H.R. Naveen Kumar, Hassan district president of Karnataka Pranta Raitha Sangha (KPRS), has come out with a book ‘Kadana Kana’ (Battlefield), based on his travel to Delhi to take part in the farm protest.
As a representative of the KPRS, he stayed put with the protesters in Delhi for 10 days in January 2021. He spent his days interacting with the protesters, farm leaders and taking photos of events at the Delhi borders. He chose to narrate his experiences besides discussing the issues that forced the farmers to hit the streets in large numbers in his book.
“I did not travel to Delhi to write a book. It happened as the days went by. My plan was to take part in the protest as an activist, representing my organisation. As I started sharing my experience on a daily basis on social media platforms, friends suggested that I bring out a book”, said Naveen, who hails from a farmer’s family of Narasipura near Hassan.
Being a leader of KPRS, Naveen has organised many protests on farm issues. He had also been to prison following a protest in Hassan. But what he witnessed in Delhi was historic in terms of the scale of people’s turnout and the issues it involved. “I called the book Kadana Kana because I felt I was on the battlefield. The powerful government has waged a war on its own citizens, fighting for just demands. I felt a mini-India is on the streets in Delhi protesting in the interest of the country’s future”, he said.
The author explained the arrangements made by the organisers to sustain the protest so long and how the local people had been extending their help to the protesters. “Hundreds of residents of Delhi visit the protest sites in the weekend and interact with the protesters.”
When he was in Delhi, a couple of Ministers in Karnataka had ridiculed the protesters by calling them anti-nationals. Naveen said he was upset with such statements. “As an activist, I wish to raise funds from the public to sponsor a trip for such politicians to Delhi. Let them spend a day with them and comeback. No person, who spends a day with the protesters in Delhi, would pass such a comment”, he opined.
The book was launched in Hassan at a programme organised at the CITU office on Saturday. Senior journalist R.P.Venkateshamurthy; Professor in Political Science C. Suresh; activist and writer K.S. Ravi Kumar; and district CITU president Dharmesh attended the programme.
The book, published by Kriya Madhyama, is priced at ₹120.
