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Ammembala Balappa

(1922 – 2014) – (Karnataka)

Ammembala Balappa (Aged 92) an Indian freedom fighter and socialist leader, was born on 23 February 1922 in Bantwal taluk, Dakshina Kannada, Karnataka, India. He is known for participating in the Quit India Movement in 1942. In his early days, he worked as a helper of a British officer in the Mangalore administration.

At the age of 20, he took inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi and joined India’s freedom struggle during the Quit India Movement in 1942. With the help of some of his friends, he planted a crude bomb that burnt down the office of the District Court Complex at Light House Hill Road in Bavatagudda of Mangalore.

He was arrested and jailed in Vellore Central Prison, where he shared a ward with P. V. Narasimha Rao (who later became Prime Minister of India). He learnt to speak and read the Hindi language from PV Narasimha Rao and got in touch with Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Jayaprakash Narayan. Later, he opened a school in a remote village in southern Karnataka, where he worked as a Hindi teacher during the Unification movement.

He became involved in the labour movement in Mangalore and started cooperative banks to help rural folk. He was one of the main contributors to the Declaration of Land Policy (Land reforms Act) by the D. Devaraj Urs government during PM Indira Gandhi’s tenure. He passed away on 15 May 2014 in Mangalore, Karnataka, India.