A conflict between landowners and tenants began after the land reforms program announced by then King Mahendra in 1964.
The essence of this reform program was to set an upper bound for land ownership and establish tenant rights over land use, but the landowners refused to honor the documents, enraging the farmer who were the tenants.
The Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) channelized the farmer disappointment into a political uprising that came to be known as the Jhapa Revolt.
Naxalbari was strategically situated at the tri-junction of Nepal, Bangladesh (the then East Pakistan) and India.
Among them some of were illegally killed by the police forces, sending them in a dense jungle Sukhani, under the false pretext of a jail transfer, in order to suppress the rebellion and to stop it from turning into a full blown revolution.