VIJAYAWADA: Tenali is all geared to celebrate on Friday the role that its magnificent seven martyrs played in the freedom struggle during the Quit India movement.
Elders of Tenali point out that they have been holding a memorial programme every year on August 12 at Ranarang Chowk to kindle pride among young Tenalians about the role their predecessors played in the freedom movement.
Responding to the call of Mahatma Gandhi to launch Quit India Movement across the nation, people of Tenali and adjacent areas decided to organise a bandh on August 12, 1942. The then Tenali Congressmen Avuthu Subba Reddy, Kalluri Chandramouli and Velavolu Seetharamaiah drew up to intensify protests to force the British to quit India.
As part of the plan, there was mobilisation of people. A section of the protesters expressed their ire against the British government by burning an oil tanker and North Cabin of the Tenali Railway Station. The melee led to ransacking of a hotel near the railway station and some protesters tried to burn the Chennai passenger train at the Tenali station.
Following this, British police opened fire at the then Morrispet, leading to unarmed freedom fighters Tammineni Subba Reddy, Gali Ramakotaiah, Prayaga Raghavaiah, Bhaskaruni Lakshminarayana, Srigiri Lingam, Jasti Appaiah and Majeti Subba Rao getting martyred on the spot. This further ignited the freedom spirit among Tenalians that eventually played a role in forcing the British to quit India.
Subsequently, a Martyrs Memorial was constructed at Morrispet with a statue of Mother India holding a dying child in her arms. The seven pillars in the backdrop represent the seven freedom fighters who had sacrificed their lives. The area was rechristened as Ranarangam Chowk and the same renovated in 2016. Every year on August 12, a memorial programme is conducted at the spot to remind younger generations about the role people of Tenali had played in the freedom struggle.
Tenali MLA Annabattuni Siva Kumar said a major memorial meeting is being organised on Friday, August 12, at Ranarang Chowk in which people, leaders, students, institutions, organisations and officials will participate in large numbers. Cultural programmes will recall the sacrifices of the seven martyrs.
Incidentally, Ranarang Chowk at Tenali is the only memorial in AP commemorating the Quit India Freedom Movement.
