History being made and history being remembered are two very different things. While the former is a celebrated act of a positive and reforming outcome, the latter is often soaked with memories and instances of oppression, injustice, suppression, and death due to murder. It’s these blood-soaked instances that lay the cornerstone for the moment when history would be made.
If we would travel 37 years back into the past and stepped into the world of Karamchedu, a village in Andhra Pradesh, we would witness one such instance that spurred the Dalit Movement in the state. We would witness a brutal massacre that became the cornerstone of Dalits’ assertion in Andhra and the core reason for Telugu Dalits to shift towards the principles and ideologies of Ambedkar.
The Karamchedu Massacre which took the lives of 6 Dalit men and had 3 Dalit women raped was the trigger point for a revolution. It all began when a Dalit woman held her ground and stood up boldly for her community, and its dignity.
The Background
The Scheduled Castes or the Dalits in Andhra Pradesh have been stratified into multiple sub-castes based primarily on the caste endemic concerning occupation and status. During the 1980s, there were nearly 59 sub-castes within the Dalits, all of them being direct or indirect offshoots of the two primary castes- MALA and MADIGA.
Malas and Madigas who constitute 80% of the entire Dalit community were the traditional vote bank of the then Congress Government but the scenario changed drastically in the 1980s.
The clash of interests with the evolving agricultural elite that constituted the “KAMMA” caste in rural Andhra Pradesh, and the indifferent attitude of the Congress government towards the Dalits drove the marginalization of the socio-economic scenario of the community. As Mr Nandamuri Taraka Ramarao (NTR) from the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), who was from the elite Kamma Caste, took over the reins of the state, it added fuel to the fire- further marginalisation of the Dalit community.
The environment in Andhra Pradesh equated to power, domination, supremacy, and pride to the Kammas, which set the perfect ground for a brutal assault on the Madigas.
Karamchedu was a large, agriculturally prosperous village in the Prakasam District of coastal Andhra Pradesh dominated by Kamma landlords. The village had about 450 households of the Malas and the Madigas, who were agricultural labourers, and most of the wealth of the village was flowing into the hands of the rich Kamma landlords- one of whom was Daggubati Chenchuramaiah. Chenchuramaiah was the father of NTR’s son-in-law, Daggubati Venkateshwara Rao, who was a leader of the TDP’s youth wing. In a village that had 10,000 people, the Kammas were 6000 in number and hence held tremendous power.
When a Madiga woman defended herself and retaliated to the violent behaviour of some Kamma youths- it ignited a spark which led to an episode named “Karamchedu Massacre”.
The Day that Set Things in Motion
It was July 16, 1985.
The village had 2 drinking water tanks- a well-maintained one that was used by upper-caste Hindus and a poorly maintained one for the Dalits. On 16th July, two Kamma youths, Potina Seenu and Rayineedu Prasad took their buffaloes for washing near the steps that led to the Dalit water tank. Katti Chandraiah, a Dalit boy, objected to it, which angered Seenu and Prasad.
They were about to beat up Chandraiah when Munnangi Suvarthamma, a Madiga woman, tried to guard the boy against the attack by the Kamma youths. She snatched the whip that Seenu and Prasad were using to beat up Chandraiah, lifted her vessel, thrashed them, and warded off the Kamma youths.
That night, Seenu gathered 20 upper-caste landlords and went to Suvarthamma’s house to drag her out and beat her up. With the interference of a few Dalit elderly men, Suvarthamma was spared. However, her father-in-law was asked to appear before the landlords later and give an “explanation” for his daughter-in-law’s “misbehaviour”. People went to sleep grateful that the issue didn’t escalate. They didn’t know what was about to take place once the sun rose.
The Attack of 17th July 1985
A mob of about 2000 Kammas with brutal weapons surrounded all Madiga houses, making them helpless and begging for life. People ran with their families to wherever they could- hay stacks, houses, and fields.
The Kammas chased and murdered 6 men, one of whom was a 70-year-old man. Imagine someone being stabbed with an axe or a knife and having his or her limbs broken. We know that it amounts to assault and murder. But, the Kammas did not stop there. They dug a spear into the 70-year-old’s groin and twisted it- to send a message independent of the murder, a message of their right to dominance and authority.
2 young girls 11 and 13 years of age and a married pregnant woman were brutally raped and gutted with sticks. Houses were torn apart and pictures of Jesus Christ were burnt. The massacre took place between 6:00 AM and 9:00 AM, and though the police officials came, they did not take steps to control the killings and rapes. They stood there- Silent. Munnangi Suvarthamma was brutally assaulted.
How a Caste-Based Massacre was Labeled a “Riot”
The episode was named a mere riot by a section of the mainstream Telugu media and the Police authorities. It wasn’t surprising as the Chief Minister of the state was a Kamma and was a direct relative of one of the richest landlords of the village. Only 11 immediate arrests were made and the landlords who are the real perpetrators were spared. The terror-stricken victims and their families escaped to a church compound in a nearby village. The indifferent attitude of the administration and the police officials watered down their courage and willingness to return to Karamchedu. In August, another Dalit woman who was the prime witness to the massacre was murdered.
The desperate attempts to cover up the issue under the blanket of communal riots were not fruitful as a major revolution already began to unfold in Andhra Pradesh.
A Blood-Stained Moment in History Paved the Way to Creating History
The killings gave more power to the Dalit Movement in the state, with more Dalits joining hands and fighting for what’s rightly theirs- equality and dignity. Breaking away from the popular class discourses of that time, Dalits began to ask more important questions. Why should the Malas and the Madigas specifically be the victims of generational serfdom imposed by dominant castes like the Reddys and the Kammas? Who gave the upper caste landlords the right to commit verbal atrocities against the Madigas, calling them “dogs”? Aren’t Dalit women humans?
Leaders like Bojja Tharakam and Katti Padma spearheaded the independent Dalit Movement and established the Andhra Pradesh Dalit Mahasabha on September 1, 1985. The Dalit movement accelerated in Andhra Pradesh and the Dalit Mahasabha that evolved further in the 1990s was the direct result of a blood-stained moment in history- the Karamchedu Massacre.
It all Began With a Woman
Looking back 37 years, several people say this: Only if Suvarthamma kept her mouth shut! Only if she controlled her tongue; only if she bowed down to oppression; only if she didn’t try to action hero. Suvarthamma didn’t become a hero. She died a martyr, and so did others from her community. What she did that day questioned the conscience of the entire nation. It raised uncomfortable questions about the nasty Indian caste system.
Amidst a powerful structure of dominance and oppression, it was a woman who held her ground and decided to fight- a woman who believed that her caste identity does not have anything to do with her self-respect and her right to a quality life. Suvarthamma was a woman who believed in courage, justice, and equality. She believed in protecting her brethren, come what may.
While Woman’s Day seems to honour the existence and contribution of women, we do little to remember and applaud marginalised women from small backgrounds who have made a big difference- who have asked the right questions. Suvarthamma from Karamchedu asks every one of us- What is caste, if not an ugly structure that hollows out basic humanity every day? It’s time we listened to her.