Well-known poet, writer, activist and intellectual from the Leftist-Ambedkarite school of thought U. Sambasiva Rao, popular by his pen name Usa, expired on Saturday in the early hours, while under treatment for COVID-19. He was 70, and is survived by daughter.
Sources informed that Usa had been suffering from diarrhoea for one week before he got tested for COVID-19. When situation worsened, he got admitted in a private hospital, where he stayed for two days before he passed away. Usa was born in Brahmanakodur village of Guntur district, and while in college, got attracted to rationalism and revolutionary politics. He was a member of Democratic Students Organisation, and later became a full time member of Unity Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India (Marxist-Leninist) of which Communist stalwart Tarimela Nagi Reddy was an important functionary.
He was arrested and spent time in jail during Emergency imposed by the then Congress government, and after release, was sent by the party to organise farmers in East Godavari district. Later he also worked with farmers in the drought-hit areas of Nalgonda districts such as Motkur, from where he eventually contested for the MLA seat, but lost. His exit from the party, along with Kancha Ilaiah, came when they together penned a statement on behalf of the party’s frontal organisation OPDR, naming the castes of the victims and perpetrators in Karamchedu massacre, Prof. Ilaiah recalled.
When another Marxist stalwart K.G. Satyamurthy came out of the People’s War Group, Usa joined him to start a magazine Edureetha , through which he propagated Ambedkarite thought. Through his writings, he always strove for Marxist-Ambedkarite alliance in people’s and progressive movements. Himself married out of the caste, Usa is also known for his ground work against honour killings pertaining to inter-caste marriages. Together with other like-minded persons, he launched Desi-Disa web channel to spread the Marx-Phule-Ambedkar ideology, and worked as State coordinator for Bahujana Pratighatana Vedika.
“Though he came out of the UCCRI (ML), he never spoke ill of the class struggles, and always tried to forge alliance between both the thoughts,” recalled Sujatha Surepally, his associate in the channel.
