Naxal Varghese: Take-Off and Tailspin

by Sebastian Joseph, Radhika P Menon (Translator)

The two men – Charu Majumdar, the mastermind of Naxalbari uprising, and Kunnikkal Narayanan, the leader of the Thalassery-Pulpally Naxalite riots – parted company. While Majumdar and his CPM (M-L) party sought to eliminate feudalism through guerrilla warfare, Kunnikkal made a call for attacks on the various organs of the Establishment. What followed was a test of strength between two ideological forces, the Kunnikkal line at Kuttiady and the Majumdar line at Thrissilery-Thirunelli. By the time the battle drew towards its end, A. Varghese rose like a blazing meteor on the revolutionary sky for a brief while and then petered out. Naxal Varghese: Take-Off and Tailspin seeks to recreate those times and those men as it sketches the history of Naxalism in Kerala.

336 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2021