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Opinion National Interest PoV 50-Word Edit

ThePrint On Camera Videos In Pictures

Society & Culture Around Town Book Excerpts Vigyapanti The Dating Story

More Judiciary Education YourTurn Work With Us Campus Voice

I saw West Bengal’s battle with Naxalism. State’s approach wasn’t limited to police action

I received a written message that Kanu Sanyal, the Naxal who wanted to present a ‘deputation’ to me. One was expecting a fiery encounter with an angry old man’ accompanied by fierce supporters.

Four days ahead of the 31 March deadline, the Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced the success of the counter-insurgency operations against Left-Wing Extremists (LWE), also called Naxalists. 

In his communication to the Home Secretaries and DGPs of nine states—Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana, and  West Bengal—he confirmed that, except for Bijapur and Kanker in Chhattisgarh and West Singhbhum in Jharkhand, Naxalism had been practically wiped out. However, there were 35 ‘legacy districts’ across these states, which would continue to remain under observation. 

This was indeed a transformative moment in India’s war against LWE, which at its peak in 2005 affected nearly 180 districts in the so-called ‘Red Corridor’—a geographically contiguous area across the nine states. 

In this series, I will share some of my personal encounters with individuals and situations involving the LWE. Let’s begin with Kanu Sanyal—‘the first Naxal’. 

Four decades ago,  when I  joined the government of West Bengal as an Assistant Magistrate in 1986, the Naxalite movement was on the wane. It had been effectively dismembered by the former Chief Minister SS Ray’s regime—especially during the Emergency years.

When the CPM-led Left Front came to power in 1977, it launched Operation Barga, a land reform initiative to legally register sharecroppers (bargadars). It granted tenants permanent, heritable cultivation rights, security against eviction, and a fair 75 per cent share of the produce, significantly boosting rural livelihoods and agricultural productivity. This effectively knocked off the rationale of the  Naxal movement, as 1.5 million farmers were conferred land rights. However, there were some pockets—the Jhargram region of Midnapore and the Naxalbari block in Siliguri, where some supporters were still active.

In early 1987, I volunteered........

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