Why has Araku Valley and surrounding areas not developed like Ooty, Munnar or Kodai? While there are many factors, one major reason was Naxalism. Till 2019, that region was a Naxal hot spot. Basically bordering Southern Odisha and it's rather remote nature, made it easy for Naxals to cross over. Just as recently as 2018, the Naxals shot dead sitting Araku MLA Kidari Sarveswara Rao and former MLA Siveri Soma here. And that led to many cancelling their tour plans here. Now just imagine the situation pre 2010. Being from Vizag, Araku Valley was one place where we often went frequently. And there was always whispers of Annalu( Naxals) lurking around. Shootouts, encounters were common, and that area was literally a war zone. Now no one would really want to risk their lives to go there, no matter how beautiful the place is. It was not just tourism, the Naxals would regularly blow up roads, communication towers. Forget about tourism, that region didn't even have basic development like roads, power. In fact even now there are a whole lot of places there totally cut off. Though Naxalism has been crushed in recent times, Alluri Sitaramaraju district where Araku is located, still continues to be among the Naxal affected districts along with Balaghat(MP), Kandhamal, Kalahandi, Malkangiri( Odisha) and Bhadradri-Kothagudem(TG). It's only in the past 3-4 years that the region is somewhat returning to normalcy, but that fear still hangs over.

“I am a fighter against oppression and injustice, I have fought all my life against oppression against inhumanity and may God give me strength to fight on till the last” Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi, freedom fighter, journalist who fought for the cause of the masses. Coming from a very humble background, he was also a devout Hindu, and highly nationalist from a very young age. Born on this date in 1890, at Allahabad, his father Jai Narayan was a school teacher. He did his schooling in Mungaoli and later Vidisha, he however had to drop out due to financial difficulties. He later worked as a clerk for some time, and afetr some time, managed to get a job as a high school teacher. He wrote his first book Hamari Atmogsargart and also wed Chandraprakashwati Vidyarthi in 1909. Born on this date in 1890, at Allahabad, his father Jai Narayan was a school teacher. He did his schooling in Mungaoli and later Vidisha, he however had to drop out due to financial difficulties. He later worked as a clerk for some time, and afetr some time, managed to get a job as a high school teacher. He wrote his first book Hamari Atmogsargart and also wed Chandraprakashwati Vidyarthi in 1909. Born on this date in 1890, at Allahabad, his father Jai Narayan was a school teacher. He did his schooling in Mungaoli and later Vidisha, he however had to drop out due to financial difficulties. He later worked as a clerk for some time, and afetr some time, managed to get a job as a high school teacher. He wrote his first book Hamari Atmogsargart and also wed Chandraprakashwati Vidyarthi in 1909. He founded Pratap, the well known weekly from Kanpur in 1913, and soon began to take up the cause of ordinary people. He became the voice of the downtrodden masses, be it the peasants of Rae Bareli, or the mill workers of Kanpur, standing by them at every stage. And Vidyarthi was no armchair activisit, as he faced lathi charges, was arrested 5 times, had to pay heavy fines. Yet none of them deterred him from his cause, as he relentlessly fought on behalf of the masses. Vidyarthi felt that the freedom movement had to move from a tiny English educated elite to the masses, for it to be truly effective. It should not be just a few individuals, but should reflect aspirations of the masses. He met Gandhiji in 1916 at Lucknow and threw himself into the freedom struggle fully. One of the leading lights of the Home Rule movement in 1917, he was sentenced to two years RI, for championing the cause of the peasants of Rae Bareilly. He was very close friends with both Bhagat Singh and Chandra Shekhar Azad, though he personally believed in a non violent struggle. When Bhagat Singh was in hiding, it was Vidyarthi who not just gave him shelter in Kanpur, but also gave him space to write in Pratap. When Congress contested the elections to Provincial Legislative Councils in 1925, he won a resounding victory from Kanpur, and served as member of the U.P. Legislative Council until 1929 when he resigned. The Beech Wala Chowk Temple in Kanpur founded by Mahatma Gandhi, was where Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi used to host his meetings, he was the one who encouraged Shiv Narayan Tandon to join Congress, and who would later become Kanpur’s first Lok Sabha MP. Vidyarthi founded the Mazdoor Sabha in 1928 which he led till his death, and in 1929, he was elected as President of UP Congress Committee. He openly condemned Maulana Shakuat Ali for saying that the freedom struggle was anti Muslim. When a Muslim mob had attacked a musical band in a wedding procession, Vidyarthi led a demonstration to the Moolganj mosque and played music there for around 40 minutes. Vidyarthi had tried his best to save Bhagat Singh from being hanged, and also arranged a meeting between Chandrashekhar Azad and Nehru in Allahabad, which however ended on failure. The continous imprisonments also took a toll on his health. When Bhagat Singh was hanged on March 23, 1931, protests broke out in Kanpur. Unfortunately the protests turned into an ugly communal riot, and Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi rushed back to Kanpur, to control the disturbances. In the midst of one of the worst communal riots ever in Kanpur, he threw himself into the middle of it, trying to control tensions, saving many victims, but unfortunately he was killed by a mob while trying to control it, just 2 days after the hanging of Bhagat Singh. Unfortunately post independence, Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi was largely forgotten, except in his home town Kanpur. Even in the media, nothing much was done to perpetuate his legacy or memory, considering his stellar contribution to journalism. The award given to renowned journalists every year since 1989 is named after Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi. The medical college in Kanpur too is named after him, as also the erstwhile Phool Bagh now called Ganesh Shankar Udyan. And on 18 July 2017, the Kanpur airport was named after him by the CM, Yogi Adityanath, a fitting tribute to one of Kanpur’s most famous citizens. Incidentally, the famous actor Ashish Vidyarthi was named after Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi by his father.

French cops cracking down in full military style on the rioters. The country seems like a war zone now. The Delhi cops action during CJP protests was very restrained compared to this and even that was confined to Jantar Mantar area. Rest of India was hardly affected much. But our Libbu Media and Influencers made it out like India was burning, some kinda revolution going on here. They are predictably silent on what is happening in France. And not a squeak from UN which released long staments on protests happening in one corner of Delhi.