जब अफसर (नवादा) में 13 भूमिहारों की हत्या हुई थी |

A new twist to Ranvir Sena killings

By Our Special Correspondent

PATNA, JUNE 19. The massacre of 34 people in Aurangabad district by the Ranvir Sena on Friday last marks a new twist to killings in the violence-prone central Bihar where it had always been a clash between the feudal landlords and the naxalite outfits fighting the cause of the exploited lot.

Even though the Ranvir Sena claimed that it avenged the killings of 35 Bhumihars in Senari in Jehanabad district in March 1999, the instant instigation for the bloodbath in Mianpur was the murder of 13 Bhumihars in Afsar village of Nawada district a week ago. The Afsar carnage was the culmination of the internecine battle between three gangs which had the support the Bhumihars, Yadavs and the Kurmis respectively.

Formed about eight years ago in the name of countering naxalite activities, the Ranvir Sena has now interceded on behalf of the criminal gang led by Akhilesh Singh without any remorse. The only possible explanation for its action could be that those killed in Afsar belonged to the Bhumihar caste and that it no longer was in a position to receive support from such criminal elements without returning the favour.

That underscores the Sena's weakness. At the same time the Sena's leadership sought to use the opportunity to get over the internal rift that had caused a split in its rank.

The Ranvir Sena has been trying to speak on behalf of the entire caste for sometime now. It succeeded in its effort in the Assembly elections when it forced the NDA constituents to field its nominees or support its candidates in the Assembly elections.

In the backdrop was also the action of the Union Home Ministry in slapping a ban about a couple of months ago on the PWG within one week of its announcement that it would hold talks with any organisation in the country to restore peace within the framework of the Constitution. The point is the Sena was spared. The impact of which was that the underground naxalite groups sought to bury their differences to meet the threat, while the Sena was emboldened enough to even demand a ban on the CPI-ML, though it had given up its underground activities long ago and had joined the mainstream political system. This apparently led to few clashes inside some jails located in the central districts of the State.

The Afsar carnage came handy for the Sena leadership to prove its relevance once again and broaden its base from the confines of Jehanabad and Bhojpur districts. It has now taken up cudgels on behalf of its community in Nawada district and claim entry into Aurangabad district as well though the fact remains that Upahar village (Mianpur tola is located in it) is so located that it is the first village from both Jehanabad and Gaya district, where too the Sena has been seeking to spread its tentacles.

The most significant aspect of the Mianpur carnage is that it had targeted the intermediary backward caste of Yadavs besides the Dusadhs (a subsect of the Scheduled Caste) and Mistris (carpenters).

It is the second time the Sena has attacked Yadavs, the first one being in Sendani in Gaya district in May 1999 soon after the Senari killings.

From the Sena point of view the Sendani massacre was a failed attack as it could kill only eight people, mostly women and children, and hence it made Mianpur tola its object of retribution. Here too the able- bodied men escaped the wrath of the killers who turned their guns on hapless women and children.

The killing of no less than 20 women - never were so many women and children killed in any carnage in the State till date - was indeed a sign that the Sena was desperate and anarchist. The fact that it claimed that it had avenged the Senari killings makes it explicit that its objective was to kill as many people as possible whether or not they were at fault.

This shows that the Sena had turned its guns on the Yadavs instead of the Dalits. But on both occasions the Sena had indulged in senseless killings, unlike the MCC and the PWG which eliminated only those whom it targeted. Other than creating terror, the Sena had failed to achieve any objective, if the two killings are any indication. Hence, the Sena suffers from a major drawback.

It is also indulging in a dangerous trend by carrying out a killing in Aurangabad in retaliation to something that happened in Nawada district. The move to get the support of the community as a whole across the State by killing innocent people threatens to prove counterproductive for the community as a whole.

Bihar massacre jolts NDA base Soroor Ahmed in Patna Investigations into the killing of 12 Bhumihars in Afsar village of Nawada district are bringing out certain facts that forebode a bumpy ride for the National Democratic Alliance in Bihar. Apparently, the Kurmis were behind the attack, not Yadavs as believed. It was the handiwork of a gang led by Kurmi gangster Ashok Mahto. Earlier, the Bhumihars had accused Mahto and P K Mandal, the local deputy superintendent of police, of masterminding the Afsar killings. Apparently, Mahto avenged the abduction and killing of three Kurmis by the Bhumihars. It has nothing to do with the Rajobigha massacre of six Yadavs on June 3 by Bhumihars. This massacre is likely to have a far-reaching political ramifications as it will not only isolate the Bhumihars, as in Jehanabad and Bhojpur districts, but will bring about a sort of alliance between the Kurmis and the Yadavs. The Kurmis and Yadavs have been at daggers drawn ever since the Samata Party was formed in 1994. It would be the first time since then that Kurmis and Bhumihars would be involved in such a bloody war of attrition. With the latter two forming the NDA's main support base, the alliance seems to be in for a tough balancing act. Though there is no love lost between Kurmis, Yadavs, Koeris and Dalits in the Nawada-Nalanda-Patna belt of central Bihar, the fall-out of the latest massacre is that they have ganged up against Bhumihars. Bhumihar gangster Akhilesh Singh, whose wife Aruna Devi is an independent legislator, is being held responsible for this development. In his bid to restore the dominance of Bhumihars, he has only created more enemies. Unlike earlier, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Laloo Prasad Yadav opted against going to Afsar. The reason was simple. When he had visited Bara (1992) and Senari (1999), sites of Bhumihar massacres, people hooted and booed him. After such incidents, the Bhumihars resort to large-scale violence and disrupt traffic. They rough up political leaders, of any party and any caste, and manhandle newspersons who visit the site of the massacre. In Senari, a couple of photographers were locked in a dark dingy room for hours. Neither Harijans nor the other backwards ever resort to such tactics. On Monday, they torched railway coaches and blocked roads.