The long dark tea time of the soul

On this 40th anniversary of the Naxalbari uprising, I dedicate this post to

• the santhal peasants who raided the farms of the zamindars in Naxalbari to break the shackles of a thousand years of slavery
• the students, labourers, farmers, social activists, writers, poets, journalists, professionals who were branded as naxalites and silenced by the state
• the victims of persecution by the state and reactionary forces, and their families
• those countless victims of police firing on peaceful mass protests fighting for genuine causes
• the billions of people who were forcefully displaced from their land and their homes in the name of development
• those who were forced to take up arms to fight oppression
• those who were influenced by a romanticized idea of creating a utopian socialist state in India
• those who could dream and see the beauty of socialism
• those who gave voices to the long suppressed people of the country
• those who succeeded in whatever small way, to whose who measured success not just by the number of people killed but by the confidence that their actions can instill in the toiling masses
• ……… and many more who failed
• to the idea that individual is bigger than the state, the idea that all humans are born equal and have equal right to resources
• to the hope that good will eventually triumph over evil, not because some god says so, but because that is the natural state of stable equilibrium in the society