1 The Naxalite Movement in India

For almost fifty years, parts of India have been struggling with the violent actions of the Naxalite movement. What started out as a peasant uprising in 1967 in the West Bengal village of Naxalbari, has today become India’s largest and most dangerous Maoist movement. Mostly active in the eastern regions of India, the Naxalites have been fighting for socialist change and agrarian reform for the past four decades. The use of violence on the part of the Naxalites has given it the reputation of being a violent terrorist group. The key to understanding the Naxalites lies not only in their support base and their actions, but also their failures, which continue to hold them back. While the rest of the country has transitioned into the 21st century, the Naxalites continue to dwell in the past. The Naxalite movement has lost sight of their intended goals and today, the movement remains active yet structurally outdated. As mentioned earlier, the Naxalite movement began in 1967 with the communist revolutionaries in India seeking reforms within society. In 1964, the communist movement in India experienced it first divisions within the community. Disagreements between the Marxist-Leninist and Maoist communists led to the spilt of the communists and the creation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (CPI-ML).1 The uprising in the village of Naxalbari was a result of the frustration with the local economic system. To better understand the reasons behind the rebellion we must take a look at the demographics and the social structure of Naxalbari in the 1960’s. According to census reports of 1961, 58 % of the population of Naxalbari were part of the schedule Castes and tribes. However, these were not the important members of society. Instead, the group known as tribals held much of the power. The tribals were mainly wealthy landowners, also known as jotedars, whereas the people of the schedule castes and tribes worke