Category: The Naxalism movement

What happened was that the tribal guerrillas have become Naxalite?

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A Naxal or Naxalites is a member of any of the Communist guerrilla groups in India (Maoist). The Maoist rebellion in India is 40 years old. It started in 1967 in the town of Naxalbari in West Bengal, because of which the guerrilla group is also known as Naxalites. The name Naxalite is derived from the town of Naxalbari (Naksalbari) in far northern West Bengal state in northeastern India, which was the center of a tribal peasant uprising against local landlords in 1967. Although the rebellion was suppressed, it became the focus of a number of communist-led separatist movements that sprung up in remote, often tribal areas in India—at first primarily in northeastern India but later more widely in other parts of the country.

The state suppressed the early Naxalites, but did not completely eliminate them. 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. Ideologically they belong to various trends of Maoism. Initially the movement had its centre in West Bengal. In recent years, they have spread into less developed areas of rural central and eastern India, such as Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh through the activities of underground groups like the Communist Party of India (Maoist).The ultra-Left wing guerrillas are known as Naxals or Naxalites, after Naxalbari, the village in West Bengal where their movement was born in 1967.  Their arms training is fashioned after modules of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). From the beginning, it was not the laboring poor of the nation or Bengal that Charu Mazumdar addressed, but, first, the disaffected revolutionary activists within the communist movement and, later, the ‘student–youth’. In attempting a sociological interpretation of the ideology and practice of the ‘Naxalites’ in West Bengal.

The three concepts central to this study, namely, ideology, nihilism, and terrorism, are words that pose definitional problems. Whereas it is possible to subsume the literate ideology of the Naxalites under some such rubric as modernization, a consideration of their existential ideology leaves no doubt that one is concerned with modernism—and the modern itself. National and state governments in India consistently have labeled Naxalite groups as terrorist organizations and declared them to be illegal.In early 1980s naxalite group in Andhra Pradesh state called People’s war group started operations against state police in adivasi areas. They were trained by LTTE from Srilanka in the use of landmines and other ambush tactics. They were successful in their attacks using land mines and ambushes. Most of the time arms were captured from police and was the primary supply of arms to naxalites. Slowly operations extended into the neighboring states such as Madhya Pradesh. At the same time another naxalite group called Maoist Communist Center carried out operation against state police in Bihar state.  Two groups later joined together to form the Communist Party (Maoist).Now Naxalites are active in 40% of India’s land area.

They are active in Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal states. Out of these states they control more than 40% of the land area in Chhattisgarh and  Jharkhand states. Central government and state government has embarked on violent suppression using central government forces known as Central Reserve Police force (CRPF) , Border security force (BSF) and specially trained anti naxalite forces called Cobras. However the violent repression has only intensified the struggle. As central government intensifies the repression ordinary masses in these areas are suffering and turning more and more towards Naxalites. Unlike in 1970s Naxalites have a very strong bases among adivasis and so called lower caste communities.  The Maoists’ goals – the building of a “mighty mass movement against imperialism”, isolating and defeating the Hindutva-fascist forces, and building a “powerful urban movement, particularly of the working class” as complementary to armed agrarian struggle remain as elusive as ever.

It is clear that there is a wide chasm between promises and their eventual deliverance. Until the government implements employment, poverty alleviation and land reform programmes, counterinsurgency measures cannot achieve much. Social justice and inclusive growth are the planks on which the government must build its programme. Only with consolidated efforts on the part of the legal and political framework socio-economic reforms can be implemented, and the problem of Naxalism tackled.The Need of the Hour is to look upon the matter specially today’s situation of growing Naxal Movement and to implements methods especially in the rural area because in this Fight between Naxals on one side and the State on the other there are common masses who are being affected.


Charu Majumdar is regarded as the ‘Undisputed Naxalite Guru’. In his leadership he had written several Articles, those articles later on became the famous ‘Historic Eight Documents’, which formed the basis of Naxalism His talks and comments becomes the ‘party line’. In his words it clearly shows that this movement is against the Corrupt persons not all the officials of the State.

Some Facts about Naxal

The term Naxal is derived from the name of the village Naxalbari in West Bengal

The Naxals support Maoist political sentiment and ideology.

The Naxalism movement originated with the split of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), which resulted into the formation of the

In 2009, Naxalites were active across approximately 180 districts in ten states of India.

Mismanagement of Forests, the Growing inter and intra regional disparities, Absence of proper Industrialization and lack of land Reforms and lack of proper tribal policies are the main reasons behind Naxalism.
