Social Movements in Contemporary India (Bharate Samajik Andalan)

In independent India, social movements have become a new reality. The Chipko, Narmada, Jharkhand, Gorkhaland, and Kamatapur movements have involved various regional groups in struggles for regional balance, self-identity, and environmental protection. Outside the political arena, these movements of marginal communities, indigenous tribes, and language-cultural preservation have gained an important place in history. The main message of social movements is the fight against long-standing social oppression and tyranny, not a fight for power seizure, but a struggle for changing social institutions. Prominent sociologists and commentators who have written on this include: Ramchandra Guha, B.G. Verghese (Chipko), Ashis Nandy (Damodar project), Jahar Sen (Gorkhaland), Sajal Basu (four ethnic groups), Pashupati Mahat (Junglemahal), Rajni Kothari (grassroots reconstruction), Rajinder Sachar (Singur), Niranjan Haldar (Narmada).