Question

Why did the Oudh Kisan Sabha form?

Answer 1

Hint: Nehru visited the villages of Awadh in June 1920. Baba Ramchandra, Nehru, and a few others led the sabha by October. It had almost 300 branches within a month. It aided in the integration of peasants into the NCM.

Complete answer:
Peasants in Awadh were headed by Baba Ramchandra, a sanyasi who had previously worked as an indentured labourer in Fiji. The campaign was against talukdars and landlords who sought exorbitantly high rents and a variety of additional cesses from peasants in this area. Peasants were forced to labour for free on the fields of their landlords.

They had no security of tenure as tenants, as they were evicted on a frequent basis, preventing them from acquiring any rights to the rented land. The peasant movement advocated lower taxes, the prohibition of beggars, and a social boycott of tyrannical landowners. Panchayats in various localities organised nai dhobi bandhs to deprive landlords of even barbers and washermen's services.

Jawaharlal Nehru began visiting villages in Awadh in June 1920, speaking with the peasants and seeking to understand their complaints. By October, Jawaharlal Nehru, Baba Ramchandra, and a few others had formed the Oudh Kisan Sabha. Over 300 branches had been established in the villages throughout the region within a month.

As a result, when the Non-Cooperation Movement began the following year, Congress attempted to include the Awadh peasant struggle into the larger battle. The peasant movement, on the other hand, took shape in ways that the Congress leadership did not approve of. Houses of talukdars and merchants were attacked, bazaars were looted, and food hoards were taken over as the movement spread in 1921.

Local leaders told peasants that Gandhiji had proclaimed that no taxes would be paid and that land would be shared among the poor in numerous places. The Mahatma's name was evoked to justify all actions and objectives.

Note: When Baba Ramchandra tried to enlist the help of Nehru and other Indian National Congress leaders to fight for farmers' rights, he was disappointed to find that the Congress, with its urban-based leadership, was only concerned with independence and didn't seem to understand the needs of the peasants.