Political scenario in State in 1947
The political context during 1947 in Telangana was different from the rest of the country. It was nationalist movement in British India which was led by national bourgeoisie, whereas in Telangana the communists were in effective control of the Second World War, there was food shortage all around.
Hyderabad: Armed struggle is an important part of Telangana history and aspirants should be thorough with the subject.
This article is in continuation to the last article focusing on Telangana armed struggle, which is one of the important topics in preparation for the State government recruitment examinations.
The political context during 1947 in Telangana was different from the rest of the country. It was nationalist movement in British India which was led by national bourgeoisie, whereas in Telangana the communists were in effective control of the Second World War, there was food shortage all around. The government introduced rationing of essential commodities such as sugar, cloth, wheat, rice and kerosene.
A system of levy on food grains was introduced. According to this system each cultivator was required to give a certain quantity of food grains per acre to the government. It was assumed that every cultivator was expected to perform this duty, but the landlords managed to escape. Ultimately, the burden fell on the poor peasants. The price paid by the government for levy was less than the market price.
By 1944, the Communist-led AMS started mobilising its cadres for militant mass struggles against the practices of vetti, illegal extractions of taxes and evictions of cultivators by landlords from their lands. Chakali Ailamma, a washerwoman and a native of Palakurthi village had become the target of notorious Deshmukh of Visnur village due to her active participation in the AMS activities.
The Communist party and AMS cadres protected the crop of Chakali Ailamma from the imminent attacks of goons of the Visnur Deshmukh. They took up slings, sticks, catapults and cudgels both for self-defence and retaliation. From this time onwards, the AMS was nicknamed as ‘Gutupala Sangam’ literally meaning the ‘sticks brigade’. The high-handed and tyrannical Visnur Deshmukh continued his brutal attacks, unabated, on the AMS cadres. He impleaded many peasants in court cases.
One of the best examples of foisting cases was the Bandagi case, who despite winning the case against Visnur Deshmukh in the court was murdered by the henchmen of the landlords.
After the Second World War, the local branches of Andhra Mahasabha called ‘Sanghams’ launched village-level struggles for better wages for labourers, illegal extraction and against the newly imposed grain levy. These struggles were organised mostly in Nalgonda district on the estates of some of the most notorious landlords and Deshmukhs like Visnuru Ramachandra Reddy.
Militant action in this early period of movement included a few isolated instances of forcible seizure of the lands from landlords. Because of the militant action most of the landlords migrated to cities and summoned their own goondas and the police to deal with rebellious peasants. But the peasants also fought the police and goondas.
One such major incident occurred on July 4, 1946, where a thousand peasants, armed with lathis (sticks) and slings, took out a procession in Kadavendi village of Jangama taluka that formed part of Visunuru Deshmukhs estates.
The landlords hired goondas fired at the procession and killed Doddi Komaraiah, the village sangham member and injured Doddi Mallaiah, the elder brother of Doddi Komaraiah and a few others. The procession then took a violent turn, where an angry crowd went to the landlady’s house and was about to set on fire. But with the arrival of police, they dispersed. The heroic death of Komaraiah incited and infuriated thousands of people to take to the path of struggle. It set ablaze the pent-up fury of the Telangana peasantry.
To be continued…
Prof. Adapa Satyanarayana
Retired Professor
Department of History, Osmania University
Ph. 9573405551
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