Amarajeevi Potti Sriramulu
Sri Sriramulu Potti was born in Chennai in 1890. His parents were from Nellore district. Sriramulu had his early education in Chennai and then higher studies in engineering in Mumbai. He worked as an engineer for a while in the Great Indian Peninsular Railway. After his wife died in his 25th year, he joined Sabarmati Ashram. He was admired by Gandhiji for his dedicated and sincere work.
In 1946, he went to Nellore and devoted his time to Harijan welfare work and propagation of Khadi and village industries. He undertook three fasts during 1946-48 for the temple entry of Harijans in Nellore.
Sri Sriramulu Potti began his last fast on 19 October 1952 at Chennai for a separate Andhra state and continued his fast until he died on the night of 15 December 1952. This resulted in wide spread disturbances and opened the eyes of Nehru's government. Thus Andhra State was formed in October 1953, which catalyzed the formation of other linguistic states. On November 1, 1956 Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamilnadu, Karnataka states were formed, followed by Gujarat and Maharashtra in 1960. The formation of linguistic states is the single most important event in the history of South Indian languages, as it provided an opportunity for these languages to develop independently, each of them having a state to support.
Sri Sriramulu Potti has become Amarajeevi (immortal) for Telugus. Today, we are celebrating the Andhra Pradesh Formation Day, only because of Amarajeevi Potti Sriramulu.
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