ALLURI SITARAMA RAJU

Context: The Prime Minister will participate in the 125th birth anniversary celebrations of freedom fighter of legendary Alluri Seetharama Raju. Prime Minister Narendra unveil a 30-ft bronze statue of Alluri at Bhimavaram in the West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh.

About:

• Alluri Sitarama Raju was a legendary freedom fighter who rallied the tribes of the Eastern Ghats to rise in revolt against British rule.
• The Rampa rebellion, which he led with unparalleled courage and bravery, raged from August 1922 to May 1924 and is known as one of the most intense uprisings to have challenged the writ of colonial power in the subcontinent.
• He is remembered for mounting daring raids to seize arms and ammunition from police stations in the Rampachodavaram, Addateegala, Devipatnam and Rajavommangi areas of the tribal backwoods in what is now the northern part of Andhra Pradesh.
• Alluri is revered not just in Andhra Pradesh but also in Telangana, Odisha and Karnataka.
• He believed in armed struggle and sacrificed his life for the liberation of the tribals.
• He opposed the Madras Forest Act, 1882 (the region was then part of the erstwhile Madras Presidency), which prohibited the tribes from indulging in podu (shift cultivation) and usurped their right to collect minor forest produce.

Why at Bhimavaram?

It is the bastion of the resourceful Raju community that dominates the deltaic Godavari region and is engaged mostly in paddy cultivation and aquaculture. Alluri spent some of his early years there.

What else has Andhra Pradesh done to bring Alluri’s legacy alive for posterity?

Earlier this year, Chief Minister decided to reconstitute the region that includes parts of East Godavari and Visakhapatnam districts as the Alluri Sitarama Raju district.

https://newsonair.gov.in/News? title=PM-Modi-to-launch-125th-birth-anniversary-celebration-of-freedom-fighter-Alluri-Sitarama-Raju-in-Andhra-Pradesh-on-July-4&id=443570