A.2. Evolution of left-wing extremism
The creation of the Communist Party of India (CPI) in the 1920s consolidated the presence of communist ideology in the country. The communist movements all around the world at that time inspired CPI to use the sentiment in the national movement against the British.
The success of the October Revolution in Russia became a source of inspiration for the nascent communist movement in India.
The agrarian revolution began in West Bengal in 1967 when an extremist breakaway faction of the Communist Party of India Marxist (CPM) began the agitation.
In 1969, the CPI formed a new Marxist-Leninist party; CPI-ML. This faction spearheaded acts of violence in the name of ‘class destruction’ began in of states of West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh, as well as Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, and Punjab.
In 2004, CPI- Maoist was created which had far-left radicals supporting Maoist ideology. The Naxals followed this ideology which eventually turned violent with the use of arms and ammunition. Initially, the movement had its center in West Bengal. Thereafter, it spread into less developed areas of rural central and eastern India, such as Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Andhra Pradesh through the activities of underground groups like the Communist Party of India (Maoist).
Maoism: Maoism originated in China as a form of Communist theory derived from the teachings of the Chinese political leader Mao Zedong. It was widely applied as the political and military guiding ideology of the Communist Party of China till 1977-78. It emphasized the advancement of people’s social and economic life by establishing a classless society through the armed revolution. It was rooted in the anti-imperialist struggle and supported the armed revolution to achieve political transformation. Naxalism is based on the principles of Maoism to achieve a similar transformation in India.
