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The jute mills of Bengal had witnessed communal violence as well as bursts of working men's unrest even in the late nineteenth century. In the eyes of the employers, however, they were merely localized and disorganized flashes of protest, which could be typically nipped by the arrival of the Scottish mill manager and his entourage of Nepalidarwans. A quick arbitration by thesahibunder the peepul tree, liberally laced with pidgin Hindi abuse, was followed by the protector's judgment. Some would be happy with the verdict, others would remain aggrieved while thebara sahib, after a few words with the European assistant and the nativesirdar, would imperiously stride back to his office, acknowledging numerous salams on his way. With such powerfulma-baaps, the mills rarely felt the need to report what they considered were piffling matters to the local police or the district magistrate. Thus, in February 1886, the Indian Jute Mills' Association could rule that 'all hands whose work stopped during the days the mills were closed [for short-time working] should cease to be paid for that time' without the slightest fear of serious protest from the labouring people. And in the late 1920s, in spite of the Rowlattsatyagraha, the Khilafat and the non-cooperation movement, the Chairman of IJMA could note with great satisfaction that 'for many years the jute mill industry has been more or less immune from industrial disputes

Appeasement · Archaeology · Economic history · Magistrate · Mill · Political science · Unrest · History · Indian Economic and Social Development · Law · South Asian Studies and Conflicts

• Unsettled Settlers

  Open Access•Arjan De Haan•Modern Asian Studies•1997

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• Private Investment in India 1900–1939

  Open Access•Amiya Kumar Bagchi•Private Investment in India…•1972

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• Communal Riots and Labour

  Dipesh Chakrabarty•Past & Present•1981

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