The ‘Forgotten’ Revolution

India, has always been a land where innumerous revolutions have laid their foundation on. A country which has observed various valiant and courageous men rising against operation and dominance of the strong over the weak and fighting their way through to bring about peace and justice from complete anarchy. Hence struggle for equality has repeatedly iterated in the history of this great and ancient nation. Ever since the historical night of 15^th August,1947 where this valiant nation received their freedom from the tyrant British Empire, India has always been busy in shortening the gap between the rich and poor and bringing about a financial equivalence among the two class. India is considered to be biggest people’s democracy in the whole world. A country which was still recovering from the wounds inflicted on its flesh by the bloodshed of the famous partition was soon going to lay host to the biggest revolution in short history of their new found independence.

On March of the year 1967, poor farmers armed and equipped with bamboo lathis, medieval bows and arrows stormed and raided the paddy granaries of jotedars at Naxalbari located at the tri-junction of India, Nepal and Bangladesh (then, East Pakistan). These were small incidents which would soon have far-reaching implications. The Chinese were quite praiseful of these incidents hailing these attacks as “a peal of spring thunder”. The movement got crushed by the police but it’s spark flew to distant locations igniting various parts of the country’s population. The state could not apprehend the scale at which the movement spread across states and at it’s very peak, affected 200 districts across 20 states. Last estimate suggest that the currently 104 districts across 13 states are primarily affected by the Maoist regime with 2017, making the 50^th anniversary of the movement, the assigned security forces of the affected areas could sense the resurgence of another movement underway. The NDA promises to having been on the winning front against this anti-national regime with the gradual shrinkage in the areas the Maoist rendeveous with 433 Fatalities in 2016 as against 251 in 201. The state claims to have the upper hand in the battle for power but with some recapitulation of history, it is seen that twice, these Naxalites have managed to forge a comeback.  

The movement has primary agenda of forging a guerilla warfront advancing the National Democratic Revolution in India as a part of the world proletarian revolution by over throwing the semi –colonial, semi-feudal system. Just as a phoenix the movement seems to be born out of its ashes, because the basic and primary socio-economic factors responsible for it, remain unaddressed and unpublished due to lack of proper media coverage. Wealth in the country is on a subsequent rise but the distribution is hap-hazard and unequal. the national wealth doesn’t seems to circulate among hands with 1%of the rich, said to own 58% of national wealth. Unemployment among the rural mass is another neglected sector in the country’s policies and is of grave concern. With repeated highlights under the unemployment issue, the government have turned a blind eye resulting in widespread agitation and distress among Financially insecure rural masses. Land reforms seem to be Forgotten. The tribal population suffers the most over the issue. Alienated and abandoned as a result of various developmental activities being carried on their ancestral grounds leave a huge number to get displaced from their homes. There is also remarks being made he growing dependency of the state police force on the Central Arms Forces to resolve conflicts in various states. It is quite discomforting to know that the advancement of the armed forces is not properly backed up the administration resulting in internal turmoil. Government departments don’t establish control over places of political distress of possible warzones paving the Naxalities/Maoists to forge a stronghold on a particular area. Hence, a battle which started 50 years in the past has still ha it’s root embedded deep into the heart of the country continuing to come in between the development and upliftment of the rural masses until governance is improved addressing the elemental issues, which fuel the resurgence of the movement.

By: Uttaran Paul