Naxalbari movement: journey from education to revolution
- Azizul Haque: Tribute to one of the last revolutionaries
- The decline of the Left in Bengal and the rise of the BJP
- Mamata Banerjee, Congress and the new equations of opposition
- The path of Trinamool from Nandigram-Singur to power
- The unheard voice of the Naxalbari land and tea garden workers
The clash from religious criticism to regional politics
In this article, Dr. Suresh Khairnar pays tribute to Comrade Azizul Haque while remembering the 25,000 brilliant students who sacrificed their lives in the Naxalbari movement. The article also discusses in detail the socio-political changes in West Bengal, the rise of Mamata Banerjee, the decline of the Left and the rise of the BJP. Azizul Haque (1942-2025): He was the face of the Naxalbari movement of the 1970s, and believed in 'power comes from the barrel of the gun'. Haque, who was suffering from old-age-related ailments, fractured his hand after a fall at home and was admitted to a private hospital in Salt Lake and died last Monday......
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| Azizul Haque (1942-2025): He was the face of the Naxalbari movement in the 1970s, and believed in 'power comes from the barrel of the gun' |
In the Flames of the Naxalbari Movement, in the early 1970's 25,000 Brilliant Students Lost Their Lives
Revolutionary Salutations to the memory of Comrade Azizul Haq, one of the last surviving leaders of the Naxal movements in West Bengal.
During 1993-94, incidents of violence against Bengali-speaking workers from Maharashtra were taking place in front of Metro Cinema in Kolkata, along with Comrade Azizul Haq. To address such issues, Mamata Banerjee organised a protest march (at that time she was with Congress). A protest meeting was held against Shiv Sena, presided over by famous Bengali poet and writer Subhash Mukhopadhyay. I also shared the stage as a speaker with Azizul Haq at this meeting.
In that gathering, Azizul Haq sharply criticised all major religions. In my response, I argued that secular fundamentalists like Azizul Haq themselves inadvertently contribute to the increasing influence of organisations like Shiv Sena in Maharashtra and the BJP at the national level, which further helps in expanding their area of impact. Otherwise, in the domain traditionally influenced by communists and socialists—who have consistently worked for the issues of workers, farmers, and the poor—organisations like Shiv Sena have, since the 1960s, inserted themselves under the guise of regional identity. Any criticism must consider this context.
Quoting the example of the Bhagalpur riots, I mentioned how ordinary people (without attending any RSS branch) took up traditional weapons to attack Muslims, illustrating how the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh succeeded in spreading communal hatred. I also pointed out to Mamata Banerjee that her Congress party, through Bal Thackeray in Maharashtra and Bhindranwale in Punjab, used such figures to eliminate opposition parties in both states. After detailing this, Azizul Haq got up, hugged me, and said, "Apnader bakttabya khub bhalo laglo" (I really liked your speech). After the meeting, he took me to his one-room kitchen resident at Prince Anwar Shah Road in Ballygunge. The house had no furniture; just a mat spread on the floor, where we sat and had tea and puffed rice. He recounted his arrest in the 1970s during Chief Minister Siddhartha Shankar Ray’s tenure, and how Kolkata Police tortured him in Lord Sinha Road and Lalbagh special cells with leather belts smashed against his ankles. Hearing this, tears welled up in my eyes, and I started to remember my emergency experience in jail. Because of this, he became disabled for life.
During that era, the Naxalite movement wiped out a remarkable generation of talented students—those who studied at Presidency College, engineering colleges, and other educational institutions in Bengal. The brother of Bengali writer Divendu Palit was also among those who died. Just like that, 20,000 to 25,000 brilliant students were killed.
The Ground That Sowed the Naxalbari Movement
The land movement that originated in Naxalbari, North Bengal, is known as Naxalism. As of now, however, it no longer in West Bengal has any existence there. In the 1990s, on behalf of Rashtra Seva Dal, attempts were made to start a school for the children of tea garden workers in Naxalbari by Manisha Banerjee, along with Bharti Barman from the Rajbanshi community. I frequently visited the area as well. I observed that while every communist literature opens with the slogan “Workers of the world, unite!”, under the Left rule in Bengal (1977 onwards), the situation of tea garden workers was dismal—be it housing, wages, health facilities, or education for their children.
The Nandigram-Singur Movement and Political Shifts
The Nandigram-Singur movement of 2007 led to a sharp split in Bengali civil society. Eminent personalities like Sunil Ganguly, Soumitra Chatterjee, and sensitive, talented individuals such as Azizul Haq sided with then Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya, supporting the line that agriculture alone couldn’t sufficiently sustain farmers, hence industrialisation was necessary (“Shilpayan toh hotei hobe” was the slogan of CPM's farmers' organisations).
However, a massive local farmers’ protest erupted against this very push for industrialisation, with significant participation from CPM’s own supporters and local peasants. From this movement, Mamata Banerjee rose to the position of Chief Minister. Most astonishingly, the BJP, which had barely any existence in Bengal, has now emerged as the principal opposition, with only a 1% vote difference between Trinamool Congress (31%) and BJP (30%). After ruling Bengal for 34 years (1977–2011), the Left Front currently has no representative in the Bengal legislative assembly.
Revolutionary salutations to the memory of Comrade Azizul Haq.
—Dr. Suresh Khairnar, 22 July 2025, Nagpur
Note: The reference to “25,000 brilliant students killed” amidst the Naxalbari movement reflects a perception of the massive loss of young intellectuals and students influenced or swept up by the movement, particularly in Bengali higher education from the late 1960s into the 1970s. The ongoing social, political, and economic ramifications of the movement—and the subsequent changes in Bengal—are outlined from a personal perspective.
