The document summarizes the history and activities of Naxalites in India over several decades. It begins with background on the origin of Naxalites from peasant uprisings in West Bengal in the 1960s. It then describes the spread of Naxalite movement to rural parts of eastern and central India led by groups like CPI(Maoist). The document outlines major attacks and operations between Naxalites and security forces from the 1970s to 2019. It notes that while government campaigns have reduced Naxalite presence, their support from tribal communities stems from addressing issues like lack of development and healthcare in impoverished areas.

1. India’s Defense System
GRADE – 9
POLITICAL SCIENCE

2. A Naxal or Naxalite is a member of any political organisation that claims the legacy of the Communist Party of India
(Marxist-Leninist), founded in Calcutta in 1969. The Communist Party of India (Maoist) is the largest existing
political group in that lineage today in India.
The term Naxal derives from the name of the village Naxalbari in West Bengal, where the Naxalite peasant revolt took
place in 1967. Naxalites are considered far-left radical communists, supportive of Mao Zedong's political ideology.
Their origin can be traced to the split in 1967 of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) following the Naxalbari
peasant uprising, leading to the formation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) two years later.
Initially, the movement had its epicentre in West Bengal. In later years, it spread to less developed areas of rural
southern and eastern India, such as Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana through the activities of
underground groups like the Communist Party of India (Maoist). Some Naxalite groups have become legal
organisations participating in parliamentary elections, such as the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)
Liberation and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Janashakti.
NAXALITES

3. Around 1971 the Naxalites gained a strong presence among the radical sections of the student movement
in Calcutta. Students left school to join the Naxalites. Majumdar, to entice more students into his organisation, declared that
revolutionary warfare was to take place not only in the rural areas as before, but now everywhere and spontaneously. Thus
Majumdar declared an "annihilation line", a dictum that Naxalites should assassinate individual "class enemies" (such as
landlords, businessmen, university teachers, police officers, politicians of the right and left) and others.
The chief minister, Siddhartha Shankar Ray of the Congress Party, instituted strong counter-measures against the
Naxalites. The West Bengal police fought back to stop the Naxalites. The house of Somen Mitra, the Congress MLA of
Sealdah, was allegedly turned into a torture chamber where Naxals were incarcerated illegally by police and the Congress
cadres. CPI-M cadres were also involved in the "state terror". After suffering losses and facing the public rejection of
Majumdar's "annihilation line", the Naxalites alleged human rights violations by the West Bengal police, who responded that
the state was effectively fighting a civil war and that democratic pleasantries had no place in a war, especially when the
opponent did not fight within the norms of democracy and civility.
Large sections of the Naxal movement began to question Majumdar's leadership. In 1971 the CPI(ML) was split,
as Satyanarayan Singh revolted against Majumdar's leadership. In 1972 Majumdar was arrested by the police and died
in Alipore Jail presumably as a result of torture. His death accelerated the fragmentation of the movement.
Violence in West Bengal

4. Operation Steeplechase
In July 1971, Indira Gandhi took advantage of President's rule to mobilise the Indian Army against
the Naxalites and launched a colossal combined army and police counter-insurgency operation,
termed "Operation Steeplechase," killing hundreds of Naxalites and imprisoning more than 20,000 suspects
and cadres, including senior leaders. The paramilitary forces and a brigade of para commandos also
participated in Operation Steeplechase. The operation was choreographed in October 1969, and Lt.
General J.F.R. Jacob was enjoined by Govind Narain, the Home Secretary of India, that "there should be no
publicity and no records" and Jacob's request to receive the orders in writing was also denied by Sam
Manekshaw.

5. 2010
•6 April: Naxalites launched the most deadly assault in the history of the Naxalite movement by killing 76 security personnel.
The attack was launched by up to 1,000 Naxalites in a well-planned attack, killing an estimated 76 CRPF personnel in two
separate ambushes and wounding 50 others, in the remote jungles of Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district in Eastern/Central
India.
•17 May, Naxals blew up a bus on Dantewda–Sukhma road in Chhattisgarh, killing 15 policemen and 20 civilians. In the third
major attack by Naxals on 29 June, at least 26 personnel of the CRPF were killed in Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh.
Despite the 2010 Chhattisgarh ambushes, the most recent central government campaign to contain and reduce the militant
Naxalite presence appears to be having some success. States such as Madhya Pradesh have reported significant reduction in
Naxalite activities as a result of their use of IAP funds for rural development within their states. The recent success in
containing violence may be due to a combination of more state presence, but also due to the recent introduction of social
security schemes, such as NREGA.

7. 2011
•Late 2011:, Kishenji, the military leader of Communist Party of India (Maoist), was killed in an encounter
with the joint operation forces, which was a huge blow to the Naxalite movement in eastern India.
•March: Maoist rebels kidnapped two Italians in the eastern Indian state of Odisha, the first time Westerners
were abducted there.
•27 March: 12 CRPF personnel were killed on in a landmine blast triggered by suspected Naxalites in
Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra.
2013
•25 May 2013, Naxalites attacked a rally led by the Indian National Congress in Sukma village
in Bastar Chhattisgarh, killing about 29 people. They killed senior party leader Mahendra Karma and Nand
Kumar Patel and his son while in the attack another senior party leader Vidya Charan Shukla was severely
wounded and later succumbed to death due to his injuries
•11 June. See: 2013 Maoist attack in Darbha Valley.

8. 2014
•11 March 2014, Naxalites in Chhattisgarh ambushed a security team, killing 15 personnel,
11 of whom were from the CRPF. A civilian was also killed.
•1 December 2014 Monday killed 14 CRPF personnel and 12 injured in south Chhattisgarh's
Sukma district
2015
•11 April 2015 : 7 Special Task Force (STF) personnel were killed in a Maoist ambush near
Kankerlanka, Sukma, Chhattisgarh.
•12 April 2015 : 1 BSF Jawan was killed in a Maoist attack near Bande, Kanker,
Chhattisgarh.
•13 April 2015 : 5 Chhattisgarh Armed Force (CAF) Jawans were killed in a Maoist ambush
near Kirandul, Dantewada, Chhattisgarh.

9. 2016
•24 October 2016 : 24 Naxalites were killed by Andhra Pradesh Greyhounds forces in encounter that took
place in the cut-off area of remote Chitrakonda on Andhra-Odisha border.
•In November, 2016, three Naxalites were killed near Karulai in an encounter with Kerala police. Naxalite
leader Kappu Devaraj from Andhra Pradesh is included in the list of killed in the incident.
•Late November: In Jharkhand, six Naxalites were killed in a gun battle with Central Reserve Police
Force (CRPF) commandos. The CRPF recovered 600 bullets of various calibre, about 12 IEDs, an INSAS
rifle, an SLR, a carbine and three other guns.
2017
•24 April 2017: In the 2017 edelbeda attack twenty five CRPF officers were killed in encounter with 300
Naxals. The encounter with 74 battalion of CRPF was reported from Kala Pathar near Chintagufa in Sukma
District of Chhattisgarh.

10. 2018
•13 March 2018: 2018 Sukma attack - 9 CRPF personnel were killed and two injured after a powerful IED blast
that destroyed their mine-protected vehicle in Sukma, Chhattisgarh.
•22 March 2018: At least 37 Naxalites were killed by police in a four-hour gun battle on the border between
Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh.
2019
•8 March 2019 - 1 Naxal leader was killed in an encounter with the Kerala police at a Wayanad resort.
•1 May 2019 - 15 Indian commandos and driver killed in Maoist attack - Gadchiroli.
•28 October 2019- Kerala Police's elite commando team "Thunderbolt" gunned down 3 maoists in an encounter
in the Attappadi hills region of Palakkad. One remaining member of the maoists group was killed a day later
when the police team went to inspect the encounter site, following an attack on the team.
•23 November 2019 - Naxals opened fire on a patrol van killing an ASI and three home guard Jawans in
Latehar, Jharkhand.

11. Tribal participation in Naxalite movements
Tribal communities are likely to participate in Naxalism to push back against structural violence by
the state, including land theft for purposes of mineral extraction. Impoverished areas with no electricity,
running water, or healthcare provided by the state may accept social services from Naxalite groups, and give
their support to the Naxal cause in return. Some argue that the state's absence allowed for Naxalites to become
the legitimate authority in these areas by performing state-like functions, including enacting policies of
redistribution and building infrastructure for irrigation. Healthcare initiatives such as malaria vaccination
drives and medical units in areas without doctors or hospitals have also been documented. Although Naxalite
groups engage in coercion to grow membership, the Adivasi experience of poverty, when contrasted with the
state's economic growth, can create an appeal for Naxal ideology and incentivize tribal communities to join
Naxal movements out of "moral solidarity".

13. Content Compiled by,
D. B. Naga Muruga