Recalling a leading movement of fisher folk of Ganga to protest against exploitative practices

By Bharat Dogra 

Recently several activists and supporters of the Ganga Mukti Andolan (Liberate the Ganga River Movement or GMA) got together first at Delhi and later at Bhagalpur (Bihar). This has been perhaps the leading movement of river fisher folk in India to protest against several exploitative practices. This was a peaceful struggle led by activists who were inspired by the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi and Jaya Prakash Narayan. 

Despite several difficulties this struggle succeeded in the fulfilment of several of its objectives with some important demands being accepted by the government.  This brought considerable relief at that time to tens of thousands of fisher folk living by the banks of the Ganga in its reach in Bihar. Later this movement entered a new phase, which was aimed at helping boatmen. 

Of course several challenges still remain for these fisher folk and boatmen operating not just in the Ganga River but in numerous other rivers of this country as well. In fact their livelihoods have been coming under increasing pressure due to ecological factors and the impact of river projects like dams and barrages. Several villages that I visited in recent times have significant population of these communities and I heard many complaints of increasing problems and neglect.

It has been observed that marine fisher folk are relatively easier to mobilise. The river fisher folk are very widely scattered and despite their innumerable problems, it is very difficult to organise them, particularly so in a state like Bihar with its poorer communications facilities and a very wide, intricate network of rivers. The Ganga alone flows across a 500 km stretch in Bihar, receiving several tributaries from other parts of Bihar and also from Nepal.

The first phase of the movement was confined mainly to the area in and around the Bhagalpur district. In this stretch of the Ganga River fishing rights had been arbitrarily given away to certain rich families (called the zamindars of the fisheries sector) who in turn subleased smaller stretches to contractors who exploited the fisher folk by forcing them to pay taxes and extortions. 

Several Gandhian social activists took the lead in mobilising fisher folk against this injustice. They also encouraged the fisher folk to become aware of the weaknesses within their community and to try to overcome these. This process also took the movement closer to the women of the community and several of them stared taking an enthusiastic part in the movement

Contractors and their goons attacked fisher folk or activists working with them on several occasions, but the movement maintained its peaceful character even in the face of grave provocations. Some big and colourful boat processions were organised, defying the threats of the contractors and raising the morale of the fisher folk. Finally the obvious injustice of this situation was accepted and old zamindari rights over a particular stretch of the Ganga river ware removed.

However the was only a small victory keeping in view that the situation changed in only one relatively small stretch of the main river while arbitrary taxes and illegal extortions continued in a wide network of the main river, its tributaries and sub-tributaries The second phase took the movement forward by raising the demand for ending extortions and taxes imposed on other parts of the river network.

At first it appeared that the social activists had bitten more that they could chew. Their new demand threatened contractors and politicians and officials in league with them over a much wider area. Hence the repression unleashed by them was much more than before. Moreover some of these vested interests were operating in the guise of cooperatives so that there were also legal problems in resisting them.

Recalling those days a leading activist of the GMA Anil Prakash said, 'We had reached a nearly hopeless stage when in the wake of threatening calls issued to social activists and no signs of an early victory, even some of the determined social activists had started leaving the movement. We did not know what move to make next.”

Fortunately at this stage the situation was retrieved at least partially by the timely intervention of some enlightened officials who tried to convince the Chief Minister that this was a good opportunity to help several hundred thousand fisher folk, The then Chief Minister Laloo Prasad Yadav was quick to appreciate the political advantages inherent in the situation. He went one step ahead of the demand being raised for stopping taxes on the Ganga River and actually cancelled taxes on the other rivers of the state as well. He told the activists, 'In any case you are going to come back after a gap of a few months to recoup your strength, so let me give you the advance benefit for all rivers."

However, the order was easier to issue on paper than to implement. The reason was that there were several legal complications regarding the rights over smaller, remote river systems and even the GMA did not have the relevant information from all areas. Several surveys needed to be taken up to get the detailed information. As a result some areas remained untouched by the new orders of the Chief Minister for some time, but gradually the relief brought by the new orders continued to spread.

However, soon the movement realised that despite the newly won gains of the fisher folk, their livelihood was threatened by the pollution in the river as well as the hindrance of dams and barrages which inhibited the migration of fish.

According to a study by Professor K.S. Bilgrami and J.S. Datta Munshi of Bhagalpur University in the stretch from Barauni to Farakka, fish had been dying in large numbers within hours of the discharge from some of the big polluting industries

According to V.G. Jhingran, former director of the Central Inland Fisheries Research Institute, 'The river valley development programme adversely affects both the migratory and the non migratory species of fishes. Dams, weirs and barrages act as physical barriers to migration tending to prevent access of the fish to their usual breeding, rearing and feeding grounds. The denial of migration may result in a permanent and irrevocable reduction of fish stocks, ranging from lowering the levels of abundance to complete extermination."

So the movement now started taking up these issues of pollution and river-valley projects, which in turn took them to still wider issues of floods and flood protection works involving not just fisher folk but also other people living around the rivers. Realising that these issues had acquired much wider dimensions the movement organised meetings in which people from other parts of the country as well as from Nepal and Bangladesh were also invited, leading to a very useful exchange of views.

This wider interaction also brought the movement to a new phase which was more concerned with boatmen than with the fisher folk. People paying boats and indirectly, other villagers who use these boats, also have to pay several taxes and extortion sums. This phase of the movement also met with an encouraging response from the people. What is more, in recent times several new issues and problems have also emerged and one hopes that with some of these activists trying to revive the earlier spirit of the movement these new concerns will also get the due attention.

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The write is Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include Protecting Earth for Children, Planet in Peril, Man over Machine, and A Day in 2071