In memory of freedom martyrs no one remembers

BANGALORE: It's one thing to recall sacrifices of freedom fighters on the Independence Day, but another thing to remember martyrs on other days and maintain their memorials.
Standing testimony to such neglect is a martyrs' memorial in the heart of the city. Worse, not much is known about the four martyrs named on the plaque.
The 10-foot-tall stone plaque has been relegated to the backyard of the Shani temple at Mysore Bank Circle - the area which witnessed several flashpoints between freedom fighters and police at the height of the Quit India Movement in August 1942.
Scores of people are suspected to have died in confrontations in the area where the Mysore Bank Circle stands now. The martyrs included Shamanna Bete Rangappa, G V Thirumalaiah, Prahlad Shetty and Gundappa, all said to be students of Central College.
Their memory remained buried till 1972, the silver jubilee of Independence, when the central government decided to build a memorial at the Mysore Bank Circle where the quartet breathed their last. A plaque with their names inscribed on it was installed.
As years went by, the memorial was neglected. Road and other infrastructure development in the area shrunk the space for the memorial. Slowly, it got lost in the backyard of the temple.
On the recent Martyrs' Day, August 9, members of Rashtra Gaurava Samrakshana Parishat, a social service NGO which stumbled upon the memorial recently, cleared the weed and other waste materials from there.
On Friday, a few local youngsters washed the memorial, decorated the place with tricolour and celebrated the Independence Day there.
"It is said these four youths were students of nearby Central college and fell to police bullets within meters of where the memorial is now located," said T N Ramakrishna, president of the Parishat.
"There is no effort whatsoever, either from the Central government or BBMP, to protect what they call is a national monument. We want the authorities to restore the memorial to its original status. The authorities should make the memorial visible from all sides and also make suitable lighting arrangements," he added.
Another Parishat member alleged that the space around the memorial has shrunk by about 15 feet due to encroachment. "It was in good shape till 2006-07 with a compound wall around. Later, due to encroachment and weeds, the plaque virtually invisible," he added.
The Parishat said it would wait till October 2 (Gandhi Jayanti) to see if any effort is made to restore the memorial. "If nothing comes out, we will approach the mayor and the Kannada and culture department. If nothing positive happens, we will have to approach the court," said Ramakrishna.
Forgotten heroes
Not much is known about the four martyrs: who they were and when exactly they fell to British bullets.
SK Aruni, deputy director, Indian Council of Historical Research, said there were many points of conflagration in the Mysore Bank Circle area during the freedom struggle. Police action against freedom fighters was severe on August 16, 17 and 18 of 1942, he added.
On August 16, a youth named Thimmanna Dasa was killed. The next day, the situation worsened. A huge crowd of 2,000 people set on fire a post office at Aralipete, near Kengeri Gate. Nine people were killed in police firing, but only six were identified: Thippaiah, Appaiah, AR Srinivasan, Narasimhachar, Subash Singh Ram Singh and Ponnaswamy.
On August 18, two of the youths mentioned in the plaque - Shamanna Bete Rangappa and G V Thirumalaiah - were killed in police action, Aruni said.
"British rulers always gave lower numbers than the actual toll to downplay the scale of the struggle," he pointed out.
Freedom fighter HS Doreswamy said the memorial, which is inside the compound of a temple, should be made an independent structure. "Of the four people mentioned in the plaque, Gundappa was gunned down by an IG called Hamilton during a demonstration. Prahlad Shetty had been incarcerated and died in Central Jail," he added.