The lifelong revolutionary
Ammembala Balappa (90) Participated in the Quit India movement and was jailed
Former defence minister George Fernandes’ guru Ammembala Balappa is a well known freedom fighter who later turned socialist. He was one of the main contributers to the Declaration of land policy (Land reforms Act) by the Devraj Urs government during Indira Gandhi’s tenure as prime minister. Born in 1922 in a remote village in Dakshina Kannada to a potter’s family, casteism ensured that he attended school for just six months. Sent to live with his uncle in Mangalore, he became the helper of a British officer in the city administration. His work pleased the officer and helped him get a job in the sanitation department. He also learnt to speak and read English. When Gandhi called for the Quit India movement, 20-yearold Balappa participated in the ensuing protests. With some friends, he planted a crude bomb that burnt down the office of the District Court Complex in Bavatagudda of Mangalore. He was arrested and imprisoned in Vellore Jail, where the former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao was also imprisoned in the same ward. From him, Balappa learnt to speak and read Hindi and got in touch with Jawaharlal Nehru and Jayaprakash Narayan also. Later, he started a school in a remote village in southern Karnataka, became involved in the labour movement in Mangalore, started co-operative banks to help rural folk and made valuable contributions to the land reforms bill draft. Bedridden and suffering from memory loss, he now lives with relatives in Bantwal in southern Karnataka.