Gender and Naxalite Movement

When a rebellious movement for an egalitarian society is fought, it becomes a force to reckon with through the participation of women. World history as well as Indian history bears testimony to it and the Naxalite movement, too, is no exception. Nine peasant women and two children laid down their lives owing to a police firing at Prosadjote in Naxalbari, and marked the birth of a new terminology in Marxist lexicon, 'Naxalites'. The movement, though crushed due to certain shortcomings and state repression, unfurled a sea of introspective studies and researches in the realm of social science. Gender issue, naturally, was one of the issues that had to be dealt with by the movement, and in this perspective, following questions seem pertinent: Was the Naxalite leadership enough sensitized to Feminist and gender perspectives? Were the participants aware of the all-pervading system of Patriarchy? Were they, too, guided subconsciously by values of male domination, sexism, androcentrism? Were the Naxalite women themselves aware of Feminist ideas, values of gender equality? What was their own perception about their position in the Party? How were they treated there? Could they play any decision-making role? The chapters included in the present volume seek to address these questions in a crisp and telling manner.