Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) | |
|---|---|
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| General Secretary | Charu Majumdar |
| Founded | 22 April 1969 |
| Dissolved | 31 July 1972 |
| Split from | Communist Party of India (Marxist) |
| Succeeded by | Communist Party of India (Maoist) Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation |
| Newspaper | Liberation (English) Deshabrati (Bengali) Lok-yuddh (Hindi) |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Far-left |
| Colours | Red |
| Party flag | |
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TheCommunist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) (CPI(ML)) was an Indiancommunist party formed by theAll India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries (AICCCR) at a congress inCalcutta in 1969. The foundation of the party was declared byKanu Sanyal at a mass meeting in Calcutta on 22 April,Vladimir Lenin's birthday. Later the CPI(ML) party splintered into severalNaxalite groups.[2]
The CPI (ML) was formed by the radicals within theCommunist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) who grew concerned by the increasingly parliamentary character of its politics. A debate ensued where the radicals accused the CPM leadership of turning towardsrevisionism. Finally, the party purged the radicals, who went to form the CPI (ML). The CPI (ML) advocated armed revolution and denounced participation in the electoral process. Its leaders wereCharu Majumdar andSaroj Dutta, both of whom had belonged to theleft-wing within the CPM in northernWest Bengal. Sanyal, Jongol Santhal and his followers had mobilised a revolutionary peasants movement inNaxalbari, which evolved into an armed uprising of the mostlySanthal tribal inhabitants. CPI (ML) saw Naxalbari as the spark that would start a new Indian revolution, and the movement came to be known as "naxalites". In several parts of India, for exampleUttar Pradesh,Bihar, other parts of West Bengal, and inSrikakulam in northernAndhra Pradesh, the CPI (ML) organised guerrilla units. The party got moral support fromChina, which actively encouraged the attempts of CPI (ML) to launch revolution.[3][4][5]
According toPradip Basu in his bookTowards Naxalbari (1953-1967): An Account of Inner-Party Ideological Struggle:[6][7]
"There were two nuclei of radicals in the party organisation in West Bengal. One 'theorist' section around Parimal Das Gupta in Calcutta, which wanted to persuade the party leadership to correct revisionist mistakes through inner-party debate, and one 'actionist' section led by Charu Majumdar and Kanu Sanyal in North Bengal. The 'actionists' were impatient, and strived to organize armed uprisings. According to Basu, due to the prevailing political climate of youth and student rebellion it was the 'actionists' which came to dominate the newMaoist movement in India, instead of the more theoretically advanced sections."
It occurred in Naxalbari ofSiliguri subdivision, Darjeeling district under the leadership of communist leaders likeCharu Majumdar and others who later became the part of CPI (ML).[8]
In theSrikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh, communist leaders aligned themselves with the then formed AICCCR and launched peasant upsurge in Srikakulam which continued for almost 5 years in late 1960s and early 1970s.[8]
The first party congress was held in Calcutta 1970. A Central Committee was elected. As a result of both external repression and a failure to maintain internal unity, the movement did however degenerate into extreme sectarianism. Instead of popular armed struggle in the countryside, individual terrorism in Calcutta became a principal method of struggle. In 1971 Satyanarayan Singh revolted against the leadership, "individual killing of people branded as class enemy" and sectarianism of Majumdar. The result became that the party was split into two, oneCPI (ML) led by Satyanarayan Singh and one CPI (ML) led by Majumdar. In 1972, frail and broken Majumdar died of multiple diseases in police custody; after his death a series of splits took place during the major part of the 1970s. The Naxalite movement suffered a period of extremely harsh repression that rivalled theDirty Wars of South America at the same time that the movement got all more fragmented.[8]
After Majumdar's death the CPI (ML) central committee split into pro- and anti-Majumdar factions. In December 1972 the Central Committee of the pro-Charu Majumdar CPI (ML) led by Sharma and Mahadev Mukherjee adopted resolution to follow the line of Charu Majumdar unconditionally which others did not agree to. The pro-Charu Majumdar CPI (ML) later split into pro- and anti-Lin Biao factions. The pro-Lin Biao faction became known asCommunist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) (Mahadev Mukherjee)[9] and the anti-Lin Biao-group later became known asCommunist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation[10] and was led by Jauhar, Vinod Mishra, Swadesh Bhattacharya.[8]
Today, there exist a large number of political organisations whose roots are in the AICCCR/CPI (ML). Only C.P.I (M-L) faction led by Mahadev Mukherjee follows Charu Majumdar's concept of armed revolution and annihilation, whereas others have condemned the excesses of the sectarian epoch. All the organisations belonging to the later category have established legal overground structures (trade unions, student groups, peasant organisations, etc.) and started participating in elections.[11]
Current parties and organisations with origins in CPI (ML) include
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