ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the ideology and tactics of the radicalized movement in Srikakulam District which, because of its connections with the leaders of the 1967 Naxalbari revolt, can also be called "Naxalite." It examines how the local leader Satyanaryana brought his movement into the Naxalite fold and how the movement ceased to be a local movement aimed at the redress of local grievances. Naxalite ideology, as articulated primarily by Charu Mazumdar, was fatally flawed in two essential respects. First, in attempting to emulate the Chinese Communist example, the Naxalites ignored a key difference. In addition to underestimating the power of the state, the second, related error was in assuming that the poor and exploited of India would rise up like a "prairie fire" after an initial "spark" of terrorist activity against landlord power. The Naxalites, although claiming to follow the Chinese path, in fact developed a theory that was closer to the foco theory of Che Guevara.
