A Telugu movie with its story and characters rooted in the lives of Indian freedom fighters Alluri Sitharama Raju and Komaram Bheem is garnering attention on the global stage.

Who was Alluri Sitharama Raju?

• Raju is believed to have been born in Andhra Pradesh in 1897 or 1898.
• He is said to have become a sanyasi at the age of 18 and gained a mystical aura among the hill and tribal peoples with his austerity, knowledge of astrology and medicine, and his ability to tame wild animals.
• At a very young age, Raju channelled the discontent of the hill people in Ganjam, Visakhapatnam, and Godavari into an effective guerrilla resistance against the British.

Advent into revolutionary activities

• Colonial rule threatened the tribals’ traditional podu (shifting) cultivation, as the government sought to secure forest lands.
• The Forest Act of 1882 banned the collection of minor forest produce such as roots and leaves, and tribal people were forced into labour by the colonial government.
• While the tribals were subjected to exploitation by muttadars, village headmen commissioned by the colonial government to extract rent, the new laws and systems threatened their way of life itself.
• Strong anti-government sentiment, shared by the muttadars who were aggrieved by the curtailment of their powers by the British, exploded into armed resistance in August 1922.

Contribution to freedom struggle

• The Rampa or Manyam Rebellion continued in the form of a guerrilla war until May 1924, when Raju, the charismatic ‘Manyam Veerudu’ or Hero of Jungle, was finally captured and executed.
• The Rampa Rebellion coincided with Mahatma Gandhi’s Non-Cooperation Movement.
• Raju often talked of the greatness of Mahatma Gandhi, said he was inspired by the Non-Cooperation Movement, and persuaded people to wear khadi and give up drinking.
• But at the same time, he asserted that India could be liberated only by the use of force, not non-violence.

Who was Alluri Sitharama Raju?

• Raju is believed to have been born in Andhra Pradesh in 1897 or 1898.
• He is said to have become a sanyasi at the age of 18 and gained a mystical aura among the hill and tribal peoples with his austerity, knowledge of astrology and medicine, and his ability to tame wild animals.
• At a very young age, Raju channelled the discontent of the hill people in Ganjam, Visakhapatnam, and Godavari into an effective guerrilla resistance against the British.

Advent into revolutionary activities

• Colonial rule threatened the tribals’ traditional podu (shifting) cultivation, as the government sought to secure forest lands.
• The Forest Act of 1882 banned the collection of minor forest produce such as roots and leaves, and tribal people were forced into labour by the colonial government.
• While the tribals were subjected to exploitation by muttadars, village headmen commissioned by the colonial government to extract rent, the new laws and systems threatened their way of life itself.
• Strong anti-government sentiment, shared by the muttadars who were aggrieved by the curtailment of their powers by the British, exploded into armed resistance in August 1922.

Contribution to freedom struggle

• The Rampa or Manyam Rebellion continued in the form of a guerrilla war until May 1924, when Raju, the charismatic ‘Manyam Veerudu’ or Hero of Jungle, was finally captured and executed.
• The Rampa Rebellion coincided with Mahatma Gandhi’s Non-Cooperation Movement.
• Raju often talked of the greatness of Mahatma Gandhi, said he was inspired by the Non-Cooperation Movement, and persuaded people to wear khadi and give up drinking.
• But at the same time, he asserted that India could be liberated only by the use of force, not non-violence.

And who was Komaram Bheem?

• Komram Bheem was born in the Gond tribal community at Sankepally village in Komarambheem District, which was renamed after him in 2016.
• Bheem’s family’s land was occupied by a jagirdar who was an informer of the Nizam, which led to him killing the jagirdar in a fit of rage.
• To avoid authorities, he went to Assam and worked as a labourer in coffee and tea plantations for five years.
• Despite being illiterate, Bheem learned to read and write and became aware of movements like Birsa Munda’s.

Resistance against the Nizam government

• The Nizam government collected taxes in the name of “Bambram” and “Dupapetti” from people grazing cattle and collecting firewood for cooking.
• Bheem spread the message of “Jal, Jangal, Zameen” among tribal people in opposition to this tax collection.
• He trained tribal people to fight with weapons, and villages in Adilabad were ready with the help of a guerrilla army composed of Gond and Koya communities’ men.

Death and legacy

• Despite their efforts, Nizam’s army overwhelmed the tribal resistance.
• Bheem died at their hands in the Jodeghat forest.
• Bheem’s message of “Jal, Jangal, Zameen” has become a clarion call for indigenous people’s rights to natural resources, used in many parts of India to date.

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