Jangal Santhal

Who is Jangal Santhal?

Jangal Santhal, from Hatigeshi village in north West Bengal, is one of the founders of the Naxalite movement.

Jangal was a well-respected figure in the Santhal tribal areas of Darjeeling district, and stood for elections in February 1967, on a CPM ticket, but lost.

On 1967-05-18, he was part of a Peasants' Council that that resolved to re-distribute the land to the sharecroppers, via armed struggle. On May 23, a sharecropper peasant was beaten up by the landlord's men while attempting to till his allotted land. The next day, when a police party headed by inspector Sonam Wangdi arrived to arrest some peasant leaders, they were ambushed by Jangal Santhal's group armed with bows and arrows. Sonam Wangdi was killed, and the violent Naxalite movement was born.

Jangal Santhal was eventually arrested. After the Naxalite threat disappeared, he was released in 1979, but found himself isolated. He eventually became an alcoholic and did not have the means to maintain his four wives. He died in obscurity in 1987.