Karnataka: Stir against seer in 1980s that triggered a micro-revolution

KALABURAGI: The recent case surrounding the Chitradurga-based Murugha Mutt has revived, among the people of Kalyana Karnataka, the memory of an eerily similar incident dating back to the 1980s that shocked the public and grabbed headlines not only in the national media, but on international news outlets too.
In the 1980s, when the country was jolted by calamities, succeeding each other with startling rapidity, a seer in Kalyana Karnataka was accused of harassing a woman, who he alleged forced to walk naked during a procession. Among others, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) had reported on the agitation, and the Ramakrishna Hegde-led Karnataka government was forced to constitute a legislative committee that was tasked with filing a report after visiting the village in question.
MLC Adagooru H Vishwanath, one of the members of the committee that was tasked with investigating the incident, told TOI, “That was one instance of members of nomadic communities being abused, and harassed in the name of God. Everyone in the village kept mum about this incident.”
While trying to persuade the people from the nomadic communities to speak out, they expressed fears of facing God’s wrath should they refuse to perform the ‘naked’ service. We tried to dissuade them from clinging to such superstitious beliefs. Since the issue became a big problem for Hegde and his government, steps were taken to make people aware against following such blind beliefs,” he stated.
Writer Akbar Kalimirchi recalled activists from across the state, including Bengaluru, Mysuru and Mangaluru, descended on the village, and the district headquarters.
“But they were harassed by the local politicians, supporting the seer. For a week, information about this incident was suppressed, but a two-page report in ‘Lankesh Patrike’ drew the attention of the state government,” said Kalimirchi, recalling his involvement in picketing a minister who had come to the village to console the victims. The protest remains a watershed, albeit locally, and is alluded to by citizen outfits when women are subjected to atrocities.
Husain Pasaha Bedavatti, a journalist who covered the incident, said that the protest fuelled the artistic flames in many, who composed songs revolving around revolutionary themes, which they recorded on cassettes.
“People were afraid to be caught listening to these songs, even in their homes, since they feared being accosted by the seer’s supporters. So, they either listened to them with the doors of their homes shut, or travelled to nearby towns and villages to hear these songs. Tape-recorders were hard to come by in those days, not to mention the problem of irregular power supply. Those who could not read pressed educated citizens to read out details of the incident from the newspapers. This, ironically enough, prompted parents to send their children, even the girls, to schools,” Husain Pasha said.