POLITICS AND IDEAS OF RAMMANOHAR LOHIA

Many Lohias? Appropriations of Lohia in

Chandan Gowda

Analysing Rammanohar Lohia’s reception in the spheres ow is a multifaceted political fi gure like Rammanohar of party politics, social movements and literature in Lohia appropriated by different constituencies? What do Karnataka, it emerges that his impact on electoral Htheir different interpretations reveal about their own political and aesthetic choices? How does their institutional loca- politics in the state was not all that substantial. However, tion regulate the “Lohia” they disseminate? This paper asks these some key policy innovations such as Devaraj Urs’ land questions by analysing Lohia’s reception in the spheres of party reforms and pro-backward class policies in the 1970s politics, social movements and literature in the state of Karna- owed a debt to Lohia. He was also a major influence on taka. Though popular imagination connects Lohia’s infl uence to a few north Indian states like Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, he shaped social and literary movements in the state. Besides the imagination of democracy in some of the most creative indi- inspiring some of the key leaders of the farmers’ viduals in Karnataka. The ideal of caste equality, the virtues of movement, Lohia contributed to the distinctiveness of economic democracy and a decentralised administration, the the dalit movement in Karnataka. His ideas on caste, “equal irrelevance” of capitalism and communism, and the politi- cal necessity of de-privileging the English language – in short, language and individual freedom also inspired the the ideas with which Lohia tried to evolve a model of Indian leading lights of literary modernism. And no socialism – informed the activist consciousness of many infl uen- historical study of the Kannada language movement can tial politicians, social activists, intellectuals and artists in 1 discount the attraction Lohia’s strong support for Karnataka for more than fi ve decades. This paper is an attempt to fi ll a gap in the existing literature, regional languages had for proponents of Kannada. for there is no study on the implications of Lohiaite activism in Karnataka.2 In doing so, it uses an archive that has not received adequate attention from social scientists. Essays from commemo- rative and felicitation (abhinandana) volumes, interviews, and small publications found in personal collections make up much of the material used here.3

Political Parties and State Policy The image of Lohia in Karnataka is intimately linked with his brief, but dramatic, involvement with the Kagodu farmers’ satya- graha. Between mid-April and August 1951, landless tenants struggled against their landlords over the terms of tenancy at Kagodu, a village in Sagar taluk of district. Their strug- gle acquired political intensity with the mobilisational efforts of I am grateful to Yogendra Yadav for his encouragement and valuable socialist leaders in the state like Shantaveri Gopala Gowda (1923- suggestions for revising this essay. In the absence of an organised archive on Lohia, I have had to rely on the help of more individuals than 1972). Lohia joined the satyagrahis at Kagodu on 14 June 1951. He I can acknowledge in this short note. Konandur Lingappa and Bapu was arrested and sent to a jail in for a short period. His Heddurshetti generously shared their knowledge of socialist politics association with this protest gave it countrywide publicity.4 in Karnataka. Siddalingaiah clarifi ed the importance of Lohia for the Although the satyagraha did not have radical consequences in evolution of dalit activism in Karnataka. Conversations with terms of altering landlord-tenant relations in Kagodu or fostering H T Rajendra, U R Ananthamurthy, Devanoora Mahadeva, SP R P Venkatesh Murthy and Manu Chakravarthy have also helped in a support base for the ( ) in the state, it was an writing this essay. Diwakar Hegde and Chandrashekar Aijoor lent me important precursor to subsequent activism in the region centred books and were always willing to help track of individuals for me to on tenancy reforms and an agricultural land ceiling. The Kagodu contact. Prof Hanumantha, Krishna Byregowda, Gauri Lankesh, Deepa satyagraha continues to be remembered as the fi rst farmers’ Ganesh and Vikas Kumar helped me locate useful material. I am grateful protest in post-independence Karnataka. to all of them. The Kagodu satyagraha brought political gains for the SP in Chandan Gowda ([email protected]) is at the Centre for the and its neighbouring areas. This region was to Study of Social Exclusion, National Law School of , Bangalore. remain the only SP stronghold in the state until the demise of the

78 october 2, 2010 vol xlv no 40 EPW Economic & Political Weekly POLITICS AND IDEAS OF RAMMANOHAR LOHIA party in Karnataka. Admired widely for his integrity and cour- strategies for realising them and their styles of articulation dif- age, Gopala Gowda was the fi rst important SP legislator in Karna- fered. Whereas the PSP favoured Kannada as the language of ad- taka.5 He was elected to the state legislative assembly from differ- ministration, the SP linked the issue to Lohia’s slogan of Angrezi ent constituencies in Shimoga district in 1952, 1962 and 1967. His Hatao. Similarly, while the PSP broadly favoured reservations for speeches demanding land reforms, decentralisation of power, the backward classes, the SP demanded a clear 60% reservation nationalisation of the Kolar Gold Fields and the consecration of for scheduled castes and tribes (SCs and STs), Other Backward Kannada as the language of the state administration gave Lohi- Classes (OBCs), minorities and women. The SP also affi rmed its aite ideals an airing in the state legislative assembly (Gowda commitment to the backward classes through the appointment of 1971). His struggle to provide security of tenure to tenant farmers a Muslim as its state president.11 While both the SP and the PSP was an important factor behind the 1961 land reform legislation supported reservations for women as a means to achieve gender introduced by Congress Revenue Minister Kadidal Manjappa equality, the former demanded that internal reservation be ob- (Tejaswi 1996: 171).6 served, along with the backward class criteria, in the quota set The SP in Karnataka never gained mass support. In the 1952 aside for women in the party.12 Leaders of the PSP were at the state assembly election, the party won three seats while its ally, same time critical that Lohia, a vociferous critic of the personal- the Kisan Mazdoor Praja Paksha, won eight seats in . ity cult in politics, had himself become the victim of such a cult When Lohia’s protest against a police fi ring on estate workers in within the SP. Travancore led to his expulsion from the (PSP) and the rebirth of the SP in 1955, the split affected the so- Social Movements of Farmers and Dalits cialists in Mysore state as well. Only leaders such as Gopala Lohia’s thoughts had a relatively poor impact on the state’s party Gowda, J H Patel and others who were drawn to Lohia’s personal- politics but they infl uenced social movements in Karnataka in a ity during the Kagodu satyagraha declared their affi liation to the big way. In the mid-1960s, the Samajvadi Yuvajana Sabha (SYS), a SP. The majority of the PSP members supported Lohia’s expulsion forum of socialist youth activists that grew out of the activities of on the grounds of indiscipline. In 1956, the PSP had a larger sup- the Kannada Yuvajana Sabha in Mysore under the leadership of port base in the expanded Mysore state because the PSP-SP split M D Nanjundaswamy (1936-2004) and K P Poornachandra had little impact on the party’s structure in the newly added re- Tejaswi (1938-2007), attempted to rescue Lohiaite ideals, which gions of Bombay-Karnataka, Coastal Karnataka and Hyderabad- they felt were being abused by the SP. Important dalit intellectu- Karnataka. The socialists as a whole remained a marginal politi- als such as Devanoora Mahadeva and Govindaiah were also ac- cal force in Karnataka and within them, the party led by Lohia tive in SYS activities in Mysore.13 Many of these socialists came was always smaller in terms of electoral success.7 A big chunk of together under the Nava Nirmana Samiti, a forum formed in the the PSP leadership shifted to the Congress following the latter’s wake of Jayaprakash Narayan’s (jp) activism in the 1970s. stunning victory in the 1970 parliamentary election. The subse- Tejaswi wrote, “The cultural basis of JP’s struggle seemed a quent merger of the PSP and the SP did not do much to improve natural extension of socialism to those of us working in Lohia’s the SP’s electoral fortunes – the newly united party won just three Socialist Party” (2009: 121). seats in the election to the state legislature in 1972.8 Although Lohia did not fi nd much support among labour acti- The SP’s poor performance was attributed to the absence of vists in urban areas,14 he was an inspiration to farmers’ organisa- serious organisational attempts to build a base for itself in the tions, especially the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (KRRS), state. Its electoral infl uence was restricted to Shimoga district which launched a powerful farmers’ movement in the 1980s.15 except for an occasional election victory outside the region. In Nanjundaswamy, the infl uential leader of the KRRS, saw no dis- 1973, on the occasion of four decades of socialist activism, tinction between the socialist movement and the farmer’s move- K G Maheshwarappa, the state president of the united SP, regret- ment he helped build. Indeed, he saw the latter as the second ted the destructive effect personal egotism and factionalism had phase of the SYS’ activities (2008: 100, 161). He wrote that Lohia’s had on the socialist struggle in the state (Maheshwarappa 1973: Marx, Gandhi and Socialism had helped him achieve political 2). Later in the decade, important second-generation SP leaders clarity on returning to Mysore after his legal training in Germany such as J H Patel moved to the after the SP merged (2008: 156). The appeal of Lohiaite metaphysics to him was also with it in 1977, while S Bangarappa and Kagodu Thimmappa evident in an editorial he wrote on the occasion of Lohia’s 75th shifted to the Congress in the late 1970s and early 1980s.9 But so- birth anniversary. For Lohia, he said, a consciousness that per- cialist politics had a great impact through the infl uence it wielded ceived time as both momentary and eternal, and viewed the self on the mainstream politics of the Congress. The 1974 land re- as equal to all the other elements constituting the world but as forms of Congress Chief Minister Devaraj Urs, which conferred less permanent than the other elements, meant cultivating indi- landownership on tenants, hijacked a key plank of socialist vidual responsibility.16 It was important for activists to under- activism in the state. The pro-backward class policies of the Urs stand this, Lohia felt, because they would then relinquish the de- government also owed a debt to the long-time socialist policy of sire to become superior to others and readily abdicate power in favouring reservations for the disadvantaged sections. any situation (Nanjundaswamy 1989: 56). Interviews with two senior socialist leaders suggested that Lohia’s thought mattered more to the upper levels of leader- both the SP and the PSP were embittered about parting ways.10 ship in the KRRS. Although workshops and public rallies were fre- Although the two parties agreed on many policy issues, their quent, efforts were not made to inculcate a distinct sense of the

Economic & Political Weekly EPW october 2, 2010 vol xlv no 40 79 POLITICS AND IDEAS OF RAMMANOHAR LOHIA party’s ideology in its cadres. The KRRS did not initiate any clearly programmes at the All India Radio regional station at Bhadravati spelt out Lohiaite programmes. Although the welfare of farmers and organised numerous inter-caste marriages. In the late 1970s, did emerge as an independent political issue through the efforts his Lohia-derived anti-communism made him dissuade dalit of the KRRS, it was not backed by a sharply defi ned ideology. As it activists from supporting Samudaya, an infl uential communist happened, in the mid-1980s, the ruling Janata Party waived theatre movement in Karnataka. farmers’ loans and cultivated the image of a pro-farmer party. In the words of Siddalingaiah, the other founder of the DSS, Nanjundaswamy noted on many occasions that the KRRS was a Mahadeva was a “pucca Samajavadi” before the Samiti came into part of the socialist movement. However, it did not function with being.20 Mahadeva recalled that he fi rst learnt of Lohia from arti- the multidimensional socialist concerns of Lohia. Its focus was cles that appeared in newspapers the day after the leader died. mainly on farmers’ economic well being without an accompany- He was later greatly impressed by Lohia’s “hunger for equality” ing concern for the issues faced by dalits and religious minorities. and “creativity” (Mahadeva 2010). Since the days of his associa- Its leadership remained with the and Lingayats, the tion with the SYS in Mysore, Mahadeva had maintained political two dominant castes of the state. At the time of the 1989 assembly ties with his socialist friends. In 2005, he was involved in the es- election, the KRRS and the Dalit Sangharsha Samiti (DSS) made a tablishment of the Sarvodaya Karnataka, a political party that brief attempt to unite on a political platform. But the latter re- aimed to build an unusual coalition of farmers and dalits.21 mained sceptical of the KRRS’ moral commitment towards caste Siddalingaiah observed that the Lohiaite convictions of these equality and decided to back the Janata Party instead. leaders had played an important part in tempering the hostility It is true that the KRRS never paid serious attention to the issue of dalit activists in the state towards . In 1982, of caste equality or the problem of communalism.17 Barring the the DSS asked its followers to boycott Richard Attenborough’s hundreds of “simple” (sarala) weddings organised under its aus- Gandhi because Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar did not fi gure in the pices, its protests and programmes mainly revolved around safe- fi lm. Mahadeva defi ed the boycott and wrote a critical apprecia- guarding the economic interests of farmers. Its activism against tion of Gandhi in his essay “I Watched Gandhi or Two Measures the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) proposals Short of the Sky.” After watching the fi lm, he agonised for days and agribusiness multinational corporations (MNCs) such as over whether he would have sided with Gandhi or Ambedkar if Cargill Seeds in the 1990s, which won it countrywide publicity, he had lived during their time. He decided that he would have was mostly a critique of the threats that international economic probably been on Gandhi’s side, while arguing with him, on be- forces posed to farmers’ livelihoods and the ecology. half of Ambedkar, that he should understand the latter (1999: Despite criticism for it being a movement of landed farmers 120). “The truth of Lohia’s observation that Gandhi would have that did not take the issue of caste inequality seriously,18 it cannot become a fi gure as great as Christ had he remained true to his be denied that the KRRS helped foreground farmers as a political threat that India’s partition could happen only over his dead constituency in Karnataka. Though successful in pressuring the body,” he wrote, and Gandhi’s wish to be reborn as an untoucha- government to waive farm loans and the interest on these loans, ble without making any effort to assume “the body, mind and and more broadly, shoring up farmers’ self-confi dence, the KRRS thoughts” of an untouchable kept him two measures (genu) short did not evolve into a stable pressure group. A reason for this is of the sky (1999: 121).22 Mahadeva closed the essay by noting that said to be the KRRS decision to contest the assembly election in the contemporary predicament of dalits required them to seek 1989, in which it won only two seats and exposed itself as a party many ways of liberation, and that even Gandhi could provide a without much political clout.19 way for them in such a situation (1999: 122). However, socialist leader Kishen Pattanayak credited Nanjun- Siddalingaiah, who had worked with Nanjundaswamy as a daswamy for saving the socialist movement at two crucial junc- co-secretary of the SYS in Bangalore in the early 1970s, leaned tures (2008: 93-95). After Lohia and Gopala Gowda passed away, towards Marxism. The Lohiaite and Marxist backgrounds of the Pattanayak argued, it was Nanjundaswamy who kept socialism DSS founders, Siddalingaiah pointed out, ensured that their alive in Karnataka by mobilising the youth under the SYS. This activist concerns never lost sight of the oppressed among the continued even at a time many “opportunistic socialists” moved non-dalit sections of society. Instead of advocating caste confl ict, to other parties. The second juncture was when farmers’ leaders they directed their activism against the state. Their large ideo- like Sharad Joshi began to support capitalist globalisation in the logical canvas opened up a space for them and progressive acti- 1990s. Nanjundaswamy continued to reject the legitimacy of cap- vists from the upper castes to interact with each other. While the italism, declaring, “No room for patents or copyright in social- problem of untouchability remained at the heart of their con- ism” (2008: 190). Splintered into factions, the KRRS now lacks its cerns, Mahadeva recalled, they expanded their political and former strength, which is tragic when one considers the deepen- ethical concerns to include the humiliated (avamanitha) com- ing agrarian crisis in the state. munities from among non-dalit castes (Mahadeva 2010). B Krishnappa and Devanoora Mahadeva, two of the three Although a few of the KRRS leaders were infl uenced by Lohia, founders of the DSS, the fi rst major dalit organisation in the state, their organisational endeavours were mostly focused on the eco- had been active Lohiaites. Krishnappa, who taught Kannada lit- nomic diffi culties faced by farmers in the state. Lohia’s larger erature in a college in Bhadravati, had strong intellectual ties concerns of caste and gender equality and Hindu-Muslim amity with socialists from the neighbouring town of Shimoga. An ac- were not refl ected in either KRRS programmes or the party’s rela- tive associate of the SYS, he led protests against Sanskrit radio tions with other movements. The Left-Gandhian ideas of Lohia

80 october 2, 2010 vol xlv no 40 EPW Economic & Political Weekly POLITICS AND IDEAS OF RAMMANOHAR LOHIA contributed to the DSS’ empathetic identifi cation with the subor- essays, especially his novel Bharatipura (1973), critique the epis- dinate classes among non-dalits, its goodwill towards Gandhi temic limitations of the modern liberal imagination of reform in and its abdication of violence as a means of seeking social justice. Indian society and invite us to explore the grounds of social Lohia’s arguments of economic democracy, however, were not critique internal to a culture. prominent in the DSS’ ideological vision. In an essay encouraging Tejaswi also acknowledged Lohia’s profound infl uence on him. the DSS to form a political party, Pattanayak expressed concern “Lohia’s thought transformed the way I lived and thought and my that the organisation was risking ignoring the importance of styles of understanding and expression, in short, my entire per- struggling against capitalism through its excessive focus on sonality” (2009: 12). For him, Lohia was the only “original issues of caste and the policy of reservation (2000: 171-172). mimamsakara ” (philosophical investigator) of the truth of his times. Although there were fi ne thinkers like Periyar E V Ramasamy The Kannada Literary Sphere Naicker, Ambedkar and Swami Vivekananda on the intellectual Lohia’s contribution to trends in Kannada literary modernism horizon, only Lohia appeared “theoretically complete” to him was rich. He mattered immensely to three of the most charis- (Tejaswi 1996: 223). After completing his studies in Mysore, matic writers of the Navya (modernist) movement in Kannada Tejaswi moved to a village to become an agriculturist. Lohia, he literature – U R Ananthamurthy, P Lankesh (1935-2000) and said, “opened his eyes to the mysterious, strange India” he found Tejaswi. All of them were from Shimoga, a place rife with social- there and helped him realise the lack of connection between the ist discussions in the post-Kagodu satyagraha period. Very pro- education system and India’s realities. It made him strive for a lifi c, they created a large body of work in the form of novels, short simple literary style, free from mystifying intellectual devices stories, literary criticism, political essays, poetry and plays. More (Tejaswi 2009: 13). Tejaswi’s fi ctional world is full of “ordinary” than 15 acclaimed Kannada fi lms have been based on their individuals with a logical intelligence at odds with modern stories. Kannada critic D R Nagaraj has noted that the cultural rationalism. Despite his own rational convictions, his portrayal views of these writers have been “so powerful” that their of non-modern characters is compassionate and tender. infl uence can be seen in the conceptual vocabulary of even Tejaswi’s father, the great Kannada writer, (1904- post-Navya writers (2002: 4). 1994), was a staunch advocate of adopting Kannada as the me- Ananthamurthy encountered Lohia through his circle of con- dium of instruction in universities. In 1963, Lohia visited tacts in Shimoga, particularly Gopala Gowda.23 He explained Kuvempu in Mysore to invite him to preside over an Angrezi why he was attracted to Lohia and, using the symbolic metaphors Hatao meeting in Delhi (Tejaswi 1996: 172). A few years after of the socialist leader, observed that the essence of Rama and Lohia’s death in 1967, Tejaswi and Nanjundaswamy compiled and Krishna were both combined in him (1971: 232-238). Like Rama, translated passages from Lohia’s major works and published Lohia had a restricted self that affi rmed itself through unequivo- them as a short book, Lohia (popularly known as The Red Book). cal acts within the space of a democracy. And, like Krishna, he In his foreword to this book, Kuvempu noted that Lohia’s unique had the boundless self of a creative artist. Lohia was a special in- socialism had emerged from a careful scrutiny of the theories of dividual who tried to be alive to the rich dualities of life’s chal- western economics and political science through Gandhi’s lenges while being committed to fundamental transformations in doctrines of truth, ahimsa and sarvodaya. During the 1970s, Indian society. He wanted to be outside history, like an artist. But Tejaswi, along with other socialists, organised numerous public believing in time’s vicissitudes, he also aspired to bring about discussions around jati vinasha (the destruction of caste), the revolutionary changes. The presence of both these elements did importance of rejecting the English language, and the need to not permit Lohia to be dogmatic. His profound contribution, avoid extravagant marriage ceremonies, to name but a few of Ananthamurthy argued, came out of his attempt to steer between the issues tackled. a vacuous liberalism and a reductionist fundamentalism. Lankesh admitted, in his foreword to the Kannada translation Ananthamurthy recalled Lohia’s keenness to discuss D H Law- of Lohia’s The Caste System, his astonishment at the “experience, rence and the 12th century Veerashaiva anubhaavis in Karnataka scholarship, sincerity and humanism” that the writer brought to when he fi rst met him in Mysore in 1963. He was struck that Law- discussions of “caste, gender and class” (1986; ii). He also ad- rence’s aloofness from socialist politics did not come in the way of mired his attempts to address matters to do with international Lohia’s appreciation for him (1971: 235). Ananthamurthy went on relations. His thumbnail sketch of Lohia said, “He was a born to say, “...his [Lohia’s] thoughts have been invaluable for my dreamer… He smiled even during painful moments… He recog- writing, and for my understanding of itself.” nised the anti-life qualities of Yama-like seriousness and the He later acknowledged that Lohia had given him confi dence that comic side of historical events” (1988). Like Ananthamurthy, he could write in his language and helped him decide not to write Lankesh admired Lohia for being an idealist with a sense of his- in English.24 Ananthamurthy noted, “Lohia made it possible for torical irony, a combination which made for a richer engagement me to be a critical insider” (2010). Alongside a Marxist analysis of with politics. His characterisation of love between an upper-caste the relations of production, he said, Lohia made room for the girl and a lower-caste boy in his major novel Mussanje Katha Ishopanishad’s ethic of abandoning the desire for wealth. Lohia’s Prasanga (1978) bears traces of a Lohiaite orientation to caste perspective, which kept both the structural and personal dimen- relations.25 A robust socialist sensibility informed much of the sions of politics in view, enabled Ananthamurthy to relate to political discussions in the pages of Lankesh Patrike, a hugely tradition and religion as a critical insider. Many of his stories and successful political and literary weekly that Lankesh founded in

Economic & Political Weekly EPW october 2, 2010 vol xlv no 40 81 POLITICS AND IDEAS OF RAMMANOHAR LOHIA 1980. (He was its editor till his death in 2000.) This weekly, its organised protests made obvious Lohia’s reduced, one- which was run without advertisement support, set a trend in dimensional presence in the KRRS.28 critical journalism in Karnataka. Although two of the three founders of the DSS had been Lohia was not perceived as a Hindi chauvinist by Kannada in- Lohiaite activists in the SYS, Ambedkar became more important tellectuals; instead, he was seen as a supporter of regional lan- than any other thinker-activist for them in building an independ- guages.26 K Lingappa, a former SP member of the assembly and ent dalit movement. Their earlier acquaintance with Lohia’s one of the earliest Lohiaite youth activists, observed that Lohia thoughts, however, encouraged them to make an ethical space saw Hindi as one of the national languages and not the national for the marginalised sections among non-dalits. This important language (2010). Lingappa was among the fi rst to start a pro- ideological gesture, combined with the absence of anti-Gandhi Kannada movement in the state in the mid-1950s. In 1956, follow- sentiments and the rejection of violence as a means for seeking ing the “unifi cation” of Karnataka, language activists were ani- social justice, have contributed to the making of a distinct dalit mated by an impulse to establish the institutional primacy of movement in Karnataka.29 Kannada in the state. In 1957, Lingappa founded the Kannada The varied appropriations of Lohia in the Kannada literary Yuvajana Sabha (KYS) in Mysore, which made organised efforts sphere reveal how a writer’s political-aesthetic disposition makes to secure the primacy of Kannada’s status in Karnataka. Its mem- for a certain kind of engagement with other thinkers. Lankesh bers decided to arrive at Lohia’s programme of Angrezi Hatao and Tejaswi agreed with Lohia’s emphasis on the primacy of an through endorsing the cause of Kannada (Govindaraju 1999: 21- individual’s freedom in the face of community demands. Mean- 23). The KYS youth activists regrouped under the SYS in the mid- while, K V Subbanna, a distinguished theatre personality and an 1960s. In 1967, J H Patel, the only SP Member of Parliament from admirer of Lohia (he translated Lohia’s Interval during Politics to Karnataka, delivered a speech in Kannada in Parliament and be- Kannada), found virtue in the practice of self-sacrifi ce to serve came the fi rst politician in India to speak in a language other the higher interests of a community. Poet ’s than English or Hindi there. This highly publicised event was a fascination with Arnold Toynbee’s cyclical theory of history led symbolic but triumphal affi rmation of Lohia’s arguments in him to translate Lohia’s tract Wheels of History into Kannada. favour of regional languages. Tejaswi and Lankesh were in open admiration of Lohia’s pro- posals for ending caste discrimination through inter-caste Lohia’s Divergent Careers marriages and a rational dismissal of religious superstitions. But This paper has attempted to track Lohia’s presence in three Ananthamurthy was sceptical, seeing hubris lurking in the liberal institutional spheres in Karnataka: the SP; the farmer and dalit modernist aspiration to destroy tradition. He stirred controversy movements; and in Kannada literary modernism. The fi gure of by saying that caste could also be seen as a source of knowledge “Lohia” performs different functions in each of these spheres. and creative talent. Some of the most passionate debates about These spheres of Lohia’s infl uence, however, were not insular caste equality and cultural freedom in Karnataka have unfolded and separate from each other. Discussions in one sphere spilled within the intellectual legacy of Lohia.30 over into the others, while some individuals moved between While it is a truism that a thinker is read in multiple ways, an these spheres.27 active methodological attention to the institutional realities that Some of Lohia’s key ideas fi gured prominently in the manifes- regulate the modes of appropriating political discourse is impera- toes and legislative assembly speeches of SP politicians – anti- tive for the sociology of modern political thought in the country. Congressism, the importance of the decentralising power, land The large upper-caste presence in the KRRS’ organisational struc- reform, reservations for the backward castes, SCs, STs and ture and support base did not allow a Lohiaite like Nanjundas- women, and the need to reject English and encourage regional wamy to make the ideal of caste equality part of the farmers’ languages. All of these were valid policy issues. Lohia’s ideolo- struggle. Another example also illustrates the regulatory power gical seriousness, which was evident in their interventions in the of institutional realities. Lankesh and Tejaswi, who were inde- state assembly, speeches and other writings, separated the SP pendent of state institutions, were freer in their styles of express- politicians from both the ruling Congress Party and their rival ing anti-establishment views. For instance, Lankesh observed Socialist Party, the PSP. that Lohia seemed “a mad man” in “the milieu of prostitution Lohia’s multifaceted political thought was reduced to the issue (vyabhichara) created by the Congress” (1981). Similar rhetoric of protecting farmers’ interests in the KRRS. Many of the KRRS was hard to fi nd among intellectuals based in universities. activists had earlier been with the SYS. Although the programmes In the Lohiaite spirit of rejecting the cult of personality, it of the KRRS did not explicitly invoke Lohia, Nanjundaswamy would help to place Lohia alongside other major thinkers in the viewed the farmers’ struggle as a socialist movement. However, same space of normative political discourse. For instance, during the KRRS rarely addressed the issue of caste equality in its discus- the period of Lohia’s popularity, Gandhi’s ideal of sarvodaya was sions. Nor did it make any attempt to include lower-caste or dalit being revived through Vinobha Bhave’s Bhoodan movement and individuals in the party structure. The party’s organisational Ambedkar’s perspective on caste equality came to greater promi- structure and support base, which mainly consisted of members nence through dalit activism. The emergence of these parallel of the dominant castes, did not provide space for addressing perspectives repositioned “Lohia” across discursive planes in issues of caste inequalities and violence. The absence of a gesture time and space. Lohia’s relevance or irrelevance was explained of solidarity with other oppressed groups during the course of and re-explained with the arrival of other political discourses on

82 october 2, 2010 vol xlv no 40 EPW Economic & Political Weekly POLITICS AND IDEAS OF RAMMANOHAR LOHIA the land question or the caste question. Such a methodological on caste, language and individual freedom, to name but a few, stance discourages isolated focus on a particular political dis- inspired the leading lights of Kannada modernism to produce course. It enables us to capture the dynamism inherent to fi elds highly creative work. And any historical study of the Kannada of discourse and helps avoid conferring a linear evolutionary language movement has to seriously consider the attraction Lo- character to the study of the social life of ideas. hia’s strong support for regional languages had for Kannada lan- A careful attention to the variations in Lohia’s reception allows guage activists. us to disaggregate “the public” and identify its discursive sub- Lohia contributed a new language, symbolism and style to arenas and their modes of discourse and key political stakes. In- public discussions in modern Karnataka. Like their guru, the terpreting political ideas in their dynamic conjunction with vari- state’s Lohiaite leaders possessed sharp wit and a talent for meta- ous institutional forces avoids reifying them. Further, recovering phoric political thought. Their creative acts at anarchy ensured the multiple appropriations of a thinker makes space for recog- that politics did not remain dull. Gopala Gowda once waved a nising differences in the moral and political concerns across vari- black fl ag at the former Maharaja of Mysore during the annual ous constituencies. Such a stance is also open to a diversity of ar- Dasara celebrations. Many years later, in accordance with chives and the challenges they pose to the empiricist protocols of Nanjundaswamy’s plan, Nagaraj, the literary critic, and social science. Siddalingaiah, the poet, showed up at an Indira Gandhi rally in rented suits, posing as upper class individuals, and shouted Conclusions slogans against her. Anecdotes about the defi ance of Indian Lohia’s impact on electoral politics in Karnataka was not all that Administrative Service (IAS) offi cers and the police by KRRS great. Leaving aside a small group of politicians such as Gopala activists are legion. Gowda, who were steadfast in their Lohiaite convictions, others Lohia’s infl uence in Karnataka proves, again, that the impact such as Bangarappa and J H Patel, who became chief ministers of of political leaders cannot be measured by electoral success the state after moving out of the SP, did not leave behind a Lohi- alone. Nor need it be done in their lifetime. Some of the most vi- aite legacy. However, some of the key policy innovations seen in brant political and intellectual work in Karnataka unfolded the state such as Urs’ land reforms and pro-backward class poli- within the compass of Lohia’s legacy. Considerations of social sci- cies owed a debt to Lohia. In addition, Lohia had a major effect on ence knowledge alone need not drive our interest in Lohia and social and literary movements in the state. Besides being a deci- the enormous impact he has had on our institutions. His ideas sive infl uence on some of the key KRRS leaders, he contributed to aimed at creating a modern political philosophy for India are still the distinctiveness of the dalit movement in Karnataka. His ideas a living source for evolving a political ethic for our time.

Notes reforms resulted from his resolve to strengthen K 15 For a monograph on the KRRS, see Assadi 1997. 1 All the excerpts used in this paper from Kannada Manjappa’s 1961 land legislation (Raghavan and 16 Nearly two decades later, he pointed out that sources have been translated by the author. The Manor 2009; 43). Lohia’s understanding of time valued a consist- department of Kannada and Culture, government 7 In the 1957, 1962, and 1967 state legislative elec- ent relationship between the means and ends. of Karnataka, has published six of 10 projected tions, the PSP and the SP won, respectively, 18, “When you say that every moment is also infi ni- volumes of Rammanohar Lohia’s collected works 20, and 20, and zero, one and six seats. Both the tude, you cannot then say that you will say a in Kannada. The blurb of these volumes states parties fared poorly in parliamentary elections. falsehood today but establish the truth tomor- that Lohia had a “great infl uence” on the “political The SP won a parliamentary election only once row” (Nanjundaswamy 2008; 157). He had ex- and literary worlds of Karnataka”. (1967), whereas the PSP won one and two seats, pressed similar ideas as early as 1974 (Nanjunda- 2 A recent book attempts to reconstruct the social- respectively, in the 1957 and 1967 parliamentary swamy 1974). ist interlude in Karnataka through interviews elections. For detailed statistics of these elections, 17 It rarely identifi ed itself with issues of caste ine- with surviving socialist leaders (Peerbasha 2007). visit the Election Commission of India web site at qualities and violence. For instance, it was inac- While this book is a welcome effort at archiving http://eci.nic.in. tive during the protest that followed seven dalits the history of socialist politics in the state, it does 8 The PSP and the SP had merged once before in being burnt alive in Kambalapalli, , not aim to analyse it. 1964 to form the Samyukta Socialist Party (SSP). in 2000. 3 The facts that I have drawn from these sources are The merger, which lasted only four months, broke 18 For the KRRS’ inadequate consideration of dalit in keeping with the empiricist protocols of social down to make way for the emergence of the PSP issues, see Devanoora Mahadeva’s tough inter- science. It is important to note that these facts are and the SSP as separate parties. Although the SP view with Nanjundaswamy (Nanjundaswamy rarely present by themselves. They nestle amid sen- became the SSP after 1964, I have referred to it as 2008; 143-148). Although socialist leader Kishan tences praising the virtues of the individuals being the SP throughout the paper. Pattanayak toured Karnataka in 1981 pointing out honoured. A genre by themselves, commemorative 9 For a useful collection of essays on J H Patel and S the need for farmers’ groups to build ties with the and felicitation volumes are a rich source for inter- Bangarappa, see Srinivas 2001 and Kambar 2007. Dalit activists, the KRRS was indifferent to it preting political normativity in Indian society. Hun- 10 Interviews with Konandur Lingappa, former SP (Murthy 2010). dreds of them exist for numerous political fi gures in MLA from Shimoga, 26 February 2010 and with 19 For a brief discussion of the electoral career of the different parts of the state. Which virtues are being Bapu Heddurshetti, former SP state general secre- KRRS, see Kripa 1995. singled out for praise? What visions of a utopia do tary, 4 March 2010. 20 All the quotes in this section are from my unpub- they contain? What do they tell us about the “politi- 11 Azeez Sait was the SP state president in 1968. lished interview with Siddalingaiah (2010). Most cal” in our society? I raise these general questions 12 Although Lohia was passionate about gender equity, of my observations in this section rest on this in- here with the hope of suggesting a promising re- women leaders were not prominent in the SP. terview. Unless otherwise noted, all the quotes in search task and defer a detailed engagement for a 13 B Krishnappa, Siddalingaiah and Devanoora this section are from Siddalingaiah. later occasion. Mahadeva founded the Dalit Sangharsha Samiti 21 It is diffi cult to be optimistic about the Karnataka 4 For a historical account of the Kagodu satyagra- in 1974. Sarvodaya Party since its leaders are not making ha, see G Rajashekar 1980. For a critical review of 14 S Venkataram was the lone trade union leader in efforts to build a support base in the state. this book, see Hanumantha 2009. Bangalore from the SP (more details about him 22 The Kannada word genu refers to the rough dis- 5 The list of contributors to The Shantaveri Gowda are at http://www.svenkatram.com). Before it tance between an outstretched thumb and out- Commemoration Volume (Nagavara and Ananda- broke up following the SP-PSP split, the Hind stretched little fi nger. murthy 1997) reads like a Who’s Who of Karnata- Mazdoor Sabha, the socialist trade union, had the 23 Ananthamurthy’s novel Awasthe (1978) deals ka’s political and literary world. support of a major share of the unionised labour with Gopala Gowda’s intellectual and political 6 A recent book observes that the Devaraj Urs’ land in Bangalore. character.

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24 Ananthamurthy’s unpublished interview with the Mahadeva, Devanoora (1999): “I Watched Gandhi or author, 2 March 2010. An episode of interest: Two Measures Short of the Sky”, The Unseizable Gopala Gowda had narrated the story of Samska- Peacocks, P Chandrika (ed.), (Bangalore: ra – Ananthamurthy’s controversial novel about Abhinava Prakashana). decadence in orthodox brahmanical society – to – (2010): Personal conversation with the author, 6 Lohia, who then persuaded his socialist friend, March, Bangalore. Pattabhi Ram Reddy, to make it into a fi lm in Kan- Maheshwarappa, K G (1973): “Preface”, Commemora- nada (Ananthamurthy 1980; 133-134). The 1970 tion Volume – Socialist Party Rajya (Karnataka) fi lm inaugurated Kannada new wave cinema. Sammelana, Bangalore. 25 Kannada writer Nataraj Huliyar made this obser- Murthy, Venkatesh R P (2010): Personal conversation vation in a personal conversation. with the author, 11 March. 26 In a recent debate, Yogendra Yadav argued that Nagaraj, D R (2002): “Kannada Sahityada Mukhya Lohia was not a Hindi chauvinist. He used the ex- Vagvadhagalu: Navya Chaluvalige Sambandhisi” ample of Kannada intellectuals to support his ar- (Key Debates in Kannada Literature: Concerning gument (Yadav 2009). the Navya Movement), in Samskriti Kathana, 27 For instance, Mahadeva and Siddalingaiah, the Agrahara Krishnamurthy (ed.) (Bangalore: Kan- founders of the DSS, are two major literary fi g- nada Book Authority). ures in Kannada. Nagavara, K and J V Anandamurthy, ed. (1997): Shan- 28 Examples of such protests include the KRRS’ op- taveri Gopala Gowda Nenapina Samputa (The position to the Dunkel Draft and its protest rallies Shantaveri Gowda Commemoration Volume), in the early 1990s demanding a joint resolution of (: Kannada University Press). the Cauvery waters sharing issue by the farmers Nanjundaswamy, M D (1974): “Shudra, Samaja Mat- of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. thu Sanghatane” (Shudra, Society and Mobilisa- 29 The activist imaginations of Mahadeva and Sid- tion), in Sankramana, Chandrashekhar Patil and dalingaiah also drew from the literary traditions Siddalinga Pattanashetty (ed.), No 60, 15 June, of dissent against caste inequality, right from the (Dharwar: Karnataka Writers and Artists Associ- 12th century vacana poetry of the Veerashaivas to ation Inaugural Convention). Kuvempu. Therefore, their activism was affi liated – (1989): “Whither Village Struggle?”, Namma to a humanistic conversation subscribed to by Naadu (Our State), (Shimoga: Karnataka Rajya many non-dalit Kannada literary fi gures. Raitha Sangha). 30 Either as Lohiaites or moral supporters of Lohia, – (2008): “Interview with Rahmat Tarikere” in many academics in the three major universities of Hasiru Senani: Prof M D Nanjundaswamyavara Ho- Karnataka, Mysore University, Bangalore Univer- rata Mathhu Baduku (Green Commander: Prof M D sity and Karnatak University (Dharwar), have dis- Nanjundaswamy’s Life and Struggle), Nataraj Huli- seminated his thoughts among generations of yar (ed.), (Bangalore: Chakra Pratishtana). students. Consider, for example, Chandrashekhar – (2008): “We Must Win…Or Else, We Will Be De- Patil and Siddalinga Pattanashetty at Karnatak stroyed”, Interview with Udaya TV, in Hasiru Se- University; Ananthamurthy and Kalegowda nani: Prof M D Nanjundaswamyavara Horata Nagavara at Mysore University; and G S Shiv- Mathhu Baduku (Green Commander: Prof M D rudrappa, Marulasiddappa, D R Nagaraj and Ki Nanjundaswamy’s Life and Struggle), Nataraj Ram Nagaraj at Bangalore University. Huliyar (ed.), (Bangalore: Chakra Pratishtana). Pattanayak, Kishan (2000): “The Challenge Facing the Dalit Sangharsha Samiti”, translated into References Kannada by Nataraj Huliyar, in B Basavalingappa Mathhu Boosa Chaluvaliya Kaalu Shatamana (B Ananthamurthy, U R (1971): “Dr Ramamanohara Basavalingappa and a Quarter Century of the Lohia”, Pragne Mathhu Parisara (Consciousness Boosa Struggle), Lakshminarayana Nagavara and Milieu), K V Subbanna (trans), Akshara (ed.), (Bangalore: Dalit Sangharsha Samiti). Prakashana, Sagar. – (2008): “The Professor Who Saved and Nourished – (1980): “On Samskara, the Film” in Samakshama Socialism”, Speech delivered in Bangalore, 12 (Face to Face), Akshara Prakashana, Sagar. March 2004, in Hasiru Senani: Prof M D Nanjun- Assadi, Muzaffar (1997): Peasant Movement in Karna- daswamyavara Horata Mathhu Baduku (Green taka, 1980-94, (New Delhi: Shipra Publications). Commander: Prof M D Nanjundaswamy’s Life Govindaraju, C (1999): Kannada Chaluvaligalu (The and Struggle), Nataraj Huliyar (ed.), (Bangalore: Struggles for Kannada), (Hampi: Kannada Chakra Pratishtana). University). Peerbasha, P (2007): Samajavadi Horatagaarara Gowda, Gopala (1971): Shasana Sabheyalli Shantaveri Sandarshana (An Encounter with Socialist Fight- (Shantaveri at the Legislative Assembly), Konan- ers), (Hampi: Kannada University Press). dur Lingappa (ed.) (Karnataka: Samajavadi Yuva- Raghavan, E and James Manor (2009): Broadening jana Sabha). and Deepening Democracy: Political Innovation in Hanumantha (2009): “G Rajashekharavara Kagodu Karnataka, (New Delhi: Routledge Books). Satyagraha: Ondu Prathikriye” (G Rajashekhar’s Rajashekar, G (1980): Kagodu Satyagraha, Akshara Kagodu Satyagraha: A Response), in Samajavada Prakashana, Sagar. Naa Kandanthe (Socialism as I Saw it), (Banga- Siddalingaiah (2010): Unpublished interview with the lore: Centre for Socialist Studies). author, 1 March. Kambar, Chandrashekhar (2007): Saarekoppadha Srinivas, P R, ed. (2001): Muthsadhhi Patel: J H Pate- Bangara (The Gold of Saarekoppa), in Sri S Ban- lara Jeevana, Horata Haagu Saadhane (Patel, the garappa Felicitation Volume 2007, Chandrashek- Statesman: The Life, Struggle and Achievement har Kambar (ed.), (Bangalore: Sri S Bangarappa of J H Patel), (Mysore: Samvahana Publishers). Felicitation Volume Committee). Tejaswi, Poornachandra (1996): Annana Nenapu Kripa, A P (1995): “The Raitha Sangha’s Political Di- (Memories of My Father), (Mysore: Pustaka Pra- lemma”, Economic & Political Weekly, 21 January. kashana). Lankesh, P (1981): “Dhitta Deshabhimani” (Steady – (2009): “Reply to Lankesh Patrike”, a serialised Patriot), Lankesh Patrike, 21 March. interview from 8 September to 10 November – (1986): “Foreword”, Jati Paddhathi (translation of 2004, in Vimarsheya Vimarshe (The Criticism of Rammanohar Lohia’s The Caste System), Hasan Criticism), (Mysore: Pustaka Prakashana). Nayeem Surakoda (trans), (Bangalore: Patrike Tejaswi, Poornachandra and M N Nanjundaswamy Prakashana). (trans) (2007): Lohia, (Bangalore: Kannada Pus- – (1988): “Naa Kanda Manushya” (The Man I Saw), taka Pradhikara). Lankesh Patrike, 7 February. Yadav, Yogendra (2009): “Was Lohia Parochial and Lingappa, Konandur (2010): Unpublished interview Monolingual?”, Economic & Political Weekly, with the author, 27 February, Shimoga. 24 October, Vol 44, No 43.

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