Potti Sriramulu

A commemorative postage stamp on Amarajeevi Potti Sreeramulu, known for his hunger strike unto death, demanding a separate Andhra state for Telugu-speaking people from the Madras Presidency :

Issued by India

Issued on Mar 16, 2000

Issued for : The Department of Posts is happy to issue a commemorative stamp in honour of this great leader.

Credits :
Stamp & FDC : Based on material supplied by sponsors.
Cancellation : Alka Sharma

Type : First Day Cover

Colour : Two Colour

Denomination : 300 Paise

Overall size : 2.9 x 3.9 Cms.

Printing size : 2.55 x 3.60 Cms.

Perforation : 13.5 x 13.5

Paper : Matt Chromo

Stamps Printed : 0.4 Million

Number per issue sheet : 40

Printing Process : Photogravure

Printer : Calcutta Security Printers Ltd.

Name : Sreeramulu

Born on 16 Mar, 1901 at Padamatipalli, Madras Presidency, British India [now in Nellore district, Andhra Pradesh, India]

Died on 15 Dec, 1952 at Madras, Madras State, India [now in Chennai, Tamil Nadu]

About : 

• Potti Sreeramulu (1901-1952), deeply influenced by the philosophy and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, joined the struggle for Independence, relinquishing all worldly ambitions. He offered Satyagraha on several occasions and courted imprisonment during the Salt Satyagraha Movement in 1930 and the Individual Satyagraha Movement in 1940. Later he returned to his home Province of Nellore and joined the Gandhi Ashram at Komaravolu in the Krishna district. He devoted himself heart and soul to the cause of the Harijan uplift and eradication of untouchability. He found that in Nellore, his home-town, the Harijans could not enter into temples. Therefore, he undertook a twenty-three days’ fast with the blessings of Mahatma Gandhi, and as a result the orthodox sections of the Hindu community in Nellore yielded and permitted Harijans to enter into temples. He took up the cause of Harijan upliftment on later occasions also and offered a fast for twenty nine days to focus the attention of the Government of the composite Madras State on the issue. The fast was broken only after the Chief Minister assured that the State Government would do all that was possible towards the improvement of the condition of Harijans.
• Sriramulu’s sacrifice for the formation of Andhra State forms the last and most heroic part of his life. He was convinced about the need for formation of Andhra State out of the composite Madras State with which demand he undertook a fast beginning from 19 October 1952. On the fifty eighth day he breathed his last, laying down his life for a cause which was sacred to him. Within days after his passing away, the Central Government announced that a separate Andhra State would be formed out of the composite Madras State. Potti Sriramulu is remembered as the symbol of the aspirations of the people of Andhra, indeed of the invincible spirit of the Indian People, which led to the attainment of Independence, and Indian Nationhood.
• Text : Based on Dictionary of National Biography edited by S. P. Sen.