Hello Bastar

"Hello Bastar: the untold story of India's Maoist movement" by Rahul Pandita.A well-researched book and certainly a good introduction to those interested in understanding the Maoist movement in India. Mr Rahul Pandita a renowned Journalist, has taken great effort by personally speaking to Maoist leaders, visiting them on ground and thus presenting a firsthand account of their perspective.The author traces the origin, history, vision and personal stories of its leaders and their motivations to join the movement. The book also presents gut wrenching tales of Caste oppression, feudalism, police brutality, corruption and neglect faced by Adivasis and other oppressed groups. It's this void created by the political class that enabled the Maoists to get inroads into these groups.While this book presents an unbiased take on Maoism, that’s also its problem. At the end of the day, Maoist party is a designated terrorist organization, absolutely no justification to take up arms against the state. For someone who isn't much aware of the nuances, it's easy to develop sympathetic to the Maoist movement through this book. I have also come across other reviews that suggest authors pro-Maoist bias, but I don’t think so. A closer read, there are enough references in the book showing the Maoist game plan beyond fighting oppression, their larger ideological goal to overthrow the democratically elected govt through armed 'revolution' and establish a Communist state.As much as I detest Maoism, but this book does help one understand the psyche of those who join the movement. It's important to understand the problem to be able to fix it, for which this book is a good start. So, I Highly recommend this a read.

While unlike its predecessor (The Absent State), this book doesn't quite touch the same chord, in all fairness, Hello Bastar is a great read. Understanding what leads to this sorry state of affairs, why it continues and gathers steam, where are we going wrong in tackling this are some of the answers if you read between the lines. We need to understand where the fault lines lie... what is it that drives a poor tribal to take up arms against a mighty state, what makes middle class educated Indians give up their bourgeois comforts and take up this cause? What intrigues me is that many seem oblivious to all this as they scroll down their Facebook newsfeed 'liking' inane posts about their friends' cats.As a journalist I admire what Rahul Pandita has taken on. Good luck to him.

This is definitely a very informative read about the four decade old Maoist movement. Having worked in many districts like Bastar and Giridih where the Maoists movement is very strong, I had heard stories of ruthless Maoist killings of the policemen enroute to these districts and the many times we travelled to these districts we have been scared and taken precautions (whatever the drivers and local people told). This is a good book to understand the Maoist agenda and their side of the story, specially people are either completely ignorant or have some idea. I felt bad and proud at the same time for Anuradha Ghandy specially. She definitely was a woman of substance. Planning to search for more readings about her and by her.

Provides a good account of the genesis of the Maoist movement and its subsequent development into what it has become. However the narrative is highly colored by the author's own bias and convictions. Indeed the author's sympathy for the movement seeps into every page of the book and significantly undermines its objectivity .In may places the book reads like a Maoist pamphlet.Would have much preferred a more detached account- the perspective of the historian-intellectual rather than that of a left-leaning journalist.Given the more or less sympathetic treatment given to the movement in the work, it's no wonder it was heartily endorsed by the arch-Maoist Kobad Ghandy himself!

A very good description how Naxal movement started in India ? I would like say failure of democracy in some sense in India. Development plans never touch masses living in the remote part of this nation. There is one common pattern in our country's governance since independence. Any problem as it surfaces is taken lightly and once it becomes eye sore,Government will try fix symptoms rather than actual issue .Naxalism is one of the them.

He has written about the events with clinical precision without taking sides . H could have delved into more detail , he says h interviews many top leaders but very little has been written about it in the book . Looking forward to more books by the author on this topic in future.

This book gives insights on the goings on of the movement. Good read for the 'haves' so that they realise they can not live in opulence for long unless take steps with alacrity to share and not remain commercially focussed all the time. Money surely is not everything!

A quick read on what is happening in Maoist India. A shade too sympathetic to the cause which causes a little lapse in objectivity

A well written and thoroughly researched book. Would interest anyone who is interested in the Maoist movement in India. The problems faced by the tribals, as described, are horrific and mind boggling. The complete lack of infrastructure was what made the Naxals get the support they got from the locals. Having said that the book at times do feel like a romanticised narrative on the rebels. We get to know about "tremendous work in education" done by them but fail to get a glimpse of the brutality they heap upon those who doesn't toe their line of thinking. The ideals faced by them, those of Mao, have never tolerated dissent, we don't get to see criticism of that too.The problems faced are real, but the methods used by the Maoists are not commendable. After going through the book my belief in democracy has increased. Because the Maoists believe in absolute power and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

This book is disillusioning: the Maoists in India are hardly a military force; they are more a political force trying to adopt the methods of political parties like that of infiltrating forces, administration, intellectuals, etc. Except for a few, the cadre is just trying to find an identity, which the mainstream political parties have deprived them off. The afterword from Kobad Gandhi bolster the above view further.The book is biased towards the Maoist cause, for the author himself seems to be a Leftist, and that's the point: Maoism is primarily Leftist politics; violence is secondary.

This book changed my view on maoists and at the same time produced sense of guilt regarding the state of affairs in india. But i feel book is bit 1 sided n doesnt tell about the dark side of maoists

This is one book which is not entirely biased on either side, brings out the real facts. Maoist organization structure and somewhat history is very well documented in this book. A must read to understand that Maoist in india is not about blood and violence only, it’s much deeper.More importantly, the Maoist don’t plan to stay in Bastar only, they have an urban agenda and lot of planning. Hands off to Rahul Pandita for his hard work in bringing out this book.

If you believe that our country is going in right direction! Think again .Please read this book if you really want know to about real reason behind Naxalite movement and where our nation is going. What wrong with us and our government.