Karnad Sadashiva Rao

Infobox revolution biography
name=Karnad Sadashiva Rao
lived= 1881 – January 9, 1937
placeofbirth=Mangalore, Karnataka
placeofdeath=Mumbai, Maharashtra


caption=Sadashiva Rao was known as "Gandhi of South"
movement=Indian Independence movement
organizations=Indian National Congress

Karnad Sadashiv Rao (Kannada:ಕಾರ್ನಾಡ್‌ ಸದಾಶಿವರಾವ್‌) (1881 - January 9, 1937) was an Indian freedom fighter and social reformer who was very first from Karnataka to sign the Satyagraha pledge. He was born in Mangalore, Karnataka and was the only son to his parents, Ramchandra Rao and Radhabai. Graduating from the Presidency College, Madras, he studied law at Bombay and set up as a lawyer in Mangalore.

Gandhi of the South

He was known as the "Gandhi of the South" for his work for the Congress Party and his participation in the Indian freedom movement.

He had lived a full life, taking an active part in sports and athletics. However, he soon perceived backwardness, superstition, social and economic evils as well as injustice around him and set about to remove them. With the help of his devoted wife Shantabai, he founded the "Mahila Sabha" for upliftment of widowed and downtrodden women. He provided funds to educate them and find means of self-support. Several women were trained to become teachers, nurses, and tailors.

Improving social life

He organized re-marriage of child-widows, fighting a big social problem at the time. He also worked for betterment of Harijans. He was a member of "Mission for Depressed Classes" for years, eventually serving as its president. He fought and arranged for entry of Harijans in the temples of South Kanara district. He started a school "Tilak Vidyalaya" which was open to all communities in the premises of his home. The Hindi language, spinning, weaving, and other handicrafts were taught in this school. Eighteen such educational centers were started in the district. Sadashiv Rao stopped animal sacrifice at Kali temples.

Joins the Freedom Movement

At the call of Mahatma Gandhi, he gave up his legal practice and threw himself heart and soul into the freedom struggle. In addition, he was a great social reformer, an indefatigable worker for the cause of the downtrodden and depressed sections of society, for the education of women and for widow remarriage.

Benefactor of the Poor

World War I saw Sadashiv Rao in a new role, as a benefactor and servant of the poor. Scarcity and near-famine conditions were widely prevalent and the poorer sections were almost starving, because of the high cost of their staple food rice. He opened his purse wide, purchased the commodity and then sold it to the needy at prices within their reach. The produce from his own lands he sold at the low price of Rs. 3 per mura (40kg) and to the poor he offered it gratis.

igns the Satyagraha Pledge

The year 1919 saw the Rowlatt Act and the Jallianwala Bagh tragedy. Sadashiv Rao was among the first few and the very first in Karnataka to sign the Satyagraha pledge.

It was Sadashiv Rao who unfurled the Congress banner in Karnataka and carried the Congress message to every hamlet and village, trekking long distances by day and by night.

Sadashiv Rao’s residence had become a center of Congress activities and many notables had been his guests. He accompanied Gandhiji, Kasturba, C. R. Das, Jawaharlal Nehru, the Ali Brothers and others in tours through the district to generate enthusiasm for the Congress among the masses. As part of the constructive program, he organized spinning, weaving, handicraft and village reconstruction centers.

Tragedy

Domestic tragedy struck him in 1921, the year memorable as the Satyagraha year. In a very short time he lost a daughter, his only son and his wife, Shantabai. To seek solace he visited Gandhiji at Ahmedabad. But he could not stay there for long, as soon as he heard there were floods and famine in South Karnataka, he rushed there to organize relief and relieve distress.

Last

He was elected President of the Karnataka Provincial Congress Committee four times and participated in the Dandi March (Salt Satyagraha). Next he offered individual Satyagraha, though he was in poor health. He attended the Faizpur Congress Session in 1936, and contracted high fever there. He returned back to Bombay (now Mumbai). Where he breathed his last on January 9 1937.

He was referred to as "Dharmaraj" (embodiment of charity) by the Late Dr. Shivaram Karanth, the great Kannada writer, whose famous novel "Oudaryada Urulalli" is centered around a Sadashiv Rao like hero.

The road from Hampankatta circle to Bishop house in Mangalore city is named after him as K.S.Rao Road.

ource

*Reproduced from a pamphlet announcing the commemorative volume on Karnad Sadashiv Rao, "Apostle of Sacrifice," published March 27, 1971 by Manmohan S. Bhatkal at Popular Book Depot, Printing Division), Bombay, and published by G. R. Bhatkal for Popular Prakashan, 35 c Tardeo Road, Bombay 34 WB.

Quotes

"Blessed are you mother, for having borne a son such as he". Mahatma Gandhi to Sadashiva Rao's mother when he met her soon after Sadhashiv Rao's death. [cite news
url = http://www.kamat.com/kalranga/kar/leaders/karnadu.htm
date = 2006-05-26
title = Leaders of Karnataka by Jyotsna Kamat
accessdate = 2006-07-31
publisher = Kamat's Potpourri]

"Sadashiv Rao’s was a life of single-minded piety and utter self-sacrifice. There were innumerable institutions that he brought into being and assisted through difficult times. Not a few of these were for the education of the young and the relief of the indigent and lowly—objects that always lay closest to his heart."

Born one of the richest men in Kanara, when he died he was one of the poorest. Having given away very pie he could call his own to some Congress cause or other, he had reduced himself to penury. But never had penury so gentle a smile for a companion. Never a word of regret for what he had given away nor one of recrimination or anger ever passed through his lips though transgressed against he was. When he was gone, the only strictures passed against him were by those who measured everything by the yardsticks of money—worldly wealth. "Generous to a fault" was their verdict. The verdict was correct." [cite news
title = Excerpted from an article on Karnad Sadashiv Rao by his son-in-law, Chandrakant. M. Desai.]

References