Kanu Sanyal

2021-08-10T04:35:14Z

2405:201:8009:C057:D126:F1F:63E4:6C85: /* Popular culture */

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2018}}

{{Infobox person
| name = Kanu Sanyal
| image = Kanusanyal.JPG
| alt = Kanu Sanyal
| caption = Kanu Sanyal
| birth_name = Krishna Kumar Sanyal
| birth_date = {{birth year|1932}}
| birth_place =
| death_date = {{death date and age|2010|03|23|1932|df=y}}
| death_place =
| death_cause = Suicide
| party = [[Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Class Struggle]] <br/>[[Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)]]<br/>[[Communist Party of India (Marxist)]]<br/>[[Communist Party of India]]
| nationality = [[India]]n
| other_names =
| known_for = Leader of [[Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)|CPI (ML)]]
| occupation =
| criminal_charge = Criminal Conspiracy
| criminal_penalty = Jailed (1970-1977)
| criminal_status =
}}

'''Kanu Sanyal''', (1932<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/1100324/jsp/siliguri/story_12254481.jsp|newspaper=The Telegraph|location=India|title=Naxalbari movement founder kills self|date=24 March 2010|first=Avijit|last=Sinha|accessdate=26 June 2018}}</ref> – 23 March 2010),<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite journal|jstor=2642225|title=India's Third Communist Party|first=Marcus F.|last=Franda|date=1 January 1969|journal=Asian Survey|volume=9|issue=11|pages=797–817|doi=10.2307/2642225}}</ref> was an [[India]]n communist politician. In 1967, he was one of the main leaders of the [[Naxalbari uprising]] and in 1969 he was one of the founding leaders of [[Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)]] ([[Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist)|CPI (ML)]]).<ref>[http://www.bannedthought.net/India/CPI(ML)-Orig/index.htm]</ref> Sanyal committed suicide on 23 March 2010.<ref name="Top Naxal leader Kanu Sanyal commits suicide">{{cite news|title=Top Naxal leader Kanu Sanyal commits suicide|url=http://news.rediff.com/report/2010/mar/23/top-naxal-leader-kanu-sanyal-commits-suicide.htm|accessdate=14 August 2012|newspaper=Rediff news|date=23 March 2010}}</ref>

==Formation and growth of CPI (ML)==
Kanu Sanyal joined Communist politics, first as a member of CPI then CPI(M). He announced the formation of the original CPI (ML) on [[Vladimir Lenin]]'s birthday in 1969 at a public rally in [[Calcutta]]. He came out with the seminal [[Terai report]] on revolution in India, which openly denounced the anarco-nihilist policies of [[Charu Majumdar]] and his loyalists.{{citation needed|date=October 2014}}

After the failure of the [[Naxalite]] uprising, Sanyal went into hiding. The death of his colleague [[Charu Majumdar]] was followed by the breakup of the Naxalite movement, and Sanyal was claimed to have abandoned violent means and accepted parliamentary practice as a form of revolutionary activity.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20061017003722/http://www.flonnet.com/fl2221/stories/20051021008801000.htm]</ref>

==Arrest and jail==
He was eventually cornered and arrested in August 1970. News of his arrest sparked of region-wide violence by the radical communists. CPI(ML) cadres destroyed property, raided and attacked educational institutions, and engaged in rioting.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://files.osa.ceu.hu/holdings/300/8/3/text/131-3-77.shtml|title=Naxalites on Hard Times|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080219135653/http://files.osa.ceu.hu/holdings/300/8/3/text/131-3-77.shtml|archivedate=2008-02-19}}</ref>

For seven years Sanyal was imprisoned in a jail in [[Visakhapatnam]], [[Andhra Pradesh]] in the case known as the [[Parvatipuram Naxalite Conspiracy case]]. He was convicted in the Parvatipuram Conspiracy Case, by the Sessions Judge.

== Release and renewed political engagement ==
Sanyal was released from jail in 1977, following the shift of government in India as well as in West Bengal. [[Jyoti Basu]], the new CPI(M) chief minister, personally intervened to ensure Sanyal's release.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pd.cpim.org/2004/0704/07042004_interview%20bb.htm|title=Bengal Left Front Govt Steps Into 28th Year|publisher=|access-date=5 February 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120301202849/http://pd.cpim.org/2004/0704/07042004_interview%20bb.htm|archive-date=1 March 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref> By the time of his release, Sanyal had publicly condemned the original strategy of the armed struggle of the CPI(ML), without building prior and proper popular mass base amongst the common people.<ref>[http://www.flonnet.com/fl2221/stories/20051021008801000.htm The road from Naxalbari] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061017003722/http://www.flonnet.com/fl2221/stories/20051021008801000.htm |date=2006-10-17 }}</ref>

After his release, Sanyal rallied his supporters and formed the [[Organising Committee of Communist Revolutionaries]] (OCCR).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cpim.org/marxist/198501_marxist_naxalism_Prakash.htm |title=Naxalism today|publisher=}}</ref> He continued to attended CPIM all-party meetings till the end of his life.

In 1985, Sanyal's faction, along with five other groups, merged to form the [[Communist Organisation of India (Marxist-Leninist)]], and Sanyal was appointed leader of the COI(ML).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.massline.info/India/Indian_Groups.htm|title=Maoist Revolutionary parties and organizations in India|first=Scott|last=H.|publisher=}}</ref>

==Later years==
In his later years, Sanyal continued his broad engagement in [[political activism]], including the [[Trade unions in India|labour movement]] and [[Land acquisition in India|land rights]]. For these activities he was arrested and detained several times.

On 18 January 2006, while protesting against a [[Lockout (industry)|lockout]] of tea garden workers in the region, Sanyal and other fellow agitators were arrested for causing a train to be held up at the New Jalpaiguri Railway Station in [[Siliguri]], [[North Bengal]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nchro.org/index.php/2006/01/18/kanu-sanyal-arrested-for-rail-roko/|title=Kanu Sanyal arrested for "rail roko"|publisher=[[NCHRO]]|date=16 January 2006|accessdate=28 July 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/kanu-sanyal-arrested-for-rail-roko/article3241868.ece|title=Kanu Sanyal arrested for ''rail roko''|date=18 January 2006|publisher=}}</ref>

As of late 2006, Sanyal became a prominent figure in the opposition to land acquisition in [[Singur]].{{cn|date=July 2019}} On 8 December he was arrested and detained along with three other Naxalite leaders, after the police stopped and charged a demonstration procession.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2006/20061209/nation.htm#1%5D,|title=Buddha invites Mamata for talks. Police lathi charges mediapersons, seven hurt|newspaper=The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Nation|date=9 December 2006|accessdate=28 July 2019}}</ref>

==Death==
On 23 Mar 2010, he was found [[hanging]] at his residence at Seftullajote village, 25 km Siliguri (West Bengal) from where Naxal Movement began under his leadership. Sanyal was suffering from old-age related cardio pulmonary ailments. At the time of his death he was the general secretary of a [[Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (Kanu Sanyal)|new CPI(ML)]], formed by merger of several splinter groups of the original party.<ref>{{cite news|author=Saugata Roy, TNN 23 Mar 2010, 04.20pm IST |url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-03-23/india/28145460_1_kanu-sanyal-top-naxal-leader-charu-majumdar |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811051749/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-03-23/india/28145460_1_kanu-sanyal-top-naxal-leader-charu-majumdar |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 August 2011 |title=Top Naxal leader Kanu Sanyal found dead in his house |date= 23 March 2010|work=[[The Times of India]] |accessdate=2012-08-14}}</ref>

==Popular culture==

Sanyal, as well as the Naxalite movement, was referenced in [[Jhumpa Lahiri]]'s 2013 novel ''[[The Lowland]]''.<ref>

{{cite web
|url=http://lareviewofbooks.org/review/the-moment-in-jhumpa-lahiris-the-lowland
|title='The Moment' in Jhumpa Lahiri's 'The Lowland'
|author=Anita Felicelli
|website=[[Los Angeles Review of Books]]
|date=9 October 2013
}}
</ref>

He is frequently referenced by Bissho Kobi Roddur Roy who sang two songs 'Chand Uthechilo Gogone' and 'Abar Chand Uthibe Gogone' about Kanu Sanyal.

==References==
{{Commons category}}
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.cpiml.in/ CPI(ML) website]

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanyal, Kanu}}
[[Category:1932 births]]
[[Category:2010 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian communists]]
[[Category:Suicides by hanging in India]]
[[Category:Indian prisoners and detainees]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of India]]
[[Category:Naxalite–Maoist insurgency]]
[[Category:University of Calcutta alumni]]

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Kanu Sanyal