Naxalite movement in Bhojpur or Bhojpur uprising refers to the class conflict manifested in armed uprising of the 1970s, that took place in the various villages of the Bhojpur district of Bihar. These clashes were part of the Naxalite-Maoist insurgency in the state, which mobilised the agricultural labourers and the poor peasants against the landlords, primarily belonging to upper-castes. A distinguished feature of these insurgencies were their confinement to the villages, and the nine towns of the Bhojpur district remained unaffected from the periodic skirmishes between the armed groups. One of the reason sought for this peculiar feature is the absence of modern industries in the district. The economy of the district was primarily agrarian, and the industrial proletariat class was absent.
According to police records, the Naxalite movement in Bhojpur was spread across nine out of sixteen Blocks of the district, and a total of 150 village were affected by the armed uprising. In Sahar block, however, the entire population of the poor peasants was believed to be the participants of armed uprising against the feudal order. According to author Arun Sinha, due to caste composition of the belligerent groups in the uprising, it was often portrayed as the reaction against the "caste based oppression". The causes behind the uprising were, however, not the "caste consciousness".
Demography and economic status of castes In Bhojpur, according to Arun Sinha, most of the landlords were from the upper-caste; they were Rajput, Bhumihar, Brahmin and Kayastha. The agricultural labourers belonged to the Schedule Caste or the Backward Castes like Yadav, Kurmi and Koeri. It was evident that in the absence of the hold of communists over the movement, it had been turned into caste based riots. Over time, many Rajput and Brahmin degraded to the class of poor peasants, and many Koeri and Yadavs became well-to-do; the changed equation, changed the alignment in the district as well. Some of the youths from the Brahmin caste became sympathetic to the movement in the later phase, when the Naxalite movement became mature after seven years of insurgency. In the initial phase of Naxalite movement, even the poorest of the poor among Bhumihar and the Rajputs supported the landlords of their caste.
Background
Ekwari is one of the large village near Sahar in Bhojpur district, and majority of landowners here belonged to Bhumihar caste; there were 250 houses in all, belonging to this particular caste, who were the prominent landholders of the region. They not only enjoyed high economic status, but also controlled the local power politics. Some of these landholders argued that they're not Zamindars, but were the ryots of Raja of Benaras before independence and the largest landholding, they had, was also below 100 bighas. The zeal to control the power structure of the village became the trigger point for emergence of Naxalism, when an educated youth named Jagdish Mahto was beaten by the Bhumihars, while he tried to prevent them from rigging the votes. Mahto later became one of the founders of the Naxalism in the Bhojpur along with Rameswar Ahir.
To meet with the challenge posed by the rebelling peasants and agricultural labourers, the landlords of Ekwari mobilised the non-landlord section of their caste. One of the most common feature of the early phase of armed uprisings by the Dalits and the lower-castes was the combined action of the landlords and their castemen. The solid "caste unity" between the upper-caste landlords and their fellow castemen often led to attack on Dalit bastis (rural settlements inhabited by Dalits) and forcing latter into submission through economic blockade, which was possible only due to active collaboration of the non-landlord section of the upper-caste.
However, later in Ekwari, due to democratization of the upper-castes, and the fear of violent reaction from the peasantry, combined with the insignificant consequences of the participation in the oppressive tactics of the landlords of their caste, forced the upper-castes to withdraw their support from the anti-peasant struggles. The result was emergence of caste-based "private armies" of the landlords, which could be mobilised for their anti-peasant struggle. Regularisation of the private armies or the armed gangs, however, led to concentration of the landlord's support among their kinsmen and militias only, and their larger support base among their fellow castemen was diluted over time.
Social relations in Bhojpur Prior to the emergence of Naxalism in Bhojpur, the question of economic exploitation was not the only cause behind the confrontation between the labourers and the landlords. According to author Kalyan Mukherjee, the case of Bhojpur, among other militant uprisings of the agricultural labourers and peasants, was different and was driven primarily by two factors. The activism here was driven by the concern for Ijjat (honour) and the 'upper-lower caste conflict'. In the decades prior to emergence of militancy, the lower caste women were often subjected to rampant sexual tyranny of the upper-caste landlords. The lower-caste men were dehumanised, and even sitting in front of the landlord and wearing a clean dhoti was considered as a challenge to latter's authority. They [landlords] also condemned the spread of education among the lower-castes.
The link of Rajput and Bhumihar landlords with state apparatus and the access to means of production along with their capitalistic drive for profit maximisation paved the way for exploitation of the Dalit landless labourers. The Dalits, hence, suffered denial of basic human dignity; they were given extremely low wages, and their womenfolks were subjected to periodic sexual tyranny from the upper-castes. Author Arun Sinha believes the contemporary landlords of the Ekwari to be invincible on the ground of higher position in the bureaucracy of their kinsmen, political power possessed by them, and ownership of hundreds of weapons. They also employed majority of the population of village as their agricultural labourers and enjoyed the benefits of productivity of the agricultural tracts in the adjoining region of Sone Canal. Sinha also describes the sexual atrocities against the womenfolks of the agricultural labourer.
The practice of taking Dola– a custom in which newly wed bride of a labourer was forced to spend her first night with the Rajput and Bhumihar landlords, was also prevalent in some pockets. Another face of 'sexual oppression' against the lower-caste women was legitimisation of the sexual assaults through the cult of Mathin Mai. As the legend goes, in the Behea state of Bhojpur, a Rajput landlord named Ranpal Singh raped a Brahmin woman, when her Dola (Palanquin) was passing through his area. The subsequent suicide of the victim popularised her as Mathin Mai, who became a cult figure in the region. The justifiability for the practice of taking Dola, thus, comes from the story of Mathin Mai. But, the story of Mathin Mai also became symbol of horror for countless Dalit women, who were threatened to travel to Arrah, because of the possibility of rapes by the dominant section of society, the landlords.The most glaring form of traditional 'ritually' sanctioned form manifests in Dola Pratha. It is difficult to ascertain the birth and origin of such a practice as it existed as far back as 'dalit memory' can recall back. Dola literally means palanquin which is used to carry newly wed bride to her husband's house/village. Due to oppressive caste system coupled with economic exploitation, the landed gentry took it as their birth right. There are two different versions of Mahteen Mai (Maheshwar, 1997:35-39). The 'Sanskritic' version says that the local landlord of Shahabad, Ranpal Singh raped a newly wed Ragmati when her Dola was passing through his area. Her subsequent suicide led to tension. in the area. To avoid further troubles, Ranpal Singh spread the story that before he could lay hands on her, she glowed and left for heaven. Thus she was not an ordinary women but a deity.
Early activism Before the resurgence of the armed rebellion against the feudal order, the educated youths among the lower-castes organised themselves under the leadership of people like Jagdish Mahto, who led a massive rally in the Arrah, demanding Harijanistan (land of Dalits). According to Kalyan Mukherjee, the town of Arrah, in 1969, witnessed one of the massive torch-light procession in its history. Those who led this procession were Mahto, Ram Ekbal Dusadh, Latafat Hussein and Prabhu Harijan. The mob shouted slogans like Harijanistan lekar rahenge (we will fight for a state of Harijans). The leaders, along with the ordinary participants in the procession, then gathered at Ramna Maidan. The agitation of Mahto and his associates for Harijanistan motivated Samyukta Socialist Party (SSP) to organise the most deprived section of the Backwards and the Schedule Castes, outside the Ahir-Kurmi-Koeri section. This procession and later political activities by the SSP, became prelude to the emergence of Maoism in the state of Bihar.
After being assaulted by the Bhumihars of Ekwari village, while trying to prevent the vote rigging at the Polling Booth, which was established at the house of a big landlord Nathuni Singh, Mahto initiated a drive to influence the people around him in pro-poor ideas, including the fellow teachers at his school. By the end of 1969, he started taking leave from the work frequently. Earlier, whenever he used to take leave, series of mysterious events, like burning of a landlord's haystack and cutting of his crops, without his knowledge used to take place. During this period, such activities became more frequent. Soon, he applied for a three-month leave from the H.D Jain College, and joined the underground activities actively.
Beginning of uprising
It was Ekwari village of the Sahar block in Bhojpur district, which became the centre of organised armed movement. The leaders of the movement were Jagdish Mahto, Rameswar Ahir and Ramnaresh Dusadh. They were influenced by the successful uprising in the Naxalbari region of North Bengal, and began organising like minded youths, mostly belonging to lower-castes. In his attempt of mobilising the cadre of his future group, it took Mahto two years, until Rameswar Ahir, a former bandit, returned after serving twelve years of sentence, in a murder case. Reportedly, Mahto broke down after seeing Ahir, and they decided to work for social change. On 23 February 1971, the first individual assassination was witnessed in Ekwaari, when a lathail (lathi-wielding assistant of the landlords), Sheopoojan Singh was assassinated and his dead body was found near Sone Canal. A Zamindar, Chittaranjan Singh registered the case against Jagdish Mahto, Rameswar Ahir and their associates, Bhikhari Kahar, Maharaj Mahto and Singhasan Chamar.
From 1971 to 1973, nearly fifteen big Zamindars were assassinated, and the term "Naxalite" in the context of this particular region, came to denote, 'a person, who fights against sexual oppression'. One reason behind this was assassination of Rajput Zamindars like Thana Singh of Jagdishpur, who is said to be a tyrant. Soon, after these assassinations of the most infamous landlords, the stories about the action of the Naxalite groups, who were understood as the supporters of poor, began to spread in the Dalit enclaves of the village. From Ekwari, the activities of the group (Naxalites) began spreading in other villages too. In a short period of time, the villages like Dallamchak, Sikarhatta, Kolodheri, Nerath and Bahuara also came into the grip of left-wing terrorism.
On 6 May 1973, the Chauri village came into national limelight after a clash, that happened between the