Ranvir Sena

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Ranvir Sena is an upper-caste landlord militia[1] mainly based in Bihar, India. This group was formed by Bhumihar and Rajput landlords, to stop aspirations of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes people by violent means and their organized killings. It carried out actions against Dalits and other members of the scheduled caste community as well as the Naxalites as they have strong support from judiciary and bureaucracy. The Ranvir Sena have been connected to a number of massacres including Laxmanpur Bathe.[2] It has, on several occasions, been accused of human rights abuses.[3] It is regarded as a terrorist group and classified accordingly by the Government of India.[4] Normally, the group openly claims responsibility for its crimes.[2] The Ranvir Sena has committed violent acts against Naxalite sympathisers and other members of the militant communist party. The Bihar State government banned the Ranvir Sena in July 1995 and since then the Ranvir Sena remains proscribed. A statue of ranvir baba is situated in belaur village. On 8 October ranvir jayanti is celebrated in the village. In 2015, Cobrapost exposed many BJP leaders especially like Murli Manohar Joshi and C. P. Thakur alongside former PM Chandra Shekhar associated with Ranvir Sena in Bihar Dalit massacres[5] while governments of Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasad Yadav and Rabri Devi did nothing to get justice for dalits.[6]

History

The name Ranvir comes from Ranvir Baba,an iconic local hero of the Bhumihar caste and a supposed mythical figure, and Sena is a Hindi word (origin: Sanskrit sena, meaning 'army'). As the legend goes, during the late 19th century, Ranvir Choudhury, a retired military man and a resident of Belaur village in Bhojpur district, protected the rights of the Bhumihar, a land-owing upper caste of the State, against the domination of the Rajputs. It is said that, due to the activities of Ranvir Baba, the Bhumihars asserted their power in Bhojpur district and established regional supremacy of the Bhumihars.[7] In September 1994 Dharichan Chaudhary of Belaur had founded the Ranvir Sena and its founding and continuing commander is Brahmeshwar Singh of Khopira village.[8]

Rangbahadur Singh Rajput[9] was first president of ranveer sena.he belong from ichari village,Jagdishpur,Bihar.[10]

The sena originated in Bhojpur in 1994 with the avowed aim of wiping out the communist movement led by various Naxalite groups and the Communist Party of India, Marxist-Leninist (CPI-ML) Liberation in central Bihar. The Indian government considers the group a right-wing[citation needed] extremist group, which serve the needs of wealthy landowners. It was founded in September 1994 in Belaur village of Udwantnagar block, Bhojpur district following the merger of private caste armies like Savarna Liberation Army and the Sunlight Sena. The forerunners to the Ranvir Sena in Bhojpur district were the Brahmarshi Sena and Kuer Sena, Kisan Morcha and Ganga Sena. These groups were smaller in size and operated with a limited area.

Brahmeshwar Singh of Khopira founded Ranvir Sena.[11]

Brahmeshwar Singh was killed by unidentified gunmen on 1 June 2012 at Bhojpur (Bihar) while he was on his morning walk. Singh was facing life imprisonment in various massacres but was acquitted and released from jail in April 2012.[12]

A day-long curfew was clamped on the district headquarters town in Bhojpur district as tension escalated following the gunning down of Brahmeshwar Singh. Prohibitory orders under section 144 CrPC were also enforced in the district.[13]

Police and politician involvement

Some politicians are members of Ranvir Sena and some policemen have helped them on their raids.[14] For example, in a Ranvir Sena raid in Ekwari, a village in Bihar, in April 1997, policemen opened the doors of Dalit villagers so the Ranvir Sena could go inside instead of protecting the villagers as they were supposed to. Chandradev Verma, former member of Janata Dal Member of Parliament for Arrah put legalising the Ranvir Sena as one of his campaign points in the 1998 Lok Sabha elections.[11]

Mass killings

They killed 10 workers in Haibaspur on the 23 March 1997. They wrote the name of the organisation in blood on the village well before they left. Most of the people Ranvir Sena killed that night belonged to families allegedly supporting Party Unity, a communist group.[2]

On 11 July 1996, 21 Dalits were slaughtered by the Ranvir Sena in Bathani Tola,Bhojpur in Bihar in 11 July 1996.[15] Among the dead were 11 women, six children and three infants. Ranvir Sena mob killed Women and Children in particular as per the design so as to demolish any future resistance which they foresaw.[16]

On 1 December 1997, they killed 61 Dalits, which includes - 16 children, 27 women and 18 men with guns.[2] The same night,disfigured and shot to death 5 teenage girls.[2] Ranvir Sena said about the killings:

"We kill children because they will grow up to become Naxalites. We kill women because they will give birth to Naxalites."

[17]

After, they killed 8 low caste people who had ferried them across the river after the attack.[2]

On 25 January 1999, there was a massacre of 22 dalit men, women and children by Ranvir Sena in the village of Shankarbigha, Jehanabad due to their alleged Naxalite allegiance. There was another massacre two weeks later in the neighbouring village of Narayanpur, where Ranvir Sena killed twelve lower-caste people.[2]

In April 2012, members of the Ranvir Sena were acquitted of Bathani Tola massacre in Bihar.[16]

Year Description Trial
1996
  • Nadhi(Bhojpur): 8 killed in CPI(ML) attack on upper castes/landlords
  • Nadhi(Bhojpur): 9 killed in attack by upper castes on SCs
  • Bathanitola(Bhojpur): 22 Dalits killed by landlords, the worst of that year’s many attacks
1997
  • Raghopur (Patna): 6 Bhumihars killed by CPI(ML)PU
  • Haibaspur(Patna): 10 SCs killed by landlords
  • Ekwari(Bhojpur): 10 SCs killed by upper castes
  • Khadasin(Jehanabad): 8 SCs killed by landlords
  • Lakshmanpur-Bathe (Jehahanabad): 61 Dalits killed in attack by upper castes
  • Chauram (Jehanabad): 9 members of upper castes killed in CPI(ML-Liberation) attack
1998
  • Nagri(Bhojpur): 10 SCs killed by landlords
1999
  • Shankarbigha(Jehanabad): 23 SCs killed by upper castes
  • Narayanpur(Jehanabad): 11 SCs killed by upper castes
  • Usri Bazar(Jehanabad): 7 upper caste members killed in attack by CPI(ML-Liberation)
  • Senari(Jehanabad): 35 killed in attack on landlords, first strong sign of MCC gaining strength
  • Sendani(Gaya): 12 SCs killed by landlords
2000
  • Afsar(Nawada): 12 upper caste members killed in attack by OBCs
  • Mianpur(Aurangabad): 35 OBCs/STS killed, the last major attack involving the Ranbir Sena before it went into the background

[18]

Membership

The core group of membership of the Ranvir Sena is formed of Bhumihars and other Upper castes of Bihar. Brahmeshwar Singh alias ‘Mukhiyaji,' chief of the Ranvir Sena, the dreaded private militia of upper caste landowners, was shot dead by unidentified gunmen while he was on a morning walk at Katira Mohalla on 1 June 2012.

Area of operation

From Bhojpur district where it was formed, over a period of time, the Ranvir Sena spread to Jahanabad, Patna, Rohtas, Aurangabad, Gaya, Bhabhua and Buxar districts. It mobilises the landed gentry in these districts against the People's War Group (PWG), the Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) and the CPI-ML (Liberation).

Organisation

The Ranvir Sena is highly organized, has extensive influence among landowners in its areas of operation, and is supposedly well-endowed with financial resources.[19] Ranvir Sena cadres are militarily better-organised and are better-paid than any of the private armies of the past. The cadres operate mostly underground while their leaders are believed to be living in, on whose head the authorities had placed a reward of half a million Indian rupees, was the Supreme Commander of the Ranvir Sena until he was arrested in Patna on August 29, 2002 to face a large number of criminal cases, which included those related to massacres.[20]

Initial reports said that Shamsher Bahadur Singh was, on 7 September 2002, appointed new chief of the Ranvir Sena. However, according to a report of 25 December 2002, the chief of the Ranvir Sena was Bhuar Thakur until he was arrested with his two associates on December 24, 2002 near Karnol bridge on the Patna-Sasaram road in Charpokhri, Bhojpur.[21]

On 8 July 2011, Brahmeshwar Singh was released on bail after serving 9 years in jail for 17 cases, including those related to Dalit carnages in Bihar, after he was arrested from Patna in 2002. He was earlier granted bail in 16 other cases.[22]

Ranvir Kisan Maha Sangh is the political wing that tried to take part in the 2004 elections.[11] The Ranvir Mahila Sangh, a women's wing, has also been created. Its members too have been trained in arms use.[11]

On 5 May 2012, the founder of Ranvir Sena Brahmeshwar Mukhiya, floated a non-political outfit Akhil Bharatiya Rashtravadi Kisan Sangathan.[23]

On 1 June 2012, Ranvir Sena Chief Brahmeshwar Singh was shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Bihar’s Ara Town.[24]

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ [1] Archived June 30, 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Community Warriors: State, Peasants and Caste Armies in Bihar (2009), Ashwini Kumar, Anthem Press, ISBN 978-1-84331-709-8, p. 129
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Human Rights Watch, Broken People, p. 5
  18. ↑ http://www.indianexpress.com/news/a-lasting-signature-on-bihars-most-violent-years/957421/5
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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