BIPLAB DASGUPTA The J^axalite Movement - An Epilogue FOR two major reasons it has been necessary to write again on the Naxalitc Movement almost four years after the first publication of the book The Naxalite Movement.^ First, the need to take into account the new documents and facts about the first five stormy years of the movement. The material for the book was collected during 1970-71 at a time when the movement was passing through its most explosive, violent and critical phase which ended in its ruthless suppression by the government. Given the character of the movement;, its mode of functioning and the trying conditions under which it was operating at the time, there was obviously a limit to the scope for research in this field. Second, the urgent need to update the daia. Since the death of Mazumdar, the movement has taken a new turn; and whether the Nax-alism of today is a continuation of the movement led by Mazumdar or not, the fact remains that it has established itself as an important trend within the left-wing movement of the country. It is important to ask why this trend persists, despite the fact that Naxalism stands for different things to different factions, despite their lack of unity and organization, and despite the ideological confusion in their ranks due to splits and twists and turns in Chinese politics. And why, even after the harrowing experience of 1967-72, some of them continue to follow doggedly and