EXPERIENCES AS CHAPTERS: VANAM JWALA NARASIMHA RAO

EXPERIENCES AS CHAPTERS

VANAM JWALA NARASIMHA RAO

Former CPIM Rajya Sabha Member, practicing People’s Doctor, Civil Liberties Leader, Atheist, Literary figure, Communist Activist since his student days, indirect participant in Telangana Armed Struggle, Dr. Yalamanchili Radhakrishna Murthy, popularly known in his friends and admirers circle as YRK died of heart attack on 19^th October 2013 in Hyderabad Care Banjara Hospital at the age of 86. While correcting the English version of his Biography in Telugu (“Anubhavaale Adhyaayaalu”) penned by me he had an attack and was moved to hospital. Having known him in general for the past 40 years and intimately for the last five years I would like to share few thoughts about Dr YRK.

Though not a member of the Communist Party till 1985, Dr. Yalamanchili Radhakrishna Murthy practiced in letter and spirit the principles propounded by Marx. Initially he worked for the undivided Communist Party and later supported Communist Party of India (Marxist) and took the Party membership only on the advice of CPIM Top Leader late Putchalapalli Sundarayya. He equally fulfilled the responsibilities that were given to him by the society.

Right from his childhood he is a non believer in God-an atheist. He imbibed rationalism too under the influence of Gora. His wife also followed the same path and practiced the same principles. There are no idols of worship in his residence. He is however, not a conservative as far as reading habit and acquiring knowledge is concerned. His conservatism is confined to food habits, sartorial aspects and smoking. He was imprisoned five times. In one such occasion, while in Warangal Central Jail he learnt about the six branches of Indian Philosophy, Bhagavad-Gita, Islam and the secrets of Ayurveda evincing interest.

After taking membership of the CPIM and after subsequently undergoing heart surgery, he transferred whatever he has earned earlier as Doctor, to his two sons and kept away from all sorts of financial dealings. He never took even a single rupee from Party. As long as he was bodily fir and sound he worked for the party. Unwillingly and unsuccessfully he contested direct elections thrice. Though he never expected he was nominated to Rajya Sabha and served full term of six years. Whatever remuneration he got as MP he credited in to party account keeping negligible amount for his living. He also credited the entire pension amount for which he was eligible to the party account and instructed his wife to do the same even after his death. During the last five to six years he engaged himself in reading, writing, spending time with friends and giving suggestions to the party whenever necessary and whenever he was asked.

While recollecting his memories as part of my interaction to write his biography, Dr YRK spoke about his five times jail term, and how he was put in five central prisons, his nomination to the Rajya Sabha, the work done by him as a member of the Upper House and how purposefully he spent the MP local area development funds allotted to him, his coming up in the life, the ups and downs in his life, his medical education, subsequent practice, his association with party and so on. YRK was disinclined to go deep into the unhealthy developments in the party either at district or state or for that matter national level. He simply commented: “Yes. There have been few developments in the Communist Party of India (Marxist) that made me un-happy. The future will decide about them. I am still a member of the Party. It is not fair to discuss the decisions that were taken within the Party.”

Radhakrishna Murthy hails from Jameedintakarru, village near Gudivada in Krishna district. Communist activists were there in his village. Mikkilineni Venkateswara Rao, Kolli Subba Rao, Jasti Punnaiah and SVS Prasad Rao were prominent among them. All of them used to read secretly, “Swatantra Bharat” a cyclostyled magazine brought out by Putchalapalli Sundarayya. YRK was admonished by his father, for reading it.  When he was in intermediate second year, All India Peasants Conference was held at Bezavada on a large scale. That was an historical event in the history of the communist party even till this day. YRK went to witness that conference along with his friends. There he saw for the first time, Chandra Rajeswara Rao, Putchalapalli Sundarayya, Chalasani Vasudeva Rao and Swami Sahajananda of Bihar who were on the dais.

            The Telangana armed struggle begun when YRK was pursuing his MBBS course. It was the result of the strength of the communists and upsurge of masses in the princely states after the Second World War. Though YRK directly did not participate, he was part of that extending his helping hand along with Putchalapalli Sundarayya, Makineni Basava Punnaiah etc. In 1949, just a day before the Independence Day, the Communist Party gave a call to observe it as a black day against the incident of Katuru and Yelamarru in which the police forced men and women to strip off their clothes. YRK and his friends were entrusted with the work of pasting posters on walls protesting the incident. A Beat Constable seeing them arrested and took to Police Station. DR YRK was jailed subsequently and thus for the first time he tasted Jail Life.

After his graduation in Medicine YRK for a while worked in Railway Hospital in Madras and later resigned to move to Khammam for private practice in 1953. He decided to follow certain principles in his profession. Initially there was no consultation fee. As the number of patients increased a consultation fee of Rs. 2 was introduced. He never forced the patients to go in for unnecessary investigations as part of diagnosis. When he thought that it is beyond his capacity to treat the case he referred to specialists. He treated members of the Communist Party and their family members free of cost. He always accepted whatever money was paid by those who were not in a position to pay for in-patient treatment and surgeries, and never charged the patients who died, however long the treatment was offered. Those who were able to pay used to pay him. YRK’s relations with the communist party grown gradually and he became more and more attached to party.

When several communist leaders all over the country were arrested in the backdrop of Indo-China war there were serious ideological debates. Its vibrations were evident in Khammam too. Though YRK did not have formal membership in the communist party then, he was strictly abiding by the decisions and policies of the Party. Many members of the Party and sympathizers used to meet at the residence of YRK on every Sunday and were engaged in ideological discussions under the aegis of “Marxist Forum.” The whole discussion in those days was called “The Great Debate.” This debate was widespread in the “Marxist Forum” also. It is a fact that this debate was a bit close to the views of the Communist Party of China which tried to oppose certain revisionist tendencies put forward by the Communist Party of Soviet Union. The “Marxist Forum” meetings were attended regularly by senior party leaders like Chirraavuri Laxminarasaiah (The the Municipal Chairman), Manchikanti Ram Kishan Rao (Former MLA) and several student leaders and youth. Along with YRK, prominent local advocates like Advocates KV Subba Rao and Bodepudi Radhakrishna used to take active part in conducting the activities of this form. The forum ridiculously was referred by some as “Sunday Syndicate!”

Since all the important leaders of the Party in the district were arrested, YRK pondered over how to keep the Party united and strengthen it till the arrested leaders are released. He sought the help of the local advocates Bodepudi Radha Krishna and KV Subba Rao to get the leaders released. These three in later years were called as “Intellectual Trio”. Perhaps they too then might not have thought that their initiative would become one day, the starting point for the “Indian Civil Liberties Movement.” The Intellectual Trio realized that release of Khammam leaders was not possible unless civil liberties committees were set up all over the state and also at national level. As the government has curtailed the civil rights the trio felt that there is a need to fight for the protection of those rights and seek the support of the CPI leaders also for such struggle. Thus the Civil Liberties Movement started.

The civil liberties movement became very active and fierce. The government, instead of responding to the resentment of the people and release the arrested leaders has resorted to repression of the leaders of the civil rights movement. Dr. YRK who was the source behind this movement and those who helped him were detained. YRK’s second Jail term began like that. YRK was also arrested third time and was sent to jail in 1974 during the large scale Railway strike lead by George Fernandez. Though Communist Party had nothing to do with that, still due to local politics YRK was sent to jail.

38 years ago curtains were raised for the dark era in the democratic India. The President of India has signed the proclamation of emergency on the midnight of June 25, 1975 which was the outcome of Indira Gandhi’s dictatorial decision to safeguard her political future. Dr. Radhakrishna Murthy was one amongst those put behind bars during emergency. YRK was taken to Warangal jail after the arrest. The 1977 general elections were notified and political prisoners were released from the jail. The state Party asked YRK to file nomination for the Khammam Lok Sabha constituency. After his release he attended the state conference of agricultural laborers at Nelakondapally. The police arrested YRK again. Thus YRK was arrested for the fifth time. After going to the jail again the schedule for the 1977 general elections in March was announced. She ordered the release of political leaders and activists that were arrested after the imposition of emergency. He signed the nomination papers when he was still in jail. After some time he was released since he was a candidate. Thus the fifth jail term of YRK came to an end.

Writing forward to his biography YRK said: “I am in my 84^th year. At present I am a recluse. For livelihood I practiced medicine for long years. Because of sheer interest I was a political activist. In my middle-class way of life, like all others, I experienced ups and downs in my life and received bouquets and brickbats. Some praised me and others were hurt. My good fortune is I am regarded in my extended family and in the society too”.

Doctor is a multifaceted personality.