By Manju Devarapalli
Hyderabad, August 7, 2023: The Telugu speaking Church in India has mourned the death of a renowned folk singer and poet, who was a major proponent of Telangana state in eastern India.
Gummadi Vittal Rao, popularly known as Gaddar, died at 3 pm on July 6 at the Apollo Hospital in Hyderabad while undergoing treatment for a heart-related ailment. He was 77.
A hospital press release said Gaddar’s was due to “lungs and urinary problems and advanced age.” He had recovered from an August 3 bypass surgery.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi paid tribute to the folk singer and said he was saddened to hear about his death. “Saddened to hear about the demise of Shri Gummadi Vittal Rao, Telangana’s iconic poet, balladeer and fiery activist. His love for the people of Telangana drove him to fight tirelessly for the marginalised. May his legacy continue to inspire us all,” Gandhi said.
Etala Rajender, a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, also expressed “deep shock” over Gaddar’s death, saying his death was a great loss for Telangana. “His struggle for Telangana is unforgettable. Even if he is not physically present, his song will live on forever,” Rajender said.
Among Church people, Jesuit Father Stanislaus Alla, a native of Telangana, said that beyond the ordinary, Gaddar had found a vocation and chosen folk media to awaken the fellow Telugus, especially the marginalized and the oppressed.
“In the song, he opted to popularize the Constitutional values, of dignity and equality, of justice and fraternity, of human rights and of just wages. His life and message constantly confronted the social evils, inherited or promoted, and awakened the masses in their millions.”
The Jesuit, who teaches moral theology in Delhi’s Vidyajyoti College of Theology, says the Indian Church can learn from Gaddar the use of folk and popular media to illustrate the Gospel values.
Jesuit activist Father Irudhaya Jothi described Gaddar as “an amazing activist who has left behind a wonderful tradition of asking the right questions.” He was a combination of war and peace, a fearless revolutionary who was unafraid of death, he added.
Gaddar “was a voice that questioned and challenged the mighty on behalf of the voiceless as an active member in the Naxal movement and even as an ordinary citizen,” said the Jesuit who now works in the northeastern Indian state of Mizoram.
Father Devasagay Raj, former executive secretary of the Scheduled Caste and Backward Classes Commission of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India, too said the death of Gaddar “is a great loss”.
He was a “terror to the exploiters and a hero to Karamchedu Dalits with his no nonsense singing with a strong message,” Father Raj explained.
B. Leela Kumari, a Dalit lawyer from Guntur in Andhra Pradesh, said Gaddar’s death is “a great loss” to the people’s movements and to society.” He was a human rights defender and a spontaneous fighter for justice,” she said.
“He will be remembered for his untiring contribution to the neglected communities through his revolutionary songs. Gaddar’s song on Karemchedu Dalitha Pululamma is “one of his best awakening songs and a masterpiece that reveals the history of Karemchedu attack on Dalits, she added.
The song is about the July 17, 1985, massacre of six men and rape of three women from the Dalit community by the dominant Kamma caste group at Karamchedu, a village in the Bapatla district of Andhra Pradesh.
Gaddar was born in 1949 at Toopran in the Medak district of Telangana. Coming from a poor Dalit family, he was a school dropout. He went underground and became a member of Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) People’s War. He was part of its cultural wing and performed for crowds.
He was part of its cultural wing and performed for crowds. A bullet remained in his spine after an assassination attempt in 1997.
Until 2010, Gaddar was active in the Naxal movement, later identifying himself as an Ambedkarite, a follower of the ideals of B R Ambedkar, who led the committee that drafted the Indian Constitution.
Song combined with dance is a perfect bodily extension of oneself. When such bodily extension expresses ones own thoughts and feelings in a context of exploitation then it revolutionizes the mass. Sri Gummadi Vittal Rao (Gaddar) took this very serious in his life and went around with his typical folk art enlightening the illiterate people on their rights embedded in the Indian Constitution. His patriotism though painted him as a rebel and revolutionary by the powerful, he captured the hearts of millions to think and reflect and to face the challenges posed by the powerful and the exploiters. His songs of revolution will continue to reverberate wherever exploitation and injustice are perpetrated. His death is a loss to the humanity in progress.
In deed, it saddened my heart to hear that Telangana’s iconic poet, balladeer and fiery activist passed away. As this wonderful and prolific writing explained well that he contributed enormously to the society, especially brought out constitutional values, human dignity and fraternity through his awakening songs. This write up brought a broad understanding and crystal clear contribution of Sir. Gaddar. Thank you for your efforts.