Karamchedu massacre

Some landlords in that area raised cotton, tobacco and other cash crops with traditional crops to become rich in the area. They grew strong in different industries.

Malas, Madigas, and Yerukulas were living side by side in Karamchedu. After NTR had formed the Telugu Desam Party, almost all castes joined it. Many dalits choose to remain in the Congress Party, but most Madigas decided to support the TDP as there was an Arch rivalry between Malas and Madigas (Malas had managed to dominate reservation for dalits in Andhra Pradesh). NTR's son-in-law and Chenchuramaiah's son Daggubati Venkateswara Rao contested as an MLA and got hold of power.

Potina Seenu and Rayineedu Prasad took their buffaloes to a water tank in Madigapalle. They fed the buffaloes with washings of rice in buckets. While they were washing the buckets in the tank, Katti Chandraiah, a Dalit boy, aggressively objected. Then, Munnangi Suvaartha, a Madiga woman, came to the tank to collect water. She attacked the boys who were washing the buckets. A few local landlords were outraged that their children were attacked by the Madigas, and retaliated by doing an attack on the Madigas. Duddu Moshe, Duddu Ramesh, Tella Yehoshua, Tella Moshe, Tella Muthaiah and Duddu Abraham passed away eventually. [5]

Subsequent to the attack, the People's War Group brutally murdered the key accused Daggubati Chenchu Ramaiah, father of Venkateswara Rao. The agitations of Dalits under the banner of Dalitha Mahasabha (DMS) led by Katti Padma Rao, a radical dalit writer, made the government accept all their demands, including naming of about 150 people accused in the case.

The government announced a special package for the victims. The government provided jobs to all the family members of the victims in addition to granting agriculture land, industries, and loans. The separate Vijayanagar Colony was constructed to cool the frayed tempers of Dalits.

Bojja Tharakam — a well-known poet, writer, social and political activist, and a senior human rights advocate — resigned from the High Court as a sign of protest in 1984 against the Karamchedu massacre.

The trial court in Ongole convicted 159 people to life imprisonment, which was later struck down by the Andhra Pradesh High Court. Though a special leave petition was filed in the Supreme Court on 24 October 1998, it was on 19 December 2008 — 10 years later — that a bench of the apex court, consisting of Justice B N Agarwal and Justice G S Singhvi, upheld the conviction of the trial court. However, it sentenced the main accused, Anjaiah, to life term and 29 others to three years of jail in the case. Justice (retd) M N Rao appeared on behalf of the state of Andhra Pradesh at the proceedings.

In 1994, the additional sessions judge, Guntur, had given life sentences to five accused and three years' imprisonment for several others. However, a division bench of the AP High Court set aside the conviction on 24 July 1998 and acquitted the accused.[6]

There are two cases with identical charges of conspiracy, rioting, and murder against them. The police had 94 people as the accused in their case for trial; in the other case, by the Dalits, another 70 have been named.[7]

After examining 90 witnesses from among the Dalits, the third Additional Munsif Magistrate, Chirala, M. Ramadas felt there was a prima facie case against 140 out of the 164 accused. Of them, 49 were charged with murder, and the others with rioting and unlawful assembly.[8]

• Dalit

• The Report
• History of Karamchedu and what actually happened ?