A Brief history
In order to understand left wing extremism in India, we need to look at the evolution of communism in India. Even before independence, a section of leaders argued that communism and socialism are ideally suited for a society like ours, which is divided along religion, caste, and ethnic lines. They argued that it was the only way to emancipate the vast number of poor people in India and create a classless and just society. This led to the creation of the Communist Party of India or CPI.
Formed on 26th December 1925, the Communist Party of India is one of the oldest political parties in the country. Before independence, because of a ban on all communist activities by British authorities, the communists were not able to build a strong nationwide organization. However, two campaigns led by communists immediately before and after independence is worth noting. One was the “Tebhaga movement”, led by peasants’ front of CPI “Kisan Sabha” in 1946. It was fought to increase the crop share of peasants from half to two-thirds, thereby reducing the share of feudal landlord to one-third.
Another campaign was against the brutal repression of peasants by feudal landlords during the regime of Nizam in the Telangana region. Although these two movements were not very successful, they helped communists to gain a strong hold in social and economically backward areas.
After independence, the Communist Party of India has emerged as the largest opposition party at national level. The first major crisis in the communist family came during the Sino-Soviet split and the 1962 Sino-Indian war. A large group of pro-China communists backed Chinese version of the events and blamed India to be the aggressor. The pro-Chinese faction agreed with China that the Soviet Union was following “Revisionism” and “Socialist Imperialism” and “Sectarianism”. This led to a split in the communist party into CPI (pro-Soviet) and CPI(M) (pro-Chinese) branches. While the Communist parties were struggling on ideological issues, a young communist leader by the name of Charu Majumdar was busy preparing his own plans to usher a “revolution” in India.
Charu Majumdar (1918-1972), son of a freedom fighter, was born in Siliguri, Darjeeling Dist. He took part in the “Tebhaga movement”, which gave him experience in organizing armed rebellion. He was deeply influenced by Mao Zedong and wanted to emulate the Chinese revolution in India. During the years 1965-1967, he wrote a series of eight articles arguing that the situation in India was ripe for armed rebellion. His documents formed the basis for Naxalism and were called the “Historic eight documents”.He was opposed to CPI/CPI(M) line of working within the framework of Indian constitution. In order to understand why he was opposed to the Indian state, it is important to grasp his view of the Indian government. He argued that the Indian government was a semi-colonial, feudalistic and imperial entity that needed to be overthrown. In an article in 1965 he wrote-
Formed on 26th December 1925, the Communist Party of India is one of the oldest political parties in the country. Before independence, because of a ban on all communist activities by British authorities, the communists were not able to build a strong nationwide organization. However, two campaigns led by communists immediately before and after independence is worth noting. One was the “Tebhaga movement”, led by peasants’ front of CPI “Kisan Sabha” in 1946. It was fought to increase the crop share of peasants from half to two-thirds, thereby reducing the share of feudal landlord to one-third.
Another campaign was against the brutal repression of peasants by feudal landlords during the regime of Nizam in the Telangana region. Although these two movements were not very successful, they helped communists to gain a strong hold in social and economically backward areas.
After independence, the Communist Party of India has emerged as the largest opposition party at national level. The first major crisis in the communist family came during the Sino-Soviet split and the 1962 Sino-Indian war. A large group of pro-China communists backed Chinese version of the events and blamed India to be the aggressor. The pro-Chinese faction agreed with China that the Soviet Union was following “Revisionism” and “Socialist Imperialism” and “Sectarianism”. This led to a split in the communist party into CPI (pro-Soviet) and CPI(M) (pro-Chinese) branches. While the Communist parties were struggling on ideological issues, a young communist leader by the name of Charu Majumdar was busy preparing his own plans to usher a “revolution” in India.
Charu Majumdar (1918-1972), son of a freedom fighter, was born in Siliguri, Darjeeling Dist. He took part in the “Tebhaga movement”, which gave him experience in organizing armed rebellion. He was deeply influenced by Mao Zedong and wanted to emulate the Chinese revolution in India. During the years 1965-1967, he wrote a series of eight articles arguing that the situation in India was ripe for armed rebellion. His documents formed the basis for Naxalism and were called the “Historic eight documents”.He was opposed to CPI/CPI(M) line of working within the framework of Indian constitution. In order to understand why he was opposed to the Indian state, it is important to grasp his view of the Indian government. He argued that the Indian government was a semi-colonial, feudalistic and imperial entity that needed to be overthrown. In an article in 1965 he wrote-
"The government is failing to supply food to the people, so the people have become agitated. So it is in the interest of the reactionary bourgeoisie of India that India has attacked Pakistan. The US imperialist plan of the world war is also operating behind this war. By attacking Pakistan, the ruling class again wants to create a tide of bourgeois nationalism. But this time it is clear like daylight that India alone is the aggressor. So, as a result of the defeat of the Indian army, the anti-government struggle will fast crystallize among the masses. So Marxists want today that the aggressive Indian army should be defeated. This defeat will create new mass agitations. Not merely wishing that they should be defeated; Marxists at the same time should make efforts so that this defeat becomes imminent. In every province of India agitations should be created on the lines the mass agitation in Kashmir is progressing."
During the mid-1960s, he realized that the time was ripe to launch the revolution since the Government of India was struggling due to the 1962 and 1965 wars, and the bad economic situation in the country.
Naxalbari is a small village in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal. During the spring of 1967, the landless peasants, supported by hard line communists like Charu Majumdar and Kanu Sanyal etc. forcibly occupied the lands belonging to their “class enemies”. The clashes were brutal. The communist government in power at that time was embarrassed by the behavior of its own cadre and put down the uprising ruthlessly. The left government dismissed the uprising as “Left Adventurism”, whereas hardliners called the left government’s policy as a “betrayal of Marxist ideology”. Even though the “Naxalbari uprising” was a failure, it marked the beginning of violent left wing extremist movement in India, and the terms “Naxalism” and “Naxalite” were born.
Naxalbari is a small village in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal. During the spring of 1967, the landless peasants, supported by hard line communists like Charu Majumdar and Kanu Sanyal etc. forcibly occupied the lands belonging to their “class enemies”. The clashes were brutal. The communist government in power at that time was embarrassed by the behavior of its own cadre and put down the uprising ruthlessly. The left government dismissed the uprising as “Left Adventurism”, whereas hardliners called the left government’s policy as a “betrayal of Marxist ideology”. Even though the “Naxalbari uprising” was a failure, it marked the beginning of violent left wing extremist movement in India, and the terms “Naxalism” and “Naxalite” were born.
In 1967, the All India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries (AICCCR - initially called AICCCR of CPI[M] but later changed to simply AICCCR) was formed by Charu Majumdar and Kanu Sanyal. On 22nd of April 1969 (coinciding with Lenin’s birthday), the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) was formed by AICCCR with Charu Majumdar as Secretary of the Central Organizing Committee. The AICCCR dissolved itself.
During 1969-72, fierce battles raged between CPI-ML and Government authorities resulting in large-scale violence and bloodshed. It went on until July 1972, when Calcutta police arrested Charu Majumdar. He died in Lal Bazar police station on July 28, 1972. His death was a body blow to the Naxalites across the country. With his death, the central authority of Naxalism collapsed. From then on Naxalite groups went through a series of splits and a few mergers. There were many instances of splinter groups targeting each other’s cadre. The center of gravity of Naxalism shifted from West Bengal to Bihar and Andhra Pradesh.
How ever, instead of looking at every single split and merger, we are going to concentrate on three “groups” and their splits/mergers. They can be loosely termed as “Charu Majumdar group”, “Maoist Communist Center” and “Peoples War Group”. Most of the Naxalite groups in India can be traced back to the first group.
The splits in Charu Majumdar group can be termed as natural because of the absolute tyrannical style followed by Charu Majumdar. He was not someone who would accommodate divergent viewpoints. He was fanatical about revolution and considered following mass line as dilution of ideology.
During 1969-72, fierce battles raged between CPI-ML and Government authorities resulting in large-scale violence and bloodshed. It went on until July 1972, when Calcutta police arrested Charu Majumdar. He died in Lal Bazar police station on July 28, 1972. His death was a body blow to the Naxalites across the country. With his death, the central authority of Naxalism collapsed. From then on Naxalite groups went through a series of splits and a few mergers. There were many instances of splinter groups targeting each other’s cadre. The center of gravity of Naxalism shifted from West Bengal to Bihar and Andhra Pradesh.
How ever, instead of looking at every single split and merger, we are going to concentrate on three “groups” and their splits/mergers. They can be loosely termed as “Charu Majumdar group”, “Maoist Communist Center” and “Peoples War Group”. Most of the Naxalite groups in India can be traced back to the first group.
The splits in Charu Majumdar group can be termed as natural because of the absolute tyrannical style followed by Charu Majumdar. He was not someone who would accommodate divergent viewpoints. He was fanatical about revolution and considered following mass line as dilution of ideology.
In Bihar, the left wing extremism is closely linked to caste differences, land related disputes and labor exploitation. Being an agrarian economy, the disputes regarding distribution of lands, minimum wages, working conditions, etc were contentious issues between largely upper caste landlords and landless lower caste poor people . Some of the landless poor drifted towards left wing extremism to fight against oppression. In the year 1969, the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) was formed by Kanhai Chatterjee and Amulya Sen. Although they supported the Charu Majumdar led CPI (ML), they did not join it. This group mainly consisted of lower caste and landless people and was extremely savage in executing landlords. The landlords belonging to the upper/middle caste saw this group as a threat to their dominance and raised private militias. Gangs like Ranvir Sena ruthlessly massacred Naxalites and those who were suspected to be Naxalite sympathizers. Unlike CPI (ML) which went through a series of splits, MCC remained intact. It merged with the Revolutionary Communist Centre, India (Maoist) to form Maoist Communist Centre (India) or MCC (I) in 2003. Again in September 2004 MCC (I) merged with Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) People’s War to form Communist Party of India (Maoist) or CPI (Maoist) and emerged as the most powerful Naxalite group in the country.
In 1968, Due to the differences with Charu Majumdar, the Andhra Pradesh revolutionaries led by T.Nagi Reddy, D.V. Rao and Pulla Reddy were booted out of AICCCR. The splits that plagued CPI (ML) did not spare the Andhra Group either. In 1971, Pulla Reddy separated from T.Nagi Reddy and D.V. Rao and formed his own party. Pulla Reddy later joined hands with Satyanarain Singh (CPI [ML] SNS group).
Meanwhile, after the death of T.Nagi Reddy, D.V. Rao became the leader of Andhra group. During the early 70’s most of the Naxalite activity was concentrated around Srikakulam district region. The government forces successfully neutralized their influence by killing the top leaders like Appalasuri, Adibhatla Kailasam, etc. One of the biggest advantages of Naxalites in Andhra Pradesh is their ability to gather support among teachers, writers and civil liberties groups. These groups have successfully provided the needed justification for violence perpetrated by Naxals by highlighting the failures of Government and pointing out the excesses of police forces. A large number of movies, sympathetic to the cause of Naxalites are produced in Andhra Pradesh even today. The basic theme of the movies is always the same. The feudal landlords and Government collude with each other and perpetrate atrocities against innocent people and the hero turns into a Naxalite to punish the bad guys. It is interesting to note that every single top hero in the last 25 years has acted in at least one such movie. In the late 70s, Kondapalli Seetharamayya successfully rebuilt the Naxal movement, which had lost its steam due to the police actions. At one time as many as 74 dalams or guerilla groups operated in the Naxal strongholds. From Srikakulam area, the Naxals successfully shifted their base to Telangana region, especially Adilabad, Karimnagar, Warangal, etc. Unlike the Charu Majumdar line, the Naxalites in Andhra Pradesh were not averse to the mass line. However, by early nineties the government had slowly regained an upper hand over the Naxals. In September 2004, it merged with MCC (I) to form CPI (Maoist).
Current Scenario
As we have seen in the above section, Left Wing extremism in India is not a recent phenomenon. However, certain trends in recent years indicate that the threat from these organizations can increase by orders of magnitude, if strong, swift action is not taken. Left Wing extremists are transforming from “menace” to “serious threat”.
- Two of the most powerful Left Wing organizations, CPML-PW and MCC-I have merged into single entity called CPI-Maoist .It is a significant event since these two groups are responsible for 90% of the Left Wing extremist violence in India.
- The situation in Nepal has serious security implications for India. The success of CPN (Maoists) will help the creation of compact revolutionary zone (CRZ) stretching from Nepal to Andhra Pradesh. This will allow easy movement of men and material through out the CRZ. It will also allow Maoists to increase their “zone” to neighboring areas of CRZ.
- Because of the lack of uniform policy against Maoists across the states, the Maoists are easily finding safe heavens in states, which are not ruthless against them. After the Andhra Pradesh government has lifted ban on Naxals and invited them for talks, Maoists have quietly gathered strength and later on rejected peace talks blaming government of being stubborn. The effects of this action will be felt not only in Andhra Pradesh but also in all other Naxal-infested states.
- Intelligence sources say that the sophistication of land mines and Improvised Explosive Devices used by Maoists is a result of training received from LTTE
- There are reports about links between Maoists and Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). The Maoists vehemently deny it and call it a “Government ploy” to malign the Naxal movement.However, there can be no doubt that ISI would be more than willing to provide all kinds of “assistance” to bleed India from within. The ISI can also use Nepal Maoists to control Indian Maoists.
- From 55 Districts in nine states in October 2003, the Maoists have spread their influence to 170 districts in 15 states by February 2005.
- Around 1997 itself Naxalites were accumulating around Rs. 1000 million per year in Andhra Pradesh alone through extortions, kidnapping and loot. Similar amounts of money went to Left Wing extremists in Bihar as well.
- In an unprecedented act, on 11th February 2005, a group of around 200 Maoists, which include 50 women, have attacked a KSRP camp in a school at Venkatammanahalli in Pavagada taluk of Tumkur district in Karnataka. In the attack, six Karnataka State Reserve Police personnel and a civilian were killed and five others were injured.
- Silda camp attack -2010
- 2013 Naxal attack in Darbha valley
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