The Naxalites in India are mostly from an indigenous tribal background, and their land and resources have been plundered by the Indian government and multinational corporations.

I had the opportunity to speak with Daiyamani Barla, my uni flew her out from India because she basically advocates for the same things as the Naxalites, but uses nonviolence to protect her tribal lands. The translator wasn’t great but when I asked whether she had criticisms of the Naxalites she didn’t mention the common ones we here in the west, and vaguely supported their cause, something along the lines of “when I’m helping out in the woods, I don’t know whether theyre a Naxalite or not” seemingly showing support so I’m not sure if everything we’ve heard about them is true.

It’s easy to call it “left deviationism” from our westoid ivory tower but when your home is turned into a mine it’s more about fighting for your life, not “how can we best apply Maoist thought”.