“Praja Yuddha Nauka” (People’s War Ship), Gaddar
Gummadi Vittal Rao (31 January 1949 – 6 August 2023), universally known by his pen name Gaddar, was an iconic Indian poet, singer, cultural activist, and communist revolutionary. Renowned as the “Praja Yuddha Nauka” (People’s War Ship), Gaddar dedicated his life to campaigning against caste oppression, state violence, and social inequality through powerful folk music, poetry, and performance art.
Radicalization
Gaddar was born in 1949 into a Dalit family in Toopran, located in the Medak district of Telangana. While pursuing his studies in engineering in Hyderabad, he was deeply influenced by radical socio-political movements, including the Dalit Panthers and the Naxalbari uprising.
Adopting the pseudonym Gaddar as a tribute to the pre-independence anti-colonial Gadar Party, he abandoned formal academia and traditional career paths to immerse himself entirely in grassroots cultural activism.
Cultural Resistance and Revolutionary Politics
In the 1970s, Gaddar co-founded the Jana Natya Mandali, the cultural wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) People’s War.
Underground Life and Activism: Arrested during the Emergency in 1975, Gaddar later went underground in the 1980s. Performing before massive working-class gatherings across rural and urban India, he used folk tunes, dynamic dance, and incisive lyrics to raise consciousness against feudal and caste exploitation.
Karamchedu Massacre (1985): Gaddar played a pivotal role in bringing national attention to the Karamchedu massacre, leading cultural agitations that mobilized marginalized Dalit communities across Andhra Pradesh.
Assassination Attempt (1997): On April 6, 1997, Gaddar survived an assassination attempt when gunmen shot him multiple times. While doctors removed several bullets, one bullet remained lodged near his spine for the rest of his life—a physical symbol of his political endurance.
The Telangana Statehood Movement and Ambedkarite Identity
By the 2010s, Gaddar distanced himself from the Maoist armed insurgency, gradually identifying as an Ambedkarite and focusing on constitutional and democratic avenues of struggle.
He emerged as one of the central cultural figures of the Telangana Statehood Movement. His legendary song “Podusthunna Poddu Meeda” became the defining anthem for the separate state agitation. Gaddar envisioned a Telangana rooted in social justice, where Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Backward Classes (BC) would hold equal political power and representation alongside forward castes. Demonstrating his pragmatic approach to coalition-building, he even expressed solidarity with political platforms like Devender Goud’s Nava Telangana Praja Party (NTPP) to further the cause.
Health, Death, and Legacy
In his later years, Gaddar embraced parliamentary democracy, casting his vote for the first time in 2018.
Suffering from severe cardiovascular ailments, Gaddar was admitted to a hospital in Hyderabad on July 20, 2023, where he underwent bypass surgery on August 3. However, due to subsequent lung and urinary complications, he passed away on August 6, 2023, at the age of 74.
In recognition of his immense artistic and political contribution to the state’s formation, he was posthumously honored with a cash award of ₹1 crore by the Telangana state government.
Law professor and eminent columnist
Madabhushi Sridhar Acharyulu, author of 63 books (in Telugu and English), Formerly Central Information Commissioner, Professor of NALSAR University, Bennett University (near Delhi), presently Professor and Advisor, Mahindra University, Hyderabad. Studied in Masoom Ali High School, AVV Junior College, CKM College, and Kakatiya University in Warangal. Madabhushi did LL.M., MCJ., and the highest law degree, LL.D. He won 4 Gold Medals at Kakatiya University and Osmania University.
Email: cicsridhar@gmail.com
Mobile: 8447651505
