Naxalbari and the Chinese Press

Product Overview

The Naxalbari Upsurge (May 1967) is a momentous event in the history of independent India. The movement—led by a section of Communist radicals—gave a massive jolt to the existing economic and socio-political order of the country and introduced a set of new parameters. In popular expression, it came to be referred to as the Naxal movement—borrowing the name from its place of origin, a remote hamlet situated at the foot of the Himalayas in the northern part of the province of West Bengal. The movement drew ideological inspiration from the Chinese revolution of 1949, and, as a result, received much acclaim from the ruling Chinese Communist Party and its enigmatic leader Mao Tse-tung. The Chinese press, almost regularly, published reports and news strips about the radical escapades of the Naxals in its various mouthpieces, and also broadcasted them through Radio Peking. Some of these important publications are compiled in this volume.