Sleepwalking with Naxals

Ms Shah's narrative is interspersed with chapters explaining the wider background of the movement, and the personal histories of the people she meets.

Our knowledge of Naxalites is mostly hostage to second-hand accounts on the movement. Alpa Shah’s book is an exception because it is a rare account drawn from participant observation — a method espoused by ethnographers who believe in the importance of living in a community to understand it. Ms Shah, a social anthropologist who teaches at the London School of Economics, describes how living in Lalgaon brought her in close proximity with Adivasi life, and subsequently with wandering Naxalite platoons.

Her initial interaction with the Naxalites was disappointing, she says. An early interview with a senior leader revealed little beyond his