Naxalbari uprising

The Naxalbari uprising was a peasant uprising led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (and later the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) in the Darjeeling district in West Bengal, India, in 1967. It marked the beginning of the people's war in India which has been ongoing since 1967.

The uprising

The immediate catalyst for the Naxalbari uprising was a series of incidents in March 1967. A dispute over land between a jotedar (landlords) and a sharecropper escalated, leading to police intervention and the arrest of several peasants. This incident, coupled with years of simmering resentment, ignited the revolt. On May 24, 1967, a police inspector was killed by an arrow during a confrontation with armed peasants, marking a significant turning point and escalating the conflict.

The Naxalbari movement was spearheaded by local leaders like Kanu Sanyal and Jangal Santhal, who mobilized the tribal and landless peasants. Charu Majumdar provided the theoretical framework, advocating for the annihilation of class enemies (jotedars and moneylenders) and the establishment of "red areas" where peasants would seize land and administer justice. Their ideology was heavily influenced by Mao Zedong Thought, emphasizing the role of the peasantry as the vanguard of the revolution and the necessity of armed struggle.

The Naxalbari peasants, under the leadership of the communists, adopted a strategy of land seizure, often accompanied by violence against landlords and their agents. They formed "peasant committees" that took over land, redistributed it among the landless, and established rudimentary forms of local governance. They also targeted moneylenders and seized their records, effectively canceling peasant debts. The movement's tactics included:

• Land Seizure: Peasants forcibly occupied land that they rightfully belonged to them, challenging existing land records and ownership claims.

• Annihilation of Class Enemies: This tactic involved the targeted killing of landlords, moneylenders, and their collaborators, seen as a means to break the power of the oppressive class and instill fear among the exploiters.

• Formation of Peasant Committees: These committees served as local administrative bodies, organizing land redistribution, resolving disputes, and mobilizing further support for the movement.

• Armed Resistance: The peasants, though poorly armed, used traditional weapons like bows and arrows, spears, and some rudimentary firearms to resist police and paramilitary forces.

Legacy

The Naxalbari uprising served as the ideological wellspring for the broader Naxalite movement. The radical faction within the CPI(M), disillusioned with parliamentary politics and the party's betrayal of the revolutionary cause, broke away to form the All India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries (AICCCR) in 1967, which subsequently led to the formation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (CPI(ML)) in 1969. This new party openly advocated for armed struggle and the establishment of a "people's democratic dictatorship" through a protracted people's war.