Left Wing Extremism is the idea of bringing a political change in the society through revolutions overthrowing capitalist structures and instilling the idea of Communism within the state. The various forms of Communist ideologies applied range from Marxism to Maoism. The world witnessed the political uprising of communist ideologies in the 20th century from the year 1960 up until the end of the cold war and beyond. This idea spread across nations like a social epidemic influencing 1/3rd of the world’s total population by 1985.
India experienced the growth of LWE ideology in the year 1967 in a small village in the state of West Bengal know as Naxalbari. This political movement led by the proletariat became the starting point of the biggest internal security threat experience by India since its Independence in 1947.
This proletarian led movement was a result of the oppressive Zamindari system followed during and after the British rule in India. Under the zamindari system of Land governance a landlord is given complete ownership of a piece of land in exchange for taxes that filled the national exchequer. These lands were further sub leased by the barons to the poor peasants who were allowed to indulge in agricultural activity in exchange for half of their yields to the
zamindars. Though this system was abolished post Independence, the influence of wealthy families still continued this oppressive system post Independence. The Communist Party of India
of India formed in 1925 was split in the year 1964 to form Communist Party of India Marxist, this division was a result of the ideological differences within the party where the CPI agreed to
the non – violent democratic revolutionary principals of the USSR leader Joseph Stalin and the Communist Party of India Marxist believed in the idea of using force to bring a revolution. With
its victory as a coalition in the West Bengal State Elections of 1967 the CPI -M had to drop out its ideology of using force to bring a revolution as it had its allegiance with the Indian constitution and was responsible for maintaining law and order in the state. This ideological shift towards non – violence by both the parties resulted in a great amount of agitation amongst the young party workers of the CPI – M. In the 1967 coalition government of the CPI -M, the party was responsible for the home and land revenue ministry of the state. This responsibility of the ministries had a lot of expectations of a revolutionary change from the peasant classes but it was
not met which led to increased agitation amongst the peasant class. The increased agitation followed by multiple instances of oppressions and peasant evictions done by the landlords fueled
the Naxalbari uprising of 1967. The peasant class raised their weapons and resorted to the use of violence against the oppressors. Local
landlords were evicted from their houses, land records were burnt and arms were distributed amongst the masses. Lands of the wealthy class were being redistributed amongst the farmers and the lower rungs of the society. The tribal population also faced armed clashes with the Police, and the movement lost its momentum upon confrontation with state law and order machinery. This ideological battle led by Charu Mazmudar planted the seed for the naxalism
movement in India which was inspired from the Chinese Revolution led by Mao Zedong. In the year 1969 Charu Mazmudar along with Kanu Sanyal created the Communist Party of India Marxist – Lenist which believed in the idea of armed revolution by the proletariat against the burgosis. This Naxalbari uprising gave the name of Naxalism to this armed movement inspired by Maoism.
In the year 1990 the insurgency re-surfaced with the liberalization of the Indian economy and the license grants given to companies to exploit the ground minerals for profit in underdeveloped
tribal regions of India. The year 2004 saw the merger of two naxalite groups People’s War Group and Maoist Communist Centre which led to the formation of the Communist Party of India –
Maoist as the single Naxalite group of India. This insurgency affected the India States of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.
These affected regions of India came to be known as the red corridor. Presently the Naxalites still believe in the idea of using violence as a method to bring a change and are always engaged in violent activities across the red corridor including gun fights with the Indian Armed Forces, murder of villagers who are alleged police informants and recruitment of children in the Red Army or the Lal Sena of the CPI(Maoist). The insurgency has shown a rapid
decline over time with the number of affected districts reducing from 126 to 38 in April 2024. The result of this decline have been comprehensive government policies focused on zero
tolerance towards violence and economic upliftment of the poor in the region. The success of these police are highly evident with more than 1200+ Maoist surrendering and joining the
mainstream society receiving healthcare, skill training, housing and access to bank accounts. India is on the road of completely eradicating Naxalities from LWE affected areas and is set to
bring an end to India’s biggest internal security threat by March 2026.