Dileep Kamat : in the footsteps of Mahatma

Hailing from Belgaum District of Karnataka State, Dileep Kamat has been in the forefront of social action since his young days, having two freedom fighters for his parents. There is tinge of understandable pride in him when he says that his father Shrirang Kamat was one of those fighters wanted by the British Government. There was a prize money of Rs. 5,000/- (a huge amount in those days) on his head. But there is flip-side to it. ”When my father was in jail, I didn’t want to go and see him. I told my mother that I didn’t want to see my father in a cage.” Coming from such a background, is there any wonder if Dileep took to life of service to people? “I must admit that I did have a happy childhood and I could have followed the herd and tried to advance in life in the conventional sense. But something drew me away from that kind of life.” He left home and hearth at the young age of eighteen. “Like my father I too was a great admirer of Gandhi and his ideals. Of course, as a youngster, like so many youngsters even now are, I was attracted to the Fabian, Russell and Marx philosophies.” In the early 70s, he joined the student movement and set up a study circle whose aim was in understanding society and its needs. “I’m more than doubly convinced that unless the common people participate rural development can have no growth.”

Earlier his area of social action was in Maharashtra. The Bhil tribals of the Dhulia District were exploited by Gujjar landlords. The Bhils remained helpless without a leader to take up their cause. Unexpectedly, though somewhat belatedly, a leader sprang up from among them – Amber Singh. He called for civil society support. Dileep eagerly answered his call. I was an ardent Marxist then and I felt that there could not be any development without the proletarian participation.” An interesting aspect of this mass mobilization was that Amar Singh adopted the novel method of knitting the people through bhajan melas where group participation is imperative. “I don’t know how it worked. But it did work. These bhajan melas did bring the people together.” And Dileep had the first hand participatory experience of seeing a mass movement that led to the reclamation of ten thousand acres by the Bhils from the usurping Gujjar landlords.

By this time his friends in Belgaum wanted him back. And he returned. He became a part of a study circle and inspired it to be more specific by involving itself in unorganized rural and urban working class. He was able to help form two unions in the textile (power loom) sector and one In Indian Aluminium Industries. With their cooperation he took up issues of corruption, problems of water shortage, sanitation etc. Power loom workers who were not recognized regular workers were able to get the status of regulars and minimum wages were raised. He is of the opinion that concerted and never-say-die effort would achieve the desired result. To cite an example, he pointed out an achievement of Kanapur taluka. The Sani tribals there were able to bring in electricity to their village within six months, without paying any bribes, which would have been the norm to prevent beauraucratic delay. “Mind you, this was achieved through women power; they sat in Dharna in front of the district head quarters, till the powers- that-be acceded to their demand.”

An incident Dileep narrated belies the general perception of rural women as un-empowered illiterates. When the casual workers of the power-loom industry, the major employer of the district, the regular employees, in solidarity, too went on strike. The strike was declared illegal. “We of the action committee decided to flout the ban. We held a mammoth meeting. Over fifteen thousand people came to it along with a large number of women. We went ahead with the strike. ”When the action committee members were being arrested, the women present demanded that they too should be arrested. They forced their way into the police vans but were dragged out. Finally the Sub-inspector himself had to beat up his own men to assuage the vehement fury of the women.

Suave, gentle and educated Dileep, one would think, is not of the mettle that goes into a powerful leader. “I may not be anywhere near Gandhi. But I agree with the quote; power corrupts; and absolute power corrupts absolutely. You can’t catch me any catch-as-catch-can power game.

He is a family man and his wife, a librarian in a local college, gives him full support in his activities. He laughs and says, “At last one of us should work.”

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