The day was September 18, 2002, the time, 2.45 pm. Guruswamy, a farmer from Beechanahalli village, shocked everyone as he jumped to his death in the Kabini reservoir to stop Cauvery water from being released to Tamil Nadu. He became an instant martyr to the farmers’ cause and his bust was placed near the Kabini dam to honour his memory on the occasion of his first death anniversary.
But 10 years later, when the Cauvery dispute is once again on the boil with protests galore, Guruswamy’s family has decided to keep away from it all, tired of being used as a mascot when the government has done little to come to its help in the years between. Guruswamy’s widow, Puttasubbamma, says she has had a traumatic time since her husband’s ‘sacrifice’ for the farmers’ cause, fighting a lone battle in the absence of support from both the villagers and the government .
“I pray to God that no woman should have to endure the pain I have. When my husband was alive, ours was a happy family. I never stepped out of house for anything. He was a leader in the village and always helped people in need. But my life completely changed after his death. My in-laws threw me out of the house within six months saying my children and I were a burden. My son Mahendra was only 13-years-old and studying in class VIII and as my daughters, Manjula and Jyothi , had just been married then, there was a loan of Rs 10 lakh to clear. The only asset I had was an acre of agriculture land," she recounts bitterly.
“For a month after my husband's death, politicians and farmers’ leaders made a beeline for my house to express their sympathies, but after that not one of them cared to ask how we were doing even out of courtesy," she adds sadly. The indifference was hard for her as Guruswamy was a Congress loyalist and panchayat member and a close associate of the present H.D. Kote MLA, Chikkanna, who was also a part of the Cauvery agitation in 2002.
But the farmers, who ignored her otherwise, did not forget to invite Puttasubbamma to participate in all their agitations in the first few years after Guruswamy's death. Puttasubbama has, however, stopped taking part in them for a few years now. "I am disgusted with the way people have used us to fulfill their own interests. I don't want to get involved in any agitation in future and have also told my son to keep away from all politicians,” she adds.