TI essay
Source: TW
The film #RRR earned an Oscar. This film was inspired by a Hindu Sanyasi named Alluri Sitarama Raju. Alluri Sitarama Raju used to travel from village to village & preach Bhagavad Gita among tribals. He urged Hindus to revolt against foreign rule. A thread about his life🧵
Alluri Sitarama Raju was born on July 4, 1898 in Andhra Pradesh. His was a lower middle class Hindu family. His father died when he was 8. Like most Hindus, Alluri Sitarama Raju was taught Ramayana and Mahabharata in his childhood and he took an extreme liking to these epics. By the age of 14, Alluri learnt Sanskrit, Hindi & English. At the age of 18, he took Diksha & became a Sanyasi. By 24, he visited by foot various holy places such as Gangotri, Nashik and Varanasi. Adorning Kamandalu, saffron clothes & preaching Gita, he travelled everywhere.
These travels familiarized him with the condition of people. He realized that India was under foreign rule and Indian past glory could only be restored through Indian independence. He was also particularly upset about the degeneracies that crept in social life of Indian people. When Subhas Bose visited Vizag, he addressed a large gathering. Bose said it was a time to make sacrifices. Bose asked if anybody was ready to sacrifice his life for the sake of nation. Alluri came forward & declared he would happily sacrifice his life. Bose garlanded Alluri.
Alluri was particularly upset by activities of Christian missionaries who were converting tribals. He opposed them tooth and nail and installed Lord Rama statues. He settled down among Koya hill tribes & led a very austere sanyasi life by subsisting only on fruits and roots. Soon, Alluri gained tremendous popularity among hill tribes. They regarded the sanyasi as an incarnation of Rāma & were ready to sacrifice their lives for him.
He noted grievances of tribals & educated them about their rights. He was known as Manyam Veerudu “warrior of jungle"Alluri prepared tribals for a fight against British officials & police. He prepared them for confrontation against Christian missionaries. He trained them in guerilla warfare.
Soon, he came to notice of British for his activities. In the beginning, they tried to placate him. British declared Alluri was just a leader of tribals who were driven to desperation after their lands were unfairly grabbed. British offered Alluri 60 acres of fertile land for his Ashram. “I asked for entire India. I don’t want 60 acres”- he said while rejecting the offer.
The 1882 Madras Forest Act curtailed basic human rights of the tribals. Alluri wisely advised the tribals that fighting against British using traditional weapons is useless. Instead, he raided and looted police stations to gain modern weapons like Muskets and revolvers.
In those days, there was a Christian missionary named (se)bastian. He was the tehsildar. An extremely cruel person, he subjected the tribal people to untold atrocities. He used to burn their settlements and grab their land. He used to cut the fingers of anyone who protested. Sebastian forced the tribals to perform labor work of constructing roads in the forest lands without any compensation. When they denied working without wage, they were brutally lathi-charged. When they protested against this, they were fired upon and many tribals were killed.
The tribals sought protection of Alluri. Alluri asked- “who is responsible for this state?”. “There are so many divisions among us. We are one. Our strength comes only when we are united. We must establish panchayats among ourselves to resolve our disputes amicably”.
Alluri urged the tribals to give up the practice of drinking alcohol. He said Alcohol is man’s worst enemy & it turns humans into Rakshasas. Under his influence, many drunkards gave up the practice of drinking alcohol. This is how he inspired the tribal community to strength
In 1921, Alluri launched a guerilla attack on Sebastian and vanquished him along with his 8 officers. His name then inspired terror among terror among British officials. At this time, Alluri was merely 24 years old. Soon, Alluri achieved spectacular success. He raided police station after police station. Restored village after village.
Such was the terror of Alluri that a special deployment of 1200 Assam Rifles and Malabar reserve police were deployed in the forest just to catch Alluri. These “special forces” committed untold atrocities on the tribal people. The British subjected tribals to brutal punishments to coerce them into revealing the whereabouts of Alluri. A special bounty was announced on the head of Alluri.
However, Alluri continued evading them while changing his attack tactics. The weapon he used was ‘Mirapatapasu’. This is an extremely simple but effective weapon. A heap of burnt chillies shot at trees to produce devastating effect. No British officer could have detected this.
On August 22, Alluri raided Chintapalli station. The British officials fled in terror. The weapons were distributed among tribals. The end of British rule was declared. The end of British rule was declared.
For 2 years, Alluri Sitarama Raju kept attacking police stations. For 2 years, the British relentlessly pursued him. They used all the resources at their disposal. Money, forces, bribes, coercion, punishment. It is a testimony to his intelligence, courage wit & tactical mind.
Alluri was devotee of Rāma. His real name was Alluri Ramaraju. When young, he fell in love with a girl named Sita. But she passed away in a few days. Then, he prefixed Sita to his name. Like Rāma, there would only be one woman in his thoughts. He remained lifelong celibate
On April 17 1923, Alluri attacked Annavaram police station. The collector sent a force of 500 policemen. When Alluri himself led the battle, police had no chance. They fled away. Annavaram was conquered. Thousands of people came to behold Alluri. People fell at his feet.
Rattled by these developments, British Governor Freeman Thomas sent thousands of forces into forest areas. Military rule was declared in the entire tribal area. There were troops everywhere. A commander named Chris broke into house of Alluri’s follower Mallidora & killed him
Another detachment of 200 soldiers attacked and killed Ghantam Dora. A tribal Chenchu female follower of Alluri was then pregnant . She resisted the forces in the battle and sacrificed her left+++(=??-)+++. Thousands of Assam rifles launch ‘operation sitaram’ to catch Alluri. They surround him on all sides. Alluri fights with the British soldiers and kills many of them. His entire body was drenched in his own blood. However, he did not give up. He fought with them until sunset.
After sunset, Alluri & handful of remaining followers took refuge somewhere in the forest. That night, it was a follower of Alluri (bribed by British) who revealed his location. They suddenly surround Alluri . Drenched in blood, Alluri could hardly move. He is captured. They tied him in Iron chains and bound him to a tree.
They called him a dacoit. To which he responded:
“Do you not have any shame in capturing an unarmed person? Is this your bravery? You have only come to our country to loot. Leave our nation and be gone for good.
This is the land of Abhimanyu. I will happily give up my life for this country. You can kill alluri today. But thousands of Alluris will rise tomorrow. Your end is near”- Alluri said.
Hundreds of bullets were fired at him until nothing remained of his body.
etv 2022
Source: TW
Remembering Alluri Sitarama Raju who sent shivers down the spine of Britishers.
alluri sitarama raju a great son of the soil
The legendary revolutionary was surrounded by hundreds of British soldiers with mounted guns and loaded cannons, but he didn’t fear any of them, rather he looked fearless. Finally, the bullets hit him and the blood oozed out of his body, still, he showed his chest, saying ‘‘shoot here’’. Truly, a heroic end to Alluri Sitarama Raju who send shivers down the spine of Britishers until his death.
The 27-year-old left behind four bows and a legacy as well. At the peak of fighting, he stormed the British walls and blew up police stations like firecrackers. Alluri Sitaramaraju is that revolutionary arrow that struck fear in the hearts of the enemy and inspired generations of patriots.
The year 1922, 22 August, Visakha Forest Area, Chintapalli Police Station. Sudden heart-rending shouts shattered the otherwise usual silence. Around 300 people ambushed the police station and tore records. Guns and ammunition were taken away, not like a thief, but like a noble warrior. What was being taken away was marked in the record book and signed by a person. His name was Alluri Sitaramaraju who gave some sleepless nights to Britishers.
Under British rule, police stations were centers of anarchy. They suppressed the voices that were raised for their rights with iron fists. In fact, people dreaded watching a police station even from a distance. Hence, Raju’s attack on a police station proved to be a wake-up call to ruthless Britishers. Yet again, the legendary Alluri army took British police by surprise on August 23, 1922, after they attacked Krishnadevipeta, and Raja Ommangi police stations and took away arms and ammunition, throwing up a challenge of sorts to the ruling dispensation.
The British government was devasted after three back-to-back attacks on its police forces. Invariably, to crush the revolution, it sent officers named Kabardu and Haiter to Chintapalli. On September 24, 1922, Kabardu and Haiter went into the forest with the army only to be defeated by Rama Raju’s army. The British were even more enraged and resented Alluri. But this ‘‘Giriputra’’ (son of the hills) was not scared. The invasion of police stations continued.
This time he adopted guerilla warfare and challenged the British during his attack on the Addatigala police station. Raju carried out the attack on October 15. The British army had no option but to surrender. Also, Rama Raju besieged Rampachodavaram station in broad daylight on October 19 with the same zeal. Sitarama Raju used police stations to store weapons and saved people from police harassment.
Born on July 4, 1897, in Pandrangi, Visakha district, Alluri was educated in Kovwada, Narsapuram, Ramachandrapuram, and Tuni in Godavari districts. He discontinued schooling claiming that a teacher has beaten him for failing in the fourth form. Later, he espoused the cause of the tribals after seeing their plight. In between, he went on a trip to North India and became a Yogi.
He returned to the Visakha agency and practised yoga near Krishnadevipeta where the Tandava river meets ‘Chikkalagadda’. The Alluri Yogamudra was disturbed by the anarchist British. Alluri couldn’t bear the atrocities meted out to the children of the agency area, such as stopping illegal agriculture and putting restrictions on the sale of forest products along with atrocities like rapes and harassment.
In August 1922, Alluri turned into a warrior and rallied the tribals and gave them bows and arrows. In fact, Rama Raju transformed 150 common people into well-trained revolutionary heroes. He rose to dizzy heights. On December 6, 1922, the government troops opened fire on the Alluri army and four of his followers were martyred while eight other revolutionaries were killed in the late-night raid. This was the first blow to tribal warriors. Later, Britishers announced a bounty on Rama Raju and his followers.
On April 17, 1923, Sitaramaraj appeared at Annavaram along with his followers and surprised the British. The then collector was furious that the people looked upon Ramaraju as a demi-god. He imposed an additional tax on the people as a fine but the people didn’t give up Alluri.
The police eventually cordoned off the entire agency area to quell the revolution. People were deprived of food. Young and old were killed. On 17 April 1924, Rutherford arrived as Special Commissioner for the Agency area, held a meeting in Krishnadevipeta, and warned people that they would be killed if they don’t disclose the whereabouts of the revolutionaries within a week.
Rama Raju decided to surrender since the pressure of the British army was affecting his people. On May 7, 1924, a cowherd sitting at a farm near Koiyur informed the police about the fighter’s whereabouts. Then, Ramaraju was surrounded by the police, caught and tied to a tree near Major Goodall. Ramaraju was shot dead without any trial. There was a twinkle in the eyes of the Britishers, but there was no tremor in Alluri’s back. Even as bullets were raining on him, Ramaraju chanted Vande Mataram. On May 8, Alluri’s body was cremated and a memorial was built in Krishnadevipeta.
The revolutionary struggle of Agency hero started on 22 August 1922 and ended in the first week of July 1924. The great warrior died at the age of 27. National newspapers hailed Alluri as Shivaji, Rana Pratap, and Lenin. Gandhiji, who led the non-violent movement, also glorified Alluri as a hero in Young India magazine in 1926. Azad Hind Fauz founder Subhash Chandra Bose also praised Alluri and said Indians cannot forget such great heroes.