Bharat' speaks out.

Farmers' movements (as opposed to peasant strug gles, and the difference in terms is neither acciden tal nor merely semantic) have attracted considera ble attention in the country over the past few years. The movements in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Maharashtra have been most noteworthy. The atmosphere, culture, standards of living, prob lems, issues and demands have been different in the urban and the rural areas for a long time. It would not however be true to say that the rural areas have not been a focus of concern of acti Vists and intellectuals alike. Any discussions about development and poverty have necessarily embraced the situation of the rural masses. The attention received by the farmers' movement is hence not unprecedented. The current attention is however in some ways quite different. The main reason for this is that the contemporary farmers' movements are movements of a new type.

The first noticeable feature is that they are 'independent', firstly in the sense of not being atta ched party, and also in the sense that they are not aligned with any other sections of the society. For the first time perhaps the interests of the farmers were raised in a sectoral manner, as inte rests of all farmers and also as opposed to the interests of other sections of the society, parti cularly those linked with the urban industry and bureaucracy. These movements, by and large, de nied (in formulations) and glossed over (in practice) the existence of class differentiation and class conflict in the rural, agricultural sector. The move ments did not embrace any struggle internal to the agrarian sector. In fact they claimed a unity in this sector and posited an outside enemy. The movements were first and foremost econom and only secondarily explicitly political. They foc ssed upon the urban-rural divide as the main co tradiction in the country. The movements, hence, in one way or other, demanded a restructuring of the economy. The questions raised related to invest ment patterns and priorities, the availability and costs of agricultural inputs, availability of credit and infra-structural facilities and the prices of agricultural produce. Flow of surplus and terms of trade between agriculture and industry and by extension between rural and urban areas of the coutry became focal points of discussion and ag tation. Obviously the issue to acquire maximum importance was that of prices for agricultural produce. The Shetkari Sanghatana (Farmers' Associa tion) of Maharashtra for example made remunera tive prices the one point programme. The demand for remunerative prices per se is vague enough to be non-controversial. The movements raised the question in a different way altogether. They have not generally haggled over the actual quan tums to be paid but posed far more basic issues What constitutes remunerative prices? How are these to be computed? These issues constitute the economic argument of the movements and are also the centres of argument and controversy.

The movements have also been of interest in other ways too. The mobilisation capacity exhibi ted by the movements has been phenomenal, these movements have also been able to get over the traditional divides e.g. caste in the rural society. At times and in places the movements have been mass forces of political significance.

The farmers' movements need to be understood. Their arguments and demands need to be examined in detail. The movements make many claims and hence excite interest. These have been hailed as well as condemned. To be able to take any position it is necessary to understand the argument put forth

in greater detail.

of the various movements, the movement חד Maharashtra organised by the Farmers' Association has been the most articulate and has advanced clear ideological arguments. The chief spokes-person of the Shetkari Sanghatana is Sharad Joshi, who has also been the main leader of the movement. He is best known for his formulation of 'Bharat vs. India', which is far more than a mere slogan.

In this Occasional Paper we bring together a few articles and papers by Sharad Joshi. An inter view with him serves as an useful overall introduc tion to his argument. The other writings set forth his views on the development process, on the process of surplus accumulation and on the philosophy of history etc. All the views expressed herein need not be taken as the official views of Shetkari Sangha tana, since, as Joshi explains himself, there is agree ment on the economic issues but not necessarily on philosophical and historical positions. Nevertheless these are views expressed by the leader/spokesperson of a movement and an organisation. It is interesting to' note that he clearly demarcates himself from other world-views, particularly Marxism.

The writings of Sharad Joshi have not been availa ble in English in a compilation so far. This is the first collection. It would be useful, we believe, to anyone attempting to understand the stand of the individual and the movement.

It will only be fair to point out that we do not agree with many of the views expressed by Sharad Joshi; on a number of issues there would be very strong disagreements. We do however feel that the views should be known and discussed. That is a pre condition for any positions.