MAY

May 1
INTERNATIONAL LABOUR DAY
Popularly known as May Day or International Workers' Day, the celebration of this day has its origins in the eight-hour day movement and celebrates the economic and social achievements of the workers' struggle. In India, this day was first celebrated in 1927.
Websites:
http://flag.blackened.net/daver/anarchism/mayday.html
www.iww.org/projects/mayday/origins.shtml
www.history.com/
www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2008/05/3ca3f3ee-6fa7-44c2-87be-c5e70bc4a7d2.html
www.iww.org/en/projects/isc

May 1, 1989
KANYAKUMARI MARCH ENDS BRINGING TOGETHER 25,000 FISHERFOLK IN KANYAKUMARI
The Kanyakumari March marked the effective beginning of a national-level campaign of fishworkers against not only mechanised fishing and industrial aquaculture, but also against the government's export-oriented undertakings through joint ventures and Exclusive Export Zones (EEZs) and the entry of international players in fishing and trading.
Articles:
Kurien, John (1978). 'Entry of Big Business into Fishing: It's Impact on Fish Economy', Economic Political Weekly, Vol. 13, No. 36, pp. 1557-65.
Meynen, Wicky (1989). 'Fisheries Development, Resources Depletion and Political Mobilisation in Kerala: The Problem of Alternatives', Development and Change, Vol. 20, pp. 738-39.
Kurien, John (1996). 'Coastal struggles. The making of a New Constituency', Frontline, 20 September.
Sharma, Mukul (1996). 'Fish Workers' Struggle: Resources of Hope', Labour File, Vol. 2, Nos. 7 & 8.
Kurien, John (1998). 'Small Scale Fisheries in the Context of Globalisation', Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram (http://cds.edu/download_files/wp289.pdf ).
________ (2000). 'Property Rights, Resource Management and Governance: Crafting an Institutional Framework for Global Marine Fisheries', Thiruvananthapuram: CDS/SIFFS Publication.
________ (2000). 'Factoring Social and Cultural Dimensions into Food and Livelihood Security Issues of Marine Fisheries: A Case Study of Kerala State', India, Thiruvananthapuram: CDS Publication.
Tyndale, Wendy. 'National Forum of Fish Workers: A Spiritually Inspired Movement for Alternative Development'
(www.wfdd.org.uk/programmes/case_studies/fishworkers.pdf).
Dietrich, Gabriele and Nalini Nayak (2001). 'Exploring Possibilities of Counter-Hegemonic Globalisation of Fishworkers' Movement in India and it Global Interactions', Contribution to the Project on Reinventing Social Emancipation, Center of Social Studies, University of Coimbra, Portugal (www.ces.fe.uc.pt/emancipa/research/en/ft/fishworkers.html).
Kocherry, Thomas (2002). 'Globalisation and Fisher People in India'
(www.aos-world.org/library/rio/Rio20en.pdf).
Books:
Mathew, Koshy (Ed.) (1988). The Voice of the Storm, NFF.
Films:
Beyond the Crisis 1 & 2 (44 min, 1998), Produced by: National Fishworkers Forum
Fishing: In the Sea of Greed (1998, 45 min), Directed by: Anand Patwardhan
Websites:
http://keralafishworkers.org/nff.htm
www.eco-action.org/dod/no8/fish.html
www.virginia.edu/soasia/symsem/kisan/papers/kerala.html#nati

May 1, 1999
SAVE THE CHALIYAR RIVER CAMPAIGN SUCCEEDS IN SHUTTING DOWN GWALIOR RAYON SILKS LTD. IN KERALA
The Aditya-Birla Group owned Gwalior Rayon Silks Ltd. was set up in 1963 in Kerala, and given a free hand to draw water from the Chaliyar River. It proceeded to dump its industrial effluents into the river reducing it to a “thick viscous brown soup” causing severe livelihood losses to local farmers and creating a spate of health hazards. A local struggle to reclaim the river succeeded in shutting down the factory in 1999 and in reviving the river.
Articles:
Seethi, K.M. (2000). 'Cleaning Chaliyar River: Pollution Control or Jobs?', Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 35, No. 3 (http://kmseethi.googlepages.com/Chaliyar-fulltext.pdf).
Abey, George and Jyothi Krishnan (2002). 'River, People and Industry: The Politics and Pollution of River Chaliyar', Report submitted to Kerala Research Program to Local Level Development
(http://krpcds.org/report/Abey%20George.pdf).
Websites:
http://infochangeindia.org/200801306844/Environment/Features/The-plunder-of-Kerala-s-rivers.html
www.solidwaste.com/article.mvc/ENVIRONMENT-INDIA-KERALA-VILLAGERS-DETERMINED-0001?VNETCOOKIE=NO

May 1-June 27, 2008
NATIONAL FISHWORKERS FORUM'S MACHHIMAR ADHIKAR RASHTRIYA ABHIYAN BEGINS
In opposition to the deregulation that the Coastal Zone Management Notification 2007 entails, NFF's campaign and march affirmed the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification 1991, among other demands. The March demanded a protection of the interests and livelihood security of fisherpeople in the coastal areas and a recognition of their traditional and customary rights over coastal lands and waters.
Websites:
www.coastalcampaign.page.tl/Campaign-Itinerary.htm?PHPSESSID=f878816733d9f34d6021512efada0fc7
http://readerlist.freeflux.net/blog/archive/2008/06/01/reader-list-fish-workers-oppose-reforms.html
www.thehindu.com/2008/05/30/stories/2008053053320300.htm
www.newsrack.in/browse?issue=Decision-Making&start=81&catID=7&owner=esg
www.indiaenews.com/business/20080511/117312.htm

May 2, 1955
KANPUR TEXTILE WORKERS' STRIKE LED BY THE SUTI-MILL MAZDOOR SABHA BEGINS
Textile workers in the industrial city of Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh struck work on this day. The strike lasted for three months.
Books:
Pandey, S.M. (1970). As Labour Organises: A Study of Unionism in the Kanpur Textile Industry, New Delhi: Shri Ram Center for Industrial Relations.
Sharma, G.K. (1971). Labour Movement in India: Its Past and Present, New Delhi: Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd.

May 2, 1998
MASSIVE PROTEST IN HYDERABAD AGAINST NEOLIBERAL POLICIES AND THE WTO
Beginning on May 1 as part of People's Global Action against Free Trade and the WTO, massive protests were held in different parts of the world, leading up to the May 18 Second Ministerial Conference of the WTO. As part of this global action, a massive protest was organised in Hyderabad. A wide cross-section of movements of peasants, agricultural labourers, Adivasis and industrial workers demanded the withdrawal of India from WTO.
Websites:
www.twnside.org.sg/title/peop-cn.htm
http://artactivism.gn.apc.org/allpdfs/102-%5BGDA%5DParty%20and%20protests.pdf
[For more on anti-WTO protests, see September 29, March 19]

May 3, 1974
RAILWAY WORKERS' STRIKE
Growing unrest among railway workers on the issues of low wages, harsh working conditions, and long hours of work, compounded by a hostile management using a variety of strategies to suppress labour militancy as also the failure of two unions recognised by the management, in representing the concerns of the workers, led to this massive strike paralysing railway traffic. The strike lasted till May 28 when most demands were accepted.
Articles:
Sherlock, Stephen (1989). 'Railway Workers and Their Unions: Origins of 1974 Indian Railway Strike', Economic and Political Weekly, pp. 2311-22.
Sridhar, V. (2001). 'Chronicle of a Strike', Frontline, Vol. 18, No. 19.
Books:
Sherlock, Stephen (2001). The Indian Railways Strike of 1974: A Study of Power and Organised Labour, New Delhi: Rupa & Co.
Websites:
http://ailrsa-swr.org/history.html
www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/lr/2002/01/06/stories/2002010600140200.htm - Behal, Rana P. (2002). 'Looking Back at Anger', The Hindu, Sunday, January 6.

May 3, 1947
FORMATION OF INDIAN NATIONAL TRADE UNION CONGRESS
The Indian National Trade Union Congress (INTUC) was formed as an affiliate of the Indian National Congress. It adopted a less militant form of trade unionism inspired by Gandhi, compared to the more militant Communist Party of India's affiliated All India Trade Union Congress' (AITUC).
Articles:
Park, Richard (1949). 'Labor and Politics in India', Far Eastern Survey, Vol. 18, No. 16, pp. 181-187.
Websites:
www.intuc.net/
www.britannica.com/eb/article-9042290/Indian-National-Trade-Union-Congress
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_National_Trade_Union_Congress

May 3-6, 2006
PEOPLE'S FORUM AGAINST ADB HELD PARALLELY WITH ADB'S ANNUAL GOVERNORS MEETING
The People's Forum against Asian Development Bank (PFAADB) is an alliance of 97 social movements, struggle groups and NGOs from across Asia. In May 2006, thousands converged in Hyderabad to protest the ADB's 39th Annual Governors' Meeting. The Forum is critical of the ADB's role in promoting corporate-led policies on the pretext of alleviating poverty..
Articles:
(2006) 'Twelve Things the ADB Does Not Want You to Know', Peoples Forum Against ADB, Special Edition of Focus on India (www.focusweb.org/pdf/resisting-corporate-india.pdf).
Websites:
www.forum-adb.org/Events/AGM2006-Hyderabad-Peoples'%20Forum.htm ADB Annual Report 2007.
www.focusweb.org/india/content/blogsection/2/28/9/9/
www.insafindia.org/Reports/rep0506.htm
http://community.eldis.org/.59b6aec7
www.bicusa.org/en/Article.2757.aspx

May 5, 2007
ANTI-SEZ CONVENTION HELD AT HYDERABAD
in the wake of the Kalinganagar firing and protests at the POSCO site in Orissa and the Nandigram firing in West Bengal, the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), initiated a series of Anti-SEZ Conventions in Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Conventions were also held in Vishakapatnam (May 7), Cuttack (May 16), Chennai (May 18) and Kumbakonam (May 19).
Articles:
(2008). Special Economic Zones, Seminar, Issue no. 582.
Books:
Jai, J.R. and R. Jai (2007). SEZs, Massacre of Human Rights with Special Reference to Singur & Nandigram, New Delhi: Regency Publications.
Websites:
www.cpiml.org/liberation/year_2007/june/anti_sez_campaign.html
www.cpiml.org/liberation/year_2007/june/anti_sez_new_heights.html

May 6, 2008
WALL SEPARATING DALITS FROM CASTE HINDUS BROUGHT DOWN IN TAMIL NADU
Under pressure from local Dalit movements, a section of a wall separating Dalit settlements from those of caste Hindus, that blocked access to areas of common usage, was brought down by the district administration.
Articles:
Viswanathan, S. (2008). 'The Fall of a Wall', Frontline, Vol. 25, No. 11.
Websites:
www.hindu.com/2008/05/07/stories/2008050757930100.htm
http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Story-of-the-Untouchability-Wall&id=1320480 - Lingam, Rama. 'The Story of the Untouchability Wall', The Deccan Chronicle.
http://indianchristians.in/news/content/view/2127/48/ - Why Breaking an Anti-Dalit Wall is not Enough.

May 6, 2005
SC BACKS PANCHAYAT'S RIGHT TO CANCEL COCA-COLA'S LICENSE TO DRAW GROUND WATER
The Supreme Court issued notices to the Government of Kerala and the Kerala State Pollution Control Board in response to the Kerala High Court's order that the Panchayat had no right to cancel Coke's license to draw large quantities of ground water at its Plachimada plant.
[For more on Anti-Coke struggle, see April 22]

May 8, 1998
DISTRICT OFFICIALS PREVENTED FROM ENTERING PROPOSED MISSILE BASE SITE AT BALIAPAL, ORISSA
Local communities set up barricades to the site of a proposed missile base. With the intention of clearing the road to the site, the District Collector along with a large contingent of the Orissa Armed Police reached the area but were successfully blocked by the united opposition of the communities.
Articles:
Patel, Amrita M. and Manish K. Jha (2007). 'Weapons of the Weak: Field Studies on Claims to Social Justice in Bihar & Orissa', Policies and Practices, No. 13 (www.mcrg.ac.in/pp13.pdf).
Movement Features (2000-07), Kriti: New Delhi, Vol. I, No. i-vii, pp. 28.
Films:
Voices from Baliapal (43 min, Hindi, 1988), Directed by: Vasudha Joshi and Ranjan Palit
Websites:
www.wri-irg.org/nonviolence/nvsd09-en.htm
http://resistanceindia.blogspot.com/2007/05/25th-anniversary-day-of-founding-of-all.html

May 8, 2004
LAND RIGHTS SATYAGRAHA BEGINS IN THE NARMADA VALLEY
Over 200 Adivasi families from the nine villages on the banks of Narmada, affected by the height increase (to 110 meters) of the Sardar Sarovar dam, launched a Bhoomi Hakk Satyagraha (Land Rights Satyagraha) by occupying denuded forest land in the Nandurbar district of Maharashtra. This was in the context of governmental failures to provide them land-based resettlement, despite repeated assurances, written declarations and official committee recommendations.
[For more on Narmada valley struggles, see September 28, March 30, August 1]

May 10, 1857
THE SEPOY MUTINY BEGINS IN MEERUT
The Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 began on May 10th, marking the start of a major confrontation between Indian sepoy (and later the northern princely states), and colonial power. Often called the First War of Independence, this revolt has been understood by many as the earliest expression of a nascent nationalism. This view is, however, a deeply contested.
Articles:
Buckler, F. W. (1922). 'The Political Theory of the Indian Mutiny', Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, Vol. 5.
Dewar, D., & H.L.O. Garrett (1924). 'A Reply to Mr. F.W. Buckler's The Political Theory of the Indian Mutiny', Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, Vol. 76.
Perushek, Darshan (1992).'Subaltern Consciousness and the Historiography of the Indian Rebellion of 1857', Novel: A Forum on Fiction, Vol. 25, No. 3, pp. 286-301, Spring 1992.
Habib, Irfan (1998). 'The Coming of 1857', Social Scientist, Vol. 26, No. 296-299, pp. 6-14.
Narayan, Badri (1998). 'Popular Culture and 1857: A Memory against Forgetting', Social Scientist, Vol. 26, No. 296-299, pp. 86-94.
Roy, K. (2003). 'The Indian Mutiny: 1857', Journal of Military History, Vol. 67, No. 4, pp. 1289-1290.
De, Barun (2007). 'The Call of 1857', Frontline, Vol. 24, No. 12. (www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/fline/fl2412/stories/20070629004000400.htm).
(2007). 1857: The First Challenge, 150th Anniversary Supplement, The Tribune, Thursday, May 10. (www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20070510/1857/index.htm).
Coohill, J. (2007). 'Indian Voices from the 1857 Rebellion'. History Today. Vol. 57, No. 5, pp. 50-56.
Roy, K. (2007). 1857 'Sepoys and Soldiers- The Beginning of 'People's War' in India', Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 42, No.19, pp. 720.
Chattopadhyay, Basudeb (2007). 'The Revolt of 1857 in Eastern India: An Overview', People's Democracy, Vol. 31, No. 31 (http://pd.cpim.org/2007/0805/08052007_1857.htm).
Books:           
Malleson, G. B. (1891). The Indian Mutiny of 1857, New York: Scribner & Welford. Savarkar, Vinayak Damodar. (1909) The Indian War of Independence of 1857, India, S.N. Mukherjee, R. (1984). Awadh in Revolt, 1857-58, A Study of Popular Resistance, Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Ashraf, K. M., & Joshi, P. C. (1957). Rebellion, 1857; A Symposium, New Delhi: People's Publishing House.
Marx, K., & Engels, F. (1960). The First Indian War of Independence, 1857-1859, Moscow: Foreign Languages Pub. House.
Embree, A. T. (1963). 1857 in India; Mutiny or War of Independence? Boston: Heath.
Chaudhuri, S. B. (1965). Theories of the Indian mutiny (1857-59); A Study of the Views of an Eminent Historian on the Subject, Calcutta: World Press.
Broehl, Wayne G. Jr. (1986). Crisis of the Raj: The Revolt of 1857 through British Lieutenant's Eyes, Hanover: University Press.
Stoke, Eric (1986). The Peasant Armed: The Indian Revolt of 1857, Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Sen, Snigdha (1992). The Historiography of the Indian Revolt of 1857, Calcutta: Punthi-Pustak.
Chakravarty, Gautam. (2005). The Indian Mutiny and the British Imagination, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Bhattacharya, S. (2007). Rethinking 1857, New Delhi: Orient Longman.
Pati, B. (2007). The 1857 Rebellion, Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Anderson, Clare (2007). Indian Uprising of 18578: Prisons, Prisoners and Rebellion, New York: Anthem Press (http://atlantis.terrassl.net/)
Websites:
www.english.emory.edu/Bahri/Mutiny.html
http://voice.indiasite.com/1857.html
www.kamat.com/kalranga/itihas/1857.htm
www.mtholyoke.edu/~amittra/mainpage.htm
www.iloveindia.com/history/modern-history/revolt-of-1857.html
www.indiapicks.com/stamps/Main/1857.htm

May 12, 1875
MARATHA UPRISING (DECCAN RIOTS OF 1875) AT SUPA BEGINS
The Maratha Uprising, or the Deccan Riots of 1875 as it often referred to, began as a result of the excessive rates of interest and conditionalities imposed by moneylenders, a new and upcoming class. Peasants of Pune, Satara and Nagar districts of Maharashtra revolted by forcibly taking hold of all debt-related documents and burning or destroying them.
Articles:
Kumar, Ravinder (1965). 'The Deccan Riots of 1875', The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 24, No. 4, pp. 613-635.
Kaiwar, V. (1992). 'Property Structures, Demography and the Crisis of the Agrarian Economy of Colonial Bombay Presidency', Journal of Peasant Studies, Vol. 19 No. 2, pp. 255-300.
Kaiwar, V. (1994). 'The Colonial State, Capital and the Peasantry in Bombay Presidency', Modern Asian Studies, Vol. 28, No. 4, pp. 793-832.
Books:
Bombay (Presidency) (1970). Report of the Committee on the Riots in Poona and Ahmednagar, 1875, Bombay: Printed at the Government Central Press.

May 12 June 26, 1933
FIRST MASS HUNGER STRIKE AT ANDAMAN CELLULAR JAIL BEGINS
Opposing atrocities inflicted on freedom fighters taken prisoners at the Andaman Cellular Jail, the prisoners resorted to a hunger strike during the course of which three people died. The strike lasted 46 days, ending only after the colonial state conceded to their demands of proper treatment.
Books:
Singh, N. Iqbal (1978) The Andaman Story, Delhi: Vikas Publishers.
Websites:
www.andamancellularjail.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_Jail

May 13, 2005
ROZGAR ADHIKAR YATRA BEGINS IN NEW DELHI
The Yatra, begun in Delhi and set to cover 10 states, attempted to pressurise the Union government to amend the National Rural Employment Guarantee Bill so as to ensure universal and irreversible employment for all. This struggle for universal employment culminated in the enactment of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) 2005.
Websites:
www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl2212/stories/20050617001804400.htm
www.righttofoodindia.org/rtowork/ray-intro.html
www.empowerpoor.com/news_07.asp
http://lists.indymedia.org/pipermail/imc-india/2005-May/0509-sk.html
www.thesouthasian.org/archives/2005/rozgar_adhikar_yatra_among_kol.html
www.thehindu.com/2005/06/06/stories/2005060602791300.htm
www.petitiononline.com/ray2005/petition.html
Photographs:
www.trekearth.com/themes.php?thid=3068

May 14, 1945
MEITEI MARUP FOUNDED IN MANIPUR
The Meitei Marup was founded in Manipur to strengthen Meitei culture, language, customary practices and religion.
Articles:
Singh, Khuraijam Bijoykumar. 'Identity Formation Movement among the Meiteis of North East India'.

May 15, 2002
INDEFINITE DHARNA AND HUNGER STRIKE BY MAAN DAM OUSTEES BEGINS IN BHOPAL
Four Narmada Bachao Andolan activists sat on a hunger strike demanding implementation of the promised rehabilitation measures of Maan Dam oustees.
Websites:
www.narmada.org/
www.indiatogether.org/campaigns/narmada/opinions/mkssmaan.htm
http://nandigramunited.blogspot.com/2008/02/marxism-working-class-movement-and.html
http://india.indymedia.org/en/2002/05/1270.shtml
[For more on Narmada valley struggles, see September 28, March 30, August 1]

May 16, 1938
MARWAR FARMER'S MOVEMENT BEGINS
Farmers of the Marwar region in Rajasthan founded the Marwar Lok Parishad to fight against the oppressive and exploitative practices of the Samanatas (chiefs) and Jagirdars (feudatories).
Articles:
'The Maharaja and the Waterman', Jalbhagirathi Foundation
(www.jalbhagirathi.org/project_component/Project_Component.pdf).
Websites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmers'_movements_in_India
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marwar

May 16, 1951
NAGA PLEBISCITE CLAIMED 99.9% OF NAGAS IN FAVOUR OF INDEPENDENCE
Organised by the Naga National Council, the plebiscite is considered a landmark verdict of the Naga peoples for freedom and is invoked by other militant groups demanding independence.
Articles:
Means, Gordon P. and Ingunn N. Means (1966-67). 'Nagaland-The Agony of Ending a Guerrilla War', Pacific Affairs, Vol. 39, No. 3/4, pp. 290-313.
Yhome, Kekhriesituo (2007). 'Politics of Region: The Making of Naga Identity during the Colonial and Post-Colonial Era', E-Journal, Vol. 6, No. 3 (www.borderlands.net.au/vol6no3_2007/yhome_region.htm).
Burman, J.J Roy (2008). 'Contours of the Naga Upsurge', Asia Europe Journal, Vol. 6, No 1 (www.springerlink.com/content/ml85008482338247/fulltext.html).
Books:
Chaube, Shibani Kinkar (1999). Hill Politics in North East India, New Delhi: Orient Longman.
Chadha, Vivek (2005). Low Intensity Conflicts in India: An Analysis, United Service Institution of India, New Delhi: Sage.
Websites:
www.nagarealm.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=5904
www.nenanews.com/ng10.htm
www.nenanews.com/OT%20Mar%2022-%20Apr%206,99/oh4.htm
www.neuenhofer.de/guenter/nagaland/phizo.html - A.Z. Phizo's Plebiscite speech.
www.manipuronline.com/features/September2002/crownnagatalks22_1.htm
www.manipuronline.com/opinions/January2003/obviousfacts26_3.htm
http://meaindia.nic.in/opinion/2002/01/31o01.htm
www.ciaonet.org/olj/sa/sa_jul00kod01.html
www.borderlands.net.au/vol6no3_2007/yhome_region.htm

May 17, 1986
KARBI-DIMASA MOVEMENT - FORMATION OF THE AUTONOMOUS STATE DEMAND COMMITTEE (ASDC), NORTH EAST
Led by the CPI (ML), the ASDC was formed as an umbrella front of all those fighting for greater autonomy of two hill districts, Karbi Anglong and North Cachar Hills that decided to remain in Assam during the reorganisation of states in the Northeast in 1971.
Articles:
Dasgupta, Jyotirindra (1997) 'Community, Authenticity, and Autonomy: Insurgence and Institutional Development in India's Northeast', The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 56, No. 2, pp. 345-370.
Websites:
www.cpiml.org/liberation/year_2002/september/documents.htm
www.cpiml.org/PGS/policyresolution/policy.htm
http://pay.hindu.com/ebook%20-%20ebfl20080620part4.pdf
www.sarai.net/publications/readers/06-turbulence/02_tarun_bhartiya.pdf

May 17, 2005
BHOPAL GAS TRAGEDY VICTIMS MARCH FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF SC ORDER
Demanding the implementation of the Supreme Court order of May 7, 2004 regarding supply of clean water to all those whose ground water had been contaminated by Union Carbide's chemical wastes, 300 Bhopalis marched to the office of the Director, Bhopal Gas Tragedy Relief & Rehabilitation.
Websites:
www.bhopal.net/fundraising.html
[For more on Bhopal Gas Tragedy, see December 3]

May 20, 1919
END OF THE GREAT KUKI REBELLION IN MANIPUR
The Kuki Rebellion, which began in 1917, was an attempt by the Kukis, a hill tribe of Manipur, to keep the British out of their territory. The Rebellion managed to keep the British armed forces at bay for two years proving to be one of the longest and costliest British military operations since the Revolt of 1857.
Articles:
Kipgen, Donn Morgan (2002). 'The Great Kuki Rebellion of 1917-19: Its Real Significance'
(www.e-pao.net).
Haokip, P.S. (2007). 'The State of the Kuki People in Post-Independence India and Burma'
(www.ksdf.org/read.asp?CatId=Article&id=10).
Books:
Guite, Chinkholian (1999). Politico-economic Development of the Tribals of Manipur, New Delhi: Anmol Publications.
Websites:
www.kukination.org/history.php

May 21, 2005
A TEN-DAY LONG COASTAL YATRA FOR LIVELIHOOD RIGHTS
Coastal communities and unorganised workers organised this yatra from Vetharanyam in Tamil Nadu to focus on the inadequate relief and rehabilitation measures undertaken by the government following the tsumani that hit coastal areas in 2004.
Articles:
Movement Features (2000-07), Kriti: New Delhi, Vol. I, No. i-vii, pp. 145.
Websites:
www.righttofoodindia.org/campaigns/coastal-yatra2.doc
www.revolutionarydemocracy.org/rdv4n2/fishwork.htm
www.thesouthasian.org/archives/2005/rehabilitation_or_exploitation.html
www.downtoearth.org.in/full6.asp?foldername=20080615&filename=news&sec_id=50&sid=24

May 25, 1967
PEASANT UPRISING BEGINS AT NAXALBARI IN DARJEELING DISTRICT, WEST BENGAL
Led a breakaway group of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Naxalbari uprising sought to affirm the core Marxist-Leninist-Maoist idea of an armed peasant struggle against landlords, plantation owners and the rural gentry. This was a collective response of those who were frustrated by what they perceived as the abandonment of this politics by the CPI (Marxist). The movement led to the formation of Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) on April 22, 1969.
Articles:
Routledge, Paul (1997). 'Space, Mobility, and Collective Action: India's Naxalite movement', Environment and Planning, Vol. 29, No. 12, pp. 2165-2189.
Bhatia, Bela (2005). 'The Naxalite Movement in Central Bihar', Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 40, No. 15.
________ (2006). 'On Armed Resistance', Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 41, No. 29.
Bandyopadhyay, Krishna (2008). 'Naxalbari Politics: A Feminist Narrative', Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 43, No. 14.
Banerjee, Sumanta (2008). 'On the Naxalite Movement: A Report with a Difference', Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 43, No. 21.
Books:
Dasgupta, Biplab (1974). The Naxalite Movement, New Delhi: Allied Publishers.
Ghosh, Sankar (1974). The Naxalite Movement: A Maoist Experiment, Calcutta: Firma.
Banerjee, Sumanta (1980). In The Wake of Naxalbari: A History of the Naxalite Movement in India, Calcutta: Subarnarekha Publications.
________ (1984). India's Simmering Revolution: The Naxalite Revolution, London: Zed Books.
Duyker, Edward (1987). Tribal Guerillas: The Santals of West Bengal and the Naxalite Movement, Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Ray, Rabindra (1988). The Naxalites and Their Ideology, Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Judge, Paramjit S. (1992). Insurrection to Agitation: The Naxalite Movement in Punjab, Bombay: Popular Prakashan.
Singh, Prakash (1995). The Naxalite Movement in India, New Delhi: Rupa & Co.
Louis, Prakash (2002). People Power: The Naxalite Movement in Central Bihar, New Delhi: Wordsmiths.
Dutta, Krishna and Anita Desai (2003). Calcutta: A Cultural and Literary History, Calcutta: Signal Books.
Mukhopadhyay, Ashoke Kumar (2006). The Naxalites Through the Eye of the Police: Selective Notifications From the Calcutta Police Gazette, 1967-1975, Calcutta: Dey's.
(2008). Guide to the South Asian Oral History Collections at the International Institute of Social History
(www.iisg.nl/asia/pdf/south_asia_oral_history.pdf).
Sahay, Gaurang. ''Freedom from Fear' vs. 'Freedom from Want': Understanding Human Security in the Context of Rural Violence in Bihar'
(http://humansecurityconf.polsci.chula.ac.th/Documents/Presentations/Gaurang.pdf).
Film:
Hazar Chaurasya Ki Ma (120 min, 1998), Directed by: Govind Nihalani
Kalbela (2007, 165mins) Directed by: Gautam Ghose
Websites:
www.marxists.org/subject/china/documents/peoples-daily/1967/07/05.htm
www.cpiml.org/liberation/year_2005/JUNE/naxalbari_day.htm
http://revcom.us/a/v19/920-29/922/spring.htm
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/India/The_Rising_Naxalbari_to_now/articleshow/msid-963972,curpg-1.cms
http://hutnyk.blogspot.com/2006/10/naxalite.html

May 25, 2005
PSSP HOLDS PROTEST RALLY AGAINST UAIL IN KASHIPUR
Despite a series of efforts by the Orissa government to break the struggle, locals continued to register their protest against Utkal Alumina International Ltd's proposed refinery project in Kashipur, Rayagada district. They organised a large demonstration despite the presence of 10 police platoons and the sealing of all roads to Kashipur.
[For more on Kashipur struggle, see December 16]

May 28, 1980
MEIRA PAIBI DAY
A remarkable Manipuri women's movement, the Meira Paibis, literally meaning torch-bearers, was mobilized in order to protect their community from the growing violence and repression by the Indian Armed Forces. Observed as Meira Paibi Day, on this day in 1980, 10,000 Manipuri women took out a procession against the killing of innocent people by the army in the name of counter-insurgency. Since then, they have actively sustained their struggle for the repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act.
Articles:
Kshetrimayum, Otojit (2004). 'Rethinking Women's Power in Manipur'. (http://www.manipuronline.com/opinions/August2004/women'spower12_3.htm).
Websites:
http://www.e-pao.net/epRelatedNews.asp?heading=48src=290508
http://manipurcomments.wordpress.com/2008/04/08/social-empowerment-of-manipuri-women/
http://www.boloji.com/wfs5/wfs680.htm

May 28
INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH AND REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
Established in 1987 at a meeting of the Women's Global Network for Reproductive Rights (WGNRR) in Costa Rica, this day holds significance for the women's movement across the world, raising issues of women's access to and control over government health services and to retain and assert their reproductive and sexual rights. The 2008 'Call for Action' was to address the use of women and their sexuality in situations of war and conflict.
Websites:
www.medindia.net/
www.ipas.org/Library
www.wgnrr.nl/startpage.php
www.globalhealth.org/news/article/3059

May 30, 1930
TEHRI GARHWAL VILLAGERS' PROTEST AGAINST FOREST LAWS CRUSHED
In a movement against the British restriction on extraction of forest produce by local inhabitants that began in 1921, a new action was taken up in the form of non-cooperation by breaching forest laws relating to access and use of forest produce and refusing to pay fines. The movement was crushed when the ruler of Tehri Riaysat sent in his troops. Despite enormous loss of life, the locals were successful in securing some traditional rights to various forest products.
Articles:
Routledge, Paul (1993). 'The Chipko Movement', Terrains of Resistance: Nonviolent Social Movements and the Contestation of Place in India, New York: Praeger Books (http://spot.colorado.edu/~wehr/491R10.TXT).
Books:
Shiva, Vandana and Jayanto Bandhyopadhyay (1986). Chipko: India's Civilisational Response to the Forest Crisis, New Delhi: INTACH Environmental Series.
Sinha, P.C. (1998) Green Movements, New Delhi: Anmol Publications Pvt. Ltd.
Websites:
www.uttaranchal.ws/ecostrategy.htm

May 30, 1968
TILARI DECLARATION OF THE PEOPLE OF TEHRI GARHWAL
Commemorating the martyrs of Tilari who fought against colonial control over forests and forests produce in 1930, the people of Tehri Garhwal drew inspiration from them reaffirming their struggle and observing this day as Forest Day. The Tilari Declaration was prepared as a result is seen by many as a founding document of the Chipko Movement.
Articles:
Guha, Ramachandra (1983). 'Colonialism, Capitalism and Deforestation', Social Scientist, Vol. 11, No. 4, pp. 61-64.

May 30, 1970
CENTRE OF INDIAN TRADE UNIONS FOUNDED
Affiliated to the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) was founded soon after the split in the Communist Party of India into CPI and CPI(M).
Websites:
www.citucentre.org/index.php
http://cpim.org/