The Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Left Government in West Bengal, 1977–2011: Strains of Governance and Socialist Imagination

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 102-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans Löfgren
Keyword(s):  
Communist Party ◽  
West Bengal ◽  
Communist Party Of India

Communal Violence in Twenty-first Century India: Moving Beyond the Hindi Heartland

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 266-280
Author(s):  
Sanjal Shastri
Keyword(s):  
Communist Party ◽  
West Bengal ◽  
First Century ◽  
Hindu Nationalism ◽  
Communal Violence ◽  
Regional Parties ◽  
Bharatiya Janata Party ◽  
Twenty First Century ◽  
Communist Party Of India

Using communal violence data between 2006 and 2017, this study challenges the idea that communal violence is primarily an issue in the Hindi Heartland. The data demonstrates how Karnataka and West Bengal are also witnessing rising levels of communal violence. The study goes on to take a closer look at the rise of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Karnataka and West Bengal. It demonstrates how a combination of factors ranging from localized narratives of Hindu nationalism, caste coalitions, alliances with regional parties and the decline of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI[M]) in West Bengal and the Janata Party (JP)/Dal in Karnataka have been crucial factors for BJP’s rise in these two states.

The Identity Crisis of Bengali Dalit Refugees in Manoranjan Byapari’s Autobiography Interrogating My Chandal Life

2021 ◽  
pp. 2455328X2110427
Author(s):  
Tarik Anowar
Keyword(s):  
Communist Party ◽  
State Government ◽  
West Bengal ◽  
Refugee Camp ◽  
Identity Crisis ◽  
The State ◽  
Refugee Camps ◽  
Lower Caste ◽  
Communist Government ◽  
Communist Party Of India

Manoranjan Byapari is a famous Bengali Dalit writer whose family migrated from East Pakistan and took shelter in a refugee camp in West Bengal. In his autobiography Interrogating My Chandal Life, Byapari has given an account of Bengali Dalits’ victimization on the basis of caste in the pre-Partition Bengal and post-Partition West Bengal. In colonial Bengal, Dalits were known as Chandal or Untouchables. In 1911, their identity was recognized as Namashudras. After migrating to West Bengal, they were identified as Bangal and Dalit refugee. West Bengal and central governments did not warmly welcome the Namashudra refugees. They were sent to refugee camps which were crowded, unhygienic and did not provide adequate dole. Later they were sent to Andaman, Dandakaranya and other parts of India for their rehabilitation. In this dire situation, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) appeared as the Messiah to the Dalits and protested against the rehabilitation policy of the ruling government. The fake sympathy of the communist party had been revealed when they came in power in 1977 in West Bengal. Most of the communist leaders were upper-caste Hindus. In 1979, communist government secretly massacred the Namashudra refugees who were settled on the Marichjhapi Island. The state sponsored murder of Dalits remained undiscovered for many years. This study will examine the impacts of the Partition of Bengal on Dalits. It will further address how the state government provided different treatment to the Namashudra refugees for their lower caste identity.

scholarly journals "Communist" dispossession meets "reactionary" resistance

Focaal ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 2009 (54) ◽  
pp. 89-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Projit Bihari Mukharji
Keyword(s):  
Communist Party ◽  
West Bengal ◽  
Present Situation ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Subjectivity ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Term Change ◽  
Communist Government ◽  
Set Up

The reflections in this article were instigated by the repeated and brutal clashes since 2007 between peasants and the state government’s militias—both official and unofficial—over the issue of industrialization. A communist government engaging peasants violently in order to acquire and transfer their lands to big business houses to set up capitalist enterprises seemed dramatically ironic. De- spite the presence of many immediate causes for the conflict, subtle long-term change to the nature of communist politics in the state was also responsible for the present situation. This article identifies two trends that, though significant, are by themselves not enough to explain what is happening in West Bengal today. First, the growth of a culture of governance where the Communist Party actively seeks to manage rather than politicize social conflicts; second, the recasting of radical political subjectivity as a matter of identity rather than an instigation for critical self-reflection and self-transformation.

scholarly journals Naxalbari and Jhapa Revolt: Historical Study

2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-134
Author(s):  
Rajkumar Pokhrel
Keyword(s):  
Communist Party ◽  
Political System ◽  
West Bengal ◽  
The Other ◽  
Historical Study ◽  
Political Condition ◽  
Armed Struggle ◽  
Communist Movement ◽  
Readiness To Adopt ◽  
The Impact

Naxalbari is a small village in West Bengal, India, where a section of the Communist Party of India (CPM) led by Kanu Sanyal,and Jangal Santhal initiated a violent uprising in 1967. On 18 May 1967, the Siliguri Kishan Sabha, of which Jangal was the president, declared their support for the movement initiated by Kanu Sanyal and readiness to adopt armed struggle to redistribute land to the landless. But before it, as a consequence of the debate in international communist movement, Indian communist Party split and a faction choose the path of Mao Thought to go ahead. The party was led by Charu Majumdar, Kanu Sanyal and Jangal Santhal revolted against the existing political system. The uprising was started from Naxalbari village by using the policy of “annihilation of class enemy”. It is known as Naxalbari Revolt. But the neither could gain achievement nor run for long last. Top leader of the party, Charu Majumdar, was arrested and killed. After his murder, the party split into more than one dozen factions. On the other side, in Nepal, the neighboring district Jhapa came into influence of Naxalbari Revolt and the youth communists of Jhapa started the revolt using the same path of Naxalbari. Jhapa Revolt also runs for only 30 months. Both the movements became failure to achieve the aim. But due to the differences of ruling structure, existing political system, and geo political condition between two countries, the revolt of India split into several divisions and the movement of Nepal, even being unsuccessful to achieve the aim achieved to unify the divided movement. The impact of Naxalbari movement in India seems remain still now in some parts of India but in Nepal, Jhapa revolt has become a history. Whatsoever, both revolts have left impact in both countries till now.

An Incongruous Coalition

2021 ◽  
pp. 313-352
Author(s):  
Christophe Jaffrelot ◽  
Pratinav Anil
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
Communist Party ◽  
Republican Party ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Business Community ◽  
The Political ◽  
Authoritarian Rule ◽  
The Media ◽  
Shiv Sena ◽  
Communist Party Of India

This chapter illustrates the unusual allies of the Congress who made authoritarian rule possible. These include the political partners of the Congress like the Communist Party of India, the Republican Party of India and the Shiv Sena, all of which have completely different ideologies. The regime was also aided by some sections of the media, the business community, the bourgeoisie and the trade unions. Industrialists were the biggest beneficiaries of the regime’s policies and, therefore, supported it in return. The bureaucracy which suffered from a colonial hangover was primed for survival and thus adapted to the circumstances. The chapter also analyses the intersection between the interests of the elites and the Emergency. It examines the resilience of long-standing social and cultural values and attitudes, including a deep-rooted sense of hierarchy and respect for authority.

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