Fifty Years Ago: Food Movement of 1959

In post-independence and post-partition Congress-ruled West Bengal, the echoes of famine continued to be heard in the 1950s. The collusion between rice mill-owners, jotdars and food hoarders created an artificial food crisis. These proprietor segments, who controlled rice distribution, also exercised a strangle-hold over the villages and formed the rural backbone of the Bengal Congress. So the government refused to take any measure which went against their interests. As hunger assumed famine like proportions, the people organised themselves into a Committee to Combat Famine under the leadership of the undivided Communist Party of India. Other left parties also endorsed this initiative. From the second half of the 1950s, between 1956 and 1958, food movements became an annual occurrence. The Food Movement of 1959 however was a turning-point in the history of class struggle in West Bengal. Food insecurity by this time had reached frightening proportions in rural and urban areas and distress was acute among the marginal and landless peasantry, the workers and lower middle-classes.

On 31 August, a huge mass demonstration was organised in Kolkata where hundreds and thousands arrived from the villages under the leadership of the Kisan

Sabha. Though primarily a mass protest by peasants, rural women with babies walked alongside high school students; office workers merged with the columns of manual workers. The whole of Kolkatas colonial city centre turned into a sea of 300,000 people demanding an end to destitution and hunger. The centre of the rally was the Shahid Minar, the foot of the monument and the adjoining open space of the Maidan having historically served as the convergence point of anti-colonial and anti-establishment protests. That afternoon rain repeatedly lashed at the demonstrators. But their determination to force the Congress government to provide immediate relief or quit remained resolute. At the end of the meeting, a procession began and started making its way towards Writers Building. By then evening had descended. First, the demonstrators were cordoned off by the police. Then unexpectedly, without any warning, violent action began. Contemporary observers have noted the way the police attacked directionless, panic-stricken people blinded by teargas.

80 people died in the carnage that day; they were mostly starving peasants who had survived the devastating and man-made Bengal Famine of 1943 and were no longer willing to die of hunger without any protest. Not a single bullet was fired. The police used sticks to beat people to death. 1000 people went missing and 3000 were injured. Ordinary bystanders, petty shopkeepers, cinema-hall ushers and sex-workers offered solidarity and assistance

to those fleeing the police from the main thoroughfares in a bloodied state and spilling into the side streets and narrow alleys of north Kolkata. The police arrested thousands. According to one eye-witness who is now 74 years old: In the semi-darkness, I saw mothers, sisters, brothers lying motionless on the road. The police later cremated many of the anonymous victims. Bodies could be seen floating in the Ganges. The next day, on 1 September, the police fired on students who were protesting against the atrocities and a wave of repression followed. Entire neighbourhoods of north Kolkata became anti-police bastions of resistance and the government deployed troops in several districts. Jyoti Basu compared the events of 31 August with Jallianwallabagh in the Bengal Legislative Assembly and the combined opposition managed to corner the Congress. In 1966, a second Food Movement was launched by the left parties and its impact could be felt in the victory of the First United Front government of 1967. 1959 demonstrated that despite utmost and merciless ferocity, the Congress and the social forces it represented in West Bengal, were in a process of retreat. This retreat, however, claimed the lives of 80 people on 31 August 1959.

CHAPTER XXVIII:The Food Movement of 1959

The year 1959 was an eventful one; the food crisis reached a peak, essential commodities vanished in thin air and famines were evident in many villages. The working classes were extremely agitated and took to the streets by launching mass movements and strikes. Instead of sympathizing with the masses, the then Congress government did just the opposite and resorted to oppressive measure. The people wanted food; what they got instead were teargas and bullets. A total of 80 martyrs fell victims while many others were arrested by the then Congress government. The food movement needs to be described in some detail. The Communist Party as well as the other Left parties had a major role to play .On February 3, 1959, on the first day of the West Bengal Budget Session, the Opposition block initiated 15 adjournment motions, including 10 by the Communist Party, alleged that the emergency laws initiated by the state government had led to the sky-rocketing of prices. I drew the Speakers attention and said that a decision needed to be taken on the debate on the food crisis and a date be fixed. The Speaker promised that he would look into the proposal. The Assembly Speaker then was Sankar Das Banerjee. On May 24, on behalf of the committee set up to check prices and prevent famine, represented by Niranjan Sen, Hemanta Bose and myself announced the launching of a fresh movement against the Congress government. On June 18, a Protest Day was observed, there was a central rally in Calcutta, memorandums were issued on various demands and the districts came alive with demonstrations. On June 25, a joint strike was observed. It was called by the freshly set up committee, the West Bengal Krishak Sabha and TUC Struggle Committee. All shops and business establishments were closed. However the PSP opposed the strike. A total of 13 representatives resigned from the State Food Advisory Committee. They alleged that the committee was not taken into confidence with regard to major policy decisions. On August 17, the Left parties announced that the renewed agitation would begin on August 20. While we had said that the movement would be peaceful, the state government was so alarmed that the police headquarters at Lalbazar were put on alert. The arrests and the house-to-house raids of Left leaders and workers began on the midnight of August 19. Niranjan Sen, Bhabani Sen, Indrajit Gupta, Manoranjan Roy, Ganesh Ghosh, Benoy Chowdhury, Samar Mukherjee, Rabin Mukherjee, Gopal Bose, Biswanth Mukherjee, Geeta Mukherjee, Prasanta Sur, Radhika Banerjee and Naresh Dasgupta were among those who were arrested. My house as well as Hemanta Boses were raided but since we were not at home, the police could not arrest us. Arrest warrants were issued against Pramode Dasgupta and Harekrishna Konar too but they also escaped the police dragnet. On instructions from the state committee, Pramode Dasgupta, Harekrishna Konar and I continued to lead the movement from hiding. When the raids and arrests were in full swing, I was outside West Bengal on invitation of a party unit. I did not know at that time that an arrest warrant had been issued against me. However, I did have an inkling that something like this could happen. When I reached Calcutta later, I was told that the police was after me. The provincial unit leaders who had escaped arrest till then decided that it was necessary that I evade arrest to carry on work on the food movement. A strict vigil was kept on the Dum Dum Airport. Snehangsu Acharya whisked me out of the airport and put me on a car which brought me straight to a house in Calcutta. Comrade Dinesh Roy was waiting there to take me elsewhere. He took me to a house in South Calcutta where Pramode Dasgupta and Harekrishna Konar were also present. We began work on keeping the movement alive as well as maintaining the communication channel with the leaders who had not been arrested.

In the meantime, the West Bengal government accepted some of the demands of the food movement, the arrested agitators were set free and warrants withdrawn. However, the people of West Bengal were up in arms against the oppressive measures undertaken against the Left leaders and workers. On August 18, spontaneous protests were observed in Calcutta, Howrah, Hooghly, Bardhaman, 24Paraganas and Midnapore. Countless processions were brought out throughout the state. The oppressive measures could not dampen the spirit of the people. The second phase of the peaceful food movement thus started. At least 7000 people were arrested by August 27. On August 31, three lakh people assembled near the Monument. The police opened fire during the subsequent march to the Writers Buildings. More then 1,000 people were hurt, 130 of them critically. The police resorted to lathicharge in Burdwan, Behrampore and Gangarampur. On September 1, a students strike was observed. Even they were not spared. Eight people were killed in indiscriminate firing in Calcutta while 77 persons were hurt. Prohibitory orders were issued in Calcutta and the suburbs. I issued a statement saying, I congratulate the people of West Bengal for responding in the way they have to the call for the resignation of the state food minister. The revolutionary people of West Bengal have once again given proof of their true character. I said that thousands of farmers had come to Calcutta challenging the state government. They had come from various areas like Howrah, 24 Paraganas, Bardhaman and Hooghly. This had been a peaceful coup against the government. In the same statement, I said that the Congress government and its police had lost the moral battle. The Centres indifference and complacent attitude towards the food crisis have been exposed by this movement. No new food policy has still been announced. I stressed the fact that despite the obstruction and oppressive measures adopted by the police, our movement had been a great success. The entire student community had also made its anger known through the strike. All these incidents took place between August 31 and the end of September 1959. On September 2, the Congress even brought in the Army from Barrackpore and positioned them in Calcutta. Flag marches began. Till September 2, 12 people had been killed by the police. The Army was deployed in Howrah too. At least 15 people were killed and 150 hurt in Howrah and 24 Paraganas as a result of police firing. On September 4, I issued a statement saying that the state government had embarked on a killing spree in the name of fighting antisocials. There were 80 martyrs in the food movement and 200 people were untraced. An unforgettable silent rally was brought out in Calcutta which demanded a public inquiry into the police atrocities, proper compensation for the martyrs and the immediate resignation of the state food minister. A total of 1,859 agitators were arrested. On September 21, the Congress and the PSP members refused to observe a minutes silence in the memory of the martyrs. The chief minister rejected the demand for a judicial inquiry into the killings. The police minister, Kali Mukherjee, did not want to express his sympathies for those killed. There was pandemonium in the Assembly as a result of Mr Mukerjees attitude. I alleged that the Congress government was out to teach the people the lesson of a lifetime. On September 22, students courted arrest in various districts of the state. On September 26, a plaque was set up in memory of the food movement martyrs at Wellington Square. It was decided that August 31 would be observed as Martyrs Day every year. This has been the order since then. On September 28, the Opposition brought a no-trust motion against the Congress government; naturally it was defeated. The food movement launched by the Left parties and other organisations in 1959 will be written in golden letters in the history of the country.