Jangal Santhal

Jangal Santhal, also known as Jangal Santal (1925 – 4 December 1988) was an Indian political activist.

He was from Hatighisa village,^[1] Darjeeling district in north West Bengal, was one of the founders of the Naxalite movement^[2] (along with Charu Majumdar and Kanu Sanyal).

Santhal started his political life in 1949 in Nepal. Santhal was a well-respected figure among the Adivasi sharecroppers, peasants and tea labourers of the hill and tarai areas of Darjeeling district. He stood unsuccessfully for elections in February 1957 and 1962 as a Communist Party of India candidate and also in 1967 on the Communist Party of India (Marxist) ticket. He was one of the primary mobilizers and organizers of the uprising in Naxalbari and subsequent Naxalite movement that spread throughout India. After his release from prison a second time in 1977, he tried to reignite his vision for the Naxalite movement and India's communist parties, but soon became disillusioned at what they had become, sinking into a depression and turning towards alcoholism. He disappeared from public life at the same time. His legacy and reputation is very divisive and contentious, as differing factions within the Naxalite movement and Communist groups within India in general seek to propagate their own ideologies and visions.