Naxalite is an informal name given to the groups that represent revolutionary communists born out of a split in the Indian communist movement on Chinese and Soviet lines, wherein Chinese ideology dominates. And, Naxalism is the ideology that these revolutionaries harbour and advocate. The term owes its origin to Naxalbari, a small village in West Bengal, where 49-year old Charu Mazumdar and Kanu Sanyal of Communist Party of India (Marxist) led a militant peasant uprising in 1967. Their aim was to build a "revolutionary opposition" in order to establish "revolutionary rule" in India. Hugely influenced by Mao Zedong of China, Charu Mazumdar advocated that the peasants and lower classes must overthrow the government and upper classes, that he thought, were responsible for the unenviable plight.



Breaking away from the CPI (M), these Naxalites organized the All India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries (AICCCR). Now, peasants' uprisings were organized in several parts of the country. In 1969 AICCCR gave birth to Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist). But, pretty soon the naxal movement had to bear with two major jolts, one was the revolt of Satyanarayan Singh in 1971 and the second was the death of Charu Mazumdar, the very next year. These two incidents caused fragmentation in the ranks of naxalism. But the significant fact is that almost all the Naxalite groups trace their origin to the CPI (ML).

However, Maoist Communist Centre has always maintained a separate tendency. It has evolved from the southern group, generally called among the Maoist circle of India as Dakshin Desh-group. Now MCC is a banned organization in India but it has fused with People's War Group and the fusion is known as the Communist Party of India (Maoist).

Another tendency in the naxalite movement in India is that of the Andhra revolutionary communists, which is mainly presented by UCCRI (ML), following the mass line legacy of T. Negi Reddy.

However all the naxalite groups are not militant in character and today some groups have become legal organizations participating in parliamentary elections. Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation is one such important organization. On the other hand Communist Party of India (Maoist) and Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist, Janashakti), are engaged in armed guerrilla struggles. Typically, there is a groundswell of public support for such activities, though it seems to have come down in recent years with counter-movements such as those led by Mahendra Karma becoming popular.

The cause of the peasants and the fact that naxalism identifies itself with poor people's cause and aspirations, it has become popular among intellectuals and even movie makers alike. Several movies relating to the Naxal movement have been made, such as Lal Salaam, Jukti Takko Aar Tappo, and very recently Hazaaron Khwaishen Aisi and Hazaar Chaurasi Ki Maa. There are also some pro-Maoist literaturists like Mr Pendyala Varavara Rao. Mr Varavara Rao is originally Telugu literaturist and some of his books have been translated into Hindi.