George Reddy (15 January 1947 – 14 April 1972) was an Indian student leader and social activist. He was a Gold medallist (PhD) in

nuclear physics Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies th ...

Osmania University Osmania University is a collegiate university, collegiate Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Hyderabad, Telangana, India. Mir Osman Ali Khan, the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad, issued a ''firman'' calling f ...

Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...

. His untimely death led to the formation of the Progressive Democratic Students Union (PDSU), a student body on the campus of the university that took its name from the "PDS" imprint he had used to publish pamphlets.

Biography

He was born in

Palghat Palakkad (), Renaming of cities in India, also known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery, is a city and a municipality in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of P ...

(now

Palakkad Palakkad (), Renaming of cities in India, also known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery, is a city and a municipality in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of P ...

) on 15 January 1947, just before India's independence, in the then

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency i ...

. His father Challa Raghunath Reddy was from

Chittoor Chittoor is a city and district headquarters in Chittoor district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is also the mandal and divisional headquarters of Chittoor mandal and Chittoor revenue division respectively. The city has a popul ...

, while his mother Leela Varghese was a

Malayali The Malayali people (; also spelt Malayalee and sometimes known by the demonym Keralite) are a Dravidian ethnolinguistic group originating from the present-day state of Kerala and Union Territory of Lakshadweep in India, occupying its south ...

from

Travancore The kingdom of Travancore (), also known as the kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor () or later as Travancore State, was a kingdom that lasted from until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvanan ...

. They met while studying at the

Presidency College, Madras Presidency College is an art, commerce, and science college in the city of Chennai in Tamil Nadu, India. On 16 October 1840, this school was established as the Madras Preparatory School before being repurposed as a high school, and then a gra ...

. The family later moved to

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

from where George did his early schooling; at

St. Gabriel's High School St. Gabriel's High School (abbreviated SGHS) is an educational institution located in Kazipet, in Warangal district of Telangana, India. It was established in 1955 by the late Rev. Bro. Vincent. The school is a Montfortian Institution. Histor ...

, Warangal and St. Paul's High School, Hyderabad. He ultimately got his intermediate degree from the

Nizam College The Nizam College is a constituent college of Osmania University established in 1887 during the reign of Mir Mahbub Ali Khan, Asaf Jah VI, in Basheerbagh, Hyderabad, Telangana. History The Nizampur University College was originally the "Mirsa ...

in Hyderabad. He was known for his helping nature, and was also a kickboxer. His enthusiasm for nuclear physics earned him a university gold medal during his postgraduate studies at

. His brother Cyril Reddy (died 2016), was also an activist in Hyderabad. A lawyer, Cyril was a part of the legal team led by Bojja Tharakam. Cyril's wife, Gita Ramaswamy, is a social activist and writer.

Student politics

Reddy is now primarily known for his promotion of

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

ideas and his opposition to social discrimination and economic inequality. According to a student friend, he was inspired by "the emerging

Black Panthers The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a Marxist–Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, California ...

, started in 1966 in the US, the Vietnamese people's struggle against US imperialism and the peasant

uprisings Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...

Naxalbari Naxalbari ( Bengali: ''Nôkśālbāṛi'', ; also spelled Naksalbari) is a village in the Naxalbari CD block in the Siliguri subdivision of the Darjeeling district in the state of West Bengal, India. Naxalbari is known for being the site of ...

and

Srikakulam Srikakulam is a city and the headquarters of Srikakulam district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. census, it has a population of 165,735. There are many other places of Buddhist Tourism such as Salihundam, Kalinga Patnam, Dabbaka Vaan ...

." Reddy was stabbed to death in an attack at his college campus on 14 April 1972. Reddy's

student activist Student activism or campus activism is work by students to cause political, environmental, economic, or social change. In addition to education, student groups often play central roles in democratization and winning civil rights. Modern stu ...

movement was a part of a string of

student protests Campus protest or student protest is a form of student activism that takes the form of protest at university campuses. Such protests encompass a wide range of activities that indicate student dissatisfaction with a given political or academi ...

against the Indira Gandhi government during the 1970s in India. After his death other student protests cropped up across the country such as the Navnirman Andolan (

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

) and the Bihar Movement. The latter of which lead to The Emergency and eventually to the ouster of the Indira Gandhi government in 1977.

Legacy

* ''Crisis on the Campus'' (1971) is a short documentary film directed by Fali Bilimoria. In 2012, at an event marking his fortieth death anniversary, the film was premiered and a book titled ''Reminiscences of George Reddy'' was released. * ''Alajadi'' is a 1990 film by Bharadwaja Thammareddy. The lead character named Ravi, based on Reddy, is played by

Bhanu Chander Bhanu Chander (born 31 May 1953) is an Indian actor, director and producer known for his works predominantly in Telugu and Tamil cinema. He is the son of veteran music composer Master Venu. His paternal family hails from Machilipatnam and ma ...

. *

Mani Ratnam Gopalaratnam Subramaniam (born 2 June 1956), known professionally as Mani Ratnam, is an Indian film director, film producer and screenwriter who predominantly works in Tamil cinema and a few Hindi, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. H ...

's movie, ''

Aaytha Ezhuthu ''Aayutha Ezhuthu'' () is a 2004 Indian Tamil-language political action film directed by Mani Ratnam. The film, loosely based on the life of George Reddy, a scholar from Osmania University of Hyderabad, stars Suriya, R. Madhavan, Siddharth, ...

''/''

Yuva ''Yuva'' ( Youth) is a 2004 Indian Hindi-language political drama film written, produced, and directed by Mani Ratnam''.'' It stars Ajay Devgn, Abhishek Bachchan, Vivek Oberoi, Rani Mukerji, Kareena Kapoor and Esha Deol. It was simulta ...

'' was loosely based on his story and

Suriya Saravanan Sivakumar (born 23 July 1975), known professionally as Suriya, is an Indian actor and film producer who primarily works in Tamil films. One of the highest-paid Tamil actors, Suriya is considered as one of the finest actors of Indian ...

Ajay Devgan Vishal Veeru Devgan (born 2 April 1969), known professionally as Ajay Devgn, is an Indian actor, film director, and producer. One of the most prolific actors of Hindi cinema, Devgn has appeared in over 100 films and has won numerous accola ...

played his character in the respective Tamil and Hindi film versions. * ''Jeena Hai To Marna Seekho: The Life and Times of George Reddy'' by Gita Ramaswamy (Reddy's sister in law), a 152-page book named was published in 2016 by the Hyderabad Book Trust. * '' George Reddy'' is a 2019 biopic by B. Jeevan Reddy.

Sandeep Madhav Sandeep Madhav is an Indian actor who works in Telugu language films. Career He made his acting debut with ''Railway Station'' (2012), where he played one of the lead roles. Sandeep Madhav worked as an assistant director under Jeevan Reddy for ...

portrays George in the film.

Bibliography

* *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reddy, George 1940s births 1972 deaths Malayali people Telugu people Indian communists Osmania University alumni Student politics in India People murdered in Andhra Pradesh Deaths by stabbing in India Indian murder victims People from Palakkad Activists from Kerala Activists from Andhra Pradesh Politicians from Hyderabad, India Politicians from Palakkad People from Warangal