Communist ecosystem notorious for creating fake narratives, has this time taken up a new project in Telangana – to create the legend of a fake hero: George Reddy.

A movie eulogizing him will be released shortly and as a precursor marketing exercise, a series of articles have started appearing in some dailies like Hans India & some social media platforms. Some of the articles have gone as far as presenting him as a messiah.

This piece will attempt to bring to fore that side of his life which is being hidden from people.

Emergence of George Reddy in Osmania University : :

In 1969-70, a small group eulogizing Argentine Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara emerged in Osmania University under George Reddy.

George came from a troubled childhood. His mother was a Christian from Kerala and father belonged to Chittoor district. They separated when George was eight years old.

During his college days , he was inspired by the emerging Naxalite movement in Naxalbari and started reading Marxism. George indoctrinated a handful of students with Che’s ideology and gave them training in using weapon such as knuckle-dusters, blades and knives. They camouflaged their political ideology by associating themselves with NSUI, the student wing of Congress and direct patronage from Congress leaders.. He used to release pamphlets under the name ‘PDS’. This acronym was later used to form the PDSU or the Progressive Democratic Students Union.

George Reddy’s emergence coincided with rise of Naxal Terror:

This development coincided with the armed uprising in distant Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh. That phase of naxal insurgency lasted for four years (1968-72) during which 156 ‘class enemies’ were eliminated by naxals. This innocuous figure was no indicator of the terror let loose by them. A large number of people including women and children were mercilessly thrashed. Hundreds had lost limbs. To frighten the common people and to prevent them from giving evidence in courts, the armed squads exhibited medieval barbarism. They used to chop body into pieces in front of wailing family members after killing an opponent. They used to severe the head of their target and hang it to a bamboo pole in the very courtyard of the victim’s house. In some instances, the chopped heads of the victims were hung to the doors and rafters. A number of opponents were tortured to death before dazed and wailing near and dear ones. They used to dip their hands in the blood of the victims and used their blood as ink to scribble slogans on the walls.

George Reddy : A votary of barbaric violence

George Reddy was also cast in the same mould. In his book ‘Maoism’ Sri Piratla Venkateshwalu , wrote that George used to instigate the new recruits with the slogan

” You are not a true communist, until your hands are not soaked in the blood of the class enemy ”

There were 14 criminal cases against him since 1968. In 1970, he stabbed two students of Law College in the Osmania University campus. Neither Osmania University nor any other educational institution in Andhra Pradesh earlier witnessed such intimidating violence. The violence shook not only the students and academics circles but had reverberations across the state. The University Syndicate rusticated him. However, the Vice-Chancellor had to revoke the rustication within few weeks due to pressure exerted by some fellow-travellers.

It is now being propagated that George Reddy was winning elections in OU. The truth, however, is otherwise. In 1970, the ABVP won large number of Student Unions in Hyderabad and Telangana. George Reddy’s nominee for Osmania University Science College union lost the election. This made him bitter and he decided to take revenge on ABVP and also teach a lesson to the general students.

Terror on OU campus by George Reddy

George Reddy was actively used by the splinter groups within the Congress party which was going through an internal power struggle. The Communists were in strategic alliance with the Congress.

In August 1971, George and his gang used to roam around in Hyderabad in APCC jeep at freewill and struck terror. They abducted ABVP activist Ch. Narasimha Reddy, a PG student, from his hostel room in the Osmania University Campus and thrashed him severely with hockey sticks and rods. This was followed by an attack on Ch.Vidyasagar Rao, President of Law College Union. His jaw was dislocated and had to be hospitalized for several weeks. The group then picked up another ABVP leader Narayan Das from his residence, beat him severely and abandoned him in a remote location assuming he was dead.

This attack was followed by another attack in which N. Indrasena Reddy, Secretary of Hyderabad ABVP unit, Surdas Reddy and other activists received serious head injuries. The then Congress Government preferred to turn blind eye to these heinous criminal acts. George Reddy’s murderous attacks on ABVP activists continued unabated. The count of those injured swelled each passing day.

Death of George Reddy & After:

During the campaign for the Student Union elections of OU Engineering College, scheduled in April 1972, George Reddy raided the Engineering Hostel with his armed goons to terrorize the common students.

George neither belonged to the college nor was he resident there. Whereas the candidate who was contesting against George’s group was a resident of the hostel. What business did George have in raiding the Engineering college hostel if the intentions were not hostile ? George Reddy lost his life in that clash.

The postmortem report which was enclosed with the Charge-sheet discloses very interesting facts which the public didn’t know. A knife and a lethal weapon called knuckle- duster was found concealed in George Reddy’s clothes. Knuckle duster is a specially made weapon shaped like a hand with claws and nails. It is worn on the hands and is used to beat, scratch and claw opponents. It also came to light later that George Reddy used this weapon against his opponents in the past too.

The newspapers came out with banner headlines indicting ABVP and RSS for murdering a NSUI leader. Unfortunately, none of the journalists bothered to check the extremist background of George Reddy. A section in the Congress sensed political opportunity in his death and used its might to exploit the incident and tried to crush ABVP. The cartage of the dead body, led by Congress leader S.Jayapal Reddy, was deliberately halted in front of the State Headquarters of RSS in Hyderabad and inflammatory slogans were raised. Some even tried to jump over the gate.

Former Chief Minister Kasu Brahmanand Reddy, who was also a Christian paid a visit to the family of George Reddy to express his solidarity. Some leaders from the Congress, CPI and CPM submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to take stringent action against the RSS. But the Intelligence Wing of the Police knew what this group was upto.

ABVP activists Charge sheeted, High Court Cleared Them:

The Police charge-sheeted nine people including six ABVP activists. They remained in jail for six months until acquitted by the trial court. On the day of their release, the NSUI took out a procession in the campus shouting objectionable slogans such as: “Not the Courts but we pronounce the judgment and will punish them.” The Government went in appeal to the High Court. But the High Court upheld the lower court’s judgment. The incident and the legal battle put a lot of strain on the ABVP.

End Note :

As per MHA report, the violence unleashed by the forces that George Reddy represented have claimed the lives of over 12000 people in the last two decades ( 1996 to 2018 ) of which close to 8000 are civilians. The BBC put this number at 6000 in its report. It is in the interest of society that such violent and misguided individuals are not eulogized but presented for what they represent, viz hatred, jealousy & violence motivated by narcissism. The cloak that they put on must be unmasked.

Sources :

‘Seven Decades My Journey with an Ideology’ by Prof S.V.Seshagiri Rao.

Struggle Against Nation Splitters

BBC report : 1st July 2010

MHA : 1st Oct 2017

South Asian Terrorism Portal

Archive – Jagriti Weekly, 1972