Comments on: One man's terrorist is another man's...

One man's terrorist is another man's...

hadjiboy — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 10:15:45 -0800

The Naxalites of India

By: hadjiboy

hadjiboy — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 10:19:10 -0800

as opposed to the ones in Canada you know. /kidding

By: doctor_negative

doctor_negative — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 10:40:43 -0800

"Karl and the Kalashnikov" sounds like a grade school primer for Russian revolutionaries.

By: Abiezer

Abiezer — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 11:13:38 -0800

Good post hadjiboy. I'm tempted to say they seem very much like the widespread phenomenon of violent peasant resistance long endemic to agrarian societies (eg Ribbon Men in Ireland), just with contemporary ideological trappings. No justice, no peace and all that.

By: Falconetti

Falconetti — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 14:26:25 -0800

I agree with Abiezer. From my previous readings on the Naxalites, it seems the the Marxist-Leninist aspect of their movement is just a veneer that provides a necessary teleological purpose to what is essentially a justified anger at being institutionally oppressed. The book Imaginary Maps (and other works) by Mahasweta Devi has some stories about the Naxals (I think it is that book, it has been a long time since I read it and it wasn't very well written). Arundhati Roy has also spoken about the Naxals and the more general Maoist and Communist uprisings in India repeatedly. Here is one in depth interview, taken from a blog called Naxal Revolution (although the interview can be found all over the place).

By: rhizome23

rhizome23 — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 16:51:39 -0800

Asian Dub Foundation wrote a track back in the late 90s about these guys.

By: davy

davy — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 09:03:04 -0800

I understand how under-educated Third World peasants can call themselves Maoist, but I don't understand how an educated person can praise Mao. I especially wonder about earnest and often right-on people like MIM. Have they ever read anything on the subject that was not Chinese government propaganda from before 1976? Three cheers for the Great Leap Famine!

By: davy

davy — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 09:12:21 -0800

Oh and to correct an inadvertent omission: a relevant Wikipedia link.

By: davy

davy — Wed, 13 Jun 2007 09:18:55 -0800

And another one on historical peasant rebellions. (If one's interested, Wikipedia is a good place to start.) Sorry for the flurry of small comments, I ain't yet had enough coffee to be intelligent and organized.