Chennai, India chakravif@gmail.com +919962716812

Mallu Swarajyam

(1931 – 2022) – (Telangana)

Mallu Swarajyam (Aged 91) was born in 1931 in Karvirala Kothagudem, Suryapet district, Telangana, India. She was an Indian politician and freedom fighter from the Communist Party of India. She was a member of an armed dalam that participated in the Telangana struggle. Nalgonda district was a part of the Hyderabad State under the Nizam’s rule. The name Swarajyam is in honor of the wishes of several of her relatives who took part in the satyagraha to attain swaraj (self-rule, or independence) from the British, in response to a call given by Mahatma Gandhi.

At the age of 10, Swarajyam read Maxim Gorky’s work, Mother, which inspired her to become a revolutionary, mobilizing people against Nizam’s Razakars. Her involvement in public life began at the age of 11, when she defied her family’s norms and distributed rice to bonded laborers from different castes and communities, in response to a call given by the Andhra Mahasabha to end bonded labor.

Mallu Swarajyam became the commander of a dalam that fought against the Zamindars and had a bounty of Rs. 10,000 on her head at that time. The Communist Party of India fought with arms under the banner of Andhra Mahasabha against the cruel rule of the Nizam and bonded labor in the state. Later, she actively participated in the welfare of local peasants and became a prominent leader in the Communist Party of India. She was elected to parliament for the Nalgonda Constituency. She passed away on March 19, 2022, in Hyderabad, Telangana, India.