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Dinakara Desai

(1909 – 1982) – (Karnataka)

Dinakara Desai (Aged 73) was born on 10 September 1909 in Ankola, Uttara Kannada,Karnataka, India. He was a poet, writer, educationist, and political activist. He joined the Intermediate course in Bengaluru and continued with the degree course in Mysuru, completing B.A. in First class in 1931, and winning the Candy Award.

Initially, Desai intended to become a lawyer, but he was influenced by labour union activists M. N. Joshi and Thakkar Basha, who motivated him to contribute to the labour movement. The membership of this organization was very stringent, and members were admitted only on an oath that they would serve the country without expecting anything in return.

Desai’s initiation to social activism was when he had to fight for the rights of the dock workers in Mumbai, who were mainly Konkani people. He then decided to focus on his native district of Uttara Kannada, where he began an “agitation against the landlords”, which finally culminated in the law granting land ownership to the person who tills the land. He passed away on 6 November 1982 in Mumbai, India.