What caused the Naxalite movement to begin in West Bengal in 1967?

The Naxalite movement began in 1967 in the town of Naxalbari, located in far northern West Bengal, as a tribal peasant uprising against local landlords.12

This rebellion was rooted in the grievances of the poorest and most socially marginalized members of society, including tribal peoples and Dalits, who sought to challenge the existing power structures. Although the 1967 uprising was eventually suppressed, it served as the catalyst for the broader Naxalite movement—a series of Maoist-oriented insurgent groups that adopted the doctrine of sustained, peasant-led revolution. The movement subsequently gained momentum through the growth of militant communism in India, leading to the formation of the Communist Party of India–Marxist-Leninist (CPI-ML) in 1969.12