Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

1857 martyrs remembered

VIJAYAWADA: The Krishna Agricultural and Industrial Exhibition Society and ‘Samskara Bharati’ jointly organised ‘1857-Pranamanjali’, a meeting to pay tributes to freedom fighters of 1857 revolt, which is often referred to as the First War of Indian Independence, here on Saturday.

The organisers of the function lit 150 lamps arranged in the shape of the number ‘1857’, at Tyagaraya Kalavedika in Swaraj Maidan, where the exhibition was on. The participants paid rich tributes to the freedom fighters by observing a two-and-half minute silence at 18.57 hours (6.57 p.m.)

Addressing the gathering on the occasion, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Sarsanghchalak K. S. Sudarshan narrated the incidents that inspired and stimulated the movement.

He felt that the nation now required people who could live for the country rather than die for it. Living for the nation was more difficult than sacrificing for the country. “We need people who can build the nation and take it forward,” he said.

He wanted the youth to read books written on the 1857 movement, including V.D. Savarkar’s ‘The Indian War of Independence’, and draw inspiration and motivation from them. Though the British had tried to undermine the importance the revolt by dismissing it as a ‘Sepoy Mutiny’ and just a ‘sporadic’ one, many researches had later proved that it was not just a mutiny. “Only 8,000 sepoys were with the British, though the total strength of the army was 1.35 lakhs. As many as 4 lakh people sacrificed their lives, while more than 4 crore people either directly or indirectly were associated with the movement,” he said.

Exhibition Society secretary G. V. Rama Rao, retired judge and RSS leader S. Paravata Rao, Samskara Bharati Vijayawada unit president B. Venkatrama Sarma, industrialist Gokaraju Gangaraju, senior journalist Turlapaty Kutumba Rao and others spoke.

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