Naxal violence A social-political study

Many of us tend to reject the Naxal uprising in the sixties as an eruption of, at best, romantic, and, at worst, senseless violence, and look upon the Naxal leaders as misguided and even somewhat deranged youths. We, including even the generally well informed amongst us, tend to regard Naxal leaders as criminals and, thereby, support the harsh repressive measures used by the government in the country to eliminate them.

This book, for the first time, rejects all that and considers Naxalism as a philosophy of effective political action. First, it takes a close look at the way in which violence is inherent in the goes on to show that since violence has come to be institutionalized in these bodies, the only really effective mode of opposing them lies in the counter violence. Indeed, ever since the beginning of civilization, the book propounds, social, political and economic change has invariably come through violence. From the French Revolution to the Chinese Revolution, the story is the same.
The book, then, places the Naxal movement against this background and by analyzing its both theoretical propositions and practical actions shows that Naxalism began as a sound political philosophy of change through violent revolution, though, later, it disintegrated because of lack of proper leadership.

Finally, as a case-study, it takes up Naxal activities in Bihar for closer scrutiny, and the findings compel the readers to modify their attitude to this much-maligned and much-misunderstood revolutionary movement.