Potti Sreeramulu (Telugu: పొట్టి శ్రీరాములు; 16 March 1901 – 16 December 1952) (age 51), was an Indian revolutionary.
He became famous for undertaking a fast-unto-death for achieving the Andhra State
and losing his life in the process. His sacrifice became instrumental
in the linguistic re-organisation of states. He is revered as Amarajeevi (Immortal being) in Andhra for his sacrifice. As a devout follower of Mahatma Gandhi, he worked life long to uphold principles such as truth and non-violence, patriotism and objectives such as Harijan upliftment.
Early life
Born to Guravayya and Mahalakshmamma at house no. 165, Annapillai street, Chennai.He belonged to the Arya Vysya
caste. The caste members claim to be Vysya’s of the south and are
brought up in strict vegetarianism and belief in non – violence. He was
naturally influenced by Gandhi who was leading the freedom movement of
India through non – violent ways. He studied in Madras till he was 20. Later, he studied Sanitary Engineering in the Victoria Jubilee Technical Institute in Bombay.
Career
Potti Sreeramulu joined the Great Indian Peninsular Railway
and worked for about four years there. After the death of his wife in
1927 when he was only 26, he lost interest in the material world and
resigned from his job. He divided property between his brothers and
mother and joined Sabarmati Ashram as a follower of Mahatma Gandhi.
Independence Movement and Harijan Upliftment
He took part in the Indian Independence Movement. He was imprisoned for participating in the 1930 Salt Satyagraha. Between 1941-42 he participated in the individual satyagraha and the Quit India movement and was imprisoned thrice. He was involved in the village reconstruction programmes at Rajkot in Gujarat and Komaravolu in Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh. He joined the Gandhi Ashram established by Yerneni Subrahmanyam in Komaravolu.
Between 1943 and 1944 he worked for the widespread adoption of Charkha in Nellore district.
He started partaking food from all houses without attaching importance
to caste and creed. He undertook three fasts during 1946-48 for the
entry of Harijans into religious places such as temples in Nellore. He
fasted to gain entry for Harijans into the Venugopalaswamy temple in
Moolapeta, Nellore
and succeeded in achieving the objective. He again fasted to get
favourable orders on Dalit upliftment passed by the Madras government.
As a result, the government instructed collectors to attend to
measures of Harijan upliftment at least one day in a week. During the
last stages of his life, he stayed in Nellore and worked for Harijan
upliftment. He would wear placards with slogans on Harijan upliftment
and propagate the cause. He used to walk wearing these placards in the
middle of the summer without wearing slippers or using an umbrella.
People who did not know about his antecedents dismissed him as a mad
man. He was chastied by the upper caste and his own caste for his
support for Harijan upliftment.
Statehood for Andhra
In an effort to protect the interests of the Telugu people in Madras Presidency,
and to preserve the unique culture of Andhra people, he attempted to
force the government to listen to public demands for the separation of Andhra region from Madras Presidency based on linguistic lines. He went on a lengthy fast, and only stopped when Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru promised to support creation of Andhra State.
However, there was no movement on the issue for a long time. He started
fasting again for attaining statehood for Andhra in Maharshi Bulusu
Sambamurthy’s house in Madras on 19 October 1952.His main motto behind
fasting was to get Madras city (now chennai) to be a part of the andhra.
It started off without fanfare but steadily caught people’s imagination
despite the disavowal of the fast by the Andhra Congress committee.
The government of the day however did not make a clear statement
about the formation of a new state despite several strikes and
demonstrations by Andhra people. On the midnight of 15 December (i.e.
early 16 December 1952), Potti Sreeramulu died and laid down his life
trying to achieve his objective.
In his death procession, people shouted slogans praising his
sacrifice. When the procession reached Mount Road, thousands of people
joined and raised slogans hailing Sriramulu. Later, they went into a
frenzy and resorted to destruction of public property. The news spread
like wildfire and created an uproar among the people in far off places
like Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Rajahmundry, Eluru, Guntur, Tenali, Ongole and Nellore. Seven people were killed in police firing in Anakapalle and Vijayawada. The popular agitation continued for three to four days disrupting normal life in Madras and Andhra regions. On 19 December, the Prime minister of the country Jawaharlal Nehru made an announcement about formation of a separate Andhra state.
On 1 October 1953, the state of Andhra was established with Kurnool as capital carving it out from Madras State. However, the Telugu speaking Telangana was part of Hyderabad state until 1956. On November 1, 1956, Telangana was merged with Andhra and as a result Andhra Pradesh was formed with Hyderabad as its capital, against the recommendation of States Reorganization Commission (SRC). Kerala and Karnataka states were formed the same day in 1956, followed by Gujarat and Maharashtra
in 1960. Jawaharlal Nehru in the spirit of national integration was not
very excited by Linguistic states which will strengthen the barrier of
language between Indians. Multi Lingual states were expected to bring
about more unity and feeling of oneness among all Indians. Linguistic
states strengthen the linguistic identity which is detrimental to
national integration in a country like India with so many languages.
Death
Potti Sreeramulu fasted in the heart of Madras (Chennai) city for over 58 days for an Andhra state with Madras as the capital. He described “Andhra without Madras as a dead body without a head. The reasons as to why the Rajaji government, Union government led by Nehru or police did not intervene to force feed or shift him to a hospital remain unclear. The intentions of Nehru and Rajaji
governments to effectively homogenize the cultural and linguistic
diversity of the Indian Union in the name of National Integration have
seriously undermined the very federal spirit upon which India’s
foundation lies. It is interesting to note that only one person before
him in modern Indian history Jatin Das actually fasted to death; all the others either gave up or were arrested and force fed or hospitalised.
2Life of Amarajeevi Potti Sriramulu
Many of us grow up hearing about Amarajeevi Potti Sriramulu Gari’s
sacrifice for the separation of Andhra state from the Madras state, but
we really don’t know much about him. In the midst of hospital and IV
hunger strikes by the so called today’s politicians, where one can do
hunger strike for 30 years and then comparing themselves to his fast
until death or Aamarana neraahaara deeksha , it is but necessary to know
the life of Amarajeevi Potti Sriramulu.
Here are the two excerpts from Newspapers to know about his life, the values he stood for and his supreme sacrifice.
He quit his job in the Great India Peninsular Railway in 1927 to join Mahatma Gandhi‘s
Non-Cooperation Movement. He enrolled in Sabarmati Ashram, participated
in various agitations along with the Mahatma and earned the latter’s
appreciation. Seeing his grit and determination and pursuing things till
their logical end, the Mahatma had remarked, “India would have attained
Independence long back, if only it had a few stalwarts like him”.
That was, `Amarajeevi’ Potti Sriramulu, who had sacrificed his life
for the sake of statehood for Andhra. He took up the emancipation of
Harijans as a crusade. He went on a fast and succeeded in getting entry
to the dalits into the Venugopala Swami Temple
in Nellore. He established the “Hindu Sanskarana Samithi”, a voluntary
organisation and worked relentlessly for the uplift of Harijans and for
eradication of untouchability.
Born to Potti Guravayya and Mahalakshmamma in Madras on March 16,
1901, Sriramulu had his education in Madras. His ancestors, who belonged
to Guntur district, had migrated to Madras in search of greener
pastures. He did his diploma in sanitary engineering from the Victoria
Jubilee Technical Institute in Bombay. He worked in the G.I.P. Railway
in Madras and Bombay for four years for a salary of Rs.250 a month.
In 1928, his wife gave birth to a child and died. Within a few days,
the baby also died, leaving him grief-stricken. The subsequent death of
his mother made him lose interest in worldly pursuits and paved the way
for his entry into and active involvement in the non-violent movements
led by Gandhiji.
He participated in the Salt Satyagraha in 1930 and underwent
imprisonment. He took an active part in the Quit India Movement in 1942
and was jailed along with the Mahatma. In response to the call given by
Gandhiji to serve the villagers, who constitute 70 per cent of the
population, he enrolled in the Gandhi Ashram set up by Yerneni
Subrahmanyam near Komaravolu village in Krishna district and spread the
Gandhian philosophy.
Following the assassination of the Mahatma, Sriramulu was appointed
director of the Gandhi Memorial Fund for Andhra. He was disappointed at
the poor response from the Telugus to the cause. He also found the
response to the Bhoodan movement, Gandhi Trust and Kasturba Trust was
lukewarm. He contended that the poor response was due to the absence of a
separate state for Andhras and decided to strive for it.
The demand for a separate state for Andhras first came up in 1910.
Several Telugus were jailed during the `Vande Maataram’ agititation. At
that time, some of them underlined the need for a separate state. The
demand gained momentum in the convention held at Nidadavolu in Krishna
district in 1912.
The demand was also raised in the subsequent conventions held at
Bapatla in Guntur district, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam. The Congress
Working Committee at its meeting held under the leadership of Annie
Besant passed a resolution approving the division of states on
linguistic basis.
The British Government, however, rejected the demand. The Dhar
Commission, which was appointed by the Central Government after
Independence on August 15, 1947 rejected the idea of formation of
linguistic states. It felt that the Telugu pockets in Madras State could
be considered as a separate state. The Dhar report was opposed by the
people. Sensing the mood of the people, the All-India Congress Committee
at its meeting at Jaipur in 1948, appointed Jawaharlal Nehru,
Vallabhbhai Patel and Pattabhi Seetharamayya to look into the demand.
The committee suggested that barring Madras, the remaining Telugu
speaking areas could be linked to form a separate Andhra state. The
Telugus were not prepared to part with Madras.
On August 15, 1951, Swamy Seetharam launched a fast-unto-death for
achieving the demand for a separate Andhra state. The Central Government
did not take notice of the agitation. The fast continued for 35 days.
Sensing danger, Acharya Vinobha Bhave apprised Nehru of the situation.
The two leaders met Seetharam and made him give up the fast, promising
to get statehood for Andhra. Nehru, however, did not keep his promise.
Potti Sriramulu decided to undertake a fast-unto-death. He began the
fast in the house of Bulusu Sambamurthy in Madras city on October 19,
1952. Several people thought that this would be another fast that would
be given up after some days. After 20 days his health deteriorated.
Tanguturi Prakasam Panthulu used to visit the hunger-strike camp
daily and inquire about his health. The Gandhian, Yerneni Subrahmanyam,
used to shed tears secretly seeing his plight. Though Sriramulu became
physically weak, he was mentally strong and declined to give up his
fast.
On the 56th day, he passed into a coma and a couple of days later, he
developed breathing problems. On December 15, 1952, Sriramulu breathed
his last, after 58 days of fasting. On the intimation of Yerneni
Subrahmanyam, the legendary singer, Ghantasala, and freedom-fighter and
singer, Moparru Dasu, rushed to the place. They composed and rendered a
song in honour of the immortal leader.
The body was taken in a procession. When the procession reached Mount
Road, thousands of people joined and raised slogans hailing Sriramulu.
Later, they went into a frenzy and resorted to destruction of public
property. The news spread like wildfire and created an uproar among the
people in far off places like Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada,
Eluru, Guntur, Tenali, Ongole and Nellore.
Seven people were killed in police firing in Anakapalle and
Vijayawada. The popular agitation continued for three to four days
disrupting normal life in Madras and Andhra regions. On December 19,
1952, Nehru, agreed to grant statehood to Andhras.
The State of Andhra was formed on October 1, 1953, with Kurnool as
its capital. On November 1, 1956, Andhra Pradesh was formed with
Hyderabad as its capital.
The statue of this selfless leader has been installed on Beach Road in Madras.
Potti Sree Ramulu garu is a selfless being and a true Gandhian
without any political inclinations. His sacrifice became instrumental in
the linguistic re-organisation of states, thereby especially the South
Indian languages and culture flourished after centuries of alien rule.
Trivia
- Observing Potti Sreeramulu’s commitment, Mahatma Gandhi once remarked, “We can achieve independence within a year if there were another ten people as committed and dedicated as Potti Sreeramulu.”
- House No. 126, Royapettah High Road, Mylapore, Madras (Chennai) is the house where Potti Sreeramulu died and it has been preserved as a monument of importance by the state government of Andhra Pradesh.
