The Significance of Naxalbari: Accounts of Personal Involvement and Politics in West Bengal

This article is part of a project on politics and the effect of the Naxalite movement on perceptions and political involvement among ordinary urban Bengalis. It therefore deals with accounts of personal involvement in the politics of the radical left in Calcutta, and explores ‘Naxalbari’ in relation to organisational and leadership ideals, personal sacrifice, and local politics in retrospect. Based on interviews with former activists, the ‘Naxalbari path’ of revolution is described in hindsight, and a particular form of narrative interpreted in the light of personal as well as cultural expectations. These are depicted as part of a political process of ‘democratisation’, during which the space for a new form of mass party politics emerged.