Didnt lose the dream,just met reality,say Sanyals comrades

In light of Naxal father Kanu Sanyals suicide,Ravik Bhattacharjee meets other faces of the Naxalbari movement who are now in political oblivion....

Listen to this article

00:00

1x 1.5x 1.8x

It was reportedly a deep-seated sense of frustration that led Kanu Sanyal,one of the founding fathers of the Naxal movement in India,to take his own life,ironically in Naxalbari itself. The other names and faces which sought to bring in armed revolution during the 70s and took up the gun in the name of Naxalbari have largely receded into political oblivion. Some have taken to writing books,some have joined hands with parties like the Trinamool Congress while others are heading small parties all break-away groups of the CPI(ML).

Leaders like Ashim Chatterjee,Azizul Haque,Suniti Ghosh,

Santosh Rana and Nisith Bhattacharjee are still around but their current political profiles are a far cry from that of the heady Naxalbari days.

Ashim Chatterjee: Popularly known as Kaka (uncle),he was the most prominent leader in the first central committee of the CPI(ML). He was imprisoned during 1972-78. Chatterjee formed the Bengal-Bihar-Orissa Border Regional Committee CPI(ML) as a separate faction. His group joined the CPI(ML) of Satyanarayan Singh. He was imprisoned during 1972-78 and formed the Communist Revolutionary League of India after his release from prison. He unsuccessfully contested the West Bengal Assembly elections twice first as a CPM-supported Independent and in 2006,as a Trinamool Congress-supported candidate in Beleghata. Now living in Kolkata,he keeps himself busy giving guest lectures and writing books.

Story continues below this ad

I will not say that we have lost the dream. But our dream clashed with reality. To me,it was social terrorism. This was bound to happen to the movement; it has been robbed of the momentum. Now only dozens of splinter groups from the original CPI(ML) are alive. Armed revolution was not the solution,democracy is, says Chatterjee.

Suniti Ghosh: Another prominent leader who has retired from active politics,he is nearly 90 years old now and is staying in Asansol. He has authored a number of books on Maoists and politics.

Khokon Majumder: He was associated with Charu Majumdar and Kanu Sanyal from the beginning. He stays in Naxalbari and is a member of the CPI-ML (Jana Shakti),one of the splinter groups. He seldom takes part in active politics and prefers to stay indoors.

Santosh Rana: Another prominent leader of the CPI(ML),he broke away from Charu Majumdar to join Satyanarayan Singh. He is currently a general secretary of one of the splinter parties,Provisional Central Committee,Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist). He won as MLA from Gopiballavpur in 1977. Currently residing in Kolkata,he is trying to organise his party.

Story continues below this ad

Azizul Haq: Another student leader of the CPI(ML),he has turned author and occasionally appears on television talk shows. He was one of the prominent Naxal leaders,said to be close

to the ruling CPM. He is one of the columnists in a pro-CPM daily in Bengal.

Nisith Bhattacharjee: He has retired from active politics and is involved with bringing out a magazine called Agrani which explores relevant social issues. He stays in Beleghata,Kolkata.

Among low-ranking leaders of the erstwhile CPI(ML) is Narayan Sanyal who was with the Bihar state committee of the CPI(ML) and later became secretary of the CPI-ML (Party Unity) and went on to join the CPI (Maoist) as a Politburo member. He is currently lodged in Raipur jail. Gour Chakraborty,who was a CPI(ML) leader from Nadia during the 70s,went on to become the spokesperson of CPI (Maoist) and is at present lodged in a Kolkata jail.