Alluri Seethrama Raju Jayanthi

 

Name: Alluri Sita Rama Raju
Other Names: Aluri Rampa Rama Raju, Rama Chandra Raju
Born on: July 4, 1897
Birth Place: Mogallu village, West Godavari district, India
Died on: May 7, 1924
Place Died: Mampa village in the Visakhapatnam District
Title: Manyam Veerudu

Early Career

Alluri Sita Rama Raju's father died when he was in school and he grew up in the care of his uncle 'Rama Krishnam Raju', a tehsildar in Narsapur in the West Godavari district. He studied at 'Taylor High School' in Narsapur then moved to Tuni along with his mother, brother and sister. While there, Alluri visited areas of the Visakhapatnam district and became familiar with the needs of the indigenous people. At the age of 15, he moved to his mother's home town of Vishakhapatnam and enrolled at Mrs. A.V.N. College. He was dropped out of college after failing in the fourth form (Std. IX).

Rampa Rebellion

Raju led a protest movement in the border areas of the East Godavari and Visakhapatnam districts of Andhra Pradesh. Inspired by the patriotic zeal of revolutionaries in Bengal, Raju raided police stations in and around Chintapalle, Rampachodavaram, Dammanapalli, Krishna-devi-peta, Rajavommangi, Addateegala, Narsipatnam and Annavaram. Raju and his followers stole guns and ammunition and killed several British army officers, including Scott Coward near Dammanapalli. In December 1922, the British deployed a company of Assam Rifles, near Pegadapalle under the leadership of Saunders. Raju, who had by then gone underground, resurfaced after about four months and continued the fight, strengthened by tribal volunteers using bows and arrows under the leadership of 'Gam Mallu Dora' and 'Gantam Dora'.

The British campaign lasted for nearly a year from December 1922. Rama Raju was eventually trapped by the British in the forests of Chintapalli then tied to a tree and shot dead with a rifle in Mampa village. Following the martyrdom of Alluri, the tribal revolt lost its momentum and petered out by October 1923. Police officer Mr. N. Gnaneswara Rao responsible for Raju's entrapment was awarded Rao Bahadur. Alluri Sita Ramaraju tomb is present in Krishna devi peta village.

Alluri Army

Alluri’s Army raided Chintapalli Police Station, on 23rd Krishnadevipeta Police Station, and on 24th Rajavommangi and captured a good number of guns, bayonets and cartridges and swords. He set free the revolutionary, Veerayya Dora from jail. The British Army got alerted and platoons of Police and Army were sent to capture Setarama Raju. At Peddavalassa, Raju attacked the British Army. They were defeated during this battle and suffered very heavy casualties and retreated. From That day onwards there was a regular warfare between Raju and the Britishers. Raju came out triumphant in all.

Legacy

Today a statue of Raju stands at the junction of Seethammadhara Junction and The Park in Visakhapatnam. The Indian Postal Department issued a commemorative stamp on Sri Alluri Seetarama Raju in the series ‘India’s struggle for freedom’ in 1986. A Telugu movie was made about Raju’s life, entitled Alluri Sita Rama Raju. Krishna starred as Raju and V. Rama Chandra Rao directed the film. The popular song ‘Telugu Veera Levara’ was included in this film and has inspired generations of the Telugu Community. Mantena Satya Narayana Raju a dietician and an Ayurvedic Consultant is a relative of Sri Alluri Sitarama Raju. The only photograph of him, which was taken after his death is preserved in the A.P. State Archives, Hyderabad.

Great Personality of the day

 

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela18 July 1918 – 5 December 2013) was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician and philanthropist who served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was South Africa's first black chief executive, and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid through tackling institutionalised racism, poverty and inequality, and fostering racial reconciliation. Politically an African nationalist and democratic socialist, he served as President of the African National Congress (ANC) party from 1991 to 1997. Internationally, Mandela was Secretary General of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1998 to 1999.

A Xhosa born to the Thembu royal family, Mandela attended Fort Hare University and the University of Witwatersrand, where he studied law. Living in Johannesburg, he became involved in anti-colonial politics, joining the ANC and becoming a founding member of its Youth League. After the Afrikaner minority government of the National Party established apartheid in 1948, he rose to prominence in the ANC's 1952 Defiance Campaign, was appointed superintendent of the organisation's Transvaal chapter and presided over the 1955 Congress of the People. Working as a lawyer, he was repeatedly arrested for seditious activities and, with the ANC leadership, was unsuccessfully prosecuted in the Treason Trial from 1956 to 1961. Influenced by Marxism, he secretly joined the South African Communist Party (SACP) and sat on its Central Committee. Although initially committed to non-violent protest, in association with the SACP he co-founded the militant Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) in 1961, leading a sabotage campaign against the apartheid government. In 1962, he was arrested, convicted of conspiracy to overthrow the state, and sentenced to life imprisonment in the Rivonia Trial.

Mandela served 27 years in prison, initially on Robben Island, and later in Pollsmoor Prison and Victor Verster Prison. An international campaign lobbied for his release, which was granted in 1990 amid escalating civil strife. Mandela joined negotiations with Nationalist President F. W. de Klerk to abolish apartheid and establish multiracial elections in 1994, in which he led the ANC to victory and became South Africa's first black president. He published his autobiography in 1995. During his tenure in the Government of National Unity he invited other political parties to join the cabinet, and promulgated a new constitution. He also created the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate past human rights abuses. While continuing the former government's liberal economic policy, his administration also introduced measures to encourage land reform, combat poverty, and expand healthcare services. Internationally, he acted as mediator between Libya and the United Kingdom in the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial, and oversaw military intervention in Lesotho. He declined to run for a second term, and was succeeded by his deputy, Thabo Mbeki. Mandela became an elder statesman, focusing on charitable work in combating poverty and HIV/AIDS through the Nelson Mandela Foundation.

Mandela was a controversial figure for much of his life. Denounced as a communist terrorist by critics, he nevertheless gained international acclaim for his activism, having received more than 250 honours, including the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize, the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Soviet Order of Lenin. He is held in deep respect within South Africa, where he is often referred to by his Xhosa clan name, Madiba, or as Tata ("Father"); he is often described as the "Father of the Nation".