The sound of gunfire resounded in village Kharhana of Kargahar block at around 3 pm on 13th October 2002. It was the armed squad of Liberation along with armed rural landlords trying to kill the AIKMS village leader Comrade Santan Ram. Members of CPI (ML) - New Democracy and of AIKMS quickly assembled to retaliate under the leadership of Com. Devmuni Ram and to chase the aggressors out of the Dalit Mohalla. The Liberation attackers were led by landlords Vipin Patel and Virender Yadav. Around an hour and a half later, the attackers were chased away but while going they targeted Com. Devmuni with rifles and killed him. Earlier Liberation had declared intent to kill both Com. Devmuni and Com. Santan Ram.

Hearing about the murder, thousands of people from nearby villages collected at Kharhana by morning despite pouring rain. However police of O.P. Sidi had taken the body to hospital the night before. It was later handed over to the Party and the last rites were held on the banks of the river Sone.

Liberation has been active from the very beginning to stem the growing mass base and movement of CPI(ML)-New Democracy in Kaimur Tarai and Rohtas. When party began anti-feudal struggle in Nokha block in 1985-86, then Liberation, working as IPF, tried to misguide the people and also tried to influence people in various villages, but the masses did not respond. At that time, working in the name of IPF, Liberation tried to make landlords sit along with landless and poor peasantry, calling the landlords ‘farmers’. Leaving Mao Zedong Thought and implementing Deng Xio Ping’s revisionist line they began applying bourgeois parliamentarianism and began distorting the slogan of ‘land to the tiller’. Due to the intensity of the land struggle under our leadership in this area, class lines were clearly drawn and hence Liberation could not succeed here. Rather many of its activists joined ruling class parties.

In 1995, party intensified struggle for distribution of surplus land of Murlipur Math in Kaimur Tarai. Liberation incited the local landlords, the Mahant of the Math and local anti-socials against us. It organized some lumpens of Murlipur and over night seated a new Mahant, thus trying to put the surplus lands’ ownership into dispute. However this attempt failed as people of the area gathered and handed over the false Mahant to the police, chasing away his armed lumpen backers. Liberation also made unsuccessful attempts to defeat the land struggles in Lehri and Arang.

Liberation and CPI also had a hand in preparing the prelude to the tragedy at Panapur on 31st December 1999. Our cadres had failed to recognize this in time. It was later found that people of Ravidas caste were being instigated by Liberation and those of Paswan caste by CPI. CPI leader Rajvansh Paswan, who planned the paddy loot of 26th December, joined Liberation and again tried to confuse the Paswans in the area. Liberation is now quite perturbed by our success in sorting out the issue and the resumption of land struggle under our leadership in that area.

Liberation suffered a setback when in 2001 our party started struggle for the land appropriated by Dayal farm and the family of absentee landlord Dayal. Liberation had started struggle for distribution of 302 acres of land of this landlord in 1982. It organized 8-10 villages. But Dayal sold this land to local landlords who in turn approached IPF, promising to give them some land. Betraying hundreds of landless, the IPF Liberation leaders reached a settlement with the Dayal family, in which IPF leader Surender Singh played a prominent role. Many senior bureaucrats also bought land in the name of their families. Some unproductive land was given to some landless under direction from IPF-Liberation, and they frightened the rest into silence.

In this area Khushwaha caste is in majority and dalits and other backward castes rank second in number. When this struggle began one section of Kushwahas joined IPF; those who bought land were also small landlords of this caste. Thus not only did Liberation leaders get free land here but also a base for their electoral politics among the Kushwaha landlords.

Four years after this betrayal in 1995 many important activists of the Dehri Anchal Committee of Liberation (including a Dist Committee Member) and some peasant leaders left Liberation and agreed with our ideological and political line. We launched a struggle for distribution of Dayal Farm’s surplus lands. People of Batoranpur, Jainagar, Govardhanpur, Supabegaha, Lalkiahri, Bishnubigha, Chapainpur, Chandi etc. villages again joined the struggle. The villagers quickly forgot their terror of Liberation. A section of the landless of Kushwaha caste also joined us. The situation is that today liberation is the leader of the landlords and lumpens of the area whereas we lead the landless and poor peasantry. Around 150 acres of land has been freed from the clutches of landlords who are supporters of Liberation. Last year, two anti-socials and one landlord- all criminals- were killed at the hands of the people. After this incident, Liberation tried to glorify these elements.

Seeing the landless uniting in large numbers under our leadership for the demand of distributing Dayal farm lands, Liberation started contacting the landlords of the area. Last year they tried to solve the issue of occupation by landless of 22 acres surplus land of Bihar Govt in Nuao village of Chenari block by contacts with the landlords. When the villagers proceeded to capture the land disregarding liberation, they sat on Dharna in favour of land mafia leader Shiv Pujan Sharma at Chenari block and demanded arrest of our activists. They later started disruptionist activities at Kheri village where the landless were with Liberation for 20 years. There were 15 acres surplus lands here belonging to landlord Bindeshwari Singh. Seeing our land struggle in surrounding areas, in 1999, the landless here joined our organization and in 2000, fighting against the landlord, they captured these 15 acres. This year, after the transplantation of the paddy crop in July, Liberation, along with Bindeshwari’s son Shankar Singh, tried to loot this paddy by pretending to do weeding of the farm. Armed goons of the landlords and Liberation’s armed squads surrounded the land. Instead of clashing we intensified propaganda. There was no effect of the condemnation by the landless of the village on Liberation.

On the night of 14th Sept 2002, in the presence of armed squads of Liberation, lumpens abused our activists and when Gandhi Ram and his old father Dhanraj Ram protested, the lumpens fired at and injured him. On 16th September, local Liberation leaders took a young girl to the police station to lodge a report of rape against our activists. However no report was registered as the girl did not lie. Liberation leaders are naming Gandhi Ram and his 70 year old father also as the accused. On 19th September, 100 people were returning late at night to Kheri village after attending our demonstration, when lumpens of Liberation opened fire on them. The people then changed their route and also tried to lodge a complaint at Shiv Sagar Thana but the police did not file it. Next morning, Liberation leaders reached the police station with another woman. Police lodged an FIR on the false story of rape of the wife of Suresh Ram (brother of Liberation leader Rameshi Ram, a stooge of Shankar Singh). Party called for a massive public meeting on 27th October at Kheri against the anti-people policies of the Liberation–feudals–police nexus. This led Liberation to announce a mass meeting at another village near Karhana on 10th October. A pamphlet was released with baseless allegations against our party and targeting two activists of Kharhana village, Com. Devmuni Ram and Com. Santan Ram. It proclaimed Liberation’s MLA from Karakat, Arun Singh, as the main speaker of the 10th October meeting.

The 10th October meeting was boycotted by the local people and no leader of Liberation attended either. Around 50-60 local lumpens and landlords were present. Local leaders of Liberation read out a list of allegations against Com. Santan Ram and Com. Devmuni Ram, condemned the land struggle and issued a call for killing these two activists as also other activists of CPI (ML)-New Democracy. When such a killing was done on 13th October, it became clear why Arun Singh and other leaders of Liberation did not attend the meeting on 10th October 2002. The Liberation leaders in our areas of struggle are renegades from struggle and they well know the real motive behind the 10th October meeting.

The killing of Com. Devmuni proves that Liberation has decided to begin armed attacks against us in order to stop the development of land struggles under our leadership. Before this Liberation had attacked us in other areas. Liberation is also attacking other revolutionary organizations. Liberation is wiping out activists of revolutionary organizations in a pre-planned manner or is foisting false cases on them and branding them as criminals. It wants to finish off the revolutionary movement and in the interests of its parliamentary game, wants to be known as the ‘sole’ CPI (ML).

The intentions of Liberation against us in our other areas of work are similar to that of the Ranvir Sena active against us in Nokha. The target of Ranvir Sena’s Dhan Singh’s statement on 13th October in Dainik Hindustan and of Liberation’s pamphlet is CPI (ML) - New Democracy. In village Kheri of Shiv Sagar and Jagvalia, the supporters of Liberation are those landlords in whose houses Dhan Singh lodges along with his supporters and arms.

Actually after taking up a revisionist line, Liberation looks on the landless and poor peasantry only as a base for its electoral politics. We have always opposed Liberation’s revisionism and class capitulation in the field of ideology and politics. But we have conducted an ideological political struggle and have not physically attacked any leader or activist of Liberation. Liberation, however, has taken the route of physically liquidating our organization. The aggressive policy they have adopted clearly shows that their charges against MCC and PWG are not principled but are opportunistic. Liberation should leave its self-defeating policy of liquidating communist revolutionary leaders and activists.

Public Meeting in Village Kheri in Shiv Sagar

The Shiv Sagar block committee of the party organized a public meeting on 27th October 2002 in which around 1000 men and women from surrounding villages participated along with several intellectuals. The main guest speaker at this meeting was Com. D.V. Krishna (General Secretary of National Committee of IFTU). Apart from him, many other leaders including Com. Ashok Kumar, Dist. Sec. and also state AIKMS Gen. Sec., Com. Shankar Singh, Dist. President of AIKMS, and peasant leaders Rajesh Paswan, Dinanath Chowdhry and Ram Parvesh Bartha participated. The meeting was organized against the anti-people activities of Liberation in the area.

Before this, addressing a Press Conference in Sasaram, Com. D.V. Krishna spoke about the ill effects of globalization, against the American attack on Iraq, how imperialist countries are making comprador govts. like India’s implement all policies they order, and how MNCs are entering agricultural sector.

Liberation made every attempt to make the meeting a failure, announcing in the area that it would not allow the meeting to be held at any cost. To this end many leaders of Liberation and its armed squad applied themselves for one month in the area. It is in the course of this that their squad had attacked our members in village Kharhana, in order to discourage the masses. They also took out a pamphlet acknowledging the Kharhana killing and further issuing death sentences against Comrades Santan Ram, Bhigal Ram and Arjun Paswan. The revolutionary people accepted Liberation’s challenge and once more proved that all opposing forces pale before the steely unity of the landless and poor people.

Liberation Pronounces Death Sentence!

On 20th October 2002 a meeting was organized at Kharhana village to pay homage to Com. Devmuni and to condemn his murder by Liberation on 13th October. Around 600 landless poor peasants from surrounding villages participated. The meeting was organized by the Riva – Thorsan Panchayat Committee and addressed by Dist leaders of the party and by leaders of AIKMS.

Immediately Liberation took out a pamphlet against this meeting justifying the killing of Devmuni and terming it a ‘death sentence’. It has further announced death sentences for three others. Liberation has stopped treading the path of the landless and dalits. The judges of Liberation could only fire verbal ammunition against the guilty landlords of the area but choose revolutionary activists for award of death sentences!

The progressive and democratic intellectuals of the district are astonished at how, without proving guilt, Liberation is reviving the age old feudal practice in the villages of awarding death sentences. Everyone is also astonished because its own organization in Rohtas district is filled with people actually guilty of the charge against which Liberation has pronounced the death sentence.

Struggles for harvesting

Struggle between landless and poor peasants and the landlords, their goonda gangs and private armies once again intensified around the harvest time. Landlords and their armed henchmen tried to prevent the landless from harvesting the paddy sown on lands occupied by the landless and poor peasants through their struggles. The conflicts resulted in a number of armed clashes in the villages in different blocks. At several places armed squad of Liberation sided with the armed goondas of the landlords.

On November 5 armed lumpen gangs of landlords and armed squad of Liberation fired upon the landless in the 15 acres ceiling land in Kheiri village. In the village Liberation activists approached our AIKMS village committee comrades through local leaders for joint harvesting of the crop, a proposal accepted by our comrades, but they stealthily cut the paddy crop when our comrades had gone to participate in a Dharna at district headquarters.

On November 17 armed clashes took place in three villages of Sasaram and Kargahar blocks over the paddy harvesting. In Khaira village, armed landlords gangs form several villages attacked the landless allottees of Bihar Govt. land. They were chased away by the people. On a land between village Jogipur and Torni, landlords engaged a harvestor to take away the crop planted by landless. Here too the brave landless chased them away despite being fewer in number and facing modern weapons of a private army of landlords. In this three village youth were caught by the landlord gangs and brutally tortured. In yet another incident near Chilbili village, four lumpen elements, recruited by Liberation as their members, cut the paddy of the allottees of land. The local AIKMS committee decided to cut paddy from the land of these lumpens and this they executed despite attacks by these lumpens and their protectors - armed squad of Liberation.

In a number of villages land Mafia has come up under the patronage of Laloo-Rabri Govt. and utilizing the Govt. machinery to forcible control the surplus ceiling land in a number of villages. In Lehri village police helped such a Mafia to harvest the crop planted by landless poor peasants. In another incident in Nuao village in Chenari block, on November 26 police forcibly got the crop on 22 acres of Bihar Govt. land harvested by land Mafia Shiv Pujan Sharma. In this RJD Minister Chhedi Paswan acted as the patron of the Mafia.

Landless poor did not succeed in all the struggles. Yet they scored important political victory as class enemies and class collaborators are coming out openly to fight against them.