Fighting spirit of the peasantry

Telangana armed struggle is an important topic that candidates should focus on. 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.

Komaraiah’s martyrdom sparked off the conflagration and thus marked the beginning of the Telangana Peasant Armed Struggle. Then Communists claimed that by the end of July 1946 militant actions against landlords, Deshmukhs, and village officials spread to some 300 to 400 villages in Nalgonda, Warangal, and Khammam districts. At the same time, the Communist Party of India launched a massive propaganda campaign by raising the demands of Telangana peasantry and exposed the oppression and brutalities.

Akunur was a historic village in Jangaon taluq, which exhibited the fighting spirit of the peasantry (rich and poor) to defy and fight against the food grain levy policy of the government. The atrocities on the people of Akunur exposed the oppressive policies of food grain levy of the Nizam’s government. Similarly, the peasants of Machireddypalli in Bidar taluk raised against the highhanded behaviour of the government servants. By 1946, the Communists perfectly organised themselves from the district committee to the village cells in Nalgonda district to carry on their programme with a large number of party workers and sympathisers.

The Communists had gained much influence in the Taluks of Suryapet, Bhongir, Jangaon, Huzurnagar and Nalgonda. Thirty-five villages in Suryapet, 23 in Bhongir, 22 in Jangaon, 20 in Huzurnagar and 14 in Nalgonda came to be dominated by the Communists. Jatoth Thanu of Padamati Thanda in Dharmapuram village of Janagam Taluq in the estates of Puskuru Maktadars was the fourth son of Hamu and Mangli. He was a courageous young man and escaped from the repression of local doras, Razakars and police several times. The family fought against the Visnuru deshmukh, Razakars and police several times to protect their lands.

The Hyderabad State Congress began to mobilise people in favour of the struggle for the freedom of the Nizams’ State. It began to pressurise the Nizam of Hyderabad to join the Indian dominion in the event of the British granting Independence to India. But Nizam announced his desire not to join either the Indian union or Pakistan, and declared his Independence on August 27, 1947. People of all sections were deeply disappointed by the decision of Nizam, while all political parties supported the merger of the State of Hyderabad to the Indian Union, the Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen was opposed to this move.

The Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen developed a cadre of volunteers who were called Razakars and these Razakars began to rouse the feelings of Muslims against Hindus. The growing militancy and power of the Majlis Ittehad ul-Muslimeen was evident in the activities of the Razakars, a paramilitary voluntary force organized by Kasim Razvi, the leader of the Ittehad. As the peasant movement spread in rural Telangana, the Nizam government sent batches of Razakars. Sometimes with or without the police or Army in order to deal with the revolutionaries and protect the frontiers as well as the distressed landlords and officials.

 

Prof. Adapa Satyanarayana
Retired Professor

Department of History, Osmania University

Ph. 9573405551