PIN 734429 Elevation 152 m Area code 0353 | Time zone IST (UTC+5:30) Telephone code 0353 Local time Thursday 7:10 AM | |
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Weather 22°C, Wind E at 5 km/h, 66% Humidity | ||
Naxalbari is the name of a village and a community development block in northern part of the state of West Bengal, India. Naxalbari block comes under the jurisdiction of Siliguri subdivision of Darjeeling district. Naxalbari became famous for the Naxalite–Maoist insurgency, which started in the late 1960s.
Contents
- Map of Naxalbari West Bengal 734429
- Geography
- History
- Notable People
- Education System
- Administration
- Transport
- References
Map of Naxalbari, West Bengal 734429
Geography
Naxalbari is located at 26.68°N 88.22°E / 26.68; 88.22. It has an average elevation of 152 metres (501 feet).
The stretch of land, where Naxalbari is situated, lies on the Terai region at the base of the Himalayas. To the west of Naxalbari, across the border river Mechi lies Nepal. The entire stretch of the land surrounding Naxalbari is covered by farm lands, tea estates and forests and small villages, consists of an area of 182.02 km². The Naxalbari block has six Gram Panchayats (village councils), viz. Gossainpur, Lower Bagdogra, Upper Bagdogra, Hatighisha, Naxalbari and Moniram, from north to south. The population of Naxalbari block was 144,915 in the year 2001.
History
Naxalbari became famous for being the site of a left-wing poor peasants uprising in 1967, which began with the "land to tiller" slogan, an uprising continuing to this day (see Naxalite).
The "Naxalbari" incident was triggered on 25 May 1967 at Bengai Jote village in Naxalbari when the police opened fire on a group of villagers who were demanding their right to the crops at a particular piece of land. The firing killed 9 adults and 2 unknown children.
The CPI(ML) have put up busts of Lenin, Stalin, Mao and Charu Majumder on that piece of land. The spot has Bengai Jote Primary School next to it. There is a memorial column erected that has the names of the people who died during the police firing. The names are 1. Dhaneswari Devi (F), 2. Simaswari Mullick (F), 3. Nayaneswari Mullick (F), 4. Surubala Burman (F), 5. Sonamati Singh (F), 6. Fulmati Devi (F), 7. Samsari Saibani (F), 8. Gaudrau Saibani (M), 9. Kharsingh Mullick (M) and "two children".
Notable People
Education System
Naxalbari has two major government high schools (one for boys and one for girls) and one college. There are many public and private primary schools.
Administration
Naxalbari block consists of one census town: Uttar Bagdogra and rural areas with 6 gram panchayats, viz. Gossaipur, Lower Bagdogra, Nakshalbari, Hatighisa, Maniram and Upper Bagdogra. This block has two police stations: Bagdogra and Naxalbari. The headquarters of this block is in Naxalbari.
Transport
Naxalbari has a railway station on the Katihar–Siliguri line. Daily trains run from New Jalpaiguri via Siliguri Town, Siliguri Junction, Matigara and Bagdogra. There are four trains running from New Jalpaiguri; New Jalpaiguri-Katihar Passenger, New Jalpaiguri-Aluabari-New Jalpaiguri DEMU Ring Rail, New Jalpaiguri-Balurghat DEMU and New Jalpaiuri-Radhikapur DEMU.
There is also bus service from Siliguri Court More to Naxalbari.
Naxalbari's Panitanki neighborhood is on Nepal's eastern border with India at Jhapa District, Mechi Zone. There is a border crossing to the Kakarbhitta neighborhood of Mechinagar municipality with a checkpoint for customs and crossing by third-country nationals while citizens of Nepal and India cross without restriction.