History and Art and Culture
In News: Prime Minister to launch year-long celebrations to remember contributions of Alluri Sitarama Raju.
- Prime Minister will launch the year-long celebrations on the 125th birth anniversary of Alluri, enabling a new generation to be aware of the heroics of Alluri and the sacrifices he made for the tribal community.
Alluri Sitarama Raju
- Alluri Sitarama Raju was an Indian revolutionary who waged an armed campaign against British colonial rule in India.
- Born on July 4, 1897, into a humble middle-class family in a small village near the Coastal city of Visakhapatnam.
Freedom Struggle
- Sitarama Raju, under the influence of Gandhi’s Non-cooperation movement, inspired the tribals to seek justice in the local panchayat courts and boycott the colonial courts.
- He made Adivasi areas in the Eastern Ghats and started to work for the Adivasis, who were living in abject poverty and being fleeced by police, forest and revenue officials, in ‘Manyam’ (forest area).
- He became involved in anti-British activities in response to the 1882 Madras Forest Act, which effectively restricted the free movement of Adivasis in their forest habitats and prevented them from practicing a traditional form of agriculture known as podu.
- As a result, in August 1922, he launched the Rampa Rebellion against the British
- Alluri Sitarama Raju, along with 500 tribals, attacked the police stations of Chintapalli, Krishnadevipeta, and Rajavommangi and walked away with 26 police carbine rifles and 2,500 rounds of ammunition.
- Though his battle with the British lasted only for two years, he made an indelible mark in the history of the Indian Freedom Struggle and found a permanent place in the hearts of the countrymen.
- In 1924, Raju was taken into police custody, tied to a tree, and shot by a public execution, effectively ending the armed rebellion.
Source: The Hindu
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