Class Relations in Indian Agriculture

The author, in the course of this article, develops and presents a thesis regarding the class composition of the Indian agricultural population. The thesis is that there are only two classes in Indian agriculture, one of which is termed 'the class of big landowners' and the other 'the class of agricultural labourers'. These two classes are in antagonistic contradiction with each other, and this contradiction constitutes the principal contradiction in our rural society, The thesis implies rejection of the commonly accepted class differentiation in terms of agricultural labourers, poor peasants, middle peasants, rich peasants, landlords, etc. While recognising that this scheme id sanctified because of its formulation and application by Lenin and Mao Tse-tung, the author argues that the scheme is not helpful when it comes to Indian conditions. By 'helpful is meant helpful from the point of view of practice. In this, the authors idea is the fundamental Marxian thought that the only test of the correctness of theories and the usefulness of concepts lies in their application in practice.