About the Book: Out of War: Voices of Surrendered Maoists
Over the course of two intense years Swati Sengupta spoke to dozens of
surrendered Maoist soldiers. In this book she focuses on their complex
individual narratives and examines the reasons for, and the methods and contexts
of, their surrenders. The disquieting voices of these foot-soldiers of the
Maoist struggle reveal a harsh, on-the-edge world.
Suman Maity gave up his family, friends and school at the age of thirteen to
become an armed Maoist cadre. He quickly became a terror in the forested regions
of West Midnapore but, ravaged by uncertainty and betrayal, he surrendered
because he 'did