The Red Corridor

On 25 May 1967, in a little-known hamlet called Prasad Jote—a small village under the Naxalbari police station in Darjeeling district, West Bengal—three men came together to ignite what would become India’s longest-running armed movement.

- ABHINANDAN MISHRA NEW DELHI

The incident occurred specifically in the area of Jhoru Jote-Prasad Jote cluster near the India-Nepal border, an area that today falls under the present ‘Naxalbari’ Sub Post Office (PIN code 734429), operating within the Siliguri postal division.

Few realized that day they were witnessing the first ideological architect of the movement. His Historic Eight Documents, a set of monographs, laid out the Maoist roadmap for revolution in India.

Kanu Sanyal, a Kayasth and tireless field organizer, built underground cells and mobilized tea garden laborers and sharecroppers across the Terai region—earning a reputation as the movement’s tactical mind and grassroots mobilizer.

Jangal Santhal, a Santhal Adivasi leader with deep credibility among tribal peasants, was the charismatic frontline mobilizer, leading the first confrontations and mass marches.

While some accounts sought to portray him merely as the “muscle,” this unassuming figure was the movement’s tribal face and the bridge between ideology and action.