Freedom fighter Pasupuleti Venkatappayya of Srikalahasti. | Photo Credit: Special arrangement
Pasupuleti Venkatappayya is not remembered by many in his home town of Srikalahasti in Tirupati district, notwithstanding his immense contribution to the freedom movement.
People across the social strata participated in the freedom movement between 1885 and 1947, in which several leaders emerged from the undivided Chittoor district.
Born on January 25, 1925 to P. Radhakrishna and Kamalamma in Srikalahasti town, he studied up to SLC. Nurturing Communist ideology from childhood, he stood by the oppressed working classes, even while actively participating in the nationalist movement.
Removed railway tracks
Venkatappayya rose to fame when he was part of the dozen-member gang that removed the track at Akkurthi railway station during the Quit India movement, causing a huge loss to the railways, to the tune of ₹40,000 in those days.
With the British government ordering his arrest, he went into hiding, but was caught and jailed in the Vellore central prison for three months and later moved to the Cuddalore jail.
Communist movement
He fought for the rights of workers in the scores of bronze and blacksmith (Kanchu Patra) units that dotted Panagal area, close to Srikalahasti railway station. At the age of 17 years, he raised his voice for the oppressed beedi workers and sanitary workers, which brought him under the surveillance of the British regime.
After Independence, he sat on hunger strike for eight days in 1958 and solved the problems faced by the handloom workers. He also fought for the rights of the farmers displaced when the Kalangi reservoir was built near Srikalahasti, going to jail several times.
When the the CPM was formed by splitting the CPI, Venkatappayya decided to sail with the Marxist movement and became the first Secretary of the party’s Chittoor district unit in 1964.
Aiming to enlighten the public on his Communist ideology, he even launched a printing press and distributed pamphlets to the public. The printing machine still finds a place at his home.
While struggling to make ends meet even after selling off his four houses for the cause of the poor, he contested on behalf of the Communist party in 1962 general elections, but lost by a mere 1100 votes to the then Congress candidate Adduru Balarami Reddy. Unfortunately, he was the sole Communist candidate from Chittoor district to taste defeat, while his contemporaries Vajravelu Chetty, Sivaiah, C.K. Narayana Reddy won from Kuppam, Puttur and Thamballapalle respectively.
“He spent nearly eight years of his life in jail before breathing his last at the age of 73 years”, recalls M. Deenadayal, an academic consultant in History at Sri Venkateswara University.
In his paper ‘Swatantrodyama Yodhudu Pasupuleti Venkatappayya’ published in the journal brought out at the 46th session of Andhra Pradesh History Congress held at Visakhapatnam in 2024, the researcher recalled the freedom fighter’s ‘riches to rags’ story.
“Even in his centenary year, the inspiring valorous acts in Venkatappayya’s life failed to enter the history books”, he observes, explaining how he remained an ‘unsung hero’, unknown for his future generations.
Published – January 24, 2025 01:06 pm IST
