Karnataka Rajyotsava - ಜಯ ಹೇ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಮಾತೆ.

It was on this  date, 1st November, 1956, that a new state Mysore (later named as Karnataka in 1973) was born out of a divided Kannada speaking people who were until then torn between different provinces that the colonial rulers had put them under. Until 15th August 1947, when India attained its tryst with destiny, after many struggles, trials, tribulations and sacrifices of thousands of revolutionaries and common men and women to rightfully gain a life of freedom and dignity, the undivided India was fragmented into some 570 odd princely states by the British for helping them rule dictatorially and with their selfish interest. On that historic midnight, when we attained Independence, the founding fathers and constitutional makers of India, having learnt the lessons of divide and rule policy of the British and keeping the unity of India to be of paramount importance, decided to merge all the princely states  and provinces - which had justly acceded to India courtesy Sardar Patel - to form 27 states, which had no relation to the language of the people. Language, however was to play its role in the formation of the states in the years ahead including in the formation of the state of Karnataka. 

It was the father of the nation - Mahatma Gandhi, in the year 1921,  who articulated an idea of a linguistic division of India. He told the Home Rule League “to ensure speedy attention to people's needs and development of every component part of the nation" and.. "strive to bring about a linguistic division of India”. In the year 1936, the Britishers took queue from Gandhi’s idea and separated the Oriya speaking people from the states of Bihar and Bengal, to carve out a separate state for Oriya speakers. 

Immediately after our independence, in the year 1948, the government of India having noticed that there were some murmurs and simmering to base the formation of the states on linguistic lines, formed a commission under Justice SK Dhar, an Allahabad High Court judge, to address the need for linguistic division of the states. However, Dhar committee did not agree for restructuring the states on linguistic lines. Instead they advocated restructuring of the states for administrative convenience. Accordingly, in December 1948, a JVP Committee was constituted  - with three veteran Congressmen Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel and Pattabhi Sitaramayya - to address the issue of restructuring of the states. JVP committee believed that linguistic states would only weaken the unity of a new nation and therefore the committee submitted their report in April 1949, dismissing the idea to restructure the states on linguistic lines. 

 

Although the JVP committee had opposed the idea of a division of the country on linguistic lines, down South the Telugu speaking people - who were torn between different states - were not happy with the decision of the JVP committee. One of their leaders, freedom fighter Potti Sreeramulu, decided to up the ante for their demand for a unified Telugu speaking state. Unfortunately the Madras State led by C Rajagopalachari, was not particularly sympathetic to this  demand.  Pandit Nehru was swayed by the sentiments and opinion of Rajagopalachari and therefore he too was not very sympathetic to the demands of the Telugu speaking people. This led to an agitation, which was spearheaded by Potti Sreeramulu, who started that quintessential Gandhian style of satyagraha - fast unto death - on 19 October, 1952. The then prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, assured his support for the creation of Andhra Pradesh and requested Potti Sreeramulu to end his fast. But since there was no written commitment nor was a formal public statement made to this effect by Nehru, Sreeramulu continued with his fast. This led to the spread of agitation in the Telugu speaking region of the Madras state and resulted in public unrest. On that eventful day - 15 December 1952 - Sreeramulu died after 56 days of his fasting. His death resulted in widespread rioting and violence in many regions in Andhra. A few people were killed in firing by the police. Protests continued and when things seem to take uglier turn, on 29 December 1952, Pandit Nehru announced his decision to form a separate Andhra state on linguistic basis. Accordingly, on 1 October, 1953, the Andhra State was formed with its capital at Kurnool, near to my native place Raichur. 

As expected the decision to accord a separate statehood to Andhra led to the demands for other states to be formed on linguistic lines. Therefore in December, 1953, Pandit Nehru constituted a commission, under Justice Fazl, to address the demands of the people to restructure the states on linguistic lines. The committee submitted their report in 1955, emphasising that India should be divided into 16 states. This report was debated in the parliament and in August 1956, the Parliament enacted the States Reorganisation Act, which called for states to be redrawn along linguistic lines by November 1 of that year. Thus in November 1956, India was split into 14 states and six union territories, which included four new southern states – Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Madras (renamed Tamil Nadu in 1969) and Mysore. The State of Mysore was formed on  1st November, 1956 and it later became the state of Karnataka in 1973.  Until 1956, the states in India had largely retained the political boundaries left by the British. The state of Mysore was formed out of four different parts of India, which had majorly the Kannada speaking population namely ; - Mysuru Karnataka, Mumbai Karnataka, Kalyan Karnataka and parts of Madras Presidency.  The States Reorganisation Act of 1956, which was based on linguistic division, has enabled people to nurture and promote their language and their respective culture in which the language is inextricably intertwined with culture. Ever since 1st November is observed as Karnataka Rajyotsava day. 

Karnataka - my home state - is resplendent with world renowned architecture, which are evidenced under the rule of different kingdoms, be it the mighty Chalukyas, the Hoysala, Vijaynagar, Adilshahi, Wodeyars, the Rashtrakutas. It has two UNESCO world heritage sites in Hampi and Pattadakal that are popular destinations and major tourist attractions. The state is home to the largest number of the majestic Tigers and Elephants and is a land of Sandalwood and coffee. The rich Kannada literature has helped eight of the scholars to be bestowed with the highest literary award - the Jnanpith award. It is dubbed the silicon valley of India, whose strength created a fear even for Barack Obama, who spoke of people of Buffalo loosing jobs to Bangaloreans,  thus making the word Bangalored enter into the lexicon of the English dictionary. Karnataka stands fifth when it comes to its GSDP contributions to the nation with Maharashtra leading this pack. 

Karnataka also boasts of a vibrant industrial culture the history of which goes back to the period of Sir M Visvesvaraya who started some of the best of industries in Mysore, when he was the Diwan of Mysore. Today Karnataka boasts of an excellent industrial culture and is home to many industries that include among others, automobile, agro, aerospace, textile and garment, biotech, and heavy engineering industries. Karnataka state also has sector specific special economic zone (SEZs) for key industries such as IT, biotechnology, and engineering, food processing and aerospace. Karnataka is the IT hub of India & home to the fourth largest technology cluster in the world. It has 34 operational SEZs as of October 2020. According to the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), the state’s cumulative FDI inflow stood at US$ 11.95 billion between October 2019 and March 2021, the third highest in India after Gujarat and Maharashtra, and Karnataka accounted for 14% of India’s cumulative FDI inflow. Karnataka is also home to a diverse flora and fauna and a 320 km natural coastline, which makes it a natural tourist's paradise.

Karnataka is also a land where great men were born. Some of the prominent leading lights of the state of Karnataka include Ranna, Pampa, Basavaveshwara, Allama Prabhu, Akkamahadevi, Sarvgna, Shishunala Sharif, Kuvempu, Bendre, Shivraam Karanth, Masti, Gokak, Karnad in literature. Much before the first war of Independence was waged by the legendary Rani Jhansi, Rani Kittur Channamma in Karnataka had blown the bugle of freedom from the British and was helped by her strong man Sangolli Rayanana in taking on the Britishers. Here is a link to the blog on Sangolli Rayanna.

One of the preeminent engineers of India and a great nation builder,  Sir M Visvesvaraya is from Karnataka and he has made profound contributions to the nation building, which rightfully won him the Bharat Ratna. Karnataka is also home to some of the earliest  public sector companies - BEL, HAL, BEML, ITI etc - which were part of those early temples of modern India that Pandit Nehru established. The Krishna Raj Sagar dam and the garden in Mysore and so also the Mysore Zoo are visited by innumerable tourists both from India and abroad.  

One of the foremost pride that India and the world takes in the governance of any nation is when the country is run as a democracy. Although the World credits British to be place where the Magna Carta or the first form of democratic governance began, the reality is quite different. It is the state of Karnataka, which gave birth to the first of democratic governance in the form of Anubhava Mantapa. It was one of the foremost democratic parliamentary style of governance that began during the 12th century in Karnataka. This was commissioned and run by the seers in Karnataka led by Basaveshwara, a remarkable visionary.

Wishing you all a very happy Karnataka Rajyotsava Day. 

Images - Courtesy Wikipedia and Wiki Commons.

ಜಯ ಭಾರತ ಜನನಿಯ ತನುಜಾತೆ,

ಜಯ ಹೇ ಕರ್ನಾಟಕ ಮಾತೆ.

Here is a link to two of my blog posts on Sangolli Rayanna one of the first revolutionary who helped her king Rani Channamma to take on the British and another on another revolutionary thinker Basaveshwara for those who may be interested in reading.

https://khened.blogspot.com/2020/04/basava-jayanti-birth-anniversary-of.html

https://khened.blogspot.com/2019/10/sangolli-rayanna-forgotten-freedom.html

Here is a link to my blog on Gol Gumbaj.

https://khened.blogspot.com/2021/04/gol-gumbaz-glorious-monument-which.html 

Here is the link to my blog on the Ibrahim Roza 

https://khened.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-majesty-of-ibrahim-rauza-monument.html

Link to the blog on Shravanabelagola 

https://khened.blogspot.com/2019/10/shrikshetra-shravanabelagola.html