Citation

Menon DM. South Asia 2016; 39(3): 662-677.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, University of Western Australia Press for the South Asian Studies Association)

DOI

10.1080/00856401.2016.1195452

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The Communist Party of India (CPI) adopted a revolutionary line in 1948, but agrarian insurrection was efficiently suppressed by the newly independent Indian state. The CPI moved towards an engagement with parliamentary communism, and in 1957, Kerala became the first state in the world to elect a communist government to power. However, the idea of transformative, revolutionary violence stayed alive and became the premise for brutal internecine warfare between the Left and its opponents in the northern part of Kerala. This paper argues, pace Benjamin, that this violence must be seen as instituting another law than that of the state, positing the ideal of justice over the mere rhythms of parliamentary representation.

Language: en