Strategies adopted in the Mulshi Satyagraha.

Narmada Bachao Andolan - Save the Narmada movement (NBA), against the Sardar Sarovar Project on the river Narmada in India is one of the most known anti dam struggles today. One of the reasons why NBA became so known is the many distinctive strategies it adopted like-‘Dubenge par hatenge nahi' (we shall drown but not move), 
'Jalsamarpan' (sacrifice by drowning), so on and so forth. 

It is interesting to know that many diverse strategies were adopted nearly a hundred years ago in the movement against Mulshi dam in Pune district of Maharashtra also. Some excerpts from the book “Mulshi Satyagrha”, by Rajendra Vohra throw light on these strategies:

Decision to not leave one's land: 

“…the work of the foundation of the dam was on… one section [of the people in the submergence area] felt that it would be good to get maximum compensation through threats and the other section did not want any compensation at all but to fight till the end…two such sections were emerging slowly. The declaration of the second section was ‘life or land’…

Occupying the site of the Dam:

“To the North of the river Mula, a canopy was erected to house one thousand to two thousand satyagrahis. Maharashtra’s orange flag was hoisted over the canopy…the satyagraha (insistence for truth) was preplanned. How should the satyagraha be, who should participate, and where should it be held, was all very well planned in advance…Bhuskute, Senapati Bapat, Ranade were leaders of different batches of satyagrahis…at the confluence of the river, the work of laying the foundation of the dam was going on. There, the president of the satyagraha mandal, Karandikar, reached with his batch. Just before sunrise, the people of Maval as well as the volunteers blocked the place where the digging work for the foundation and the work of the foundation was going on in the river bed …the officers of the company ordered the labor to begin work. The labor force came with stones and lime for construction but it was not possible to lay the stones anywhere. Because the entire area was full with the people of Maval... 

Stopping material from reaching the dam site:

“It was decided to start a satyagraha to stop the work of the Tata Company at different places. It was decided to try and stop the supply of material to the company …

“Tata Company stopped the work of the dam for six months. However for the work of the dam, transport between Paud and Mulshi by a railway was to be started…the people of Sheregaon objected to the laying of  railway through their lands…therefore the company began the work of lying the railway over the public road itself…as a solution to this, Bapat decided to remove the railway line near Chinchwad…he convinced the senior people of villages like Sheregaon, Paud, etc and gave a notice to the company and the district authorities that if the company did not stop the work of laying the line then the railway line from anywhere  between Paud to Chinchwad would be removed…on 15^th June about 20-30 farmers sat on a satyagraha on the railway line between Chinchwad and Mulshi…75 more labor were called and the satyagrahis were forcibly removed…when the train started, many satyagrahis tried to sleep under the wheels, however they too were forcibly removed to one side. That is when stone throwing started and 5-6 labor were hurt…

Breaking section 144:

“Satyagraha started on the 1^st of May… as per Kesri’s (Newspaper) estimate around 500 people of Maval and 250 volunteers had assembled…...Senapati Bapat was leading the satyagraha... The labor force started work by cordoning the area ...when the satyagrahis broke the cordon to enter, the labor force started beating them up shouting slogans like ‘Kolhapur Maharaj Ki Jai’...next day the company goons beat up the volunteers mercilessly. The women of Maval were insulted...they were pulled by their hair, mud was thrown at them...in the afternoon about 100 men and women shouted ‘Shivaji Maharaj ki Jai’ and marched towards the stayagraha site...many of them were beaten up by the labor to the extent that they fainted...a special court was established at the dam colony itself where the proceedings against those who were arrested as part of the satyagraha campaign for the violation of section 144 was undertaken...

Jalsamrpan/ Jalsamadhi:

“When Senapati was released from jail, the three year time limit set by Mulshi Parishad had ended; in fact, it was six months over the time line given. Therefore the conditions of the Samsatyagraha was no longer binding. He (Senapati Bapat) took an independent decision and on 6 November 1924, he published a leaflet titled Mulshi’s “Partial Pause”. He gave full thought to the subject and than published a leaflet Mulshi’s “Full stop”. He said that from the next day onwards I would proceed to live in the Mulshi Peta, and when the main deity of that area Lord Jyotirupeshwar will face jalsamadi (drown), at that time I will also undertake jalsamadhi..., In the leaflet, he took the oath of pure satyagraha, where he believes violence as secondary... 

Violent Struggle: 

“In this way though the satyagraha that had lasted for three and a half years was over, as per the views of Senapati, its full stop was yet to happen and that was to happen through his pure satyagraha…Satyagraha Mandal had been dissolved. Meaning collective satyagraha, non violent satyagraha- was over. Senapati opened a new satyagraha office at his home itself and gave a call for volunteers. This appeal was to undertake violent struggle. He received very little response. Five volunteers came forward…Bhuskute did not have faith in Senapati’s pure satyagraha (violent struggle)…Balvant Gore had participated in Samsatyagraha earlier and he was also punished for that…For Mulshi’s ‘Full Stop’, he purchased sword and pistol from Hyderabad…Atmaram Modak had come to Pune in 1921-22 and had become a part of Mulshi Satyagraha…He had faith in Senapati’s  armed satyagraha…

“9^th December was decided as the date of Satyagraha. That day morning, stones were laid on the railway line to stop the railway. After some time the train carrying labor from Chinchwad arrived…when the train halted, the laborers got down to remove the stones from the track and the satyagrahis injured the laborers with swords and Senapati fired a bullet into the leg of the driver…later as decided earlier, Senapati and …his four coworkers, surrendered at the police station in Paud… they were imprisoned for six months during the time of investigation…Bapat’s statement was taken on 9^th February. He explained the difference between Samsatyagraha and Pure Satryagraha and also submitted that the main feature of this satyagraha was merely to punish the body and not cause death…

"In the last week of March, the proceedings were conducted before the Sessions Judge Dunlop, which ended on 28^th March. Bapat made it clear that we had no intention to kill. If I had wanted to kill, I have taken military training at Edinburgh. I could have easily done that… Jury gave a verdict that only the case of possession of arms by the satyagrahis can be proved…they are free of all other charges. But the Judge did not accept this verdict and the papers of the case were sent to the high court. S. R Gokhale was the lawyer of Senapati Bapat. Gokhale explained the features of pure satyagraha to Justice Mirza and Justice Parsivel. The main objective of pure satyagraha is truth and duty…there are two aspects to this, one is punishment to body and two, punishment by death. Bapat accepted the first. There is no political objective behind Mulshi satyagraha. Tata Company is submerging the area. Every single resident of Maval is deeply attached to this area. The way in which every English is attached to the statue of Nelson in Trafalgar square, every Maharashtrian loves this area. These arguments had no impact on the court…

"The court gave its ruling on 12^th June. Senapati was sentenced with seven years, Gore with five years; Bhambhle, Modek and Kukde with three years and Dev with one year of rigorous imprisonment…

(Translated from Marathi by me)