AMRIT FESTIVAL OF INDEPENDENCE "A Tribute to Heroes of Indian Freedom Struggle" Alluri sitarama Raju https://bdslearningapp.blogspot.com/2021/08/amrit-festival-of-independence-tribute_18.html

1. India’s Forgotten…? Freedom Fighter
Alluri Sitarama Raju ……..?
Rampa rebellion …..?
Alluri Seetarama Raju isbraveson of mother India who laid down hislife to
break the shackles of the mother land. He was bornon 4th July 1897. While
pursuing hisstudiesat Kakinada, Sri Alluri Seetarama Raju cameincontact
with a notablefreedom fighter, Sri Madduri Annapurnayya, and Rallapalli
Atchuta Ramayya, a scholar of high repute. For his further studieshe went to
Visakhapatnamat theageof 15. Though he didn’t have much interest in
studies, he was very keen to know more about thepoliticalconditionofIndia at
that time. The awe-inspiringheroicsofRama Raju still inspire Telugus.
Though his battlewith the British lasted only for two years, he madean
indeliblemarkin the history of the Indian Freedom Struggleand found a
permanent placein the heartsof the countrymen.
Unfortunately, there is not much research done on Rama Raju’s life and
movement. As the nation gears up to celebrate the 75th Independence Day, it
is time to revisit his life and movement and pay rich tributes to him. His
remainsareburied at Krishnadevi Peta inVisakhapatnam. Thenationcould do
better by building a memorial in the memory of this great patriot.
After the death of his father, his schooling got disrupted and he went on a
pilgrimageand toured the Western, North-Western, North and North-eastern
India during his teens. The social-economic conditions in the country under

2. the British regime, particularly in the tribal areas, deeply moved him. During
these journeys, he met revolutionaries in Chittagong (now in Bangladesh).
Rama Raju made up his mind to build a movement against the British. He
made Adivasi areas in the Eastern Ghats (the forest area along the
Visakhapatnam and Godavari district) his home and decided to work for
the Adivasis. He was so confident of the path he chose that he told a reporter
(incidentally the only interview he ever gave to a reporter) that he could
overthrow the British in two years.
In 1857 duringthefirst war of independencethousandsof tribal’sof Gond land
laid their life for their country. After thepassing of the 1882 Madras Forest Act
in an attempt toexploit theeconomic value of wooded areas, its restrictions on
the free movement of tribal peoples in the forests prevented them from
engaging intheir traditional podu agricultural system, a subsistence economy
which involved shifting cultivation. Sri Alluri Seetarama Raju went deep into
the forests of Gond land to meet the tribalsand inspirethem to fight for India’s
independence.
In the tribal areas, the poor and illiterate tribal people were exploited and
oppressed blatantlythe Britishers. Sincethetribalswere not united against the
Britisherstheytook advantageofit and deprived the tribals of their rights. Sri
Alluri Seetarama Raju inspired and united the different tribes of the area,
trained them in skills of guerrilla warfare and proved to be a terrorfor the
Britishers. Soon he was ready to attack the enemy with his army. On 22nd
August 1922,his tribal army initiated their struggle by raiding three police
stations Chintapalli Police Station, Krishnadevipeta Police Station, and
Rajavommangionthree consecutivedays. After the raids they captured a huge
number of guns, bayonets and cartridgesand swords. They even freed Veerayya
Dora from jail who was a revolutionary. The British Army was alerted by his
actions and platoons of Police and Army were ordered to arrest Sri Alluri
Seetarama Raju. He again attacked the British Army at Peddavalasa and
defeated them as a result of which they had to bear heavy casualties and finally
retreated. From that day onwards there was a regular warfare between Raju
and the Britishers and Raju came out triumphant in all. Nearly for two
years(1922 to1924) he terrorized theBritish Armyand was theruler of the vast
area. Later Britishers were keen to kill him and deployed battalions of Assam
Rifles and others. The Agency Commissioner J R Higgins had announced a
prize of Rs 10,000 for Rama Raju's head and Rs 1,000 each on his
lieutenants Gantam Dora and Mallu Dora . It deployed hundreds of soldiers
from Malabar SpecialPoliceand theAssam Rifles, led by top British officers, to

3. crush the movement. Officers like Sanders and Forbes were on the back foot
several times as Raju dared them to stop him and his followers from carrying
out certain attacks.
Unableto containthe ‘Manyam’uprising, theBritish Government deputed T G
Rutherford in April 1924 to quell the movement. Rutherford resorted to
violence and torture to get to know the whereabouts of Raju and his key
followers. That the Government had to spend over Rs 40 lakhs in those days to
defeat the rebellion speaks volumes about the success of the Rampa rebellion.
After a relentless chaseby British forces, Rama Raju was caught and martyred
on May 7, 1924. This was followed by untold repression and violence that
witnessed killings of scores of Raju's followers in the weeks that followed his
martyrdom. Over 400 activists were booked under several charges, including
treason.
Sri Rama Raju won the grudging admiration of the British as a
formidable guerrilla tactician.