Prakash Hitnalli, veteran trade union activist and farmers leader, died in Vijayapura on Tuesday.
He was 83. He was unmarried and lived alone in his native village of Hitnalli.
As per his wishes, his neighbours donated the body to the BLDE B.M. Patil Medical College.
In May this year, he was among the four activists who were invited to inaugurate the May Sahitya Sammelan in Vijayapura. He spoke against the trend of creative writing that remains oblivious to the current social and political developments.
“In response to his felicitation then, Mr. Hitnalli read out a poem that could inspire the youth towards pro-people activism,” recalled Ladai Basu, convenor of the sammelan committee.
Born Prakash Kulkarni, he gave up caste indicative surname in the 1950s. He was fondly called Hitnalli Chacha by followers. He hailed from a zamindar family. But he distributed around 70 acres of his personal land among the poor landless and started living as a recluse. He was initially associated with the Congress but moved away to join the Communist Party of India due to the influence of leaders like Sangappa Managuli.
Mr. Hitnalli spent most of his life in pro-people struggles. He plunged into activism in his teens and joined the Praja Parishat that was active in some districts of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra. The parishat led protests by landless against the landed zamindars.
He was jailed for his pro-labour protests in 1959 and 1961. He also worked as a journalist for some time, for the Mumbai-based Jagruta Bharata magazine. He was an associate of socialist and communist leaders like S.S. Arakeri, Balasingh Master, Sadappa Akki, Rajappa Dubey and M.R. Layadagundi.
“Mr. Hitnalli was not just a socio-political activist. He a man of varied interests. He had a deep and wide reading of the arts, music, literature and socio-cultural trends in the country. He influenced a generation of writers and activists,” recalls Sanat Kumar Belagali, writer, activist and close associate of Mr. Hitnalli.
“His ideology was not rigid. He was an associate of socialist, communist and Ambedkarite activists. It is a rare trait among activists who are committed to one ideology. He lived a simple life and was very accessible. He had to face the wrath of traders and commission agents for leading a protest by head load workers in 1969,” said Ramzan Dargah, writer who participated in a protest at the Vijayapura Agriculture Produce Market Yard.
