Dadala Raphael Ramanayya
Dadala Raphael Ramanayya was an Indian nationalist leader who was instrumental in the merger of the French territory of Yanam into the Republic of India.
Early life
Ramanayya was born into a poor family from Farampeta, a tiny hamlet about two kilometers from Yanam. His father, Dadala Bhairvaswamy, was a farm worker; his mother's name was Ramanamma. Ramanayya was orphaned at the age of four and was taken under the care of his paternal grandmother Veeramma, alongside whom he had to work for food in the fields of landlords of the neighbouring villages. The French priests of Yanam Catholic Church, Father Artic and later Father Gangloff, took him under their patronage and educated him. Father Gangloff helped him to enter the high school of the Petit Seminaire college in Pondicherry and later to finish his Baccalaureate from the Government's Arts College, Pondicherry.In February 1932, during his student days, on the occasion of Mardi Gras and a fancy dress procession, a few European students were seen misbehaving in public with some girls from a high family. The governor dismissed the petitions sent to him, saying, "The youngsters had some fun in jovial mood. Nothing is offending in it." Ramanayya was indignant when the sons of the governor and other high officials escaped without even an apology to the parents of the girls. He organized a student group to protest this, and beat up some European students in retaliation. He was immediately arrested along with another student, but due to great public outcry he was ordered released by the Governor of Pondicherry.
In February 1933, he passed a competitive examination for French language teachers, and worked for about two months as a teacher in Bahour. Later he passed, with high marks, a competitive examination for appointment as a Sub-Inspector of Police in Mudaliarpet.
French police career
During this period, Sellane Naicker, though pro-French, had passed a bill in the assembly cutting the salaries of European officials. This enraged the French, who, through their cohorts, encouraged intimidation of Naicker's supporters in the municipal and assembly elections of 1934. Ramanayya made Mudaliarpet and all communes behind it, bastions against these goonda acts. This angered the French, and he was suspended from service by the Deputy Chief Justice. He was acquitted and reinstated three months later after a prolonged court battle.In 1936 André Ménard, the chef de cabinet and Secretary to the Governor's establishment, went into Bharati Mills to negotiate a settlement with striking workers, and was instead taken hostage pending fulfillment of their demands.
Ramanayya was the police officer in charge of the area, and he knew that any aggressive act against the French would be a serious affair that could harm the workers' safety, so he acted deftly to defuse the situation. With a swift surprise raid he entered the mills and liberated Ménard without any harm to either side.
After this incident he enjoyed great popularity among the French leadership in Pondicherry, some of whom even volunteered to be a godfather to his children. However, as happy as he was with his French friends, Ramanayya yearned to be an active part of the nationalist movement growing around him.
Entry into nationalist movement
After Indian Independence from British rule, and in deference to the feelings of "Mahatma" Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, France proposed a referendum in India to decide the fate of the French settlements. The referendum agreement was signed in June 1948. The main clause of this agreement expressly stated that there should be no internal or external pressure placed on voters during the referendum.In 1948 the French India Socialist Party, a pro-French organization, was widely suspected of rigging the elections, and won all the seats in all but one of the Municipal Assemblies. Dr. P. Subbarayan, who was president of the P.C.C. of Tamilnad, and Dr. N. Rajkumar, Secretary for Foreign affairs of the Indian National Congress, saw the farce in these elections and sent a damaging report to Prime Minister Nehru. The first Consul General of India at Pondicherry, Sri Rasheed Ali Baig, did his best to boost the Nationalist movement, but was able to achieve little. In 1950 Sri R.K. Tandon replaced him, and Naiker, a Chevalier by title and an influential political figure of Pondicherry, persuaded Ramanayya to join and lead the existing nationalist movement.
On 14 September 1950 Ramanayya, along with Naicker, prepared a memorandum for Dr. Keskar, Deputy External Affairs minister of India, who had paid a visit to Pondicherry. This led to an immediate confrontation between him and his French superiors. His meeting with Keskar was considered treachery by the French Deputy Chief of Police, Monsieur Lagisqet, and the Chief of police, Captain Bouhard, who threatened him with arrest and punitive departmental actions. Ramanayya immediately resigned, and, expecting reprisals from the French police who now openly showed their contempt, moved his family to the safety of Cuddalore, a frontier town on the Indian side of the Penna River that separated the French and Indian territories.
Life as a nationalist leader
In his first step as a political activist, Ramanayya chose the Bahour commune, inhabited by about 25,000 people, as his area of operations. He worked hard to enroll municipal members, especially youth, as members of the "French India liberation volunteer corp", an organisation which he founded to counter violent pro-French activists. He also co-founded, with Sellane, a pro-merger independence organization dubbed the "French India Merger Congress". Sellane accepted its presidency and Ramanayya became its secretary general. Their primary goal was to cancel the referendum, as in their view the French settlements were dominated by pro-French parties who had gained control of the voting process by threats and the subjugation of citizens.Ramanayya's aggressive nationalist programmes in French territories soon disturbed and enraged the French government, who initially tried to woo him back through influence and gain, and later by subjugation and threats. Warrants with extradition demands against him were pressed by the French ambassador on Prime Minister Nehru, who deputed Sri C Rajagopalachari, then the chief minister of Madras to look into the case. Rajaji met Ramanayya in the Cuddalore collector's rest house and. after taking his full statement, approved his actions and promised his support. A few days later, along with Naicker and Advocate Sri Perumal, Ramanayya met Nehru in Bangalore in the presence of Sri Sheikh Abdullah and the chief minister KC Reddy of Mysore, and submitted to him a memorandum requesting his help.
When no visible action was taken by the Indian government against Ramanayya and other nationalist parties in French settlements, the French cabinet petitioned the UNO over violations of the referendum agreement, such as allowing "gangs" to operate against the "peaceful French citizens". The UNO, in turn, deputed a board of observers consisting of Holgar Anderson of the Netherlands, Baron Rodolfo Castro of Spain, Montieor Perreard of Switzerland, Mr Chan of the Philippines, and Mr Krabbe of Denmark to visit the French settlements and give a full report to the International Court of Justice.
The observers arrived in Pondicherry in March 1951. On 19 April, in a traveler's bungalow on the frontier, Ramanayya was summoned for a meeting with them, which he attended with proofs and reports of pro-French crimes against Indian nationalists. A month after the observers' departure from Pondicherry, the press published the report they submitted to the international court of justice. It detailed the pro-French atmosphere prevalent at that time in the French settlements, and concluded that in those circumstances a fair and impartial referendum was not possible.
Despite the damaging report, the pro-French parties continued pushing for a referendum. On 29 August 1952, gunmen fired at Naicker while he was in his house. He escaped after receiving two bullet wounds to his left thigh; four or five bullets had struck the wall of his room. He refused to lodge a complaint with the French police or to be treated in a French hospital at Pondicherry. He was taken instead to the General Hospital Madras. The local French government made no arrests. All of the Indian leaders, in particular Nehru, condemned the attempted murder in very strong words.
On 10 October 1952, the Prime Minister of India, addressing a mass public meeting on the Island grounds in Madras, referred to the episode, stating that "even a respected leader in Pondicherry, only a few days ago, was badly attacked and came to the general hospital in Madras. What has the French government in Pondicherry done about it? Nothing. I believe that they arrested someone and later released him. Now, am I to understand that there is no government left in Pondicherry and only goondaism rules there?".
On the same day, Naicker, Dr. Ambrose, Advocate Perumal, Sri Srikanta Ramanujam, Advocate Xavery, Sri I K Kumaran, Sri Baradan and Ramanayya met Nehru in the Rajbhavan, Madras, with all the top leaders of Madras also present. Nehru called upon the Tamil Nadu Congress leaders to extend all material help to the refugees of Pondicherry who were under Ramanayya's care. Sri Raghunandan Saran, Managing Partner of the Ashok Leyland Automobile Factory of Ennore, Madras, extended great help to the refugees and provided for their maintenance. He also introduced Ramanayya to Sri Lal Bahadur Shastri, for whom they shared great respect.
About 10 December 1953, Consul General R.K. Tandon was transferred and Sri Kewal Singh took his place. He stood behind Naicker and Ramanayya. He was able to sway pro-French leaders and members of the assembly away from the French camp. A provisional government, with Edouard Goubert as the head, was formed in the enclave of Nettapacom. The Indian Armed Reserve was posted around its borders.
Negotiations continued between the two governments in Delhi and Paris. Singh met all of the leaders of the Provisional Government at a conference in Kandamangalam on the night of 11 April 1954. He explained that the French authorities were making fun of the petty provisional government of Nettapacom. He suggested that if the leaders wanted real liberation of all settlements they should occupy any of the big four settlements. While dropping Ramanayya at his home after the meeting, Singh asked him what he thought of the plan and if he had any ideas. Subsequently, a plan for Ramanayya to try to liberate Yanam was formed.