Com.Jangal Santhal and Com.Khokan Mazumdar had
provided the leadership to the party and peasant
movement here.
The efforts to build the peasant movement here
had begun in 1959. By 1964, the consistent and
dedicated work carried on by the Communists had
given a definite shape to the peasant movement. But
the state leadership of the CPI (M) had taken no steps
to put the movement on the rails of revolutionary
movement as expected by the party ranks. But the
local leadership sought to develop the activities in the
area with a revolutionary orientation. The struggle
against revisionism had provided the necessary
favourable atmosphere and background for their
activities.
In this course, in 1965, the leadership of the party
and peasant organization in the area had propagated
the revolutionary slogans among the peasant masses.
It propagated about the necessity of poor and landless
peasants seizing and distributing the lands and
breaking the authority of landlords. It moved the
peasants in a militant form. The peasants marching
in rallies with their arrows and bows and other
traditional arms and preparing themselves for self
defence became a part of it. The activities that went
on in various forms in this manner and the course of
struggle in two years had raised the consciousness
and organization of the peasants to higher level. The
Congress lost power in the March 1967 elections for
the State Assembly and an UF regime with CPI (M)
and CPI as its main constituents was formed in West
Bengal. This govt. had created some hopes and
illusions among the people in the State. But the
conscious masses of Naxalbari people did not setback
with folded hands. The local leadership of the party
sought to intensify the movement further. The
movement which had already spread to wider areas
had acquired revolutionary features.
Revolutionary Turn
The Silguri Sub – division Peasant Organisation
held its Conference at Butaganj in March 1967. This
became a significant event in the life of Naxalbari
peasant movement. The Conference gave the clarion
call; “All the lands in Terai region belong to none but
tillers;” “The poor and landless peasants must seize
and distribute the lands among themselves and
overthrow the feudal authority”. The peasants, who
were already organized and in action, were very much
enthused by this Call. It made them to jump into the
struggle with all determination. Led by the party and
the peasant organization, the peasants had moved
into action in thousands. They began seizing and
distributing the lands of landlords, tea plantation
owners and the Govt. They began harvesting the
crops in the lands of landlords. They seized the grain
May- 2017
illegally hoarded by the landlords. They seized the
arms which were used by the landlords in the attacks
against the people. They tried the landlords and their
goons in people’s courts and accorded suitable
punishments for the crimes committed by them against
the people. They had shown powerfully how different
the people’s power can be from that of landlords; how
the landlords and their henchmen would be reduced
into mere paper tigers when the masses of oppressed
people get themselves organised and move into a
revolutionary action. They had shown that the people
can enjoy real freedom when they become the
masters of their lives. The Naxalbari peasant
revolutionary movement, had, once again, shown how
the Agrarian Revolution is crucial in India’s New
Democratic Revolution, how significant is the land
question in the Agrarian Revolution; how the struggle
for land and the struggle for state power are linked
and intertwined and how the armed revolution is crucial
in the struggle for state power. The Naxalbari Peasant
Revolutionary Movement had shown that the
revolution is not or cannot be an act of a few armed
bands. It can only be a people’s revolution carried on
by the crores of people under the leadership of
working class. The exploited and oppressed masses
of people exhibit marvelous revolutionary
consciousness, inexhaustible strength of organisation
and potential of struggle once the proletarian party
properly organizes, prepares and leads them into
revolutionary action.
The revolutionary reforms carried out by the
Naxalbari people had very much frightened the
exploiting classes and their hangers on . It became a
nightmarish dream for them. Everyone had faced the
question who stands on whose side – the side of
landlords or the struggling peasants? – in a powerful,
straigh t and inescapable manner.
The CPI (M) and CPI leaderships—the main
constituents of West Bengal UF Govt- were seriously
disturbed by the developments in Naxalbari. The
leaders had rushed to the area. They complained that
the peasant movement had crossed the “ limits “ and
it posed a “law and order” problem. They asked the
leadership of the movement to bring the movement
back within the limits of law, lest, the movement may
provide an alibi for the Central govt. to dismiss the
UF Govt. They even warned of disciplinary action as
the party organization in the region still was a part of
CPI (M). But the leadership of the movement did not
heed to them.
The movement saw an added momentum. The
West Bengal State Govt. had resorted to arrest and
foisting of cases against the cadre and leadership of
the movement. The party leadership in the area took
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