By Sujatha Fernandes in India
On July 11, a 500-strong armed squad of the Ranvir Sena descended on Barki Kharaon, a village in the Bhojpur district of Bihar, in a four-hour attack that left 22 people dead and 52 injured. Ten huts were also burned down.
The Ranvir Sena, a banned outfit of landowners, is backed by the right-wing Hindu fundamentalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The group deliberately targeted this village because of the villagers' support for the Communist Party of India — Marxist Leninist (CPI-ML).
Most of the residents were poor labourers belonging to the lower castes, while some were Muslims. They were all identified as activists or supporters of the CPI-ML. The success of the CPI-ML in this area has evoked fierce opposition from the landowning classes, whether they belong to the upper or intermediate castes.
The conflict between the Ranvir Sena and the CPI-ML, which has taken a toll of 800 lives in Bhojpur district, was exacerbated during the recent national election campaign. On April 23, armed men gunned down five members of a marriage party believed to be sympathisers of the CPI-ML at Nonour village in Sahar police station area of Bhojpur district.
On the day of the massacre at Barki Kharaon, the Ranvir Sena — armed with guns, axes, knives and sticks — attacked at random; half of those found dead were women and children. Two-year-old Nanku and three-month-old Punni were lying on the bed while their father Badri Chudhari was playing with them. All three were axed to death. Five-year-old Shailendra's fingers were chopped off his right hand. He is being treated at the hospital but is constantly crying for his parents, who are missing.
Also among the dead were a pregnant women who was shot while trying to escape and an eight-year-old girl who was stabbed brutally in the head and the back.
The villagers stated that policemen stationed nearby looked the other way while the four-hour mission was going on. According to one villager, the policemen sided with the killers because they are also of the high castes.
An earlier attempt to raid the village by Ranvir Sena hoodlums on July 3 was reported to the district authorities but no action was taken. According to villagers, the two police camps in Barki Kharaon village stayed inactive.
CPI-ML leaders denounced the cold-blooded massacre meticulously planned by the Ranvir Sena. When asked if the CPI-ML would avenge the massacre of its sympathisers, party sources said, "People have been forced to take to the gun. They are fighting their own battle, and how can we stop them?"
The party general secretary, Vinod Mishra, condemning the killings, stated, "No amount of terror can dissuade the CPI-ML from its mission of dealing a death blow to the feudal hegemony and ensuring economic and social justice to the rural poor".
There have been several demonstrations protesting against the massacre. Agitated opposition members of the Bihar assembly demanded a discussion on the massacre. Several Communist Party of India — Marxist and CPI-ML members came into the house shouting slogans like "Killer government, give us an answer" and "The government of sticks and guns won't work".
The state administration has suspended eight constables on charges of dereliction of duty. So far, 28 Ranvir Sena members out of the 33 accused have been arrested.
But the government's claim that it would track down the killers and obliterate the private band does not carry conviction in light of the record. The Ranvir Sena is among the private militias that the government banned a few years ago, but the ban has not affected its functioning. There are at least half a dozen caste-based and ideologically inspired groups operating in the area.