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Unit 8: Peasant Movements

Vallabhbhai’s methods. Vallabhbhai explained to the peasants the consequences of their proposed Notes
plan of action and advised them to give the matter a week’s thought. He then returned to
Ahmedabad and wrote a letter to the Governor of Bombay explaining the miscalculations in the
settlement report and requesting him to appoint an independent enquiry; else, he wrote, he would
have to advise the peasants to refuse to pay the land revenue and suffer the consequences.
On 12 February, Patel returned to Bardoli and explained the situation, including the Government’s
curt reply, to the peasants’ representatives. Following this, a meeting of the occupants of Bardoli
taluq passed a resolution advising all occupants of land to refuse payment of the revised assessment
until the Government appointed an independent tribunal or accepted the current amount as full
payment. Peasants were asked to take oaths in the name of Prabhu (the Hindu name for god) and
Khuda (the Muslim name for god) that they would not pay the land revenue. The resolution was
followed by the recitation of sacred texts from the Gita and the Koran and songs from Kabir, who
symbolized Hindu-Muslim unity. The Satyagraha had begun.
Vallabhbhai Patel was ideally suited for leading the campaign. A veteran of the Kheda Satyagraha,
the Nagpur Flag Satyagraha, and the Borsad Punitive Tax Satyagraha, he had emerged as a leader
of Gujarat who was second only to Gandhiji. His capacities as an organizer, speaker, indefatigable
campaigner, inspirer of ordinary men and women were already known, but it was the women of
Bardoli who gave him the title of Sardar. The residents of Bardoli to this day recall the stirring
effect of the Sardar’s speeches which he delivered in an idiom and style that was close to the
peasant’s heart.
The Sardar divided the taluq into thirteen workers’ camps or Chhavanis each under the charge of
an experienced leader. One hundred political workers drawn from all over the province, assisted
by 1,500 volunteers, many of whom were students, formed the army of the movement. A
publications bureau that brought out the daily Bardoli Satyagraha Patrika was set up. This Patrika
contained reports about the movement, speeches of the leaders, pictures of the jabti or confiscation
proceedings and other news. An army of volunteers distributed this to the farthest corners of the
taluq. The movement also had its own intelligence wing, whose job was to find out who the
indecisive peasants were. The members of the intelligence wing would shadow them night and
day to see that they did not pay their dues, secure information about Government moves, especially
of the likelihood of jabti (confiscation) and then warn the villagers to lock up their houses or flee
to neighbouring Baroda.
The main mobilization was done through extensive propaganda via meetings, speeches, pamphlets,
and door to door persuasion. Special emphasis was placed on the mobilization of women and
many women activists like Mithuben Petit, a Parsi lady from Bombay, Bhaktiba, the wife of
Darbar Gopaldas, Maniben Patel, the Sardar’s daughter, Shardaben Shah and Sharda Mehta were
recruited for the purpose. As a result, women often outnumbered men at the meetings and stood
firm in their resolve not to submit to Government threats. Students were another special target
and they were asked to persuade their families to remain firm.
Those who showed signs of weakness were brought into line by means of social pressure and
threats of social boycott. Caste and village panchayats were used effectively for this purpose and
those who opposed the movement had to face the prospect of being refused essential services from
sweepers, barbers, washermen, agricultural labourers, and of being socially boycotted by their
kinsmen and neighbours. These threats were usually sufficient to prevent any weakening.
Government officials faced the worst of this form of pressure. They were refused supplies, services,
transport and found it almost impossible to carry out their official duties. The work that the
Congress leaders had done among the Kaliparaj people also paid dividends during this movement
and the Government was totally unsuccessful in its attempts to use them against the upper caste
peasants.
Sardar Patel and his colleagues also made constant efforts to see that they carried the constitutionalist
and moderate leadership, as well as public opinion, with them on all important issues. The result
of this was that very soon the Government found even its supporters and sympathizers, as well as
impartial men, deserting its side. Many members of the Bombay Legislative Council like

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