The Bhadralok as “the Naxalite”

Through the drastically evolving image of the bhadralok (upper-class Bengali gentleman) across the struggle for independence during the period of colonial rule, as well as postcolonial revolutionary campaigns in India, one constant has remained: the bhadralok resembles the elite and the bourgeoisie of each era. Once considered lacking courage, the bhadralok emerged with renewed vigour as a firebrand revolutionary during the Naxalite movement, a peasant revolution that took place in the late 1960s in West Bengal, India. The bhadralok not only participated in the movement but also travelled to rural areas to integrate with the lower classes. They believed themselves to be successful in revoking identifiers of class (thinking, mannerisms, appearance). Since the narratives of the bhadralok were privileged over those of the peasants and tribals, the latter were marginalised from the remembrance of the movement. Even in literary representations, the social composition of “the Naxalite” was dominated by the bhadralok . This chapter examines how the figure of the bhadralok was understood in the Naxalite movement, and the ways in which this figure came to dominate the movement’s literature, as demonstrated in Neel Mukherjee’s The Lives of Others . Furthermore, it addresses how the exclusionary practices of urban male Naxalites led to the marginalisation of female insurgents (including the Bengali gentlewoman, or bhadramahila ), reinforcing the patriarchal foundations of Indian society within a revolutionary space. Finally, it explores how the bhadralok remains a symbol of the state despite protesting against the deprivations it inflicts, and as a result, participates in the exclusion of marginalised groups.