The movement here was not against the Britishers but against talukdars and landlords.

The problems of the rural people were different from those of the urban people:

• The talukdars and landlords were demanding very high rents and a variety of other taxes.
• Peasants had to do begarand work at the landlord’s farms without any payment.
• The peasants had no security of tenure. They were regularly evicted so that they could acquire no security of tenure.

As the problems of the people were different, their demands were also different. The peasant movement demanded:

• Reduction of revenue
• Abolition of begar
• Redistribution of land Social boycott of oppressive landlords.

(iii) Ways of protests: The Movement in the countryside had a different angle. In many places, Nai-dhobi bandhs were organised by the Panchayats to deprive the landlords of the services of barbers, cobblers, washermen, etc. Even national leaders like Jawaharlal Nehru went to villages in Awadh to know the grievances of the people. By October, the Awadh Kissan Sabhas was set up headed by Jawaharlal Nehru, Baba Ramchandra, and a few others. When the movement spread in 1921, the houses of talukdars and merchants were attacked. The movement turned violent which was not liked by some of the Congress leaders.

Tribal people

Most of the tribal people were dependent on forests for their livelihood but under the new Forest Policy, the government had put several restrictions on the people :

• Closing large forest area for the tribal people.
• Forcing the local people to contribute begar.
• Preventing people from entering the forests to graze their cattle, or to collect fuelwood and fruits.

All these steps enraged the hill people. Not only were their livelihoods affected, but they felt that their traditional rights were also being denied. So the people revolted.

Plantation workers

For plantation workers in Assam, freedom meant the right to move freely in and out of the confined space in which they were enclosed, and it meant retaining a link with the village from which they had come.

• The government had passed the Inland Emigration Act of 1859 under which plantation workers were not permitted to leave the tea estates without permission, and in fact, they were rarely given such permission.
• When the plantation workers heard of the Non-Cooperation Movement, thousands of them defied the authorities, left the plantations and headed towards their homes.
• The plantation workers believed that the Gandhi Raj was coming, and everyone would be given land in their own villages.