The widespread agitation has revived memories of the historic Nargund rebellion of 1980, when farmers rose against the betterment levy imposed by the state govt. Hubballi: Protests by sugarcane growers across North Karnataka are disrupting normal life, with highway blockades and demonstrations becoming frequent in Dharwad, Belagavi, Bagalkot and Koppal districts.
“The 1980 rebellion had a longer impact as it included all crops.
Shankar Ambali, state president of Karnataka Raita Sene, told TOI that the potential of the Nargund rebellion was quite different from that of the current agitation. The current agitation has the responsibility of ensuring that the factory lobby does not benefit from it,” he said. Siddu Teji, state president of Karnataka Kalasa Banduri Rait Horata Samiti, said the then R Gundu Rao-led state govt had completely neglected the Nargund rebellion, which proved costly.
The current agitation is restricted to sugar, which comes under essential commodities. Hence, its effect may not last long.
Police opened fire on protesters in Nargund on July 21, 1980. The agitation helped strengthen Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and contributed to Congress’s defeat in the 1983 assembly polls, which brought the state’s first non-Congress, Janata Party govt to power. Farmers Basappa Lakkundi and Irappa Kadlikoppa and two police officers lost their lives.
“There was no role of the Union govt in the 1980 revolt. He said the Union govt convened a meeting on Oct 11 without proper preparation, while the state govt’s Oct 9 meeting at minister Laxman Savadi’s office was backed by a 10-page proposal.
However, there is a possibility of sugarcane growers being misguided too,” he said. The Nargund rebellion, he said, erupted when canal and irrigation works remained incomplete, water failed to reach fields and farmers simultaneously faced severe drought. Today, both Union and state govts are responding positively.