Hyderabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a 30-foot-tall bronze statue of freedom fighter Alluri Sitharama Raju in Bhimavaram, Andhra Pradesh, on Monday. The year-long celebrations of the freedom fighter Sitaram Raju's 125th birth anniversary also begins on the same day.
Who was Alluri Sitharama Raju?
Alluri Sitharama Raju, born on July 4, 1897, was known for leading a revolt against the British from the Rampa rebellion -- also known as Manyam Rebellion -- in 1922.
After completing his primary education, he enrolled at Kakinada's high school. When he was in high school, Alluri was frequently seen riding horses to far-off hillsides to learn about the numerous issues that various tribes living under British colonial rule faced. He was moved by seeing the hardships of the Koya (Tribals) people of a hill tribe.
Sitarama Raju was disturbed by the socio-economic circumstances of the people, especially the tribal people, and decided to start a movement for their independence from British authority. He began organising the tribal people, educating them about their rights, and preparing them for a fight against the oppression and tyranny of the forest and revenue authorities, missionaries, and police.
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He acquired in-depth regional information that aided his development as a guerilla warfare strategist. The Freedom fighters from the Koya tribe, Mallam Dora and Ghantam Dora, joined Rama Raju's army. Rama Raju emerged as their natural leader as the British imperial policies continued to be intolerable and revolt became the only way for the people to live in freedom.
Alluri adopted aspects from the Non-cooperation movement, such as promoting temperance, and the boycott of colonial courts in favour of local justice, administered by panchayat courts, to attract people's support.
He gathered a powerful army of warriors with the help of his allies. The revolutionaries first had remarkable victories in their conflict with the British because of their use of conventional weapons like bows and arrows and spears and communication strategies like blowing whistles and thumping drums.
Beginning in August 1922, he commanded a group of 500 individuals in the theft of weapons and ammunition from the police stations at Chintapalle, Krishna Devi Peta, and Rajavommangi. He then went on a recruiting tour of the area, killing a policeman who was a team member assigned to find him.
The British struggled in their pursuit of him because of the unfamiliar terrain and the locals in the sparsely populated areas who were unwilling to help them and were often outrightly keen to assist Ramaraju by providing shelter and intelligence.
The British managed to capture Alluri in the Chintapalle forests after putting out a valiant effort for almost two years. He was subsequently tied to a tree and shot on May 7, 1924, in the village of Koyyuru. A tomb of him currently lies in the town of Krishnadevipeta, near Visakhapatnam.
Everyone has acknowledged the young Alluri's valiant efforts in engaging one of the most powerful empires in a full-scale war without the assistance of the state. The fact that the British Government had to spend more than 40 lakhs at the time to catch him speaks for itself. The British Government reluctantly recognised him as a powerful tactician of the guerrilla warfare that lasted for about two years.
(With inputs from ABP Desam — It is a Telugu platform of ABP News. For more news, commentary and latest happenings from two Telugu states, follow https://telugu.abplive.com//amp)