Renukunta Rami Reddy

Rami Reddy was a landlord of Renukunta, a village in Bhongir taluk of Nalgonda district.¹ He worked for the Andhra Mahasabha and led the village’s armed squad against the Razakars (the armed volunteers of the Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen) and the Nizam’s police.¹² He was killed when they attacked the village on 4 March 1948.¹³

Four books tell his story.¹³⁴⁵ They are the Andhra Pradesh government’s Who’s Who of Freedom Struggle (1980) and Sarojini Regani’s history, written from the Congress side.¹³ The others are the Telugu histories of two Communist leaders, P. Sundarayya (1973) and Devulapalli Venkateswara Rao (1988).⁴⁵ They agree on the date and the long fight, but not on the details.¹⁶

The village squad

The Who’s Who says he was born in 1915 and was also known as Chintalapuri Rami Reddy.¹ It says he organised, trained and led the resistance squad of Renukunta during the campaign for joining India in 1947–48.¹

Sundarayya calls him a well-off, progressive landlord who became the natural leader of his village.⁴ He writes that Rami Reddy trained the young men of the village to use guns and drove back Razakar raids on Renukunta and the villages around it.² He made the village’s watch-tower (buruju) into a strong point.²

Devulapalli also calls him a landlord, though only a middling one, with ties to the party.⁵ He writes that local landlords then worked with the party to protect their villages from Razakar raids.⁵ In his account, the land of the area had not been divided and the people’s movement there was weak.⁵⁶

The siege of 4 March 1948

Regani writes that on 4 March 1948 about 80 villagers led by Rami Reddy fought the Nizam’s military and the Razakars for twelve hours.³ The Who’s Who also says his squad fought for twelve hours when the Nizam’s police and the Razakars besieged the village that day.¹

Sundarayya writes that Rami Reddy and his squad of 20 resisted for hours, and many of the attackers were killed or wounded.² Then the tahsildar (taluk revenue officer) of Kolanupaka climbed a nearby tree and shot him.² With their leader dead and their ammunition nearly gone, the squad tried to leave the tower, but were surrounded and almost all killed.²

Devulapalli tells it differently.⁵ He writes that a Razakar leader, the agent of the local jagirdar, learnt that Rami Reddy had come home and brought Razakars and police to the village.⁵ Rami Reddy chose to fight from his house instead of slipping away.⁵ When the ammunition ran out, the squad came out to fight hand to hand, and the attackers caught and shot them.⁶ Devulapalli notes that other versions say the attack came at night, and that bullet marks could still be seen on the walls of the house.⁶

How the sources describe his death

Regani writes that 26 villagers died defending the village.³ The Who’s Who says he was shot dead that day with other members of his squad, among them his son Ranga Reddy.¹

Sundarayya writes that a well-known fighting song was written in Rami Reddy’s name and was sung across Telangana.² He also says that the guerrillas of Bhairanpally later recalled the lesson of the Renukunta fight.⁷ Devulapalli, by contrast, uses the fight as an example of a mistake.⁶ In his view Rami Reddy followed a landlord’s code of “victory or a hero’s death” instead of guerrilla methods.⁶

Where the sources disagree

The four accounts differ on these points:

• How he died. Sundarayya says the Kolanupaka tahsildar shot him from a tree during the fight.² Devulapalli says the squad was caught and shot after it came out of the house.⁶
• Where the squad fought. Sundarayya says from the village watch-tower.² Devulapalli says from Rami Reddy’s house.⁵
• Who fought. Regani speaks of about 80 villagers.³ Sundarayya speaks of a squad of 20.²
• Who attacked. Regani names the Nizam’s military and the Razakars.³ The Who’s Who names the Nizam’s police and the Razakars.¹

Footnotes

1. Sarojini Regani (ed.), Who’s Who of Freedom Struggle in Andhra Pradesh, Vol. II (1980), p. 563 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹

2. Sundarayya, Veera Telangana (1973), p. 127 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰

3. Sarojini Regani, Highlights of the Freedom Movement in Andhra Pradesh (1956), p. 220 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

4. Sundarayya, Veera Telangana (1973), p. 126 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³

5. Devulapalli Venkateswara Rao, Telangana Prajala Sayudha Porata Charitra (1988), p. 463 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹

6. Devulapalli, Sayudha Porata Charitra (1988), p. 464 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

7. P. Sundarayya, Veera Telangana Viplava Poratam: Gunapathalu (1973), p. 102 (archive.org↗ (opens in a new tab)). ↩