HYDERABAD: U Sambasiva Rao, prominent anti-caste activist, died of COVID- 19 on Saturday. He tested positive three days ago. Sixtynine- year-old Rao, fondly known as Usa, was admitted to a private hospital with fever and diarrhoea. Sambasiva Rao was born in 1951 in Tenali, Guntur district in Andhra Pradesh. He started fighting caste discrimination when he was in VSR College, Tenali.
When he was young, Sambasiva Rao worked with the Unity Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India (Marxist- Leninist) or UCCR(ML). Several people took to social media expressing their condolences over Usa’s demise. His YouTube channel Desi Disa was quite popular. In a statement, Professor Haragopal said, “From Karamchedu to the recent Pathapally incident, he has striven to build social movements.
After analysing drought, migration of people and the Telangana agitation, he argued that the problem lies with distribution system and not with the production.” Many others condoled his passing away.