Tribute to A.T. Babu
By Prof L. N. Gopalakrishna
Dear Friend,
A.T. Babu is no more. The liquor lobby supari goons killed him on July 21st 2008 when he was on the way to Mandya to attend a meeting of NAPM.
For the past 5 years, I was closely associated with Babu in his innumerable struggles. I was his fan. I beheld him in awe.
His passion was liquor prohibition. He was a street fighter. Once he takes up a struggle, he would not let up. He would slog for weeks and months, even years in a few cases, to achieve his goal.
His strategy on prohibition was to demand the government and authorities that Excise (liquor) laws of the state should be enforced in word and spirit. Then, he would mobilize the poor men and women of the locality to sit in dharna for months in front of the liquor shops.
I was attracted towards him because, unlike many other activists, he would jump into struggle instantly and would not withdraw until the demand was met. He was daring to the core. He would take on the moneyed liquor barons, their goondas [thugs] and the corrupt excise and police officials all at once. He would never compromise whatever the pressure from politicians. Money used to be offered in lakhs. But he wouldn't touch it even with a barge pole.
He was a friend of the poor and the destitute. My association with him opened to me the world of the poor. He used to attend to their grievances by taking them and going around the places. He was always a man in a hurry. He would be at the spot even before you are there.
He was a man of integrity to the very core. He used to spend hundreds of rupees from his pocket to serve the individual poor. He lived in a small house and his wife Smitha who always stood by him. He lost his eldest daughter (who committed suicide) when he was arrested by the police out of sheer grudge for his continuous struggle. Remaining he has a daughter and a son. His second daughter's marriage was to be held in the near future.
There was always threat to his life, as he would not budge even an inch to the liquor barons. His activities were varied. One day he would meet the Deputy Commissioner to get the huts of the poor women regularized, the other day he would sit down in dharna in front of the hospital with the dead body of the patient who died of negligence, demanding action against doctors.
Recently he had taken up a movement to strengthen the powers of the Lokayukta (a constitutional commission to fight corruption and misadministration). It is literally true that once you tell him your grievance, he would be at your doorstep even before you became ready. It was an amazing life of selfless service. I can quote any number of incidents where he was astonishingly at people's service. But let me write it some other day
It is no exaggeration that men like A.T. Babu are rarely born. I need to write a whole book on Babu. I hope I will some day.
Bangalore. 22 July 2008 4:30 pm
About A.T. Babu
From discussions with Prof L. N. Gopalakrishna, Mr Balakrishnan (veteran in NAPM Karnataka and trade unionist) and Mr M. S. Achar, (was with Gandhi Bhavan for more than 35 yrs) about A.T. Babu.
During my discussions with them they mentioned his continuous crusade against organised liquor mafia and also his fight against illicit liquor. He seemed to be involved in a plethora of issues ranging from resolving issues of domestic violence to helping young couples who eloped due to parental opposition to get married. An instance was recounted where such a young couple was given shelter for 15 days at his house. He settled the issues at their houses and then conducted their marriage.
His home was open to all friends and activists; a special room was always ready for any body who could go up any time of the day. His wife Smitha was also an activist who worked mainly with women in the locality and organised them in SHGs. She also with him worked to operationalise mahila credit cooperative societies for poor women. No wonder that many of the people who gathered in front of the house were women from the SHGs waiting to console her and the bereaved family. He was a sarvodaite gandhian to the core and was in true spirit a volunteer. He belonged to the Bunt community from Mangalore. Babu though himself not affluent, used whatever he had, to run the cause he believed in. He sold off his small hotels and used the money for working towards the anti liquor campaign and other issues he was fond of.
That the murder was meticulously planned is evident from the fact that he was murdered by the killers in Ramnagaram District adjoining Bangalore urban District on the way to Mandya district. Friends in Ramanagara who were in the police station to help Sr Celia and Rukmini lodge the complaint confirmed that 30 minutes before Babu was attacked one Bharathi called him on his mobile. He was heard refusing her to back down from the struggle and refused the money being offered and said that his life was committed to seeing Karnataka a liquor free state. The mobile phone is with the Ramnagara police where the complaint was filed.
To see a Gandhian activist brutally murdered, placed in a coffin was a numbing sight. There was a large cut across his forehead, which was sewn up. His face was marked with wounds, the tip of the nose was chopped off and a ghastly cut ran down the chin from his mouth - torn apart. The wounds on his body, not visible covered in cloth would no doubt reveals the sheer disregard for human life in the way of power and money.
I hope some of these details would help friends who did not know him personally to get a first glance of A.T.Babu.
By
Neju George