Map showing the districts where the Naxalite movement is active

Naxalite or Naxalism is an informal name given to revolutionary communist groups that were born out of the Sino-Soviet split in the Indian communist movement. The Sino-Soviet split was a gradual divergence of diplomatic ties between the People's Republic of China (PRC and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country Ideologically they belong to various trends of Maoism. Maoism, variably and officially known as Mao Zedong Thought ( is a variant of Marxism derived from the teachings of the late Chinese leader Initially the movement had its epicentre in West Bengal. West Bengal ( Bengali: পশ্চিমবঙ্গ Poshchim Bônggo poʃtʃim bɔŋgo is a state in eastern India. In recent years, they have spread into less developed areas of rural central and eastern India, such as Chattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh through the activities of underground groups like the Communist Party of India (Maoist). Chhattisgarh ( Chhattisgarhi / Hindi: छत्तीसगढ़ tʃʰət̪t̪iːsgəɽʰ, a state in central India, formed when the sixteen The Communist Party of India (Maoist is an underground Maoist Political party in India. ^[1] The CPI (Maoist) and some other Naxal factions are considered terrorists by the Government of India and various state governments in India. Terrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion ^[2]

History

The term comes from Naxalbari, a small village in West Bengal, where a section of Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) led by Charu Majumdar and Kanu Sanyal led a violent uprising in 1967, trying to develop a "revolutionary opposition" in opposition to the CPI(M) leadership. WikipediaWikiProject Indian cities for details --> Naxalbari is the name of a village and a region in northern part of the state of West Bengal, India West Bengal ( Bengali: পশ্চিমবঙ্গ Poshchim Bônggo poʃtʃim bɔŋgo is a state in eastern India. The Communist Party of India (Marxist (abbreviated CPI(M or CPM) is a Political party in India. Charu Majumdar ( Bangla: চারু মজুমদার (1918–1972 was an Indian Maoist Revolutionary born in 1918 in Siliguri Kanu Sanyal, born in 1932 is an Indian communist politician He was one of the founding leaders of Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist formed in 1969 Year 1967 ( MCMLXVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. The insurrection started on May 25, 1967 in Naxalbari village when a peasant was attacked by hired hands over a land dispute. Local peasants retaliated by attacking the local landlords and the violence escalated. ^[2] Majumdar greatly admired Mao Zedong of China and advocated that Indian peasants and lower classes must follow in his footsteps and overthrow the government and upper classes whom he held responsible for their plight. Mao Zedong ( 26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976) was a Chinese Military and political leader who led China ( Wade-Giles ( Mandarin) Chung¹kuo² is a cultural region, an ancient Civilization, and depending on perspective a National He engendered the Naxalite movement through his writings, the most famous being the 'Historic Eight Documents' which formed the basis of Naxalite ideology ^[3]. In 1967 'Naxalites' organized the All India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries (AICCCR), and later broke away from CPI(M). Year 1967 ( MCMLXVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. All India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries was formed in 1967 as a pro- People's Republic of China splinter-group of Communist Party of India Uprisings were organized in several parts of the country. In 1969 AICCCR gave birth to Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist). Year 1969 ( MCMLXIX) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist was formed by the All India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries at a congress in Calcutta in 1969

Practically all Naxalite groups trace their origin to the CPI(ML). Terrorism in India can be attributed to many low intensity conflict within its borders North-East India refers to the easternmost region of India consisting of the contiguous Seven Sister States and Sikkim. The United Liberation Front of Asom is a militant group from Assam, among many other such groups in North-East India. Geography Northern India lies mainly on continental India and a very small part of it lies on the Indian peninsula Babbar Khalsa (ਬੱਬਰ ਖ਼ਾਲਸਾ bəbːəɾ kʰɑlsɑ is a among group of Sikh Jathebandis calling for the formation of an independent Sikh state The Bhindranwale Tiger Force Of Khalistan was a Sikh militant Jathebandi founded in 1984 by Baba Gurbachan Singh Manochahal, who was also head of the original Panthic Committee The Communist Party of India (Maoist is an underground Maoist Political party in India. The Dashmesh Regiment not to be confused with Khalistan Armed Force aka Dashmesh Regiment (Seetal Singh Matewal was a Sikh Jathebandi responsible for several terrorist bombings The International Sikh Youth Federation is a Sikh organization banned under United Kingdom terrorism legisaltion The Khalistan Armed Force or also known as Dashmesh Regiment (not to confuse with General Shabeg Singh's Dashmesh Regiment was an Khalistani militant Jathebandi The Khalistan Liberation Force or KLF was a Sikh militant Jathebandi responsible for several bombings of civilian targets in India during the 1980s and 1990s sometimes The Khalistan Commando Force (KCF is a militant Jathebandi whose goal was the eventual formation of the Sikh state of Khalistan, which would encompass Punjab The Khalistan Zindabad Force is a militant outfit comprised mainly of Jammu based Sikhs that advocates the creation of an independent Sikh majority state called Khalistan The Shaheed Khalsa Force (or Shaheed Khalsa Force) claimed credit for marketplace bombings in New Delhi in 1997 This article is about the geographical region of greater Kashmir Lashkar-e-Taiba ( Urdu: لشكرِ طيبه laškar-ĕ ṯaiyyiba, literally Army of the Pure, also transliterated as Lashkar-i-Tayyaba Jaish-e-Mohammed ( Urdu: جيش محمد, literally The Army of Mohammad, transliterated as Jaish-e-Muhammed, Jaish-e-Mohammad or Hizbul Mujahideen ( حزب المجاھدین) (literally Party of Freedom Fighters) is a group of Kashmiri militants based in Pakistan and Pakistan administered Harkat-ul-Mujahideen- al-Islami ( Urdu: حرکت المجاہدین الاسلامی (abbreviated HUM is a Pakistani Islamic militant group Also known as the Muttahida Jihad Council (MJC this is a group created in the summer of 1994 by Pakistan 's Inter Services Intelligence. Al-Qaeda, alternatively spelled al-Qaida, al-Qa`ida or al-Qa`idah, ( Arabic:; ar-Latn ''al-qāʿidah'' Translation: The The Central India Agency was a political unit of British India, which covered the northern half of present-day Madhya Pradesh state Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist People's War, often called People's War Group (PWG was an underground Communist party in India. Naxalite or Naxalism is an informal name given to Communist groups that were born out of the Sino-Soviet split in the Indian communist movement The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist was formed by the All India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries at a congress in Calcutta in 1969 A separate tendency from the beginning was the Maoist Communist Centre, which evolved out of the Dakshin Desh-group. The Maoist Communist Centre (MCC was one of the largest two armed Maoist groups in India and fused with the other the People's War Group in September 2004 to form the MCC later fused with People's War Group to form Communist Party of India (Maoist). The Communist Party of India (Maoist is an underground Maoist Political party in India. A third tendency is that of the Andhra revolutionary communists, which was mainly presented by UCCRI(ML), following the mass line legacy of T. Nagi Reddy. Unity Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India (Marxist-Leninist was created through the merger of Andhra Pradesh Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries, Northern The Mass Line is the political/organizational/leadership method developed by Mao Zedong and the Communist Party of China (CPC during the Chinese revolution Tarimala Nagi Reddy ( February 11, 1917 - July 28, 1976) often called "TN" was a communist politician from Andhra Pradesh That tendency broke with AICCCR at an early stage. All India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries was formed in 1967 as a pro- People's Republic of China splinter-group of Communist Party of India

During the 1970s the movement was fragmented into several disputing factions. By 1980 it was estimated that around 30 Naxalite groups were active, with a combined membership of 30 000. ^[4] A 2004 home ministry estimate puts numbers at that time as "9,300 hardcore underground cadre… [holding] around 6,500 regular weapons beside a large number of unlicensed country-made arms". ^[5] According to Judith Vidal-Hall (2006), "More recent figures put the strength of the movement at 15,000, and claim the guerrillas control an estimated one fifth of India's forests, as well as being active in 160 of the country's 604 administrative districts. A district is an administrative division of an Indian state or territory. "^[6]

Today some groups have become legal organisations participating in parliamentary elections, such as Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation. Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist Liberation is a communist political party in India. Others, such as Communist Party of India (Maoist) and Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Janashakti, are engaged in armed guerrilla struggles

Bengal Insurgency

The Naxalites gained a strong presence amongst the radical sections of the students movement in Calcutta. The Communist Party of India (Maoist is an underground Maoist Political party in India. Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist Janashakti (People's Power abbreviated CPI(ML Janashakti, is an underground political party in India. ^[7] Large number of students left their education to join revolutionary activities. Majumdar adjusted the tactics of CPI(ML), and claimed that the revolutionary warfare was to take place not only in the rural areas but everywhere and spontaneously. Thus Majumdar's 'annihilation line', a dictum that Naxalites should assassinate individual "class enemies" as a part of the insurrection was put into practice not only against landlords, but also against university teachers, police officers, politicians and others.

Throughout Calcutta, schools were shut down. Naxalite students took over Jadavpur University and used the machine shop facilities to make pipe guns to fight the police. Jadavpur University (যাদবপুর বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় (JU is a premier educational and research institution in India. Their headquarters became Presidency College, Kolkata. Presidency College Kolkata is one of the affiliated colleges and a co-founding college of the University of Calcutta. They are also presumed to have assassinated the vice chancellor of Jadavpur University, Dr. Jadavpur University (যাদবপুর বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় (JU is a premier educational and research institution in India. Gopal Sen. ^[8]

The strategy of individual terrorism soon proved counterproductive. Eventually, the Chief Minister, Siddhartha Shankar Ray, began to institute draconian counter-measures against the Naxalites. Siddhartha Shankar Ray (সিদ্ধার্থ শংকর রায় (born 1920 is an Indian politician and distinguished Barrister associated with the The police committed several civil and human rights violations on the Naxalites, up to and including detention without counsel, torture, staged shootouts and others.

In a matter of months, the Naxal uprising was quelled. The view of the police and the state was that the only language the Naxals understood was that of deadly force. They also argued that effectively the state was fighting a civil war with these communists and democratic pleasantries had no place in a war, especially when the opponent did not fight within the norms of democracy and civility. This insurrection tarnished the image of the radical Maoists and their support dwindled. ^[2]

Moreover, the movement was torn about by internal disputes. Large sections began to question Majumdar's line of struggle. In 1971 CPI(ML) was split in two, as Satyanarayan Singh revolted against Majumdar's leadership. In 1972 Majumdar was captured and died in police custody in Alipore Jail. The Alipore Jail is a prison in Alipore, India, where political prisoners were kept under British rule, among them Subhash Chandra Bose. After his death the fragmentation of the movement accelerated.

Cultural References

The British musical group Asian Dub Foundation have a song called Naxalite. Asian Dub Foundation are a British electronica band that plays a mix of Breakbeat, dub, Dancehall and Ragga, also This song was part of the soundtrack to the 1999 film Brokedown Palace. Brokedown Palace is an American Film directed by Jonathan Kaplan, and starring Claire Danes and Kate Beckinsale. In 2005 a movie called Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi directed by Sudhir Mishra was released with the backdrop of Naxalite movement. Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi, ( 2005) is an Indian movie made by director Sudhir Mishra in 2003, but released in 2005. Sudhir Mishra is an Indian Film director and Scriptwriter most renowned for directing critically acclaimed films like Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi

There is a reference to a character, in the novel, The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy, joining with the Naxalites. Suzanna Arundhati Roy (born November 24, 1961) is an Indian Writer and Activist who won the Booker Prize in 1997 for her novel

The 1998 film Haazar chaurasi ki Maa (Mother of 1084) staring Jaya Bachchan gives a very sympathetic portrayal of a Naxalbari militant killed by the state

References

See also

• Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)
• Indian Maoists
• Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist)
• Salwa Judum
• Compact Revolutionary Zone

External links

• Naxal Revolution
• Indian Maoist
• 'History of Naxalism', Hindustan Times
• Maoist Resistance (pro-Naxal Blog - The former blog at Resistance India has been hacked )
• Supporting Marxist Guerilla Insurgencies around the Globe
• Naxal Terror Watch (anti-Naxalite, alleges that Naxalites are supported by both Pakistan and China)
• Status Paper on the Naxalite problem - South Asia Terrorism Portal
• West Bengal, districts affected by Naxalite violence - South Asia Terrorism Portal
• Economist magazine article
• Guardian article
• Vice article
• Naxal Issues page of Peoples Website of Chhattisgarh