Who makes up the civil society and what does it do? With the Karnataka election results having been announced and the Congress party registering a thumping majority, it’s a good time to take a closer look at the civil society movement and its role in Karnataka for the past few years. Civil society includes activists, ordinary citizens, lawyers, doctors, designers, NGOs - a whole cross section of society representing various shades of caste, religion, gender and other identities. Karnataka is fortunate to have a strong civil society which was active in the past few years and played a key role in the outcome of this election. This article details how it did so.
In December 2019, speaking at a rally in support of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), Tejasvi Surya, an MP representing the Bharatiya Janata Party, gave a speech, calling Muslims puncture-wallahs and raining hatred on the community. Even as he went around defending the CAA and National Register of Citizens (NRC), making hate speech after hate speech, a protest was organised against these legislations, bang opposite his office in Jayanagar. The protest had been called by ‘Naava bharateeyaru’, a broad coalition of civil society organisations including Dalit, Muslim, Christian, Women, Trans and Left groups. At least 5000 people gathered to defend the Constitution and condemn the NRC-CAA legislation.
Even as the BJP rammed the CAA legislation through Parliament, protests erupted nation-wide and in Karnataka and Bangalore in particular, it was resisted strongly. In Bangalore, the resistance started in December 2019. A protest against the NRC had been called for at the Bangalore Town Hall. The night before the protest, the government imposed Section 144. Ignoring the prohibitory orders thousands of Bangaloreans came to Town Hall. The police detained people and took them away but more and more people kept coming till the police finally gave up. The protest ended that day after the police agreed to release all the detainees.
Every repressive move by the BJP government in Karnataka or at the national level was met with resistance. The wide-spread civil society resistance may not have succeeded in overturning many of their moves but has definitely struck a chord with the people of Karnataka.
Through the COVID pandemic, civil society kept the pressure on the government. Civil society gave calls for candle light vigils critiquing the government’s lack of efforts to provide buses and relief for migrant workers and the efforts to communalise even the pandemic. The civil society coalition Mercy Mission stood up to the occasion and did what an empathic state ought to have done in terms of relief.
Post the first lockdown, when people were still recovering, the BJP government at the centre and state brought in the farm laws. On September 28, 2020, there was a sea of colours at the Town Hall. Aikya Horata, an umbrella coalition of farmer groups, Dalit organisations and trade unions had called for a Karnataka Bandh against the farm laws brought in by the Union government and the state’s move to amend the Karnataka Land Reforms Act.
Blue flags of the Dalit Sangharsh Samiti, the Green shawls of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, Red flags of the trade unions mingled with the red and yellow Karnataka flag to make a vibrant rainbow. Auto unions, Karnataka Rakshana Vedike and others had also joined the protest. The protests against the farm laws took place in every district in Karnataka, and in several taluks. Women farmers of Nammoora Bhoomi Namagirali held placards in their fields and put it up on social media.
The BJP failed the people in every sector, and in every sector there was strong resistance. In early 2022, the BJP ushered in an illegal hijab ban affecting thousands of Muslim girl students. Bahutva Karnataka, Students Islamic Organisation and other groups supported students in filing complaints against the harassment. This was one issue where the civil society resistance was much smaller than it could have been though. The government then piled on the indignity by asking for bans on halal food, boycott of muslim traders etc.
The islamophobic nature of the state meant that they came down on open protests as well. Even when Bahutva Karnataka organised the one protest in Bangalore against the hijab ban, the police cancelled it first and then allowed it. The Muslim community called for a voluntary hartal shutting their own shops to protest against the illegal actions of the state.
In response to this barrage of hate, civil society groups came forward to organise a healing effort by calling for a ‘Samarasya Nadige and Sahabalve Samavesha’ - a walk for harmony and a convention for coexistence in Udupi. More than 10,000 people from across Karnataka including religious leaders from all faiths came down to Udupi and spoke of the need to fight hate with love. The run-up to the Samavesha saw a viral social media campaign where posters with quotes from Kuvempu, Santa Shishunala Sharif, Akka Mahadevi, Basavanna brought the focus on Karnataka’s syncretic culture. The Samarasya Nadige with huli-vesha and other folk performances leading it touched people across the country!
The government then sought to remove the writers and revolutionary spirits who inspired the Samavesha, Kuvempu, Basavanna from the textbooks. In an effort to give a brahminical thrust to books, the government dropped the works of several progressive authors and made it seem like Basavanna endorsed the caste system. The protests against this saw many OBC community mutts (monastery) also hit the streets along with Dalit groups, Muslim groups and educationists. The government withdrew some changes under pressure. The whole revision exposed the brahmanical tilt of the current BJP dispensation.
Like the Samavesha, resistance from civil society in Karnataka has been spirited, impactful and challenged the government in its various anti-people policies. Women workers across the state put up spirited protests in defence of their rights and demanded job security and fair wages. Powrakarmikas went on a state-wide strike and the Bommai government, which promised to reguarise them, betrayed the assurance. National Health Mission (NHM) workers were on a long agitation with no response from the government and they resolved to vote this government out. Anganwadi workers braved the winter cold and slept on the road for three days in January, shaming the government into action.
Women’s groups also put the government on the mat. They protested against the government move to shut down Santwana Kendras, a source of support for survivors of domestic and sexual violence. The women’s day march of 2022 saw a spirited resistance to the hijab ban. Naveddu Nilladiddare organised a huge campaign around the release of the rapists of Bilkis Bano. They didn't just collect signatures but actually engaged in conversations with thousands of people across Karnataka and sent postcards to the Chief Justice of India.
The severe repression and politics of hate by the BJP brought many groups together. The Dalit Sangharsa Samiti, which had split into many factions, came together to organise a massive convention on the Mahaparinirvan Dina on December 6, 2022. The convention saw the participation of over a lakh people from across the state. The convention’s resolution included calls to defeat fascist forces and withdrawal of the anti-conversion law, cattle slaughter law and other anti-farmer and anti-worker laws. Holeya and Madiga communities came together to demand internal reservation.
In March and April this year, the prices of coconuts crashed and associations of coconut farmers held a month-long protest in Tiptur. The protest was so strong that the BJP pre-election rally skipped Tiptur to avoid the protesters.
As the elections were announced, several civil society groups worked to ensure a democratic and pro-people election process. Given the extent of dissatisfaction and anguish against this government, several social groups from across districts came together under the leadership of intellectuals like Devanoor Mahadeva, Rehmat Tarikere, Du Saraswati, Purushottam Bilimale to form ‘Eddelu Karnataka.’ This coalition did multiple actions - ensuring new voters are enrolled into the rolls, held press meets and conventions across the state to inform people about the failures of this government. Pamphlets highlighting the issues people faced because of this regime were printed and distributed in lakhs.
Slum Janandolana Karnataka organised a door-to-door sticker campaign, highlighting their demands and released a manifesto for slum residents as well. Samyukta Horata, an umbrella farmers, dalits and workers groups also released their manifesto.
The campaign against hate speech, which has been instrumental in ensuring that media houses which spew hate are held to account, was very active. Their pamphlets illustrated the effects of hate speech and how ordinary people can complain against the same. Complaints filed by the campaign ensured FIRs were registered against Eshwarappa and Muniratna.
The civil society forum released its peoples’ manifesto ahead of the manifestos of political parties asking them to include the points they highlighted.
Bahutva Karnataka, a broad coalition working to ensure that Karnataka retains its plural cultures released a series of report cards on the performance of this government. This review was undertaken by academicians and civil society members as a measure to bring about accountability to our political system.
The report cards highlighted the several failures of the BJP Government. The education report highlighted how Karnataka was No.1 in teacher vacancies in government schools. The nutrition report card highlighted the several ways in which the government has affected nutrition - cutting funds for Indira Canteens, stopping the supply of dry rations to school kids during the pandemic, bringing in a cattle slaughter law which affected the nutrition of several marginalised communities.
The report cards on federalism showed how the Karnataka government failed to stand its ground and conceded power to Delhi on cultural, social and economic fronts. The government scored only an E or F in all the report cards. These report cards were used by other civil society groups to make instagram posts, pamphlets and websites which give information to voters.
The BJP government tried to undermine democracy by unleashing waves of hatred but civil society groups ensured that the democratic space was not lost and relentlessly focussed on its many failures. Civil society ensured that the BJP government is held accountable and the people at large are made aware of the failures. The ‘double engine sarkaara’ myth was busted and the fact that it is a ‘trouble engine sarkaara’ became firmly entrenched. The Constitution of the country will continue to be defended in the streets of the country in the days to come.
Vinay Kooragayala Sreenivasa works for Bahutva Karnataka, a broad coalition formed to uphold the plural values of Karnataka. With inputs from Maitreyi K, Tanveer Ahmed, and Usha Rao. The organisation is on Twitter as @bahutvaktka.