The 20th of November 2021 will go down in history as a day on which democracy defeated autocracy. On this day, the Prime Minister promised to withdraw the three “Black Laws” against which Indian kisans had sustained a year-long and heroic non-violent struggle, and for which around 700 kisans sacrificed their lives. On another such historic day, 69 years ago, the then Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, had hailed the abolition of zamindari in Uttar Pradesh on 1 July 1952 as a “memorable” day and declared that “I felt as I did on the day India became free”. We bring to you this week extracts from his speeches on that occasion.”On the 1st of July, I had gone to Modinagar, which lies on the road to Meerut, because that day was a memorable one for Uttar Pradesh and, in a sense, for the whole of India…because after a great deal of difficulty and effort, a hundred-and-fifty-years old system, the Zamindari and Taluqdari systems, came to an end on this day. The population of Uttar Pradesh is six to seven crores and the majority of them are peasants. So, it was a great peaceful revolution to have abolished the zamindari system and thereby liberate millions of farmers from its yoke. In other countries, revolutions have meant bloodshed and violence. The peaceful revolution which has taken place in Uttar Pradesh has occurred in other states too… So, you can imagine how happy I was. I felt as I did on the day India became free. That was a historic day for India and though I do not wish to compare the two, I was extremely happy to see the work of thirty-two years come to a successful end.” “…I was reminded of the times, more than thirty years ago, when I used to wander among the peasants of this province, in the districts of Allahabad, Pratapgarh, Jaunpur, Rae Bareli, Sultanpur and other places. The plight of those poor farmers is etched in my mind. I saw the harm that the Zamindari system had done to the peasantry. It is a pernicious system anywhere in the world….Thirty years is a long time in the life of any individual. If you had asked me then, I would have said that we would abolish Zamindari immediately because I was young then and full of great hopes and had an impatience to get things done quickly. But it has taken years of hard work to accomplish that task. Our most urgent priority was to challenge the might of British rule and overthrow its yoke. Only then could we take up other tasks… Well, we made laws. But lawyers would find loopholes in any law that you may make and you will get entangled in legal processes and court cases. The Zamindars and Taluqdars took full advantage of the situation…We had to then change the Constitution and the case was referred to the Supreme Court…
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