The Naxalbari movement marks a significant moment in the postcolonial history of India. Beginning as an armed peasant uprising in 1967 under the leadership of radical communists, the movement was inspired by the Marxist-Leninist theory of revolution and involved a significant section of the contemporary youth from diverse social strata with a vision of people s revolution. It inspired similar radical movements in other South Asian countries such as Nepal.

Arguing that the history and memory of the Naxalbari movement is fraught with varied gendered experiences of political...