. M.(1992). Bombay Textile Strike 1982-83, U.S.A: Oxford University Press.
Babu, H. (2002). Death of an industrial city: testimonies of life around Bombay textile strike of 1982, Writing Labour History Series, Noida: Giri National Labour Institute.
D'Monte, Daryll (2002). Ripping the Fabric: The Decline of Mumbai and its Mills, New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Films:
Occupation: Millworker (1996, 22 min), Directed by: Anand Patwardhan
Websites:
www.indialabourarchives.org/
www.cpiml.org/liberation/year_1997/february/homage.htm
January 21, 1972
MANIPUR, MEGHALAYA AND TRIPURA BECAME SEPARATE, FULL-FLEDGED STATES OF THE UNION OF INDIA
Meghalaya was carved out of the southern hill districts of Assam and Tripura and Manipur, both erstwhile Princely States, became full-fledged states of the Union of India.
Books:
Chaube, Shibani Kinkar (1973). Hill Politics in North-East India, Bombay: Orient Longman.
January 22, 1998
HUNGER FAST BEGINS OPPOSING KELO RIVER SALE (IN PRESENT-DAY CHHATTISGARH) TO JINDAL STEEL
The subsistence and drinking water needs of local communities was sacrificed when Jindal Steel's new factory in Raigarh district (of the then Madhya Pradesh) was given control of the Kelo River for its water requirements. Protesting this privatization of water, members started an indefinite fast.
Articles:
Putul, Alok Prakash (2008). 'Privatization Unlimited: Rivers for Sale in Chhattisgarh' (http://infochangeindia.org/)
Films:
The Source of Life for Sale (2004, 58 min), Directed by: K.P. Sasi
About the film: http://infochangeindia.org/index2.php?option=com_content&do_pdf=1&id=6257
January 25, 1952
BOYCOTT OF THE FIRST LOK SABHA ELECTIONS BY NAGA NATIONAL COUNCIL
Led by A.Z. Phizo, the Naga National Council spearheaded an insurgent movement in Nagaland demanding complete independence from India. The NNC boycotted the first general elections that were held in the country in 1952.
Books:
Lasuh, Wetshokhrolo (Ed.), Compiled by V.K. Nuh (2002). The Naga Chronicle, New Delhi: Regency Publications.
Websites:
http://nscnonline.org/
http://www.indiatogether.org/2004/feb/opi-nagapride.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naga_National_Council
January 25, 1963
NAGALAND FORMED AS A SEPARATE STATE IN THE UNION OF INDIA
Carved out of the state of Assam, Nagaland became a new state in the Union of India following the 16-point Agreement signed between the Naga People's Convention and the national government, a step widely regarded as a political betrayal. The geographical boundaries of the new state continue to be contested by a majority of Nagas who support the struggle for a Greater Nagalim uniting all the areas where Naga people live.
Books:
Lasuh, Wetshokhrolo (Ed.), Compiled by V.K. Nuh (2002). The Naga Chronicle, New Delhi: Regency Publications
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).
Websites:
http://www.ide.go.jp/English/Publish/Jrp/pdf/jrp_133_07.pdf
http://nscnonline.org/
January 26
REPUBLIC DAY
January 26, 1930
INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS ADOPTS PURNA SWARAJ
Provoked by the repeated refusal of the British to hear the demands of Indian political parties, the Lahore Session of the Indian National Congress adopted the goal of Purna Swaraj or Complete Independence.
Articles:
Kumar, Ravinder (1977). 'From Swaraj to Purna Swaraj: Nationalist Politics in the City of Bombay 1920-32'. In D.A. Low (Ed.), Congress and the Raj: Facets of the Indian Struggle 1917-47, Columbia: South Asia Books.
Websites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purna_Swaraj
[For more on the freedom struggle, see August 15]
January 26, 1998
SATYABHAMA PASSES AWAY DURING HUNGER STRIKE AGAINST KELO RIVER SALE
Satyabhama, a local activist fighting against the undemocratic means by which people were stripped of their right to water to serve corporate interests, died during the course of her hunger strike. The Madhya Pradesh Government chose to ignore this tragedy, and, with the formation of Chhattisgarh, livelihoods continue to be sacrificed as rivers continue to be sold, privatized and exploited by commercial interests.
[For more on the struggle against the sale of Kelo River, see January 22]
January 26-27, 2007
NATIONAL CONVENTION AGAINST DISPLACEMENT AND SEZs HELD AT BHUBANESHWAR
Community and movement representatives, as well as other concerned activists, active in resisting Special Economic Zones across the country came together to strategise and plan the next stage of their struggle.
Websites:
http://sez.icrindia.org/
http://sanhati.com/news/273/
http://sanhati.com/news/290/
http://sanhati.com/news/409/
www.landcoalition.org/pdf/08_04_land_watch_bullettin.pdf
January 27-30, 1987
BHARTIYA KISSAN UNION (BKU) KARMUKHERA POWER HOUSE GHERAO
January 27- February 19, 1988
BHARTIYA KISSAN UNION 24-DAY MARCH BEGINS IN MEERUT
Articles:
Gupta, D (1988).' Country-Town nexus and Agrarian Mobilization: Bharatiya Kisan Union as an Instance', Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 23, No. 51, pp. 2688-96.
Bentall, J. and Stuart Corbridge (2005). 'Urban-Rural Relations, Demand Politics and the 'New Agrarianism' in North-West India: The Bharatiya Kisan Union'. In Kevin R. Cox (Ed.). Political Geography: Critical Concepts in Social Sciences, London: Routledge.
Books:
Rana, M.S. (1994). Bharatiya Kisan Union and Ch. Tikait, Meerut: Paragon Publications.
Varshney, Ashutosh (1998). Democracy, Development, and the Countryside: Urban-Rural Struggles in India, USA: Cambridge University Press.
Websites:
http://muzaffarnagar.nic.in/mstikait.htm
www.nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp/free/wsf/peasant_forum.htm
January 30 February 7, 2004
EKTA PARISHAD'S SATYAGRAHA YATRA LAUNCHED IN KALAHANDI
Responding to growing resistance among local communities to the proposed Vedanta Resources bauxite plant in Kalahandi, Orissa, Ekta Parishad launched a nine-day yatra to gather grievances and strengthen collective mobilisation.
[For more on anti-bauxite mining by Vedanta in Orissa, see June 22]
January 30, 1997
3000 PROTESTERS STAGE DHARNA OUTSIDE ENRON PROJECT GATES
The groups that had successfully mobilised against Enron Corporation's corrupt dealings, launched a fresh agitation protesting revival of the Dabhol Power Project in Maharashtra.
Articles:
Parry, S (2001). 'Enron's Disaster in India' (www.consortiumnews.com/2001/123001a.html)
(2001). 'Enron's Troubled Plant in India, Economist, Vol. 358, No. 8204, pp. 65
Roy, A (2002). 'Shall We Leave It To The Experts? Nation (New York), Vol. 274, pp. 16-19
Books:
Human Rights Watch (1999). The Enron Corporation: Corporate Complicity in Human Rights Violations, New York: Human Rights Watch.
Fusaro, Peter C. and Ross Miller (2002). What Went Wrong at Enron, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
Fox, Loren (2004). Enron: The Rise and Fall, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
Websites:
www.hrw.org/reports/1999/enron/enron5-2.htm
http://asiapacific.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA200311997?open&of=ENG-IND
www.atimes.com/reports/ca13ai01.html
January 30, 2007
ACTION 2007'S DAY OF FAST AGAINST DISCRIMINATION, CASTEISM, COMMUNALISM
Websites:
www.action2007.net/twiki/tiki-index.php?page=Action2007
http://nadir.org/nadir/initiativ/agp/free/imf/india/join_action_2007.html