TADAGANI SHIVAPPA – AN UNSUNG HERO OF INDIAN FREEDOM STRUGGLE

---

Sri T. S. SHIVAPPA, popularly known as ‘Tadagani Shivappa’ was born in a village called Tadagani in Shikaripur taluk of Shivamogga district, Karnataka. Tadagani was once a part of Udutadi , the village where Akkamahadevi, a renowned philosopher of 12th century who wrote vachanas on spirituality, was born. Shivappa was born in a farming family ,as second son, to Shantaveerappa sangur and Shivalingamma in 1916. He was brilliant in his studies, and after completing matriculation, he joined as a clerk in the taluk office. Soon he left the job as it did not suit his self-respect and joined as a school teacher. He made a name for himself as a good teacher.

It was the time when the freedom struggle was spreading in the entire country. When Mahatma Gandhi called youth of India to join the ‘quit India movement’ in 1942, young Shivappa resigned his job and jumped into the freedom struggle. As an underground worker, he involved himself in activities like aggressive speeches about freedom struggle in the meetings, distributing pamphlets, disconnection of electric wires to show his anger against Britishers etc., there by creating awareness among the people about the importance of freedom struggle. His close association and interaction with the leaders of freedom struggle in the district made him to join the larger freedom struggle going on at Esuru village near Shikaripura in Shivamogga district.

August 9, 1942. Bombay : Gandhiji as a part of ‘quit India movement’ asked Indians to ’ Do or Die ‘and the British government arrested most of the senior national congress leaders to curb the movement.

September 25, 1942. Esuru : The people of Esuru village in Shivamogga, district rose to the call of Mahatma Gandhi and declared their village as independent from the British rule. ‘Yesura bittaroo, Esura bidevu,” which translates to, “we might have given up many villages but will never give up Esur.” This passionate slogan left an indelible impression on the freedom movement and Esuru was credited as the first village from the state to form an independent government against the British regime. Sahukar Basavanyappa, a landlord, was instrumental in guiding the villagers to revolt against the imperial regime. Tadagani Shivappa joined Sahukar Basavanyappa , Hucharayappa and other leaders in organising meetings, protests, distribution of pamphlets etc. They ignited the fire of patriotism by narrating stories of freedom struggle going on in different parts of the country. People put up a board in front of the village ‘Esur has an independent government. We do not pay revenue to the British. Officers cannot step into the village without permission from the independent government.’ In a bid to reclaim the lost territory, imperial forces, led by an amildar and a sub-inspector entered the village on September 28, 1942. The subsequent scuffle between the police and villagers resulted in the death of both the amildar and the sub-inspector. Shivappa along with some of the freedom fighters escaped into the forest and went underground. It was a tragedy that Gurappa K and four others were hanged to death by the British government after legal proceedings and 17 were sentenced to life imprisonment. Shivappa continued his activities of spreading the fire of freedom struggle as an underground worker in different parts of the taluk.

But his underground activities related to the freedom struggle could not be carried out for a long time. He was only 27 years old when arrested by the British government. He was imprisoned in the Shivamogga jail initially and later shifted to the Bangalore Central Jail for a total period of over six months. After his release from the jail early for his good conduct, he pursued the freedom struggle more aggressively and worked in association with the stalwarts like S. Nijalingappa, K. V. Narasappa, Patil Puttappa and others. He was again arrested, and sent to jail at Mysore in 1947 for taking part in the movement aimed at installing a democratic and responsible government in the princely state of Mysore. But, soon, he was released when the movement came to an end.

Tadagani Shivappa was a great personality who not only fought for the Indian independence with patriotic zeal, but also practiced human values in life. It is evident from some of the following incidents in his life.

People of Shiralkoppa were surprised to see Shivappa winning the municipal elections without spending any money. He served as president of Shiralkoppa municipality in 1959 and 1960 during which period he never compromised on the values he stood for. Once he rejected an application for construction of a cinema house when he learnt that the cinema house is planned to be built on farmers prime land. When that person got the approval at a higher level using his political influence Shivappa felt very bad and pledged never to visit the cinema house in his lifetime.

Shivappa’s home at Shiralkoppa was the centre for discussions on political developments and analysis. K.V. Narasappa - former chairman of Karnataka legislative Council, Talagunda veerappa - Ex-MLA, Nadoja Patil puttappa, Yennekoppada Mallikarjunappagowda - leader of Karnataka, Sarvodaya and bhoodan movement were some of the leaders who used to take part in the discussions. Shivappa used to take part in discussions over lunch at his home with many people never bothering about their cast.

Although highly meritorious in studies, his sons Mrutyunjaya and Nagaraj completed their higher education by availing educational loan and never applied for freedom fighters scholarship. Shivappa had written a letter to his son Mrutyunjaya in 1964 when the latter was studying medicine informing him not to apply for freedom fighters scholarship. Mrutyunjaya has preserved that letter till today as a valuable memory.

As a Gandhian, he believed in truth and wore Khadi with devotion till his last day. In the post-independence period, freedom fighters were given pension, land and were also honoured with citation on tamra patra. But he never aspired for such aids from the government in his lifetime. He used to say “I am proud that I did my duty for the country. I will never lower my dignity by accepting these aids “. He lived with self-respect by earning his livelihood as an LIC agent.

His repeated underground activities during freedom struggle, poverty had a telling impact on his health in his old days. But he never lost enthusiasm and interest in life. He breathed his last in 1978 with the satisfaction that he never compromised on the values, he stood for. A respectful salute to this great soul is the least we can do when the whole country is celebrating Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.

Acknowledgement : Authors are grateful to Madhu Amarnath, T.S.Nagaraj children of Late T S Shivappa and also smt Sujatha, Girish Devasur, and Prakash sangur for sharing valuable information on Shivappa.

Dr|| T. S. VAGEESH

Dr|| M. S. SANGUR

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~