Tiranga replaced Union Jack many times much before 1947 in Kodagu

In 1928, Paruvangada Kushalappa attended the annual Congress session in the then Calcutta (now Kolkata) and was returning to Kodagu when he fell ill and passed away.

He was 38 years old and the president of the Coorg Agricultural Society.

The following year, an area in Ponnampet was named after him as Kushalapura and the tiranga (the Indian tricolour flag) was regularly hoisted there.

This flag was the old design which had three colours as well. In 1930, the tiranga was hoisted at a number of villages in Kodagu district.

That year, Mallengada Chengappa and two others removed the Union Jack at the Mercara (Madikeri) fort and replaced it with the tiranga.

For this act, they were arrested. Two years later, Satyagrahis again replaced the Union Jack with the tiranga at the fort.

After that, there were permanent guards to protect the Union Jack at the fort.

In August 1942, the Quit India movement had been declared all over India.

Several local leaders such as Pandyanda Belliappa, Chekkera Monnaiah, Kollimada Karumbaiah and C M Poonacha were arrested and deported to Vellore.

The British thought that there was now nobody to lead the movement. But they were wrong.

Gundukutti Narasimhamurthy organised a Seva Dal camp for volunteers in Madikeri. On August 18, Malachira Muthanna and two other students were arrested for hoisting the tiranga in front of the ‘Kodagu’ newspaper office at Madikeri.

On August 19, when students took out processions at various places, at least 12 of them were arrested and released that same evening.

Some of the high school students in Madikeri and Virajpet who had participated in the movement were expelled from their hostels.

They were driven out along with their belongings, suitcases and mattresses placed on their heads. Meanwhile, the British authorities arrested B D Ganapathi, a sub-editor of ‘Kodagu’ weekly, locked the newspaper office and sealed it.

The erstwhile peaceful movement turned violent and went out of control.

In November that year, dynamite parcels addressed to A S Machaiah, Mallengada Chengappa and Mukkatira Belliappa arrived in Kodagu.

The British authorities became alert, confiscated these parcels and arrested the three persons. Yet, this action didn’t stop the subversion that was planned.

Telegraph wires were cut in various places across Kodagu. Dynamite was found placed inside the post office and the police station in Virajpet.

The munsif court building in Virajpet was set on fire. Dynamite was thrown inside the Gonikoppa police station.

Koniyanda Thimmaiah, Mallengada Chengappa and C Chengappa were found guilty of cutting the wires. Chengappa was again arrested, along with the other two.

On August 15, 1947, chief commissioner Diwan Bahadur Ketolira Chengappa replaced the Union Jack with the tiranga at the Madikeri fort, one last time.