Sitarama Shastri was a nominated member of the legislative assembly for a few years. He utilised that platform effectively to facilitate people-friendly measures. Only a handful could face him in a debate.
V Si. had doubts at every step. “If I put it this way, this question crops up. If I say it that way, another question arises!” – This kind of uncertainty crept into his writings as well.
To this, DVG had said, “Questions keep popping up, but answers too must come up, right?”
I happen to recollect one such incident.
After V. P. Madhava Rao, Thanjavur Ananda Rao came to power as the Diwan. He was rich by birth and also possessed all the great attributes that a wealthy person should have. His father, Raja Sir. T. Madhava Rao, had been the Diwan of Baroda (Vadodara) and Travancore; He was well known as a person of remarkable intellect and competence. ‘Raja’ and ‘Sir’ were the titles conferred on him by the British Government. Sir. T. Madhava Rao served as the president of the Reception Committee at the first ever Congress session held in Madras.
The debate took place in Sanskrit.
Shastri’s argument was as follows – In the Vedic tradition, marriage is an instrument for dharma not enjoyment; so to facilitate refinement of the individual the child marriage is emphasized, and that is considered right.
H V R Iyengar, the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India had immense respect for V Si. ‘Fate has not dealt too kindly with V Sitaramaiah’ – was the sum and substance of the worldly life of V Si.
The government filed a case against Sitarama Shastri and Ashvatthanarayana Rao, accusing the article published in Navajīvana to be treasonous.
Shastri had severely criticized the government’s callous attitude towards its own people in the January 1929 issue of Vīrakesari. The issue published on 15th January had an article titled Will Tyranny Win? The contents were as follows –