Gudem Hills Movement: Andhra Pradesh, 1920s

• Tribal peasants and plantation workers had their own interpretations of Mahatma Gandhi's message and the idea of Swaraj.

Gudem Hills Movement

• In the Gudem Hills of Andhra Pradesh, a militant guerrilla movement emerged in the early 1920s.
• The Congress did not approve of this form of struggle.
• The colonial government had closed off large forest areas, preventing people from grazing cattle or collecting resources, leading to the hill people's anger.
• Their livelihoods were affected and their traditional rights were denied.
• The government forced them to contribute begar for road building, leading to a revolt.
• Alluri Sitaram Raju led the hill people, claiming special powers such as astrological predictions, healing abilities, and invulnerability to bullets.
• Rebels believed Raju was an incarnation of God.
• Raju spoke of Mahatma Gandhi's greatness and was inspired by the Non-Cooperation Movement.
• He urged people to wear khadi and give up drinking.
• Raju asserted that India could only be liberated through force, not non-violence.
• The Gudem rebels attacked police stations, attempted to kill British officials, and carried on guerrilla warfare to achieve Swaraj.
• Raju was captured and executed in 1924, becoming a folk hero.

Swaraj in the Plantations

• Plantation workers in Assam understood freedom as the right to move freely and maintain links with their villages.
• The Inland Emigration Act of 1859 prevented plantation workers from leaving tea gardens without permission, which was rarely granted.
• Thousands of workers defied authorities and left the plantations when they heard of the Non-Cooperation Movement.
• Workers believed that Gandhi Raj was coming and they would be given land in their villages.
• Due to a railway and steamer strike, they were stranded and caught by the police, resulting in brutal beatings.

Visions of Movements

• The visions of these movements were not defined by the Congress programme.
• People interpreted Swaraj as a time when their suffering and troubles would end.
• Tribals chanted Gandhiji’s name and demanded ‘Swatantra Bharat’.
• Acting in the name of Mahatma Gandhi and linking their movements to the Congress allowed them to identify with a movement beyond their immediate locality.

The Gudem Hills movement in Andhra Pradesh in the 1920s was a militant guerrilla movement led by Alluri Sitaram Raju. Triggered by colonial forest policies and forced labor, the rebels saw Raju as an incarnation of God and were inspired by Gandhi's Non-Cooperation Movement.