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Siddana Gowda who was
in his motor winding workshop in Raichur town was killed by a People’s War squad
which fired on him from close range, late in the evening of 19 June, 1999. With
this, the day of a haughty landlord, a hated goonda and a cruel oppressor was
done.
It was summer, yet
the landlord fraternity of the area and the police which protects it, felt a
shiver run down their spine.
Siddana Gowda was a
nightmare for the people of Raichur and its neighbouring villages. His acts of
oppression were limitless. But in recent years, after the Karnataka Raitha
Coolie Sangha (KRCS) began to organise the poor peasants, Siddana Gowda thought
it wiser to keep to himself. And Siddana Gowda was not alone. He had the company
of all the landlords of the area. But with the active intervention of the
police, they again began to wag their tails. The police and the administration
brazenly took sides, and turned their might on the struggling poor. They came
down on peasants fighting for a dignified life. They booked false cases on
peasant youth. They tore down flag poles which were icons of popular unity. They
made illegal arrests and beat scores of people in police stations. When Rizwana
Begum, a young and strong-willed woman joined the organisation in June last
year, they said she had been kidnapped and in turn arrested seven members of the
organisation. They have remained in jail for more than a year now. All appeals
for bail have been rejected. A situation where other activists have been
compelled to go underground has been created.
Taking bribes from
the landlords, policemen, in batches of twenty and thirty, fell upon villages,
pulled out belongings from huts, misbehaved with women and generated an
atmosphere of terror. While chanting in their press handouts that "The problem
of Naxalism is a socio-economic one", they have done nothing to resolve it.
With the police
taking such a stand, the landlords developed new canine teeth. Dogs that had
curled up in a corner began to snarl at and pounce on the people. Siddana Gowda
chose to be the leader of the landlords this time. With a handful of private
mercenaries, he roamed the villages. He beat up members of the KRCS and
threatened to murder them. He drew pleasure in insulting Dalits and called them
by their caste names.
He hired goondas from
adjacent Kurnool of Andhra Pradesh to eliminate revolutionaries with the support
of the other landlords and Sub-Inspector Kashi. It was in the hands of these
mercenaries that Comrade Buddanna of Atkur village was killed in late April this
year. Comrade Buddanna was a poor peasant and a long time staunch supporter of
People’s War party. Buddanna was done to death as he climbed up the steps of his
well with a pot of water. And the police immediately called it a case of suicide
by drowning.
The administration
has always been saying, "Naxalites have wrecked social peace". But what was it
doing when all this violence was taking place?
Or, take for instance
the doings of the Appanadoddi landlord, Narasimhulu. He is a typical feudal
reactionary element. He has grabbed the land of so many of the peasants. He has
punished with beatings and fines so many of the village’s folk. He has sexually
harassed the women of the village. His sons and a few of his relatives serve as
his whip lash in the village. There was a time only about a year ago when even
he was compelled to stick his tail between his legs and curl up in a corner
owing to the militant struggles of the KRCS. But as the police flexed their
muscle in Raichur’s villages, landlords like Narasimhulu threw parties for the
cops. Officers like Kashi who came in jeeps and the less exalted who came in van
loads, feasted till they were piss drunk. Narasimhulu began to take his
vengeance on the activists of the KRCS in the village. Cases, thrashing, rapes
and outright terror The edges of Narasimhulu’s drooping moustache stood up.
Enough ! That was
what the peasants of the village said. And, in August last year as he reclined
in his cot happily brooding over what he had done, a PW squad made its way into
his house and shot at him. He survived. Obviously, the treatment he got was not
enough to deter him. He recomposed himself in a few weeks and persisted in his
old ways; thanks to the affectionate nursing and pep talk by the police.
He retook all the
land he had lost in the course of the struggles of the peasants. This was that
very same land about which the Deputy Commissioner, Assistant Commissioner and
Deputy Superintendent of Police only a few months ago had promised, before all
the people of the village, that it would be retrieved from Narasimhulu and
handed over to the real owners. And all this about land for which the peasants
had title deeds. But when Narasirnhulu snatched back these lands and romped
about striking terror in the village, they turned a blind eye at the violence
that was being perpetrated in the village. The matter had entered the court by
then and there was a judicial stay over the ‘disputed’ lands. But the police
encouraged Narasimhulu to bypass these ‘sacrosanct’ strictures and till them.
Or, take the case of
Hari Sahukar of Atkur village. When the peasants of the village fought against
him to return the lands of a Dalit family, khaki-goon Kashi asked him to dig in
his heels and not relent. Then he told the peasants that he would go out of his
way to fetch justice for the Dalits but that they had to first dissociate from
the KRCS. But eventually, with the support of the police, Hari Sahukar picked up
courage to till the land of the dalit family.
The list of the
doings of the reactionaries runs long. Paddamma, Shesha Reddi, Dodda Basiah ....
they all ganged up with the police. This reactionary league of landlords,
informers, police and civil bureaucrats acted in unison. A special 30-member
squad with SIs, CIs and under the leadership of the DySP was formed to track
down and kill PW organisers. Men like Kashi were sent for special commando
training to Delhi. Automatic and semi-automatic weapons were provided. Even LMGs
made their appearance in desolate and backward Raichur. Buddanna was killed. The
comrades in jail have been kept from their families for months....
Life had become
simply miserable and unbearable for the peasants of Raichur district.
It was under such
circumstances that Siddana Gowda was silenced.
The rush of joy it
sent among the peasants of the area must be seen to be believed. The poor of
every village feasted over the death of the tyrant.
And as People’s War
organisers held Martyrs Day celebrations in the last week of July, they
got a thumping ovation from the masses. In meetings addressed by underground
party organisers, hundreds participated. And as one organiser said: "Everybody
in the villages were eager to shake hands with us. And by the time it was over,
our palms needed a gentle massage to relieve it off the nice ache."
Siddana Gowda, good
riddance ! Raichur feels better without you !!
— Mahadeva,
Our Correspondent from Karnataka
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