Sarvodaya plan to reform brigand

By A.Jayaram

BANGALORE, AUG. 23. Even as the attention of the governments of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are centred on the safe release of Mr. Rajkumar and three others from the clutches of Veerappan, some of the Sarvodaya workers in the State are working on securing the surrender of the forest brigand.

The thinking of the Sarvodaya workers is to put an end to the Veerappan menace once for all through the Gandhian means, which cannot but be surrender and reforming the outlaw.

Some preliminary efforts are already under way and Mr. Ashwathanarayana, Secretary of the Karnataka Sarvodaya Mandal, has made efforts. He recently made an attempt to establish contact with Veerappan through some well meaning people living in places such as Gobichettypalyam, Sathyamangala and Talawadi in Tamil Nadu and also Chamarajanagar and Mysore in the State. Some of those detained earlier by Veerappan are sought to be used. Also a Mysore advocate, Mr. Venugopal, who had appeared for some of the associates of Veerappan who were facing trial in a Mysore court before the State Government withdrew the TADA cases against them.

The Sarvodaya workers in the State have been encouraged by the way Acharya Vinobha Bhave in 1961 and Jayaprakash Narayan in 1973 secured the surrender of a large number of Chambal Valley dacoits in Madhya Pradesh. Mr. S.N.Subba Rao, noted Sarvodaya leader from the State, had worked with JP in bringing about the surrender of about 500 dacoits. Vinobha had secured the surrender of about 20 dreaded dacoits including Tahsildar Singh (son of the most feared ringleader of the dacoits, Man Singh), Madho Singh and Lokman Dikshit. All of them had joined the Sarvodaya movement. Tahsildar and Dikshit had visited the City in the Seventies and addressed public meetings.

It may be mentioned that Man Singh was shot dead by the erstwhile Madhya Bharat police in 1955. The Home Minister of that State which merged with Madhya Pradesh, Mr. Narasingh Dikshit, had played a pivotal role in the elimination of the dacoit who is stated to continue as a folk hero. In recent years a statue of Man Singh was installed in a village in Morena District of Madhya Pradesh.

But a problem faced by the Sarvodaya leaders in the State is the absence of towering personalities who can win over Veerappan and persuade him to surrender.

Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Ashwathanarayana said the Veerappan issue had been complicated by the fact that over the years, he had come under the influence of Tamil extremist and chauvinistic organisations such as the Tamil Nadu National Liberation Army and Tamil Nation Retrieval Troops. He also noted that the villagers in and around the forests in which he was operating were unhelpful with regard to Veerappan and his whereabouts for various reasons. Mr. Ashwathanarayana also noted that some of the quarryowners in the area had contacts with Veerappan. He had also heard that members of Mr. Rajkumar's family themselves owned a quarry in that area.

The Sarvodaya workers are going ahead undaunted by the difficulties ahead and the fact that so far there have been no takers for their plan. They also expect Veerappan to come out with tall demands before he agreed to surrender.

It may be mentioned that some of the Congress(I) leaders have exerted pressure on the Chief Minister, Mr. S.M.Krishna, to pardon Veerappan and secure the release of Mr. Rajkumar and the others.

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