Prof Gopal Iyer, people’s scholar, dies at 75

Vishav Bharti

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 20

Wherever people fought oppression, Prof K Gopal Iyer, just had to be there. He did not not mind boarding a train, whether or not his seat was reserved, or travelling atop a crowded bus to reach the trouble spot — his meagre belongings stuffed in a sling bag. 

Known for his work on bonded labour, peasant movements and land reforms, the 75-year-old “people’s scholar” passed away in Chandigarh on Thursday. He was suffering from a heart ailment.

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Prof Iyer hailed from Tamil Nadu. But his interest in popular movements took him to Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana, Punjab and other parts of the country. A gold medallist from Patna University, he retired from Panjab University’s Sociology Department in 2002, where he had been teaching since 1978.

Prof Manjit Singh, his student and later a colleague, describes him as an “organic intellectual, who lived among the people, understood their language and culture and shared their suffering with the world”. 

Progressive thinkers would invariably throng Prof Iyer's house at PU, where any student in distress was received with warmth. Lallan Singh Baghel of the Department of Philosophy calls him a saint-scholar. “If studying in his office till late in the night, he would join tables and sleep there. While in the field, he would sleep on gunny bags and eat whatever was given. Scholars like him are rare.”

Prof Iyer neither chased projects, nor lobbied for fellowships. His sole pursuit was to understand the masses and their struggle. “Invited as a senior fellow by the Indian Institute of Advanced Study in Shimla in 2010, he abandoned the fellowship after a year. He told me they (institute) wanted to ‘fortify’ him whereas he wanted to be out in the field,” recalls Baghel. Perhaps, that is why he could understand people’s movements so well.

Professor Iyer was well-versed in several Indian languages, says Prof Satish Kumar, his former colleague who retired from HPU, Shimla.  “He was equally proficient in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi, and Punjabi. Amazed at his command over Punjabi, we rechristened him as Gopal Singh Brar,” he smiles.