PRAKASAM, THE PEOPLE’S HERO

BY D. V. RAMA RAO, M.A., LL.B.

“In an interval between two scenes,” (of a Telugu play that was being staged at Guntur). “Sri Prakasam stepped onto the stage, dressed in faultless Bond Street clothes and with a fur cap on his head. He looked very handsome. He had just returned from England as a full-fledged Barrister. He had been an actor in his early years, but his ‘entrances and exits’ as Arjuna, Damayanti or Chandramati were over before I was born.….He spoke in English, beginning in a low tone, and uttering the words with great deliberation. But he gathered momentum as he warmed up, and gave his impressions of the theatres in London and Paris. He ended with an eloquent exhortation to the Andhra public to honour their actors. I liked the speaker as well as the speech. To my boyish imagination, he was definitely a ‘great man’.”

Such was the impression Prakasam made early in the year 1907 on K. Ramakotiswara Rau, the Editor of Triveni. Today, after more than forty years of a strenuous and impressive record of public service, Prakasam looks like a battle-scarred general with almost a rugged mountain-like grandeur about him.

Prakasam, who is fondly referred to by the idolising Andhras as Andhrara Kesari, is essentially cast in a heroic mould both physically and in spirit. As a nationalist and political leader south of the Vindhyas, the two that can vie with him are Rajaji and Dr. Pattabhi, however, with this difference: that while Rajaji is respected for his political sagacity and farsighted statesmanship, Prakasam is loved for his utter disregard of danger and simple childlike qualities; while Pattabhi is admired for his intellectual and organisational gifts and versatile activities, Prakasam is adored for his self-immolating qualities of burning patriotism and sacrificing zeal.

Prakasam’s life and career strike one as a big and bold adventure. There is little of hair-splitting subtlety or shrewd calculation about him. He is a man of unusual energy and spontaneous action, one who readily responds to the immediate needs of the present and one who is absolutely fearless of all consequences, once he is determined to act according to his convictions. Mahatma Gandhi, the great saint-statesman and redeemer of his country and humanity, be it noted, possessed also a great spirit of adventure, in the noblest sense of the term. But, while the illustrious followers of the Mahatma have imbibed several noble traits of the Master, each according to capacity and in varying degrees, few can be said to have got the daring spirit which was so marked a characteristic of the Father of the Nation. Among those few, two names, that of Netaji Subhas Bose and that of Prakasam, occur to one spontaneously. But, while Netaji, retaining as he did to the last the highest esteem for the Master, parted company with the Master on occasions, Prakasam, though he too dared to differ at times, has ever remained loyal to the Mahatma and the Congress.

During his younger boyhood days Prakasam’s associates included all sorts–wrestlers, touring dramatists and even rowdy elements. From his recently published Autobiography in Telugu, which, by the way, is a very interesting, informative and frank narration, we know that he got into tight corners on more than one occasion, being involved in assault and other charges. Even today, at the age of nearly eighty, his youthful buoyancy has not left him and, indeed, he seems to grow young with years. Even before he proceeded to England for further Law studies, Prakasam had already made a name both as a lawyer and as a public spirited man; and, while in England, he was an enthusiastic supporter of Dadabhai Naoroji during the latter’s Parliamentary election campaign. Prakasam gave an indication of his mettle long before he returned as a Barrister, when, as a young man of barely thirty, he succeeded in getting elected as the Chairman of the Rajahmundry Municipality against such formidable forces as represented by the late N. Subba rau Pantulu and late (Sir) M. Ramachandra Rau Pantulu.

Prakasam mentions in his Autobiography how even muncipal elections used to rouse the worst passions among otherwise very sober and respectable persons, and how, to vent their spite against him, some of his opponents did not hesitate to involve him in a murder case. In this respect our country has, perhaps, progressed little even after two generations. Prakasam humorously mentions, too, how greatly his former Principal, Metcalfe of the Government College, Rajahmundry, was surprised to find him in London, since the good old Professor who knew Prakasam’s boyhood episodes too well could hardly expect to see him changed into a polished and promising student of Gray’s Inn.

Prakasam had a brilliant career as a Barrister and commanded a lucrative practice both in Madras and mofussil courts. He was for some time the President of the Madras Bar Association and Editor of the Madras Law Times. No wonder, being of an independent and full-blooded nature, many a time he had hot exchanges with the Hon’ble members of the Bench. Although he soon came to be known a ‘troublesome man’, nonetheless he was respected for his fearless and dignified demeanour.

Prakasam was among the earliest in the South to come under the magic spell of the Mahatma, and with his characteristic self-abandon he plunged without second thoughts into the Non-Cooperation movement. The Daily Swarajya, which he started, was altogether a new and forceful feature of resurgent nationalist journalism during the nineteen-twenties. Prakasam staked his all and, it is said, even the considerable property of his wife in his journalistic venture. No douubt, Swarajya cost him his last penny literally, but, one doubts whether he has any regrets at all, for, it is not in Prakasam’s nature to regret or look behind. Several of his early Swarajya associates as, for instance, Sardar Panikkar, Khasa Subba Rau, K. Ramakotiswara Rau, Kripanidhi and Iswara Dutt, have since achieved distinction both as journalists and publicists, and it speaks volumes for Prakasam’s character and the affectionate esteem he commands that his erstwhile associates still remember the old exciting and exacting days of the Swarajya with pride.

Prakasam had always been in the forefront of the nation’s struggle for freedom, and during the Salt Satyagraha days of the nineteen-thirties, when lathi charges and firings were frequent, it was the courageous example set by leaders like Prakasam and Sambamurti that largely helped to keep up the public morale in the South.

Prakasam is not a fire-eating orator, but is quite an impressive speaker both on the public platform as well as in parliamentary debates. He shows a most dogged persistence in mastering the various aspects of any problem he takes up. The monumental Prakasam Report on the Madras Estates is an excellent instance. Both as a public leader and administrator, with his vast experience, broad sympathies and readiness to respond to public duty, he has proved immensely popular. That the producer-cum-consumer co-operative and Khadi self-sufficiency schemes, which he sponsored when he was the Chief Minister of Madras, have not received a fair trial, unfortunately, shows that while one may swear by the Mahatma it is not always safe to be overzealous in putting into practice the Gandhian ideas.

That the unseating of the Prakasam Ministry, ever since which public life in Madras has steadily deteriorated, constitutes one of the major public tragedies in the recent history of Madras seems to be gradually realised even by those that found fault with Prakasam’s administration for some reason or other. Except that he tends to be frank to the point of bluntness at times and, perhaps, a little wanting in that elusive quality, namely, tactfulness, especially in appeasing certain influential interests, Prakasam could hardly be charged with any lapse, administrative or otherwise. So, the one fault of Prakasam, it appears, is his want of diplomacy which, by the way, seems to be a general fault with the Andhras, for, is it not the case that they pay dearly quite often by rubbing a right cause the wrong way!

Few in our country can boast of so courageous and selfless a record of public service as that of Prakasam and, no wonder, when Prakasam was dislodged from the Madras Ministry it was certainly not he and his loyal colleagues that fell from popular esteem. Indeed, the popular reaction was one of deep disappointment at the turn of events. While Prakasam has paid too dearly for his ‘obstinate’ convictions, his great qualities seem to have received neither ample recognition nor have they been properly utilised for the benefit of the country. It is but natural that the populace should entertain fond expectations to see Prakasam once again occupy high office. But, whether this happens or not, Prakasam will ever continue to be the People’s Hero.

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