mulkis

tootalu

doras

nazarana

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rumaalu

banchan

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Mother

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dalams

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panchayats

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deshmukh

Dunne Vadidey Bhoomi, Geese Vanikey Chettu, Bhoomi Kosam Mukthi Kosam Prajaswamya Vimukthi Kosam E Poratam

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Different people remember history differently. And it couldn’t be truer than in the case of September 17 — a red letter day in the history of Hyderabad. The nationalists have been clamouring to celebrate the date as ‘Telangana Liberation Day’. While the jury is still out on that one, on Tuesday, the 71st anniversary of Hyderabad’s annexation to the Indian Union, the city witnessed talks, events, seminars and rallies commemorating the occasion. The(as many native Hyderabadis still call themselves) however, look back at this day as one that changed the fate and future of their state and its ruler, Mir Osman Ali Khan, the seventh Nizam, forever. But Mallu Swarajyam , who was part of the Telangana Armed Struggle that shook the throne of the Nizam and laid the foundation for democracy in rural Telangana, remembers the day very differently.When we arrive at her LB Nagar residence to meet her, Swarajyam was just back from a hospital visit to treat a nagging leg injury. At 89, she’s frail, hard of hearing and seemed visibly tired. But when she learnt that we were there to hear her story, she pulled a chair, settled down and cleared her throat to speak. The fierce revolutionary was once known for fiery speeches, famously called “” (bullets). But her voice quivers today. ‘Don’t strain yourself... speak at your own pace, only for as long as you are comfortable,’ we assure her. “No! That wouldn’t do justice to the story of our great revolution. You will have to hear the whole thing. I will start from the very beginning...” she says, leaning in.Excerpts from a conversation with one of the last surviving leaders of the Telangana Armed Struggle, who, unable to tolerate the plight of her fellow citizens, took up arms in her teens.WHEN THE DORA RULED WITH AN IRON HANDToday’s generation doesn’t know much about the peasants of Telangana who were forced to trade their ploughs for guns. It is not taught in schools; there are not many films on it; it’s almost a forgotten story. But we made history nonetheless. It was in 1946 that we, ordinary farmers and farm hands, first took up arms against the Nizam’s rule. We had to because he turned us into slaves in our own land. This was the time when the freedom struggle against the British was going on all over India. But here in Hyderabad State , it’s the feudal lords we were fighting. These ‘’ had forcibly seized lands from the peasants. The people were made to toil on their own lands for the landlords, without any pay.The Nizam taxed everything. The peasants had to payto thefor every birth, marriage and even death in the family. Every craftsman, artisan, merchant had to pay a portion of his earnings as tax. mothers were forced to work in the fields barely three days after childbirth. So many babies died of starvation since their mothers couldn’t feed them. When awalked by, you were not allowed to walk with youron the head; you had to place it at his feet and say ‘...’ (I am your slave, my master) in reverence. If you angered the, he could burn down a whole village, kill the men, rape the women... Such was the tyranny of the. It came to a point where we thought, if we are dying anyway, might as well die fighting them.HOW A GIRL BORN INTO A FEUDAL FAMILY TOOK UP ARMS AGAINST HER ILKI was born in a ‘semi feudal’ family at a time when the peasant struggle was at its peak. My father, who was in favour of the British Empire, wanted to name me ‘Samrajyam’. But my mother, Chokamma, chose to name me ‘Swarajyam’, after the freedom struggle. She has been the driving force in my life. At a time when reading for most women was restricted to mythology and religious texts, my mother made me read Maxim Gorky’s. She was very influenced by the character of the mother in that novel (an old woman who takes up the cause her son was fighting for when he gets arrested for being part of the communist movement in Russia. Later on in life, she would go on to support us in our revolution against the system.My brother, Bhimreddy Narasimha Reddy, and Raavi Narayana Reddy, who were students when I was growing up were deeply influenced by the ideas of communism. Through stories and speeches, they instilled ideas in me which opened my eyes to the atrocities that people in our society suffered. Most leaders of the peasant movement were children of feudal lords who had taken it upon themselves to right the wrongs their fathers had committed. My own family gave up 600 acres of land. I had such a burning desire to not let the poor suffer that at the age of 13, I started going from village to village singing songs of revolution to wake the people up and inspire them to fight their oppressors.At 16, I picked up the gun to fight thewho carried out such heinous atrocities against the peasants. There was a bounty of 10,000 rupees on my head. But I was never caught. The faith that people had in us was unshakable. Their unwavering support is what kept us going.My main work was to organise the villagers and fight against the razakars. We used to create villageand my team createdin nearly 20 to 30 villages. We also established libraries in the villages and educated the rural folk under the trees. We even formedto solve all the village issues and also trained the villagers in combat so that they could defend themselves.HOW THE PEASANT STRUGGLE BECAME AN ARMED REVOLUTIONAndhra Mahasabha had been raising its voice against the bonded labour, illegal taxing policies of theand eviction of villagers from their own lands and homes. The revolt became intense after Doddi Komarayya, a local Andhra Mahasabha worker from Kadivendi village of Nalgonda district was killed by Visunur Ramachandra Reddy, awho was notorious for brutally torturing peasants. This cold-blooded murder was a call for people to rise up and fight for their land, liberation and freedom. The movement spread like wildfire across Warangal, Nalgonda, Mulugu, Narasampet, Karimnagar and Adilabad. Our slogan, ‘’ (The land belongs to the one who tills it; the tree belongs to the one who taps the toddy. Our fight is for our land, our freedom, our people’s liberation) reverberated everywhere.We took up arms only when the razakars (a private militia formed under Nizam’s rule in Hyderabad State) started shooting at us relentlessly. Major Jaipal Singh, an ex-army man, taught us to use arms. There were over 300 women who were trained in armed combat.Four of my cousins were killed in this struggle. I still remember how one of them broke his gun even as he was dying because he did not want to leave his weapon behind for the razakars to use. More than 4,000 people sacrificed their lives in this revolution. But we won freedom for 3,000 villages which were terrorised by the razakars.STRUGGLE CONTINUED POST-INDEPENDENCEThe over-throwing of the Nizam, did not bring the peasants any respite. The reins of our fate just changed hands, from the Nizam to the Indian Union. The apathy towards our plight remained. Our lands were given back to the. And we were set up for misery again. From then on, it was a constant fight to win back our lands. Forty of our leaders were killed. Concentration camps were built to stop us from fighting. But we fought on relentlessly.My commitment to making people’s lives better made me contest the elections. I was elected MLA twice — in 1978 and 1983. thestill held some sway then. I remember, a peasant once came crying to me because his land had been taken away forcefully. We mobilised a group of people and went to the’s village to negotiate, but he started firing at us. Pelting stones was our only defense. I collected the bullets he fired at us and presented them in the Assembly and asked if this is the democracy we fought for. Sadly, despite all our struggles, theare back in power today. (Sighs)Now that I’ve told my story, I have one question to ask the youth of today — if your country needs you today, do you have it in you to fight the good fight?