The lesser-known tales of the Naxalite movement

Insightful book on Naxalite movement in India, highlighting historical events and lesser-known stories, now available in English translation.

Fifty-three years ago is not a long period in modern history.

Looking back, it was in 1971 that U.S. President Richard Nixon flew out from the Andrews Air Force Base to meet the Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party Mao Tse-tung.

Onboard Air Force One, Nixon was practising the use of chopsticks to eat Chinese food, while far away in Beijing, Mao got his hair and beard trimmed after months, in preparation to welcome his special guest. February 21, 1971 still remains a red-letter day for two opposing forces even now. The meeting between the leaders of the biggest enemies spanned seven days.

Back in India, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had then begun a military campaign, Operation Steeplechase, to suppress the Naxal movement.

Charu Majumdar, the then general secretary of the CPI (Marxist-Leninist), one of the most wanted fugitives, was in hiding living a life of danger.

For the Naxalites, Mao was a living god, but when he shook hands with Nixon, Majumdar may have felt that his life was worthless, and what he had taught his loyalists until then plain stupidity, says former journalist Sebastian Joseph, who has authored the book Vasanthathinte Idimuzhakkam (Spring Thunder),  an authoritative account of the Naxalite movement based on interviews with Naxal activists, court documents, police records, and media reports

Today left-wing extremism is on the wane in the country, although it has left a violent mark in several States. It was ruthlessly put down from the time of first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, he adds.