An Unfinished Revolution: A Hostage Crisis, Adivasi Resistance and the Naxal Movement

An analysis of Adivasi resistance and the Naxal movement through the 2012 Kandhamal hostage crisis.

On 14 March 2012, two Italian nationals, Paolo Bosusco and Claudio Colangelo, were taken hostage from the tribal-dominated Kandhamal area of Odisha, in eastern India. The kidnappers belonged to the extreme left-wing radical group known as the CPI (Maoists). They were led by Sabyasachi Panda who had been involved in several militant activities since 1999.

What followed was a dramatic month-long crisis in which a crew of television journalists engaged with the Maoist leader and facilitated the release of Claudio. 

An Unfinished Revolution: A Hostage Crisis, Adivasi Resistance and the Naxal Movement is a racy, first-hand account that tells the tale of the hostages, from abduction to release. It also chronicles the history of tribal resistance which was appropriated by the Maoists – a movement that has been one of India’s major internal security challenges since the late 1960s.