Paritala republic inspired patriots

​Vijayawada: Paritala village in Krishna district has a special place in the country’s freedom struggle, as it was a special ‘Rajyam’ at the time of independence. Residents of Paritala and its adjoining villages waged a struggle against the Nizam’s ‘Razakars’ and created history.

They established their own rule and enjoyed power for about two years. When on August 15, 1947 people elsewhere were rejoicing after achieving independence, residents of the villages of Paritala, Atkuru, Bathinapadu, Mogulturu, Kodavatikallu, Ushtepalli and Mallivalli which were under the Nizam were left extremely unhappy because of being unable to enjoy the happiness of freedom.

These villages were identified as Kanath which in Persian means a diamond mine. The Nizam devoted special attention to Paritala as diamonds were abundantly available there. Following a political agreement he surrendered the Circar districts to the British, but did not want to give up Paritala.

There were 11,750 residents in the seven villages. The Paritala Kanath spread over 32,243 acres had an income of Rs.87,90,508. The present school in Paritala was in fact a jail at that time. Likewise, the current panchayat office was a police station.

Adjacent to it was a court. The government offices were under the control of the Nizam. Since the adjoining villages/towns were under the Indian Union there was a marked difference in people’s lifestyle, despite having good relations.

The unhappy residents of these villages took up a struggle inspired by others getting freedom. They joined hands keeping aside caste and religious differences, and launched which was known as the Paritala moment.

The villagers drove away Pattedar Jang Bahadur and his soldiers to the outskirts of Kanat taluka and declared Paritala a special State and arranged own currency so that it could be their own republic, Chinta Ravikumar, son of freedom fighter Chinta Venkateswara Rao told The Hans India.

This led to Paritala becoming famous across the country. The Paritala republic heroes drew attention of the country’s patriots as they were trained by the Azad Hind Fauz. With the involvement of these freedom fighters they joined the Indian Republic on January 26, 1950.

They organised a relentless struggle against the Razakars and attacked the Paritala police station on November 11, 1947 and took over it. On November 15, they declared Paritala Kanath as a republic. The Paritala Kanath was merged in the Indian Union following suggestions by elders like Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel after the Indian Army initiated police action on September 13, 1948 against the Hyderabad State and the State surrendered to the army on September 17. A statue has been installed to mark the event.

The leadership of Madiraju Devaraju during the Paritala Kanath struggle for two years was worth remembering. He was ably supported by patriots like Shaik Moula, Chintala Mamaiah, Madasu Tirupataiah, Tangirala Padrak. After Paritala joined the Indian republic its freedom fighters did not get the due respect and regard.

As a result and because of politics some who did not take part in the freedom struggle got into records as freedom fighters and managed to secure pension. The successors of the real patriots of Paritala recall that the events of the past had a tremendous effect on their young lives.