Naxalbari is not just a name of a village! It’s not just another heroic uprising of peasants!! Actually the uprising was crushed by the state machinery in a short period of time.It is not comparable to the great Telangana peasants uprising in magnitude and longevity. But, it created a prairie fire, an unquenchable fire.
Naxalbari struggle was crushed, even the Great Srikakulam struggle was defeated, Bhojpur was also over run. Most of the revolutionary leaders of the central committee of CPI(M-L) were brutally killed by the enemy.Hundreds of revolutionary communists laid down their lives for the revolution. The enemy was over joyed. He was dreaming about wiping out naxalbari like the fascist Amitsha of our Times..
But Naxalbari could not be crushed. Because, it was a revolutionary idea based on MLM, an antidote modern revisionism, the dream of the oppressed for seizing the State Power. The revolutionary line , spirit, hatred against revisionists and class enemies of Naxalbari continued even after a great set back.
So naxalbari did not die, even under the iron heels of the repression the revolutionary movement bloomed again. The enemies of the state grew in numbers and expanded to new areas. NAXALBARI rose again in the plains of Telangana, Bihar and many other places. It extended to forests of Dandakaranya, Jarkhand, Andhra, Orissa and elsewhere.
After years of struggle PLGA was formed and the people’s power was established in many pockets of Dandakaranya and Jharkhand and many other places. Alarmed by the development of revolution enemy launched waves of repression one after another. But the Revolutionary movement and the people’s power withstood them all. Finally with the help of imperialists and zionists (of course with the help of revisionist betrayers) enemy has been carrying out a blood thirsty assault against the Revolutionary People, the Revolutionary Power and Revolutionary Party.With a huge set back to the movemnt and party.The ruling classes are again daydreaming about wiping out Naxalbari again.
But the Indian history has already proved otherwise. Like the legendary phoenix NAXALBARI rises to new heights after every serious set back. The Naxalbari politics and spirit guides the movement to get out of set backs with revolutionary determination. The blood and sweat of the Great martyrs inspire thousands of new revolutionaries to join the class war. There is no death to Naxalbari. It lives on!
As the Revolutionary crisis is intensifying throughout the world, the Naxalbarit will rise again to fulfill it’s historic task even faster.
Why Naxalbari ?
The leaders of the communist party in India from the beginning were following an outright opportunistic politics and practice. There was no clear cut program or practice for completing a revolution. There was no initiative to take up the leadership of the anti imperialist-anti feudal struggles of the masses. They were tailing the Congress party, a representative of the comprador Big bourgeoise and landlord classes. They betrayed countless heroic struggles and sacrifices of the broad masses and cadres of the communist party.
After the transfer of power, they totally betrayed the cause of revolution by giving up the Telangana armed struggle and jumping into the pigsty of the Indian parliament. They were sowing seeds of illusion, that by capturing government through the parliament, social change could be achieved. A social revolution without seizure of State power by force. A revisionist myth. So the revisionism had taken over Indian communist movement.
Revisionists happily welcomed Kruchev’s revisionist concept of Peaceful Transition. It was a recognition and blessing for their revisionist path and practice. CPI(M) split away from CPI. But the leadership of CPM proved that they were no better than CPI revisionists. They formed join front governments in the reactionary parliamentary system and completely betrayed Indian revolution.
When it seemed as if everything was lost, Naxalbari lit up the Indian horizon. The spring thunder of Indian revolution, Naxalbari echoed throughout the country. It shattered the myth of peaceful transition. It advocated a politics of people’s war for seizure of power. Naxalbari changed the nature of Indian communist movement forever. On the one side there were revisionists following the Peaceful transition of Krushev, on the other side were the revolutionaries of Naxalbari following the Revolutionary Marxist-Leninist-Maoist path of revolution.
Naxalbari scripted a new path. A revolutionary path. It brought forth a new politics. It shared the Revolutionary line of Comrade Mao and CPC in the international communist movement.
It struck at the heart of revisionism in India. It Tore off the revolutionary mask of revisionism forever. It created a new legacy of death defying courage, sacrifice and unwavering commitment.
It brought back long forgotten goal of carrying out a revolution in to the Indian communist movement . The Revolutionary politics of the seizure of State Power by force. Of course not just in letters but in deeds. New revolutionary politics was written with the blood of the martyrs.
Seizure of political power the corner stone of Naxalbari politics
The seizure of State Power by force was the core Revolutionary concept of Naxalbari. Comrade Charu Majumdar In his historic Eight Documents clearly stated “…We, the true Marxists, know that carrying out the Party’s political responsibility means that the final aim of all propaganda, all movements and all organizations of the Party is to establish firmly political power of the proletariat. It should be remembered always that if the words “Seizure of Political Power” are left out, the Party no longer remains a revolutionary party. Although it will remain a revolutionary party in name then, it will be actually reduced to a reformist party of the bourgeoisie.” So it was the cornerstone of the Naxalbari politics.
Charu Majumdar and other revolutionaries in CPI(M) knew precisely the core of foul play of the revisionists. Revolution through parliament. Peaceful transition. A revisionist Concept devoid of theoretical development from Marx to Mao on state and revolution, historical experiences of proletariatian revolutions and even common sense. They aimed their focus of attack on this point.
Revolutionaries took a firm stand basing themselves Marxism Leninism Maoism. They were clear that without a violent revolution the State Power cannot be seized. For that a People’s Liberation Army has to be built and a Peoples War has to be waged. From the starting revolutionaries held firm to this stand.They waged an ideological and political struggle against this revisionist falsehood. The struggle was so fierce and thorough going that every revolutionary cadre was firmly rooted in in the Marxist- Leninist Maoist theory of State and revolution. Revolution not only became their cherished aim, but also their duty, dream and everything. Hundreds of students left their studies to carry on agrarian revolution which is the axis of Indian new democratic revolution.Comrade Mao’s quote “Political power flows from the barrels of the gun” decorated the walls of universities, factories, villages and even the remote tribal hamlets. Naxalbari stamped the politics of seizure of State Power by force, ie. the politics of armed revolution on the Indian political scenario with blood and sacrifice. It created such a political atmosphere that the Revolutionary cadre can no more be duped by the parliamentarist lies.
As Comrade Charu pointed out, this new revolutionary party took the seizure of State Power by force as the key link and developed a revolutionary program and strategy for the Indian revolution. Basing on the class analysis of Indian society, they correctly formulated the stage of Indian revolution as New Democratic and Protracted People’s War as the path of Indian revolution. Armed struggle as the main form of struggle. Seizure of power area wise, that is forming base areas as the central task of the revolution. An underground revolutionary party was built from the scratch. Thus a complete Revolutionary party to take the Revolutionary task of seizing power through armed struggle was built.
Armed struggle expanded to many parts of India. A Revolutionary party with a revolutionary program and practice was established in India. It developed into an organisation which sowed fear in the hearts of the ruling classes. It’s strongly established the politics of revolution, ie. Seizure political power in the Indian communist movement, which was until then mired in reformism.
STATE AND REVOLUTION
As we saw earlier the Naxalbari politics, re established the correct Marxist- Leninist Revolutionary understanding of State and revolution in the Indian communist movement. Let us go back to our great teachers for clarification on this issue.
Marxism teaches us that ” state is a product and a manifestation of the irreconcilability of class antagonisms.” and ” the state is an organ of class rule, an organ for the oppression of one class by another; it is the creation of “order”, which legalizes and perpetuates this oppression by moderating the conflict between classes.” Lenin clarified that even the modern democratic republics of the Western Europe were in reality the dictatorship of the bourgeoise. Marxism teaches us that there is no neutral state. A state beyond class interest is a total falsehood. On contrary the class exploitation and class domination are protected and perpetuated only with the help of the state machinery.
Further more Marx explained, “The centralized state power that is peculiar to bourgeois society came into being in the period of the fall of absolutism. Two institutions most characteristic of this state machine are the bureaucracy and the standing army. In their works, Marx and Engels repeatedly show that the bourgeoisie are connected with these institutions by thousands of threads.”
The unelected bureaucracy runs the day today affairs on behalf of the elected government, while the armed forces of the state oppress and subdue the exploited masses. As Marx said these two are the main pillars of the state. The so called democratically elected government is nothing but a puppet show run by the ruling classes from behind the screen. If the government goes against the interests of the ruling class it can be thrown away in empteen ways.To be precise the armed forces and bureaucracy of the state are the main organs of the ruling classes to perpetuate their exploitation and dominance. They are built in such a way to fulfill this task. They clearly have a class character and it’s leadership is filled by ruling classes or their loyal stooges.The bourgeoise fallacy of democracy to all was thoroughly exposed by Marxism.
Smash bureaucratic-military state machinery
The first great revolution of the working class, the Paris commune proved that we could not use the old state machinery of the exploiting classes to bring social change. So the exploited have to seize political power and should smash this ruling class state machinery. Comrade Marx synthesized new experience of Paris Commune in few words, “”… One thing especially was proved by the Commune, viz., that ‘the working class cannot simply lay hold of the ready-made state machinery and wield it for its own purposes’….”[1]. He further said, ” If you look up the last chapter of my Eighteenth Brumaire, you will find that I declare that the next attempt of the French Revolution will be no longer, as before, to transfer the bureaucratic-military machine from one hand to another, but to smash it [Marx’s italics–the original is zerbrechen], and this is the precondition for every real people’s revolution on the Continent. And this is what our heroic Party comrades in Paris are attempting.” (Neue Zeit, Vol.XX, 1, 1901-02, p. 709.)[2]. Here comrade Marx specifically points out the destruction of the bureaucratic and military machine. It calls for a revolution and destruction of the state machinery of the ruling classes.
Comrade Lenin clearly pointed out,” … liberation of the oppressed class is impossible not only without a violent revolution but also without the destruction of the apparatus of state power which was created by the ruling class “… Comrade Mao points out, ” The seizure of power by armed force, the settlement of the issue by war, is the central task and the highest form of revolution. This Marxist-Leninist principle of revolution holds well universally, for China and for all other countries.“Problems of War and Strategy” (November 6, 1938), Selected Works, Vol. II, p. 219.
If proletariate wants to seize power, it has to confront the armed forces of the state and defeat them. Then only they can complete the task of smashing the bureaucratic apparatus and form their own state apparatus suitable for the dictatorship of prolateriate. Otherwise seizure of power and the Revolutionary change of the social order are not possible. Paris commune was a testimony to this. “Paris could resist only because, in consequence of the siege, it had got rid of the army, and replaced it by a National Guard, the bulk of which consisted of working men. This fact was now to be transformed into an institution. The first decree of the Commune, therefore, was the suppression of the standing army, and the substitution for it of the armed people” .
Peoples Armed forces a must for Revolution
This brings the next important aspect. The Revolutionary classes should build their own Revolutionary army to defeat the armed forces of the ruling class. Only by suppressing and defeating the ruling class army, the revolutionary classes can seize power and carry forward the revolution under the dictatorship of proletariate. In essence defeating the armed forces of the ruling classes by the revolutionary armed forces is a precondition for seizure of power.
It is the most vital point in the revolution or seizure of power. Without the armed forces of the oppressed classes this is not possible. This was proved by the great Russian and Chinese proletarian revolutions. The Russian Red army and the People’s Liberation Army of Chinese communist party were the main organs which made the revolution possible. Vietnam’s war of liberation proved this point beyond doubt. They fought against the world’s modern imperialist Armies and won their liberation only through a People’s War with the Peoples Army led by the communist party.
” Without peoples army, people have nothing.” Comrade Mao wisely explains the necessity of the people’s army.
Parliamentary path- a revisionist myth
The revisionists always talk about winning the bourgeoise parliament elections and carrying forward the social change. Comrade Lenin exposes the revisionist illusion about bourgeoise parliament, “The petty-bourgeois democrats, such as our Socialist-Revolutionaries and Mensheviks, and also their twin brothers, all the social-chauvinists and opportunists of Western Europe, expect just this “more” from universal suffrage. They themselves share, and instil into the minds of the people, the false notion that universal suffrage “in the present-day state” is really capable of revealing the will of the majority of the working people and of securing its realization.” But the history proves that it is impossible. Let us deal some examples of history.
In Chile socialist government under the leadership of Allende won the elections and tried to nationalise the copper mines owned by imperialist corporations. But the Chilean military joined hands with us imperialism and toppled the Allende’s socialist government and killing him in the process. The military dictatorship ruled the country for decades killing thousands of communists and patriots.
The so called Bolivarian revolution of Venezuela, which tried to carry forward anti American policies with the old state has failed miserably.
We have the history of Indonesian communist party decimated by the reactionary forces. Indonesian communist party was unarmed, supporting the suharno government. in a CIA backed military coup the Suharno government was over thrown and the reactionary Suharto military regime butchered lakhs of communist with direct involvement of CIA.
The latest example of the Prachanda clique’s revisionism can open anybody’s eyes. The great peoples war waged under the leadership of the Nepalese communist party (Maoist) led to the overthrow of monarchy in Nepal. But the Prachanda revisionist clique, gave up the People’s War for entering into the reactionary government. They disbanded the People’s Liberation Army. The People’s power organs created by the People’s war were also given up. Finally the revolutionaries turned in to revisionists. They gave up the People’s war, they gave up the people’s Army, they gave up the People’s power and finally they became an integral part of the ruling class representatives. They ended up as the worst opportunistic politicians of Nepal. And eventually the people rose up against them. It is the latest example of betrayal of revolution through parliamentarism. And it also proves parliamentarism is in essence betrayal of revolution and the people.
As we saw earlier the bureaucracy and the armed forces are the main pillars of the state. The elected government is only an ornament and a democratic mask to dupe the people. So winning the elections and forming government never gives the power to the people. Only by seizing the State power by force and destroying the old state ensures people’s power. This is the basic political truth often obscured by the revisionists.
NAXALBARI’S REVOLUTIONARY LINE
Naxalbari thoroughly assimilated the revolutionary MLM understanding regarding the State Power and revolution.
It firmly rejected the parliamentarist path of the revisionists. It boycotted the Sham parliamentary elections and upheld the armed Revolutionary Path. It totally opposed revisionist theory of peaceful transition.
It thoroughly exposed that the so called democratic government in India is nothing but a puppet of the imperialist masters , comprador big bourgeoise and the Landlord classes. It clearly exposed the class character of the Indian state and the need to destroy it.
Naxalbari politics gave a particular emphasis to the concept of seizure of political power. starting from the naxalbari uprising, the struggle was not just for land, but for seizure of the political power. It was emphasised by the leadership again and again. It fought against reformist politics of the revisionists. It emphasized on educating the Revolutionary masses the goal of seizure of political power. Naxalbari was fighting against reformism of all kinds in this aspect.
It did not put forward the seizure political power as an empty slogan. It gave a call to build the People’s Army and built it in practice. The armed squads of the earlier period had grown into the People’s Liberation Gueriilla Army of Maoist party. It has not only propagated the politics of armed struggle but brought it into practice and developed it. It advocated and practiced armed revolution for this seizure of political power.
Naxalbari path built the peoples army to seize the power, under the most difficult conditions with enormous sacrifice and developed to a stage of building people’s power in the Dandakaranya and Jarkhand and some other places. Peoples power organs grew from the village level and were showing the alternative revolutionary model. It practiced the parts of protracted People’s War and tried to establish area wise seizure of power.
Naxalbari brought the revolution as the goal and dream of revolutionary cadres. By firmly projecting the inevitablity of revolution and armed struggle in practice, it created a new Revolutionary party in the foot steps of the Great bolshvik party of Lenin and the Great CPC of Mao.
(Based on a speech delivered at the seminar with the theme ‘Naxalbari Has No Death’ organized by Former Revolutionary Students’ Forum in Hyderabad on May 24, 2026.)
