Muthamma's naked rage shakes Karnataka government

Mysuru: Muthamma, the woman who transfixed her supporters and critics by shedding her clothes to lead a protest, parading stark naked against the unfair treatment meted out to the tribals of Kodagu, is no exhibitionist. She’s a hardcore advocate of tribal rights, who, as the government have realised to their cost, will not back down.

“It is not easy for a woman to remove her clothes and march nude in public. But it was my intense agony for my people and anger over the injustice they had suffered that forced me to opt for such a protest,” says 48- year-old Muthamma, who is leading the tribals camping in Diddalli in their fight for housing sites and land to farm on.

A video of her nude march to protest the tribals’ eviction from Diddalli in December last year had gone viral on social media. Married to Basappa, a daily wage worker, Muthamma has four children and her younger brother, Appaji is a GP member.

“As a child I was deeply pained to see my own parents moving from one place to another after they were removed from the forests. But they did not give up and go to line houses in coffee plantations. Instead they ensured that I studied till class 10. Later the Union government made me part of the Mahila Samukya, where I trained in empowering women and motivating them to have an education.  In 1993, I was elected a GP member, but my hands were tied and I couldn’t do much to help my people,” she recalls. Although her parents finally settled in Channanakote in Diddalli, the family got land rights only in 2008  after a prolonged battle with the government.

“Although there are 200 of us in Channanakote, only 30  have got land rights. I was shocked to hear about our Diddalli tribals living in line houses in plantations in Kodagu being treated as bonded labourers. I was an Aasha health worker, but gave up that job to lead their protest,” she  reveals, adding, “I am not  part of any NGO, but just another daily wage worker fighting for justice for my people.”