Gorata – A story of massacre

They killed and culled everyone they saw. They killed youths , women, children, cattle and what not. The whole village was set afire.

During a conversation with my friends, I was told about a place called Gorata, A village in Bidar district of Karnataka. It would not be an exaggeration if we term it as Jallianwallahbagh of Karnataka. I recall my visit to the place and try to pen the story I heard.

It was in the year 1948 youths of Gorata wanted to hoist tri-color flag. But they were under the tyranny of Nizam of Hyderabad. The Nizam did not wanted accede the Hyderabad region to India, but wanted to have an independent nation. He had also setup a terrorist organization called razakars, whose duty was to terrorize anyone and everyone who spoke about accession to India.

During this time, couple of youths pooled in courage and hoisted our national flag and few sang Vande mataram at Gorata. This was enough for razakars to attack the whole village. On 9th may 1948, at around 8:00 AM, people had started leaving home on their daily work like cattle grazing, farming and other works. Their hamlet was encircled by Razakars. The fatal day had come. 200+ people were be killed.

The Razakars had attacked Gorata from all corners, though few youths fought back but in vain. They were terrifying and were huge in numbers. They killed and culled everyone they saw. They killed youths , women, children, cattle and what not. The whole village was set afire.

K M Munshi, the agent of India to Hyderabad in his book, “The end of an Era” describes about the massacre. In his report, he says the inspector had not prepared panchanama as he could not find even five people necessary for panchanama.

He describes that half burnt bodies were found lying in fields. The stench was unbearable. According Munshi’s report over 200 people were killed and loss was estimated at 70 lakhs. Post this report, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel called for police action. The Razakar’s & Nizam army had surrendered with a couple of days of police action.

Gorata villagers contribution for acceding Hyderabad to India is enormous. Should not the massacre in Gorata had taken place, the accession could have been delayed.

The martyrs of Gorata deserves a memorial. I am glad that the BJP Yuva Morcha listening to the story of Gorata unanimously proposed and agreed to build a memorial for Gorata martyrs.

The plan is all set to build a memorial. We commence the construction from 17 September 2014. The day happens to be the liberation day of Hyderabad and accession to India took place. We target to complete the whole project in an year. 2015, 17 September the memorial will stand majestically in honor of all martyrs of Gorata.

Jai Hind

4 thoughts on “Gorata – A story of massacre

  • By ss patil - Reply

    I’m from area near by this village. I have heard several stories about razakars and atrocities they committed. It is all blood boiling. I felt hardship faced by our village people is nothing against sacrifice of these 200 people. Today their is news for a rape. murder and & death, such a sacrifice was not heard nor in news. i,m happy that atleast a memorial is coming up. Our local leaderes may not be aware of this… I hope so… MEmorial atleast will keep their soul in peace.

    Thanks for this info… and your effort to put this on net…

  • By sunil gowda - Reply

    Always ready for rastra nirman

  • By Prasanna karthik S - Reply

    I have heard about this story, its very interesting . there are many inspiring stories like this , one among them is Women of Midnapore, A great story. Basically i have researched on this topic. Moreover i researched in Karnataka State Archives Department for 6 months and i brought a 36 Women biographies who laid there life for Indian Independence.

    The Name of the book is #Invisible Diamonds of India, Written and Self Published.

    Thanks and regards,
    Prasanna Karthik S

  • By m v kanthi - Reply

    the tale of this story is not imaginatary but real.when i was a child heared by mother.actually it is blood boiling.now also indirectly we are all facing the same situation in different fashion.all the politicians are boiling their grams because of vote and vote banking.presently i feel if india has not got freedom we indians including muslims will united.but today razakars are only politicians not any other caste people.to destroy the acts of present razakars one more brave vallabhbai patel has to take birth.jai bharath mata jai karnataka

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