The Muzara movement began with the aim of taking ownership rights of the land after tilling it for years together. Muzara was the name given to the landless farmers working on another’s land.
The movement began in the 1930s under British rule when the Jagridars were seeking a share in the crop of farmers across the villages of Punjab under the Patiala Riyasat. The share was passed on to the Maharaja of Patiala and then to Britishers. Thus, the farmers worked like slaves of Jagirdars, Maharaja and British.
Thus, finally, the farmers began the Muzara movement and refused to give the food grains to their masters. After India’s Independence some 784 villages of the Patiala Riyasat were named PEPSU province.
Following this, in October 1948, the Patiala Maharaja had passed orders to give one-third land of villages to Jagirdars. However, farmers did not accept this.
On March 19, 1949, these farmers protested against the security forces of Maharaja at Kishangarh and during the protest, four farmers, one cop, and one patwari were killed.
Key Events
The Muzara movement originated in the late 19th century. It was the time when the ‘princely state of Patiala’ was suffering oppression by ‘Maharaja of Patiala’. The local landlords called the biswedars enjoyed their rights on land but the tenants felt that those landlords had no legitimate right to land.
- They found an outlet in movements like the Akali and Praja Mandal movements during the 1920s. During the 1930s, a liberal atmosphere was created through which the congress party attained its hold in several provinces. After that, Punjab became the nerve centre of Muzara movement.
- By 1948, small armed groups of 30 to 40 people used to protect muzaras against the onslaught of landlords. After the Congress ministry was established in 1951, an Agrarian Reforms Enquiry Committee was set up in order to recommend measures to tackle the issue.
- In 1952, PEPSU Tenancy (Temporary Provision) Act was formulated to protect the tenants. This act provided for peasants to become the owners if they paid compensation twelve times of the land revenue.
PEPSU Province
PEPSU stands for “Patiala and East Punjab States Union”. It was a state of India, which united the eight princely states between 1948 and 1956. The capital and principal city of PEPSU was Patiala. Shimla, Kasauli, Kandaghat, and Chail were also a part of PEPSU.
