MUMBAI KARNATAKADALLI SAVINAYA KANOONU BHANGA CHALAVALI
Dear Dr. G.A. Biradar,
While I thank you for your thoughtful gesture of presenting me a copy of your book, in actual fact your untired and very long research under the caption “Civil Disobedience Movement in Bombay Karnataka”, I must say I got engrossed. My interest got accentuated first as a North Kannadiga myself and second, I too was part of ‘Satyagraha’, ‘Movement’, ‘Prabhatpheri’ etc as a Primary School student in K.E. Board School, Dharwar, in the mid forties. Our participation was mainly for the attraction of getting ‘Bendu Battas’, ‘Sweet’ and ‘Zin Medals’ to adorn our White Khaddar shirts, shorts and ‘Gandhi Caps’. Shouting slogans ‘Vande Mataram’, ‘Bharat Mata ki jai’, ‘Jai Hind’, and also ‘Mahatma Gandhi jindabad’ etc etc. We youngsters went about Malmaddi area, without being much aware of the significance of the ‘Je Je Par’ and our own leaders.
We were, even till we became adults, conversant only with the big names of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sarojini Naidu, Lokamany Tilak, Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Vallabhbai Patel. I must admit in all the humility that your book has enlightened me of the fact that it was simple ordinary, both village and town folk who were actually instrumental in the great movement seeking the freedom for our country by peaceful means and bearing the brunt of police lathies and bullets.
Events of braggadocio, narrated by you of the village women in particular, who wouldn’t tolerate insults of their national leaders, would have remained dormant, if not for you educating even us, educated lot, in your narrations.
You have especially made us Belgaumites, happy when you take the names greats like Channabasappa Ambli, Srinivas Rao Kowjalgi, Dr. N.S. Hardiker, Siddappa Hosmani and Paramanna Hosmani. Lo! you go on to mention the great contribution of Sidnalji of Sampagaon, who quickly organized a meeting of ‘Bapuji’ on his way to Bailhongal. You have rightly mentioned the name of Gangadharrao Deshpande, who was also known as ‘Lion of Karnataka’.
I hope Karnataka Government takes note of your sincere efforts and includes your book into the appropriate syllabus, as also by all schools of different states. Yes, we, especially today’s youth deserves to be made aware of their history-the freedom struggle in turn the value of history. Kudos to you Dr. Biradar, you are a hidden treasure. Feed us more of these narrations. God bless you.
New Delhi Basavaraj S. Kallur
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