Word: naxalbari
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Dates: during 1970-1970
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...Naxalites pose a fifth-column threat in any new Sino-Indian conflict. They have already staked a violent claim to the allegiance of the docile peasants. In 1967 they masterminded a short-lived but bloody tribal revolt at the foot of the Himalayas near Nepal in the region of Naxalbari-from which the group takes its name. For six weeks bands of peasants armed with guns, spears and knives roamed the countryside, brutally killing "class enemies"-usually wealthy landlords and moneylenders...
Police suppressed the Naxalbari revolt, only to have the Naxalites start another uprising 400 miles away in the Srikakulam district of Andhra Pradesh state. There, in 15 months of guerrilla warfare, 31 "class enemies" were cruelly executed. The Naxalites hung their victims' heads from poles, and used their blood to scrawl Maoist slogans. The uprising was finally brought under control by last spring, when 2,000 police were brought in and a land-reform and development program was started. Although the Srikakulam Naxalite leadership was wiped out-with 70 cadres killed-Naxalite groups had spread by then to eleven...