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Source: The post is based on the article “PM launches year-long 125th birth anniversary celebration of legendary freedom fighter Alluri Sitarama Raju in Bhimavaram, Andhra Pradesh” published in PIB on 4th July 2022.
What is the News?
The Prime Minister has launched the year-long 125th birth anniversary celebration of legendary freedom fighter Alluri Sitarama Raju in Bhimavaram,Andhra Pradesh.
Who is Alluri Sitarama Raju?
Alluri Sitarama Raju was born on 4th July 1897. He is remembered for his fight against the British, in order to safeguard the interests of the tribal communities in the Eastern Ghats region.
He is referred to as “Manyam Veerudu” (Hero of the Jungles) by the local people.
He had led the Rampa rebellion which was launched in 1922.
He laid down his life for the freedom of the motherland in 1924 at the young age of just 27 years.
What was the Rampa Rebellion?
The Rampa Rebellion is also known as the Manyam Rebellion. It was a tribal uprising, led by Alluri Sitarama Raju in Godavari Agency of Madras Presidency, British India.
Cause: The Rampa administrative area was home to about 28,000 tribes. These tribes followed the ‘Podu’ system of cultivation whereby every year some amounts of forest tracts were cleared for cultivation, as it was their only source of food.
While for the tribes, the forests were essential for their survival, the Britishers wanted to evict them so that they could plunder these areas for wood, which would eventually help in building their railways and ships.
To get the forests cleared, ‘The Madras Forest Act, 1882’ was passed, thereby restricting the free movement of the tribal communities and prohibiting them from engaging in their traditional Podu agricultural system. This oppressive order was the beginning of the Rampa Rebellion.
Ended in: The rebellion began in August 1922 and lasted until the capture and killing of Raju in May 1924.
Steps taken by Government to remember Alluri Sitarama Raju
Every year, the Government of Andhra Pradesh commemorates his birth date, the 4th of July, as a state festival
The birthplace of Alluri Sitarama Raju at Pandrangi in Vizianagaram district and Chintapalli Police Station (to mark 100 years of Rampa Rebellion – the attack on this police station marked the beginning of Rampa Rebellion) will be restored.
The government has also approved the construction of Alluri Dhyana Mandir at Mogallu with a statue of Alluri Sitarama Raju in Dhyana Mudra, depicting the life story of the freedom fighter through mural paintings and AI-enabled interactive systems.
