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The lost links
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The glorious Hampi, which is an integral part of the cultural memory of every Kannadiga, would easily have been the proud possession of Andhra Pradesh, but for the steadfast efforts of Tekur Subrahmanyam. Sadly, no one remembers the man K.V. SUBRAMANYA
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FROM FORGOTTEN PAGES This picture was taken in Delhi in 1957 when the first Chief Minister of unified Karnataka S. Nijalingappa was felicitated by the members of Parliament. Tekur Subrahmanyam (left) the first elected MP from Bellary is also in the picture; Cover page of Karnataka Kesari, the newspaper that Tekur Subrahmanyam used to bring out
For a moment, imagine Karnataka without Hampi. It is absolutely impossible; for, it means an erasure of history that is so much a part of us. Not surely at this point when Suvarna Karnataka celebrations have just concluded. However, what seems unthin
kable at this juncture was an imminent possibility way back in 1953, when the State was still to be formed. Yet again, in 1956, the world renowned Hampi seemed like it would be seceded. During Unification, the Telugu speaking people in Bellary, with active support from powerful political leaders from Andhra were keen to get Bellary merged with Andhra State. Bellary was part of the composite Madras State prior to 1953.
What could have been a historic tragedy was averted and Bellary along with the heritage site of Hampi was merged with Karnataka. The state owes this to the relentless struggle by the Andhra-born and Telugu speaking political stalwart, Tekur Subrahmanyam, the first MP from Bellary. Surprisingly, Subrahmanyam’s contribution has been conveniently forgotten.
Subrahmanyam (1900-1974) risked his political career and fought for the cause of Karnataka’s unification both inside and outside the Parliament. Besides leading several agitations, he also strived to create public awareness through “Karnataka Kesari,” a Kannada weekly tabloid which he started on October 2, 1931. The logo used on the editorial page envisaged “Akanda Karnataka” with “Karnataka Mathe” in the heart of it. “Karnataka Kesari” was not just waging a war against the British through its innumerable articles and editorials, but was also drumming up the Unification cause, including the Bellary district. In fact, Subrahmanyam’s contribution to the field of Kannada journalism is significant as “Karnataka Kesari” was apparently the first Kannada newspaper that was published from Bellary. In a message, published in the inaugural issue of the weekly, another stalwart of the unification movement and Gandhian R.R. Diwakar has said: “There are no Kannada newspapers in Bellary, nothing that it can call own. It is precisely because of such parasitic dependence in border areas, including Bellary, that the people end up rootless, without a sense of pride in their language and land. The birth of Karnataka Kesari, I believe, will fill this lacuna.”
Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, who was then Secretary of Indian National Congress Party, in his message to Subrahmanyam mentioned: “I hope the new weekly you are bringing out will carry the message of the Congress to the people of Karnataka and will prepare them for the struggle for freedom which is again imminent …” It is interesting to note that Nehru, apart from referring to the State as Karnataka also put Subrahmanyam’s address as Bellary (Karnataka). “This prophetic postal address perhaps expresses Nehru’s faith in Bellary’s tryst with destiny,” observes Dr. B. Sheshadri, a former professor at Kannada University, Hampi. Some of the issues of “Karnataka Kesari”, which was banned by the British Government, are still preserved at the State archives in Bangalore.
Subrahmanyam was so committed to the cause of Bellary’s merger with Karnataka that the attempts made by political heavyweights from Andhra to lure him to support their case failed. When the Justice Misra Commission was appointed in 1953 to enquire into the merger issue, the entire power block of Andhra Pradesh, including Prakasam, Gopala Reddy, Sanjiva Reddy, Shankara Reddy and V.V. Giri, all ministers in the Madras Government, camped in Bellary, to put pressure on Justice Misra, pleading for the merger of Bellary with Andhra Pradesh.
The Andhra leaders also exerted pressure on the Andhra-born Subrahmanyam to facilitate Bellary’s merger and in turn offered him the post of Deputy Chief Minister of the proposed Andhra State. They also promised to make Bellary the capital of the new State. But, Subrahmanyam politely declined the offer, says Dr. Sheshadri.
Historian Suryanath Kamath writes, quoting freedom fighter Dr. Siddhanath of Bellary, “Subrahmanyam’s mother tongue was Telugu. Hence it caused an anxiety among the Pradesh Congress Committee leaders. What if Bellary is merged with Andhra.” When Subrahmanyam came to know of it, he vowed to fight for Karnataka unto his last breath. In his report on the Bellary merger, Justice Mishra has referred to the prominent role played by Subrahmanyam in merging Bellary with Karnataka, notes Kamath.
The Congress took up the issue of reorganising the provincial committees on a linguistic basis in 1920s. N.C. Kelkar, who was given the responsibility, allotted Alur, Bellary, and Rayadurga, then part of Bellary district, to Andhra Provincial Congress Committee and rest of the Bellary district to Karnataka Provincial Congress Committee.
Subsequent committees appointed by Madras Government also endorsed the Kelkar report. In 1953, Prime Minister Nehru announced in the Parliament that Alur, Adoni and Rayadurga ought to be merged with Andhra and Hospet, Harapanahalli, Hadagali, Sandur, Kudligi, and Siruguppa with Mysore.
But he was silent about the future of Bellary taluk, which later became a part of Mysore in 1953 on the basis of Justice Misra’s recommendations.
Later, the States Re-Organization Committee (SRC) headed by Justice Fazal Ali submitted its report to Union Government in 1956 that Siruguppa, Bellary and Hospet taluks and portion of Mallapuram sub-taluk should be transferred to Andhra State. The SRC recommendations triggered widespread agitations throughout Mysore State.
The Mysore Cabinet, Mysore State Assembly and Council passed unanimous resolutions against implementing SRC recommendations pertaining to Bellary.
The powerful Karnataka lobby in New Delhi, which included Union ministers B.N. Datar, D.P. Karmarkar and K.C. Reddy, Congress Parliamentary Party Secretary and Bellary MP Subrahmanyam and the Bihar Governor R.R. Diwakar, convinced Nehru and other leaders to reject SRC recommendations on Bellary, to retain in Karnataka.
Unfortunately, during the golden jubilee year of the State formation, the names of all these unsung heroes, including Subrahmanyam’s, were not even remotely recalled at any of the glittering functions held in Bangalore or in Bellary.
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Friday Review
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
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