Question

Komaram Bheem was born in Sankepally village in _____.
A. Guntur
B. Nellore
C. Asifabad
D. Anantapur

Answer 1

Hint: Komaram Bheem was a tribal leader in Telangana who had rebelled against the Nizam’s rule there. He championed the rights of the Adivasi community in India and is still considered a deity amongst the Gond community of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

Complete answer: The Nizams of Hyderabad under the Asaf Jahi dynasty had restricted the access to forest land and resources for the tribal community. This was heavily opposed by the Gond tribes in the Telangana region.
Komaram Bheem belonged to the Gond tribal community and was born in the Sankepally village in Asifabad district of Telangana in 1901. His father had died fighting for the rights of the Adivasis when Komaram was just 15 years of age. Komaram continued this struggle against the Nizam’s oppressive rules and fought through guerilla tactics.
Komaram Bheem is seen as one of the inspirations for those fighting for the rights of these prehistoric communities who want to survive through the traditional methods of their communities. This has been an issue for the modern Indian state as well and tribal rights to forest resources have long remained a contested issue.
Thus, option (C) is the correct answer.

Note: The famous slogan of ‘Jal, Jangal, Jameen’ was given by Koraram Bheem. This slogan puts the importance of having access to tribal communities to forest resources forward and has been used over and over even by the post-independence tribal rebellions.