4 SOCIAL SCIENTIST
the problem of untouchability was 'internal reform and self-purification from the very bottom.' At a moral level for Gandhi, 'to remove the curse of untouchability is to do penance for the sin committed by the Hindus of degrading a fifth of their own religionists.' At the political level the unity between the followers of different religions and castes would prevent Great Britain from 'pursuing the immoral policy of Pivide and Rule.'2 Throughout 1922-34 the Gandhian nationalists' efforts were aimed at educating public opinion by taking up some issues like opening of schools, roads, wells and Hindu temples for 'Harijans'.
In Andhra the nationalist press was very active in attacking the evil practice of untouchability. Several articles were written to change the thinking of the upper castes and to mould public opinion in favour of removing untouchability.3 Songs, pamphlets, novels and short stories were written in Telugu to propagate new perceptions against untouchability.4 The dominant theme in all these writings was that the 'Harijans' should undertake internal reform, or what they generally called 'self-purification'. Simultaneously the upper castes should realise their social responsibilities, and extend their help in carrying on the internal reform by the 'Harijans'. Towards this end certain degrading cultural and social practices were sought to be changed. Temple entry, education, opening of wells, roads, etc., were the main aspects emphasised by the nationalists both in their propaganda and in the actual struggle, i.e., the Civil Disobedience Movement. In other words, the nationalists in Andhra closely followed Gandhi and evolved and propagated a model of changing the social degradation of the 'Harijans', sustained by their economically subordinate position. But the Gandhians only touched the cultural aspect and conveniently negated the derivation of the problem, i.e., their relation to the land.
Of all the writings, Unnava Lakshminarayana's Telugu novel, Malapalli (Sanga Vijayam), was the best example of contemporary Gandhian intellectuals' effort to solve the problem of untouchability. This was the first novel in Telugu where a prominent social reformer and nationalist leader tried to come to grips with untouchability, not simply as a moral question but as a political and social problem integral to rural life in Andhra.5 We have taken up this novel as an example also because 'Unnava's Malapalli was a small visual display of contemporary Andhra.'6
Unnava introduces the problems of Panchamas—or Malas and Madigas (their caste cames)—as linked to land relations in Andhra villages. The main story centres around the basic social contradiction betweea the landless agricultural labourers, i.e.. Males and Madigas, and the landlords of Kamma caste.7 The first part of the novel brings out the main social contradiction in village life. The big landlord, Chowdary, along with other village landlords, decides to pay wages in cash, not in kind (paddy), as it used to be till then. But the real