Gaddar took the revolution to people’s doorstep

INVOKING popular culture in a mass movement against oppression and transforming ideology into song and performance were the hallmarks of Gaddar (1949-2023), a Dalit Telugu revolutionary poet, singer and folk performer who passed away in Hyderabad on Sunday. Gaddar, as a people’s artiste and a balladeer, evoked the social memory of the masses to protest against oppression and affirm his commitment to revolutionary cultural politics.

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Gaddar’s attire was reminiscent of a shepherd’s clothing. Clad in just a loincloth and carrying a black woollen blanket on his shoulder, the bare-chested Gaddar was the most famous socio-cultural face of the Telangana statehood movement. He held a staff in his hand and had a red handkerchief tied on the wrist. Born Gummadi Vittal Rao, the engineer-turned-revolutionary named himself ‘Gaddar’ after the revolutionary Ghadar movement of the freedom struggle.

Gaddar’s Telangana has a chequered history. It was a part of the Nizam’s princely state of Hyderabad that had refused to join the Indian union after Independence. The state dealt with land matters through deshmukhs, zamindars and feudal lords, who used Razakars, a voluntary paramilitary force, to oppress Dalits, Adivasis and the poor and forced them to do unpaid and bonded labour. The oppression led to the Telangana armed struggle of 1946-48 with the support of the communists. Even after joining the government following the 1952 elections, the feudals retained their stranglehold through atrocities and exploitation.

Even though the communists led the fight against oppression, their leadership mainly comprised the upper castes. The merger of Hyderabad state into the united Telugu-speaking Andhra Pradesh in 1956 worsened the situation in the Telangana region. The struggle in Telangana attracted individuals to the Naxalite movement against caste-based atrocities and oppression of Adivasis by the feudals in the late 1960s; they had a strong presence in the 1970s. It was during these times of oppression in Telangana that Gaddar contributed to the movement under the aegis of Jana Natya Mandali, a theatre and cultural group, to reach out to the masses. He used folk language and songs, combining local folk music with ‘Burra Katha’, an oral storytelling technique.

B Narsing Rao, a multi-faceted theatre and film personality, persuaded him to join the Mandali. Gaddar went on to embody its spirit. His songs spoke to the people in a dialect that they could understand and he sang about the lives of the downtrodden, which consolidated him as a voice that could narrate unheard stories of the masses. For three decades, music and Gaddar were inseparable. His impact extended far beyond his region. His unique style, message and approach to music and songwriting left a lasting influence on a wide range of artistes, including poets, singers and members of the Telugu film industry.

On seeing his talent and the power of his performance, Rao introduced Gaddar to the silver screen in 1979 with Telugu film Ma Bhumi, which was based on the Telangana armed struggle of 1948. His song ‘Bandenaka Bandi Katti’, whose lyrics mention that the Nizam was worse than the Nazis, played a significant role in catapulting him to stardom. Gaddar’s songs were compiled and published as booklets; his audio cassettes were bestsellers in the 1980s and 1990s.

But Gaddar’s revolutionary politics couldn’t survive the state’s oppression. He remained underground for 10 years (1980-90). In February 1990, Gaddar returned to public life and expressed his faith in democratic methods, inviting an expulsion from the Maoist party. Subsequently, the party reinstated him.

Gaddar’s revolutionary songs played a key role in the Telangana statehood movement. In 1996, he brought out his first song on the movement, ‘Amma Telanganama, akali kekala gaanama’. In April 1997, he was shot at by unidentified persons; the culprits still remain untraced. Gaddar played himself in the film Jai Bolo Telangana (2011) and sang two songs, which were acclaimed by the public; he also received the Nandi Award. Telangana was eventually created in 2014 after a long struggle.

In 2017, he left the Maoist party and took up the Panchsheel flag. He declared that he was an Ambedkarite and reposed his faith in the Constitution. He said he would work in accordance with Buddhist ideals. Gaddar’s return to democratic ways took him closer to political parties. Even though his son joined the Congress in 2018, he rejected the party’s invitation. At the behest of Union Minister G Kishan Reddy, he met Home Minister Amit Shah at the Hyderabad airport in 2022 with a representation to withdraw the cases slapped on him. For a revolutionary artiste like him, politics did not fit into his lyrical poetry.

There are many artistes and poets across the country who have made countless sacrifices, but Gaddar’s life and contribution to a revolutionary movement have left a lasting impact. He saw many upheavals in his political life, but never stopped being a representative of the poor and the weak. Gaddar was a rare personality of our times, identified by his attire, songs and struggle. He transcended a revolutionary political struggle with the aim of bringing equitable social change, fighting feudal and state oppression.