The stated objective of the Maoist Communist Center (MCC) was to establish a 'people's government' through 'people's war'. The group based its ideology and tactics on Mao Tse Tung's principle of organized peasant insurrection. In some aspects, the MCC was successful in its efforts. The group controlled certain remote areas of India where there was little formal government presence. In these so-called "liberated zones," they collected taxes from peasants. The MCC also completed small civic projects and operated their own pseudo-court system. This terrorist-operated court system handed out amputation and death sentences to Indian civilians that it found guilty. Land reform was a central tenet of the group's ideology, and therefore land owners were frequently targeted by the group. It is estimated that the group killed an average of 100 civilians a year during its active period. <P><br />The formation of the MCC was an outgrowth of the May 25, 1967 peasant uprising at Naxalbari in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal. The uprising took place under the leadership of revolutionary communists belonging to the Communist Party of India - Marxist [CPI (M)]. The uprising was brutally suppressed by the CPI (M)-led United Front government of West Bengal at the behest of the national government led by the Congress Party. In reaction, rank and file communist revolutionaries rebelled against the leadership of the party. The rebellion soon spread across India--entire state units of CPI (M) in Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir and considerable sections in Bihar and Andhra Pradesh joined this rebellion. The MCC was composed of rebellious elements that chose not to join the newly formed Communist Party of India--Marxist Leninist [CPI (ML)]. From 1969-1975, the MCC went by the name Dakshin Desh. <P><br />In September 2004, the MCC merged with the People's War Group (another left-wing extremist group) to form the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist).  Despite some ideological disputes between the two organizations, the CPI-Maoist effectively combined the Maoist philosophy of MCC, with the Marxist-Leninist viewpoint of PWG.  In total, the CPI-Maoist ideology is nearly identical to that of the former MCC. <br />