Keshav Rao Jadhav (27 January 1933 – 16 June 2018) was an Indian activist for the separate state of

Telangana Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...

. He served as the convener within the Telangana Jana Parishad, an organization advocating for the statehood of Telangana. Rao Jadhav played a pivotal role in both the initial Telangana movement in the late 1960s and early 1970s, as well as in mobilizing support for the renewed separatist efforts in the early 2000s.

Early life and career

Keshav Rao Jadhav was the president of the

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 ...

Teachers Association before he retired as a professor in the English Department of

. He was actively involved in the separate

Telangana movement The Telangana movement refers to the movement for the separation of Telangana, from the pre-existing state of Andhra Pradesh in India. The new state corresponds to the Telugu-speaking portions of the former princely state of Hyderabad, which w ...

in 1969 and was also associated with the People's Union for

Civil Liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties of ...

. He advocated for dialogue with the Maoists to end violence and worked closely with socialist leader Ram Manohar Lohia. He calls himself Mr. Telangana. He participated in the Mulki War held in 1953 while he was studying at

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 ...

. He faced arrest 17 times during its first phase of

Telangana agitation The Telangana movement refers to the movement for the separation of Telangana, from the pre-existing state of Andhra Pradesh in India. The new state corresponds to the Telugu-speaking portions of the former princely state of Hyderabad, which we ...

and spent a total of two years in prison. He worked with

Kothapalli Jayashankar Kothapalli Jayashankar (6 August 1934 – 21 June 2011), popularly known as Professor Jayashankar, was an Indian academic and social activist. He was a leading ideologue of the Telangana Movement. He fought for a separate state beginning in 1952 ...

and

Kunduru Jana Reddy Kunduru Jana Reddy (born 20 June 1946) is an Indian politician. He was the leader of opposition in first Telangana Assembly and served as the Minister for Panchayat Raj & Rural Water Supply in the State of Andhra Pradesh during its term from 20 ...

and played an important role in uniting 17 organizations advocating for

statehood during the late 1990s and worked for second phase of the Telangana statehood agitation in 2001.

Writing

Jadhav was a close associate of

Ram Manohar Lohia Ram Manohar Lohia ( 23 March 1910 – 12 October 1967) was an Indian political activist of the Indian independence movement and a socialist politician. As a nationalist, he worked actively to protest against colonialism, raising awareness of th ...

. Jadhav authored a series of booklets titled "Lohia in his Words – A Collection of Quotations from the Writings of Dr. Lohia". He founded and maintained ''New Mankind'' magazine for approximately 4–5 years and ''Olympus'' magazine for nearly a decade.

Death

Jadhav died after a brief illness in

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 ...

, on 16 June 2018, at the age of 85. His final rites were conducted by his eldest daughter, in accordance with the

Arya Samaj Arya Samaj () is a monotheistic Indian Hindu reform movement that promotes values and practices based on the belief in the infallible authority of the Vedas. Dayananda Saraswati founded the samaj in the 1870s. Arya Samaj was the first Hindu ...

tradition.

References

1933 births 2018 deaths Activists from Telangana {{India-activist-stub