CHANAKYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY,

Patna

ROUGH DRAFT SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT

OF THE COURSE TITLED “SOCIOLOGY OF LAW” ON THE
TOPIC: “NAXALISM AND ITS IMPACT ON THE SOCIETY”

SUBMITTED TO:

Mr. Shakil Ahmad

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF SOCIOLOGY

SUBMITTED BY:
NAME : AYUSH KUMAR

ROLL NO.:2115

COURSE : BA LLB. (Hons.)

Session : 2019-2024

1
 INTRODUCTION
A Naxal or Naxalite is a member of any political organization that claims the legacy of
the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist), founded in Calcutta in 1969. Communist
Party of India (Maoist) is the largest existing political group in that lineage today in India.

The term Naxal derives from the name of the village Naxalbari in West Bengal, where the
Naxalite peasant revolt took place in 1967. Naxalites are considered far
left radical communists, supportive of Mao Tse Tung‟s political ideology. Their origin can be
traced to the split in 1967 of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) following the Naxalbari
peasant uprising, leading to the formation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–
Leninist) two years later. Initially, the movement had its epicentre in West Bengal. In later
years, it spread into less developed areas of rural southern and eastern India, such
as Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana through the activities of
underground groups like the Communist Party of India (Maoist). Some Naxalite groups have
become legal organisations participating in parliamentary elections, such as the Communist
Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-
Leninist) Janashakti.

The term Naxalites comes from Naxalbari, a small village in West Bengal, where a section of
the communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) led by KanuSanyal, and JangalSanthal
initiated a violent uprising in 1967. On May 18,1967, the Siliguri Kishan Sabha, of which
Jangalwas the president, declared their support for the movement initiated by Kanu Sanyal
and readiness to adopt armed struggle to redistribute land to the landless. The following
week, a sharecropper near Naxalbari village was attacked by the landlord‟s men over a land
dispute. On May 24, when a police team arrived to arrest the peasant leaders, it was
ambushed by a group of tribals led by Jangal Santhal, and a police inspector was killed in a
hail of arrows. This event encouraged many Santhal tribals and other poor people to join the
movement and to start attacking local landlords. These conflicts go back to the failure of
implementing the 5th and 9th Schedules of the Constitution of India. See Outlook India
comment by E.N. Rammohan„ Unleash the Good Force‟ edition July 16, 2012. In theory
these Schedules provided for a limited form of tribal autonomy with regard to exploiting
natural resources on their lands, e.g. pharmaceutical and mining), and land ceiling laws,
limiting the land to be possessed by landlords and distribution of excess land to landless
farmers and labourers. The caste system is another important social aspect of these conflicts.

2
Mao Zedong provided ideological leadership for the Naxalbari movement, advocating that
Indian peasants and lower class tribals overthrow the government and upper classes by force.
A large number of urban elites were also attracted to the ideology, which spread through
Majumdar‟s writings, particularly the „Historic Eight Documents‟ which formed the basis of
Naxalite ideology.

India was ones considered to be the land of peasants and snake charmers. The picture of India
in the minds of the invaders and the Britishers was a country which is rich in minerals and
resources but lacks unity. But today the picture of India has completely changed. India is now
one of the largest economies in the world holding 4th position in terms of armed forces. The
year 1947 was bloodshed but after 1947 India didn‟t look back. Though there has been
political instabilities and lot of internal disturbances still it has grown and has achieved this
position, due to a better Constitution, people and economy.

The Indian aboriginals, known as Adivasis, live these richly forested lands, which are wanted
for development by businesses. The conflict between economic progress and aboriginal land
rights continues to fuel the Naxalite‟s activities. Their strongest bases are in the poorest areas
of India. They are concentrated on the tribal belt such as West Bengal, Orissa, and Andhra
Pradesh where locals experience forced acquisition of their land for developmental projects.
Arundhati Roy, a Naxalite sympathizer said that the tribal forestlands should be called a
“Maoist Corridor”. Naxalites usually use the method of guerrilla warfare and attack the
central forces and the state police forces, making them their targets and killing many.
Naxalism is one of the main concerns of the government and a major bone of contention
between the progressive development of the forest areas and backward areas which are the
breeding grounds of Naxalism.

The Naxals had a vision that they will be able to over throw the government and get into
power if they organise such terrorist acts. In villages, which is the main source of the Naxals
for the recruitment are usually uneducated, has a lack of infrastructure, and lack of per capita
income of the area. Hence, the Naxal gangs put money in front of them for a bait. In such
situation, people who are given the money, do whatever the boss or the head of the group
says. The Naxals have also decided currently to spread across to city and its limits. Cities
usually have a good amount of people who are educated, well established and where the per
capita income is also very high. There is a good number of English speaking educated
Indians. If there is urbanisation in the cities and there is development. Then whom does the
Naxalites target in the cities?
3
Moreover, if the Naxal activities in the cities spread amongst industrial workers and students,
the state will have to implement and run proper sabotage mechanisms to deal with the
industrial unrest and industrial movements. When the Naxal movement in the urban areas
becomes strong the state will have to tackle with the urban terrorism. Urbanization and
expansion of towns and cities are a bait to terrorism and Naxalism, the more will be the
development the higher infiltration by the Naxals in the cities would be seen in the near
future. It is very high time that we put a stop to the urban terrorism by the Naxalites before it
is too late for us to react in a proportionate manner.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The researcher intends to find out:

(i) Why naxalism emerged in India?

(ii) What is the impact of Naxalism?
(iii)What are the problems faced by the people due to Naxalism?
(iv) How government is handling the problem of Naxalism?

RESEARCH QUESTION

The researcher presumes to find out following questions from this project:
(i) What is the reason for the emergence of Naxalism?
(ii) Why youth are more attracted towards Naxalism?
(iii) Is government main reason for the emergence of naxalism?
(iv) Is naxalism providing any profit to the common people?
(v) What are the difficulties faced by the people due to Naxalism?

HYPOTHESES

The researcher has formulated the following hypotheses, the validity of which has
been tested in the course of the research project:
(i) There is a generation gap between the parents and their children.
(ii) Most naxals are youth.
(iii) There is lack of facilities for the people.

4
 (iv) There is anger against the officials and the government.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

 The researcher has adopted doctrinal as well as non-doctrinal method of

research.

SOURCES OF DATA

 Primary sources

 Constitution of India

 Legislative provisions

 Field work

 Secondary sources

 Books

 Newspapers

 Websites

CONCLUSION

Many people within the Indian society have sympathy for the root cause that the Maoists are
fighting for, however the fewest agree on the violent way of struggle. The execution of brutal
violence and attacks on civilians, such as the recent one on the passenger train in West
Bengal where more than 150 people have died have a delegitimizing effect on the whole
movement. So is Naxalism now India‟s biggest internal threat? Doubtlessly it is definitely a
serious challenge. But the author and columnist Sudeep Chakravarti declared recently that the
statement is an absolute myth. In fact Naxalism reflects merely India‟s real threats like large
scale poverty, hunger and injustice (Chakravarti 2010 (B)). The Naxalite movement is a
symptom for the failure of the Indian state to provide human development for its citizens.
Naxalism does not only threaten the flow of foreign direct investments but could destabilize
the whole political order as many citizens lose their faith in the state and therefore its
legitimacy is challenged. India, on its way playing a bigger role on the international level,
needs to tackle its internal problems urgently. Revolutionary leader Charu Mujumdar was of

5
the view that peasants can only overcome their problems by overthrowing the Indian state
and landlords/upper castes who were the main culprits for their plight. The insurgents blame
the Government for ignoring the needs of the peasants and supporting their oppressors.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

TENTATIVE CHAPTERISATION
 Introduction
 Aims & Objectives
 Research Questions
 Hypotheses
 Research Methodology
 Sources of Data
 Conclusion
 Bibliography