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Mindless Bihar caste war cripples law and order

The shocking massacre of over 60 Communist Party of India-Marxist-Lenists in Bihar's Bathe-Laxmapur on Monday has turned the spotlight once again on the internecine war between upper and lower castes in the state.

Dating back to the sixties, the mindless violence shows no signs of let-up, with the law and order machinery virtually paralysed by the brutalities perpetrated in the rural areas.

The backwards enjoy the backing of Naxalite factions including the Maoist Communist Centre and the Party Unity which have been murdering rich landlords and looting their property.

Shocked by the violent uprising, the upper castes -- who have allegedly been harassing the lower castes for centuries -- decided to retaliate in an organised manner. Initially, scattered groups of landlords fought back the extremists. This did not have the desired effect.

In 1987, 52 upper-caste landlords, mainly belonging to the Bhumihar community, were butchered by armed extremists belonging to the MCC.

The wealthy Bhumihar and Rajput landlords took prompt measures to strike back at the extremist groups, and they soon set up mercenary outfits like the Ranvir Sena and Sunlight Sena.

And so began the seemingly unending incidents of landlord-extremist carnage to which the state administration did not appear to have an answer.

Besides central Bihar, such violent extremist uprisings have been witnessed in Bhojpur and Gaya districts. South Bihar districts like Palamu, Hazaribagh and Chotanagpur have also been affected.

According to the Hazaribagh police station, the PU and the MCC extremists have also been targeting policemen. The extremists have often raided police stations and decamped with arms and ammunition.

Adding fuel to the extremists fury was the Rajput landlords's sexual exploitation of tribal women. The rich south Bihar landlords have allegedly been sexually harassing Harijan and tribal girls on their wedding nights. The Hazaribagh police station has a few first information reports, underlining how the unfortunate girls have fallen prey to some landlords's lust.

According to Communist Party of India MP Ramashray Prasad Singh, "The landlord-extremist violence is bound to continue as the extremists will not take Monday's carnage lying down.''

EARLIER REPORTS:
Bloodbath at midnight
Banned CPI-ML plans to avenge Monday's massacre
Under easy patronage Naxalites fill their coffers and spread more terror in Bihar

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