Neerukonda massacre

Last updated

The Neerukonda Massacre happened in Andhra Pradesh on July 15, 1987, in Neerukonda village, inside the Guntur district of India's Andhra Pradesh state. An angry mob composed of members of the Kamma caste began attacking Dalit Malas after some of them held a wedding ceremony inside the town's upper-class areas. [1] [2] [3] The rioters killed five people, one a Yadav and the remaining four Malas. Among those people killed was a 60-year old Mala elder. [4] Many Malas fled to nearby Mangalagiri. [1]

The riots, along with the Karamchedu and Tsundur massacres, have been described as having helped shape the perception of the caste system in Indian society. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

Mala is a Telugu caste from the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. They are also present in smaller numbers in the states of Karnataka and Maharashtra. They are considered as Scheduled Caste (SC) by the Government of India. According to 2001 census data, Malas constituted 41.6 percent of the Scheduled Castes population in the then state of Andhra Pradesh, which also included the present state of Telangana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dalit</span> Marginalized castes in India and other South Asian countries

Dalit, also some of them previously known as untouchables, is the lowest stratum of the castes in the Indian subcontinent. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varna of the caste hierarchy and were seen as forming a fifth varna, also known by the name of Panchama. Several scholars have drawn parallels between Dalits and the Burakumin of Japan, the Baekjeong of Korea, the Hukou system of China and the peasant class of the medieval European Feudal system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Potti Sreeramulu</span> Indian activist

Potti Sreeramulu, was an Indian freedom fighter and revolutionary. Sreeramulu is revered as Amarajeevi in the Andhra region for his self-sacrifice for the Andhra cause. He became famous for undertaking a hunger strike for 56 days in support of having separate state for Andhra Pradesh; he died in the process. His death sparked public rioting and Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru declared the intent by the newly liberated nation to form Andhra State three days following the death of Sreeramulu. He contributed his life for the formation of a separate Telugu-speaking state from the dominant Tamil-speaking Madras presidency. His struggles led to the formation of separate Telugu-speaking state called "Andhra state".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kancha Ilaiah</span> Indian scholar, activist and writer (born 1952)

Kancha Ilaiah Shepherd is an Indian political theorist, writer and a Dalit rights activist. He writes in both English and Telugu languages. His main domain of study and activism is the annihilation of caste.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madiga</span> Caste in South India

Madiga is a Telugu caste from southern India. They mainly live in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka, with a small minority in Tamil Nadu. Madigas are historically associated with the work of tannery, leatherwork and small handicrafts. Today, most are agricultural labourers. They are categorized as a Scheduled Caste by the Government of India. Within the Madiga community, there are various sub-castes include Bindla, Chindu, Dakkali and Mashti. Madigas have their own classes, the priestly class is known as Madiga Dasari. The Sangaris, Thothis, etc. have different works for their community.

Adi-Andhra is a Telugu caste found in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, primarily in the Coastal Andhra region. They are categorised as a Scheduled Caste by the Government of India.

Caste-related violence in India has occurred and continues to occur in various forms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tsundur</span> Village in Andhra Pradesh, India

Tsundur is a village in Bapatla district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the mandal headquarters of Tsundur mandal in Bapatla revenue division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Damodaram Sanjivayya</span> Indian politician

Damodaram Sanjivayya was an Indian politician who served as the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh from 11 January 1960 to 12 March 1962. Sanjivayya was the first Dalit Chief Minister of an Indian state. He was also the first Dalit leader to become All India Congress Committee president.

The Tsundur Massacre refers to the killing of several Dalit people in the village of Tsundur, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh, India, on 6 August 1991. 8 Dalits were massacred by Reddy men with the alleged help of the police. When a young graduate Dalit youth was beaten because his feet unintentionally touched a Reddy woman near a cinema hall, the Dalits of the village supported him. As a result, Dalits were socially boycotted by the Reddy landowners of the village. Many Dalits have lost their livelihood as they depend on the daily wages by working in the paddy fields of the Reddys. The significance of this atrocity was Dalits collectively fought to gain legal justice by invoking SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act 1989.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manda Krishna Madiga</span> Indian politician and dalit rights activist (born 1965)

Manda Krishna Madiga, born as Yellaiah on July 7, 1965, is a prominent Indian politician and activist known for his unwavering commitment to the rights of the marginalized Madiga community. His journey from early anti-caste activism in the 1980s to founding the Madiga Reservation Porata Samiti in 1994 and adding the Madiga surname has been marked by advocacy efforts spanning issues such as caste discrimination, children's health, and disability rights.

Pothula Vigneswara Rao spearheaded the Dalit Mala Mahanadu movement in Andhra Pradesh to fight against the categorisation of Scheduled Castes into A, B, C, D groups.

Katti Padma Rao is a Dalit poet, scholar and activist from Andhra Pradesh, India. He is the founding general secretary of Dalit Mahasabha, a people's organisation that spearheaded the Dalit movement in Andhra Pradesh in the aftermath of the 1985 Karamchedu massacre in the coastal region of that state. A scholar in both Telugu and Sanskrit, he has published several volumes of poetry, and books on sociology, religion, philosophy, history, and women's studies. He is a regular columnist in major Telugu newspapers and magazines.

Karamchedu massacre refers to an incident that occurred in Karamchedu, Bapatla district of Andhra Pradesh on 17 July 1985, where brutality by Kamma landlords against Madigas (Dalits) resulted in the killing of six Madigas and grievous injuries to many others. Three Madiga women were raped. Hundreds of Madigas in the village were displaced from their home after their houses were burnt and looted.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kalekuri Prasad</span>

Kalekuri Prasad was a Telugu poet, writer, Dalit revolutionary activist and literary critic of Telugu literature.

S. R. Sankaran (1934–2010) was an Indian civil servant, social worker and the Chief Secretary of the State of Tripura, known for his contributions for the enforcement of Abolition of Bonded Labour Act of 1976 which abolished bonded labor in India. One among the seven civil servants held hostage by the People's War Group in 1987, he was the chief negotiator of the state government in the negotiations of 2004 to end naxalite violence in Andhra Pradesh. He was a mentor to the Safai Karmachari Andolan, a social initiative propagated by Bezwada Wilson to eradicate manual scavenging in India. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the Padma Bhushan, in 2005, for his contributions to society, but he declined the honor. His social welfare activities earned him the moniker, People's IAS officer.

Bojja Tharakam was an Indian poet, writer, social and political activist and a human rights advocate. Tharakam was a lawyer in the Andhra Pradesh State High Court, fighting against the problems that Dalits have had to confront.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bapatla district</span> District in Andhra Pradesh, India

Bapatla district is a district in coastal Andhra in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh (AP) established on 4 April 2022. The administrative headquarters are in Bapatla. The district is formed from parts of the erstwhile Prakasam district and Guntur districts.

References

  1. 1 2 https://cdn.odi.org/media/documents/2692.pdf [ bare URL PDF ]
  2. "Andhra: Police Tonsure Dalit Man for 'Unruly Behaviour' Towards YSR Congress Leader". The Wire. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  3. "Unwilling to act". Frontline. 3 December 2009. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
  4. Balagopal, K. (1991). "Post-Chundur and Other Chundurs". Economic and Political Weekly. 26 (42): 2399–2405. ISSN   0012-9976. JSTOR   4398179.
  5. Satyanarayana, K. (1 January 2007). "The discovery of Jashuva: the shaping of Dalit literary tradition in Telugu". Language Forum. 33 (1): 99–114.