He was a driver in the Indian Army who was formerly the sole survivor in an India-Pakistan battle involving his unit. He then retired from the Army and focussed on alcoholism and smoking near his Maharashtra village. He punished alcoholics who wouldn`t change and burnt cigarettes and bidis on Holi.
Currently, he is leading an anti-corruption crusade during which he forced the Indian authorities to give lawmaking powers on an anti-graft law to activists.
A lecturer, Sreeramulu walked barefoot in the (then) Madras Presidency with placards round his neck seeking a separate country for Telugus. At times he had slippers round his neck as well. In October 1952, he began a fast unto death. He died on the 82nd day, and there was an immediate violent public outcry. Jawaharlal Nehru quickly announced the existence of Andhra Pradesh, the first province created on language grounds. It changed the map of India.
Murlidhar Devidas Amte, called Baba Amte, was a lawyer who was gripped by the belief that leprosy was simply another disease, and deserved no stigma. He set up an ashram for leprosy patients and once allowed bacilli from a leprosy patient to be injected into his trunk to show that the disease was not contagious. He had only doctors in his family, both sons and daughters-in-law are in medicine.
Irom Sharmila, the Iron woman of Manipur, has been on fast since 2000. Her protest began after securitymen fired at, and killed, 10 people that year. Since then, she has been seeking the repeal of a law that offers armed forces immunity from prosecution. Because attempting suicide is a crime in India that attracts punishment for a year, she gets released and arrested every year.
In 2006, Bant Singh, a Dalit farmer, was loaded to pulp by thugs employed by a pair of landlords in Punjab. He was hacked and thrashed and remaining for dead. But, he lived. He was set upon because he fought a legal struggle to penalize the masses who raped his daughter. Today, he still campaigns for Dalit rights though he has rumps for arms and hobbles on one leg.
A writer and once screenwriter, Arundhati Roy spent a day in Tihar Jail in 2002 after the Supreme Court sentenced her for scandalising the court`s authority with malafide intentions. Roy had questioned the court`s motives in ignoring serious cases and taking up minor cases by comparison, and stifling dissent. Since then, Roy has advocated that Kashmir be freed and routinely takes on the Indian State on sundry issues.
Periyar was a Tamil Nadu businessman who hated Brahmins. He loved making derogatory references to Lord Rama and other characters in the Ramayana. He started a self-respect movement, garlanded statues of Ram with slippers and encouraged his supporters to throw slippers at statues inside and outside temples. Politically, Periyar was the mother of the Dravidian movement, which has resulted in the DMK and the AIADMK.
Raj Narain, a politician from Uttar Pradesh, routinely got thrown out of Parliament because he was too unruly. He was a turkey of sorts, always in a lime green bandana and using anecdotes to make serious points. In his lifetime, Narain went to jail about 80 times. He lost to Indira Gandhi in 1971, won a subject that she used unfair means to win, and then defeated Indira in 1977. It was the start time an Indian Prime Minister was defeated.
Kanshi Ram once get up waiting television journalists at his home in New Delhi because he thought they were affecting his conversations inside with another party leader. But before he lost control, he was a tenacious Dalit politician who formed the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). He chose Mayawati to follow him and she took him in with her when he was ill. Ram`s family was thrown out when they had come visiting.
The original Maoist bard in India, Gummadi Vittal Rao, known as Gaddar, spent a great percentage of his life underground. When he did come overground, he sang songs in an earthy, strong voice with language that shook people. He sang of execution and pillage by the State and was shooting at once for this. Later, he parted with the Maoist leadership and led a lonely life for a while. He is currently a pro-Telangana campaigner, still bare-chested and outraged.
Text: Avesta Choudhary
Source: Tehelka
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