CBSE Class 10 Answered

Tribal peasants of Andhra Pradesh interpreted the message of Mahatma Gandhi and the idea of swaraj in their own way. In the Gudem Hills of Andhra Pradesh, the tribals started a militant guerrilla movement in the early 1920s, which Gandhi certainly would have not approved. Since the colonial government had closed large forest areas, preventing people from entering the forests to graze their cattle, or to collect fuelwood and fruits, the tribals were enraged as forest products were the main source of their livelihood. To them ‘Swaraj’ was the freedom to use forests and forest produce. Alluri Sitaram Raju provided the leadership to the tribal movement. Raju talked of the greatness of Mahatma Gandhi, said he was inspired by the Non-Cooperation Movement, and persuaded people to wear khadi and give up drinking. But at the same time, he asserted that India could be liberated only by the use of force, not non-violence. The Gudem rebels attacked police stations, attempted to kill British officials and carried on guerrilla warfare for achieving swaraj.