India Sambamurthy FDC

India FDC
Name: Maharshi Bulusu Sambamurthy
Date of Issue: 04 March 2008

The Freedom struggle in India is replete with stories of people who sacrificed everything in their lives for independence from foreign rule. Included in this roll of honour, are a number of luminaries from the legal profession and Maharshi Bulusu Sambamurthy was one of them.

Bulusu Sambamurthy was born on 4th of March, 1886, in Dulla Village, East Godavari District. His father, Subbavadhanulu, was a vedic scholar who followed the scriptural injunctions in his daily life. Philanthropy was an important part of this life. Sambamurthy was greatly influenced by his father and these philanthropic qualities played a major role in influencing the path his life would take. A graduate in Physics from Maharajah's College Vizayanagaram, Ssambamurthy started working there as a lecturer in physics. His independent spirit was ill suited to this work. He therefore resigned and decided to pursue a career in law. In 1911 he took a degree in law and enrolled in the bar at Kakinada. He earned a name for himself as a capable criminal lawyer, his practice grew. By 1920 he was an established and successful lawyer. But the Civil Disobedience movement was to change his life.

In 1920, Mahatma Gandhi gave a call for Civil Disobedience movement, which included boycott of institutions created by the British government. Many legal luminaries joined the movement. Inspired by a stirring speech given by Konda Vekatappayya, Sambamurthy also joined the movement. He would henceforth be a Gandhian and would never go back to the legal profession. In 1923, he was made a secretary of the organizing committee for the Kakinada session of the All India Congress Committee, which was presided over by Maulana Muhammed Ali. The devotion of Sambamurthy to the national cause was such that in spite of the demise of his only son a few days before he threw himself into making the session a success. His fortitude was praised by Smt. Sarojini Naidu. Sambamurthy is remembered as one of the earliest leaders to move the resolution for Purna Swaraj, which was finally made the aim of the Congress in the 1929 session at Lahore.

On 6th April 1930, during the Salt Satyagraha, Sambamurthy alongwith other leaders, marched to Chollangi Village near Kakinada Town and defied the Salt laws by making salt from the sea water there. On 18th April 1930 he was arrested and imprisoned in Vellore. In 1937, provincial elections were held under the Government of India Act of 1935. Sambamurthy was elected to the Provincial Assembly of Madras State. The Congress Party formed the government under C. Rajagopalachari. Sambamurthy was elected Speaker of the Provincial Legislative Assembly.

After independence too, Sambamurthy continued to work in the public sphere. He supported the demand for a separate state of Andhra Pradesh. Challa Seshagiri Rao, the editor of Andhra Patrika, recognizing his greatness called him "Maharshi", an apt title. But by 1953, when the state of Andhra Pradesh was formed, Sambamurthy's health had started deteriorating. He retired to Kakinada where he spent the evening of his life attending religion discourses. Maharshi Bulusu Sambamurthy passed away on 2nd February 1958 at Kakinada, shorn of the material wealth which he had sacrificed for the cause of India's freedom.