Subbarao Panigrahi (1933 ― 23 December 1969) was a

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

revolutionary poet and leader of Srikakulam peasant uprising.

Career

Panigrahi was born in 1933 in a poor Odia

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

family at

Sompeta Sompeta is a census town in Srikakulam district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the mandal headquarters of Sompeta mandal in Tekkali revenue division. Geography Sompeta is located at . It has an average elevation of 8 metres ...

Srikakulam district Srikakulam district is a district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, located in the Uttarandhra region of the state, with its headquarters located at Srikakulam. It is one of the six districts, located in the extreme northeastern direction ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

. Initially, he worked as a priest in a local temple. Panigrahi wrote a number of songs, poems and dramas like ''Kalachakra'', ''Vimukti'', ''Kumkumrekha'', ''Rikshawalla'' and ''Mrigajaal''. He participated in

Naxalbari uprising The Naxalbari uprising was an armed peasant revolt in 1967 in the Naxalbari block of Siliguri subdivision in Darjeeling district, West Bengal, India. It was mainly led by tribals and the radical communist leaders of Bengal and further develop ...

and joined the

Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) The Communist Party of India (CPI) is a political party in India. The CPI considers the Foundation of the Communist Party of India, December 26, 1925 Cawnpore (Kanpur) conference as its foundation date. Between 1946 and 1951, the CPI led m ...

. In 1969, Subbarao served the secretary of the Sompeta area committee of the party and also took charges to mobilised the people of Uddan and

Paralakhemundi Paralakhemundi shortly known as Parala is district Headquarter of Gajapati district and one of the oldest Municipality established in 1885, in the Indian state of Odisha. The city and the district share its boundaries with Andhra Pradesh. The ...

area. He organised the peasant movement in

Srikakulam Srikakulam is a city and the headquarters of Srikakulam district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. census, it has a population of 165,735. There are many other places of Buddhist Tourism such as Salihundam, Kalinga Patnam, Dabbaka Vaan ...

and Northern Andhra with two prominent Naxal leaders Vempatapu Satyanarayana and Adibhatla Kailasam. Panigrahi played a vital role in cultural wing of the party to form

People's war People's war or protracted people's war is a Maoist military strategy. First developed by the Chinese communist revolutionary leader Mao Zedong (1893–1976), the basic concept behind people's war is to maintain the support of the population ...

in rural Andhra Pradesh. On 23 December 1969, he was killed in a police encounter near Andhra-

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

border.

Popular culture

It is reported that

action drama film ''Acharya'' is set on the uprising led by Panigrahi.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Panigrahi, Subbarao 1933 births 1969 deaths Indian communists Telugu politicians Telugu poets People from Srikakulam district Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) politicians People shot dead by law enforcement officers in India