When people as well as the administration become insensitive to history and its significance, ancient structures that are witness to important historical incidents get buried. This is what has happened in the case of ‘Jakani Bavi’ (Jakani well) in Dharwad — it has been literally buried.
If you ask any resident of Dharwad for Jakani Bavi, they will guide you to the place or give directions. And as you reach the place, you see various shops and commercial establishments displaying boards having Jakani Bavi Road or circle mentioned on them. But if you stop to look for the old well that was known as Jakani Bavi, you will see no trace of it.
It was at this very junction, way back in July 1921, that three freedom fighters and activists of the Khilafat Movement laid their lives. Mallikasab bin Mardansab, Goususab bin Khadarsab, and Abdul Gaffar Chautai were those brave hearts who faced the bullets of the British forces and lost their lives on July 1, 1921. They were among the large crowd that had gathered for picketing before an arrack shop near Jakani Bhavi in Dharwad to register their protest against the arrest of six of their fellow activists. Those were the days when the non-cooperation movement had spread across the country and Dharwad residents had begun actively participating in it. The firing resulted in the death of three and injuries to 39 people.
