OCTOBER

October 1, 1894
BIRSA MUNDA LEADS COMMUNITY TO DEMAND REMISSION OF FOREST DUES
Fighting against the colonial exploitation of Adivasis and forest peoples of the Chhotanagpur region, Birsa Munda was among the first to mobilise sustained resistance. Similar processes of neo-colonisation continue to persist today.
Articles:
Mohapatra, S (2004). 'Birsa Munda- The Great Hero of the Tribals, Orissa Review, August edition, pp. 14-15.
(http://orissagov.nic.in/e-magazine/Orissareview/aug2004/engishPdf/Pages14-15.pdf)
Books:
Singh, Suresh K. (1982-83). Tribal Movements in India, New Delhi: Manohar
______ (1966). The Dust-Storm and the Hanging Mist: A Study of Birsa Munda and His Movement in Chhotanagpur, 1874-1901, Calcutta: Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay.
______ (2002). Birsa Munda and his Movement 1872-1901, Calcutta: Seagull Books.
Films:
Ulgulan - Ek Kranti (The Revolution) (120 min), Directed by: Ashok Sharan
Websites:
www.tribalzone.net/people/birsamunda.htm
http://rrtd.nic.in/Birsa.html
http://jharkhand.nic.in/history.htm
http://banglapedia.search.com.bd/HT/M_0389.htm
http://orissagov.nic.in/e-magazine/Orissareview/aug2004/engishPdf/Pages14-15.pdf
http://joharAdivasi.org/?p=14

October 2, 1994
POLICE FIRING ON ACTIVISTS DEMANDING A SEPARATE UTTARAKHAND STATE
Responding to a call by the Uttarakhand Samyukta Sangharsh Samiti (USSS), buses filled with activists demanding a separate state of Uttarakhand that were on their way to Delhi from Garhwal were stopped at Muzaffarnagar and tear-gassed, lathi-charged and fired upon, killing at least five people. Seven women were raped, and dozens were injured.
Websites:
http://uttarakhand.prayaga.org/index-2.html
[For more on Uttarakhand movement, see November 9]

October 2, 2005
OVER 50,000 FARMERS FROM 14 STATES PROTEST IN MUMBAI AGAINST WTO
More than 50,000 farmers came together in Mumbai to protest against the upcoming WTO Ministerial Meeting in Hong Kong in November 2005. The mass rally was organised by the Indian Coordination Committee of Farmers Movements.
Websites:
www.indiaresource.org/news/2005/2017.html
[For more on farmers' protests against WTO, see March 19]

October 3, 2003
ADIVASI GOTHRA MAHASABHA RALLY HELD IN THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
In the first ever call for a Gothra Mahasabha or a Grand Council of Adivasis in Kerala, a decision was taken to support the decision of the Adivasi-Dalit Samara Samithy to intensify and spread the land rights struggle being fought in Wayanad to other parts of the state. Following this, a mass rally constituted of Adivasis, Dalits and other communities was held in Thiruvananthapuram.
Websites:
www.pucl.org/Topics/Dalit-tribal/2003/wayanad-killings.htm
[For more on Muthanga struggle, see January 4]

October 3, 19970
12,000 STRONG RALLY OF MAHESHWAR DAM OUSTEES HELD AT MANDALESHWAR
Over a third of those slated to be displaced by the Maheshwar Dam, one of the large dams planned on the Narmada river, came together at Mandleshwar to oppose the project. The dam is the first privately financed hydel power project in the country, promoted by the S. Kumar's Group, a textile corporation.
Websites:
www.narmada.org/maheshwar/chronology.html
www.narmada.org
http://internationalrivers.org/

October 5, 2004
GENERAL STRIKE IN PROTEST OF PROPOSED URANIUM MINING IN MEGHALAYA
A general strike, sponsored by the North East Students Organisation was called to oppose the proposed uranium mining project in the West Khasi Hills of Meghalaya.
Websites:
www.wise-uranium.org/upinml.html
[For more on anti-uranium struggles in Meghalaya, see January 7, April 6]

October 5, 2004
NIYOGI MEMORIAL CONVENTION ON LABOUR STRUGGLES FOR JUSTICE
Commemorating the struggle of Shankar Guha Niyogi and his significant contribution to the labour movement in present-day Chhattisgarh, a National Convention was held to discuss the challenges facing the working class. The gathering affirmed the need for the movement to link with broader social movements and to strive for the legal rights of the unorganised.
Websites:
http://mail.sarai.net/pipermail/reader-list/2004-September/004336.html

October 11, 1992
LOK SHAKTI SANGATHAN FORMED IN JHANJHARPUR, BIHAR
The Lok Shakti Sangathan was formed on the birth anniversary of Jai Prakash Narayan. It began organising Musahars, a Scheduled Caste community in North Bihar. Mostly landless agricultural labourers, they have been subjected to exploitation and marginalisation experiencing bondage and limits to natural resources like land and water. The LSS began an organised process of resisting feudal casteist attitudes and practices.
Articles:
John, J and Mukul Sharma (1998). 'The Life of Musahars in North Bihar, Labour File, May-June. (www.changemakers.net/files/labour_file%20Spl%20article-lss_Gram%20Kosh.pdf)
Movement Features (2000-2007), Kriti: New Delhi, Vol. I, No. i-viii, pp. 17.
Books:
Joshi, Hemant and Sanjay Kumar (Eds.) (2002). Asserting Voices: Changing Culture, Identity and Livelihood of the Musahars in the Gangetic Plains, Delhi: Deshkal Publishers.
Websites:
www.thesouthasian.org/archives/2008/musahars_bonded_to_poverty_1.html
www.hinduonnet.com/mp/2002/07/18/stories/2002071800290100.htm

October 13, 1935
YEOLA CONFERENCE WHERE DR. AMBEDKAR URGED A CONVERSION TO BUDDHISM
It was the Yeola Conference held near Nasik in Maharashtra where Dr. Ambedkar declared that while he was born a Hindu, he would not die a Hindu. He announced that he had decided to embrace Buddhism, which eventually became the religion of lakhs of Dalits.
[For more on Dalit conversion to Buddhism, see October 14]

October 14, 1956
DHAMMA CHAKRA PARIVARTAN DAY CELEBRATING MASS CONVERSION TO BUDDHISM
Twenty-one years after the Yeola Conference where Dr. Ambedkar embraced Buddhism, a major mass conversion event drew thousands of Hindu Dalits. The day is now celebrated by the Dalit Movement as the day of renouncing the Hindu faith.
Articles:
Miller, R.J. (1967). ''They will not Die Hindus': The Buddhist Conversion of Mahar Ex-Untouchables, Asian Survey, Vol. 7, No. 9, pp. 637-644.
Gokhale, J. B. (1986). 'The Sociopolitical Effects of Ideological Change: The Buddhist Conversion of Maharashtrian Untouchables, The Journal of Asian Studies, Vol. 45, No. 2, pp. 269-292.
Verran, H. (2005). 'On Seeing the Generative Possibilities of Dalit neo-Buddhist Thought, Social Epistemology, Vol. 19, No. 1, pp. 33-48.
Books:
Samanta, D. K. (1991). The Dominant Weak: A Case Study of the Nava Bouddha of Maharashtra, Calcutta: Anthropological Survey of India, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Dept. of Culture, Govt. of India.
Das, B. (1998). Revival of Buddhism in India and role of Dr. Baba Saheb B.R. Ambedkar, Lucknow: Dalit Today Prakashan.
Omvedt, Gail (2003). Buddhism in India: Challenging Brahmanism and Caste, New Delhi/Thousand Oaks: Sage.
Ambedkar, B. R. (2004). Conversion as Emancipation, New Delhi: Critical Quest.
Beltz, J. (2005). Mahar, Buddhist, and Dalit: Religious Conversion and Socio-Political Emancipation, New Delhi: Manohar Publishers & Distributors.
Ram, N (Ed.) (2008). Ambedkar, Dalits, and Buddhism: Collection of Dr. Ambedkar Memorial Annual Lectures, New Delhi: Dr. Ambedkar Chair in Sociology, Jawaharlal Nehru University in collaboration with Manak Publications.

October 14, 2005
JAN CARAVAN AGAINST WTO IN EASTERN UP BY BUNKAR DASTKAR ADHIKAR MANCH
Organised by the Bunkar Dastkar Adhikar Manch (Forum of Weavers and Artisans, a rally was taken out in front of the District Magistrate Office in Varanasi to protest against the policies of the WTO, IMF and World Bank which were contributing to the growing vulnerability of these communities.
Websites:
www.thesouthasian.org/archives/2005/jan_caravan_against_wto_in_eas.html
[For more on anti-WTO protests - see September 11, September 29, March 19]

October 15, 1949
THE MERGER AGREEMENT ENFORCED IN MANIPUR
Over two years after India's Independence, a Merger Agreement was signed between the Government of India and the King of Manipur. The day is observed as a Black Day by many insurgent groups in the state.
Articles:
Parratt and Arambam. 'Integration or Annexation? Manipur's Relations with India 1947-1949'.
(http://www.kanglaonline.com/index.php?template=kshow&kid=4&).
Kamei, Gangmumei (2003). 'Ethnicity and Politics in Manipur'. (http://www.manipuronline.com/features/December2003/ethnicityandpolitics21_1.htm).
Websites:
www.e-pao.net/GP.asp?src=3..151007.oct07
www.e-pao.net

October 16, 2003
JAMBUDWIP FISHERMEN'S MOVEMENT TO RESTORE TRADITIONAL FISHING RIGHTS TO LOCAL FISHERFOLK
Local fishworkers associations and the National Fishworkers Forum came together to challenge government policies that would threaten their traditional right to dry and sell fish.
Articles:
(2002).'Conservation for Whom? 10,000 Fishermen Deprived of Livelihood in Jambudwip' in Update Collective, No. 3, New Delhi
(http://updatecollective.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/update-141-jambudwip-update.pdf)
Sebastian, Mathew (2003). 'Jammed in Jambudwip, Samudra, Issue 34.
Movement Features (2000-2007), Kriti: New Delhi, Vol. I, No. i-vii, pp. 79.
Books:
Roychaudhari , Bikash (1967). The Moon and the Net - Study of a Transient Community of Fishermen at Jambudwip, Anthropological Survey of India.
Films:
Under the Sun: The Transient Fisherfolk of Jambudwip (36 min), Directed by: Rita Banerji, Produced by: International Collective in Support of Fishworkers (ICSF)
Websites:
www.indiatogether.org/2005/may/env-jambudwip.htm
www.hinduonnet.com/2003/03/19/stories/2003031902741300.htm

October 17, 1973
WOMEN PROTEST RISING PRICES IN MASSIVE DEMONSTRATION IN BOMBAY
The Anti-Price Rise Movement (APRM) led by Mrinal Gore of the Socialist Party and Ahalya Rangnekar of the CPI(M) along with others, was established in Maharashtra to protest economic inflation. In one of the largest demonstrations ever held in Bombay, hundreds of thousands of women carrying thalis (metal plates) and latnis (rolling pins), came together to demand a reduction in prices.
Articles:
Gandhi, Nandita (1995). 'Masses of Women but where is the Movement? A Case Study of the Anti-Price Rise Movement in Bombay, 1972-75'. In S. Wieringa (Ed.), Subversive Women: Women's Movement in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, New Delhi: Raj Press.
Books:
Gandhi, Nandita (1996). When Rolling Pins Hit the Streets: Women in the Anti-Price Rise Movement in Maharashtra, New Delhi: Kali for Women.
Kumar, Radha (1993). The History of Doing: An Illustrated Account of Movements for Women's Rights and Feminism in India, 1800-1990, Zubaan.

October 17, 1986
BHARAT KISAN UNION FOUNDED BY MAHENDRA SINGH TIKAIT
One of the largest national union of farmers, the Bharatiya Kisan Union was formed in Uttar Pradesh and had significant influence in Northern India. It also became part of the process of building a major national alliance.
Articles:
Bentall, Jim and Stuart Corbridge (1996). 'Urban-Rural Relations, Demand Politics and the 'New Agrarianism' in Northwest India: The Bharatiya Kisan Union, Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers, New Series, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 27-48.
Books:
Sahasrabudhey, Sunil (1986). The Peasant Movement Today, South Asia Books.
Kant, Ajay (1990). Agrarian Mobilization in Western Uttar Pradesh: A Case Study of the Bharat Kisan Union', Center for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.
Rana, Mahendra Singh (1994). Bharatiya Kisan Union and Ch. Tikait, distributed by Wiley Eastern.
Brass, Tom (Ed.) (1995). New Farmers' Movements in India, Oregon: Frank Cass & Co. Ltd.
Websites:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahendra_Singh_Tikait

October 17, 2006
PROTEST AGAINST UAIL AND ORISSA GOVERNMENT AT THE SITE OF THE PROPOSED MINING PLANT
Led by the Prakrutik Sampada Suraksha Parishad (PSSP), several groups and movements came together to oppose the proposed Utkal Aluminum plant for its potential adverse impact on the livelihoods and ecosystems of the people of Kashipur.
Websites:
http://pv.cgpi.org/2006_nov1/Pv061101-15_link5.htm
www.sacw.net/Nation/sarangi21062005.html
[For more on the Kashipur struggle, see December 16]

October 18, 1948
THE MANIPUR ASSEMBLY WAS INAUGURATED, THE FIRST TO BE CONSTITUTED BY UNIVERSAL ADULT FRANCHISE
The demand in Manipur for a representative government through universal adult franchise was publicly expressed in 1938 at the fourth session of the Nikhil Manipuri Hindu Mahasabha. The Assembly decided to drop the word 'Hindu' affirming a more inclusive Manipuri society.
Articles:
Parratt and Arambam. 'Hijam Irabot and the Radical, Socialist, Democratic Movement in Manipur'. (http://www.kanglaonline.com/index.php?template=kshow&kid=3&).
Books:
Singh, Karam Manimohan (1989). Hijam Irabot Singh and Political Movements in Manipur, B.R. Publishing Corporation.
Websites:
http://manipurassembly.nic.in/history.htm

October 20, 1989
15,000 WOMEN MARCH FROM FAIZABAD TO AYODHYA IN DEFENSE OF SECULARISM
During the period when the Hindu Right had begun to politicise the issue of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya, claiming that it stood on the land where Ram was born, and demanding that a temple be built on the site of the heritage mosque, this women's rally marched from Faizabad to Ayodhya defending secularism and asserting their opposition to the growing communalisation of society and of politics.
Articles:
NFIW Records

October 21, 1951
THE TELANGANA ARMED STRUGGLE WAS WITHDRAWN
“[The Movement] spread to about 3000 villages, to nearly one-third of the Telangana area where gram raj and fighting committees were established. Vetti (forced labour), illegal exactions, eviction from the land, usurious loans, and torture and dishonouring by corrupt officials and village oppressors were put an end to; waste lands and surplus lands of the landlords to the extent of a million acres along with the necessary cattle and agricultural implements were distributed to the rural poor. Fair wages for agricultural labourers were enforced and grain distributed. The people used to say that, for the first time in their lives, they could have two full meals a day.”
Excerpt from P. Sundarayya. 'Telangana People's Armed Struggle, 1946-1951: Part Two: First Phase and its Lessons'.
[For more on the Telangana armed struggle, see July 4]

October 22, 1961
MIZO NATIONAL FRONT FORMED
The MNF was initially formed to demand relief to those affected by the famine of 1959-60. Originally the Mizo National Famine Front, in 1961 it dropped the word 'Famine' and became a political organisation that spearheaded the movement for independence of Greater Mizoram.
Articles:
Lalthangliana, P (1994). 'Mizo National Front Movement'. In R.N. Prasad (Ed.), Autonomy Movements in Mizoram, New Delhi: Vikas.
Books:
Goswami, B.B. (1979). Mizo Unrest: A Study of Politicization of Culture, Jaipur: Alekha Publishers.
Gassah, L.S. (Ed.) (1992). Regional Political Parties in North East India, New Delhi: Omsons Publications.
Websites:
http://mizoram.nic.in/about/history.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mizo_National_Front

October 23-28, 1946
PUNNAPRA-VAYALAR UPRISING
A popular revolt by workers supported by the Communist Party in Kerala, the Punnapra-Vayalar Uprising opposed the undemocratic appointment by the Diwan of Travancore of a local executive, C.P. Ramaswami Iyer.
Articles:
Menon, Saraswathi (1979). 'Responses to Class and Caste Oppression in Thanjavur District, 1940-52: Part Three, Social Scientist, Vol. 7, No. 10, pp. 52-64.
Isaac, T. M. Thomas (1983). 'Class Struggle and Transition to Specifically Capitalist Form of Production: Some Conclusions of a Study of Coir Industry in Kerala, Social Scientist, Vol. 11, No. 12, pp. 35-46.
Poem:
'Vayalar Garjikkunnu' by lyricist-filmmaker P.Bhaskaran
Wesbites:
www.hindu.com/2007/10/23/stories/2007102352340300.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punnapra-Vayalar_uprising

October 25, 2005
DEMONSTRATION HELD IN NALGONDA DEMANDING REJECTION OF UCIL'S PROPOSAL
After the rejection by the Andhra Pradesh State Pollution Board, and reports of possible threats to the ecosystems and species of fauna in the region, a new committee in New Delhi decided to re-consider the UCIL Uranium project, forcing a mass demonstration in Nalgonda by environmentalists, political leaders and local Adivasis.
Websites:
www.wise-uranium.org/upin.html
[For more on anti-uranium mining in AP, see August 6]

October 26-28, 2006
NATIONAL CONVENTION ON SOCIAL SECURITY OF UNORGANISED WORKERS HELD IN NAGPUR
Several organisations of unorganised workers came together to hold a three-day convention to discuss issues of employment regulation, social security benefits and discrimination in the unorganised sector, as well as strategise to strive for a legislation to guarantee the unorganised a secure working environment.
Articles:
Mehta, K.C. (1990). 'Social Security for the Unorganised', Gandhi labour Institute, Ahmedabad.
Datta, R.C. (1998). 'Public Action, Social Security and Unorganised Sector', Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 33, No. 22.
Ginneken, Wouter Van (1999), 'Social Security for the Informal Sector: Issues Options and Tasks Ahead' Social Security Department, International Labour Office, Geneva.
Mahendra Dev, S. (1999). 'Social Security in Unorganised Sector in India', Paper presented at the International Conference on Social Security Policy: Challenges before India and South Asia, November 1999, New Delhi.
Books:
Agarwala, Ramgopal, Nagesh Kumar, and Michelle Riboud (Eds.) (2004). Reforms, Labour Markets, and Social Security in India, New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Website:
www.socialsecuritynow.org/
www.labourfile.org/ArchiveNewsMore.aspx?NId=98
www.isidelhi.org.in/news_events/activities.php
http://nac.nic.in/communication/Draft_Unorganized_Sector_Workers___Bill.pdf

October 31, 1920
ALL INDIA TRADE UNION CONGRESS FOUNDED
The oldest Trade Union Federation in India, the All India Trade Union Congress, an affiliate of the Communist Party of India was founded at a time when industrial workers were organising themselves and participating in mass political action at industrial centres across the country.
Articles:
Bose, Sanat (1979). 'Parties and Politics in Indian Trade Union Movement: Early Phase (1917-1924), Social Scientist, Vol. 7, No. 12, pp. 3-12.
Websites:
www.cpindia.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_India_Trade_Union_Congress