Red Salute to the KGF Martyrs

Mining started at Kolar (Karnataka) in 1880. The workers were working in hazardous conditions for more than 12 hours per day without any safety. Everybody were working as contract labourers with a very meager payment & there was no other benefits.

Only in 1930 the workers organised themselves & went on a 24 days strike. The demand was to stop taking 10 fingerprints which was taken to identify & bring back the workers who escaped. Again in 1938 the workers went on to strike demanding to remove the handcuff like identity & asked for unionization. Vajravelu chettiar who was already identified with the struggles contacted Comrade. P Ramamurthy & both were instrumental in bringing Com K S Vasan (K S Vasan became the first Communist MLA of Karnataka) & V M Govindan to KGF to build the workers movement. Since their arrival in 1940 the trade union movement entered a new epoch.

The first trade union of Mysore state was registered in 1941. In the first trade union elections in 1943 the Red flag union won. In 1946 a historical strike of the mining workers was conducted under the leadership of the Red flag Union which was led by Com K.S.Vasan & V.M.Govindan for 78 days. 18 of the 26 workers demands were accepted. The British, Diwan, management & the opposition union who can’t tolerate the success of the struggle planned to kill Com. Vasan. He was stabbed severely but escaped death. Hearing the news 1000’s of workers gathered at Malayalee grounds, Marikuppam, to protest on 4th November 1946. The police opened fire & 6 young comrades were shot dead & martyred.

6 martyrs – Comrade Ramayyan, Kannan, Chinnappan, Kaliyappan, Subramani, Ramaswamy & also to Comrades K S Vasan,V M Govindan, Savaridoss, TS.Mani, Comrade Harry (who was murdered in 1982) & 1000’s of workers who have sacrificed their lives in BEML.

In the memory of the fallen comrades of KGF!, Long live the struggle for workers’ and peasants rights! The KGF martyrs live on!