Bhagya Reddy Varma (22 May 1888 – 18 February 1939), born as Madari Bagaiah^[1][2] was an Indian political leader, social reformer and activist. He fought against untouchability in Hyderabad State.^[3] He also fought for abolition of Jogini and Devdasi systems.^[4]

Early life

Reddy was born into Hindu Mala caste of Madari Venkaiah and Julia Ragmamba in the Princely State of Hyderabad.^[5]

Movements

Before B. R. Ambedkar, Varma started his movement and after it was inspired by Ambedkar and Jyotirao Phule, Varma raised his voice against discrimination by upper castes. Eventually, he also established the Adi Hindu ("Original Hindu"), a social organisation, to bring awareness to the Dalits. In 1906, he formed a group called Jagan Mitra Mandali, which involved Dalits and Malas, and started telling stories using Harikatha (popular folklore). In 1910, he started to educate Dalit children, and in a short span of time he was able to run 25 centers with 2000 students.

• 1911: Adi Hindu social services started
• 1912: promoted Buddhism

In 1917, in a conference in Vijayawada town, the Pratam Andhra - Adi Hindu meeting was held. In the same year, Bhagya Reddy Verma's speech attracted M.K Gandhi's attention at the 'Akhila Bharata Hindu' Round Table Conference in Calcutta. In 1919 a meeting was held with Jangamulu, Dasulu and Mulnavasi, for the Adi Hindu beneficial program. The purpose of this event was to resolve the internal issues in the Dalit community; he even insisted that the panchayat court system be rebuilt. The first Adi Hindu conference was held in 1921 in Hyderabad led by T.J. Papanna.

In 1925, in a conference led by N.M.R. Mukund Reddy which had been officially allotted to him as chief head who led this meeting successfully. In same year, the Adi Hindu Hand Skills Exhibition was held to showcase the Dalits' skills. Bhagya Reddy also campaigned on many social issues, e.g - Child Marriage, Black Magic, Women's Education, Alcohol prohibition, etc. His work spread to the neighboring states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra and Andhra; from there some well-known people joined and followed the revolution.

In 1930, in an historical speech he announced bringing Dalit issues to British notice in the upcoming All India Round Table Conference at Lucknow in the same year. He proposed to send Dr. B. R. Ambedkar to lead the group. The agenda was to recognize the Dalits as Adi Hindu, rather than untouchables, Mala or Madiga.^[6]

In 1931, the Nizam government came forward to agree with the demands of Reddy and registered the Dalits as Adi Hindus in the general elections. Nizam Osman Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VII praised Reddy for his social work, and recognised it with an award. Later, the Nizam appointed Varma as the chief adviser to his government. Adi Hindu Bhavan at Chadarghat, Hyderabad had been the platform for many revolutionary meetings. It is said that he gave nearly 3,348 speeches.

The Bhagya Memorial Girls High School at Esamia Bazar, Koti, Hyderabad, Telangana, which he started in 1913, is still functioning.

Reddy had launched a movement against the devadasi pratha, forcing the Nizam to declare it a crime.

During the Telangana Movement in 2017, the students of Telangana region wanted to rename the G. M. C. Balayogi Athletic Stadium at Gachibowli as Bhagya Reddy Varma Stadium.^[7]

Honour

In 1913, Arya Samaj organised a function to honour Bhagya Reddy Varma with the title Varma.

References

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