Afsar massacre

Afsar massacre was a part of caste wars of Bihar, which emanated from the clashes between "upper caste", the supporters of status-quoism and the lower castes, the pro changers.According to "South Asia terrorism portal", Dalits were the biggest victim of these caste wars followed by Forward Castes, while the "upper backwards" were the least affected section as victims.[1]

Afsar massacre[2]
Part of Caste wars of Bihar
Location	Nawada
Weapons	Guns
Deaths	12
Victims	Bhumihars
Perpetrators	Kurmis

Trigger

The massacre was a vandetta killing undertaken by members of Kurmi caste against the Bhumihars.Ten days before the massacre, the Bhumihars of Afsar village in central Bihar were involved in killing of 8 people from the backward castes.Out of these 8 people 3 belonged to Kurmi caste who retaliated by killing 12 members of the Bhumihar community.[3]

Over 50 armed men who were dressed in paramilitary uniform entered Afsar village after midnight and opened fire on 15 people who were sleeping on a terrace. The killers then captured those who were alive even after facing the gunshots, their throats were slit with long swords.As a result of which Eleven people died on the spot. Of the remaining four, one died while he was on the way to hospital by the inmates. The dead included a four-year-old and a 10-year-old. Two schoolboys who tried to escape when the firing started, were later admitted to the hospital at Patna.According to a report of The Telegraph, the 67 year old Babulal Sharma who was a survivor of the incident said:

"I was awake the whole night. I heard the footsteps of men climbing up. I thought they could be policemen watching over us because tension was prevailing for some time. Then I heard suppressed gunshots. As I tried to stand up, two gun shots were fired at me,' said Babulal Sharma, a 67-year-old survivor. 'I wanted to die with them. Why did I survive?"[3]

The roots of the caste tension which resulted in the massacre was in election of Aruna Devi, wife of gangster Akhilesh Singh as Member of Legislative Assembly from the region.Akhilesh Singh was responsible for kiling of people of Dalit community and some Yadavs in "Rajobigha village."This incident brought Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav into the village who assured the victim backward castes of proper compensation and also launched a campaign against the Akhilesh Singh as well as Ashok Mahto gang, who was supposed to have perpetrated the massacre of upper castes at Afsar village.The victims were close relatives of the Akhilesh Singh.[3]

Investigation

Earlier it was thought by a large section of media and the families of victims that the massacre was a retaliation by Yadavs as a reaction to "Rajobigha massacre", in which 5 Yadavs were killed by the Bhumihars.But, investigation unfolded the cause of killings to be retaliation by Kurmis who avenged the death of 3 Kurmis at the hands of Bhumihars.It was reported that the Deputy superintendent of police P.K Mandal aided Mahto gang to kill the Bhumihars at Afsar.[2]

Since the formation of Samata Party Yadav were against the Kurmi and the Koeri. But this carnage was seen as a possible alliance between the two to take on the Bhumihars.[2]The incident which took place at Afsar village made Ranvir Sena a militant organisation of Bhumihars to undertake the "Mianpur carnage", in which 35 people most of them belonging to Yadav community and some of the Dalits were killed.[4]

The Mianpur massacre was a singnal by the outlawed organisation to send message to Lalu-Rabri government.The Sena also shouted slogans like "Lalu-Rabri murdabad (Down with the Lalu-Rabri government)" after the "Mianpur killing" to show their discontent against the Rashtriya Janata Dal government as according to them the government was itself behind promoting enmity between the various castes.The Sena's action was a consequence of growing anxiety among Bhumihars who were victims of both Afsar and "Senari massacre".Senari was a village just 10 km away from the "Mianpur" in which 34 people of Bhumihar community were killed a year before the Afsar incident by Maoist Communist Centre.[4]

Investigation also find it contrasting that though the "Afsar killing" was engineered by the Kurmis, Bhumihars killed mostly Yadavs in Mianpur.According to media reports, few days after Afsar massacre the chief of Ranvir Sena, Brahmeshwar Singh visited the house of Akhilesh Singh, the Bhumihar gangster whose family members and relatives were gunned down by the Kurmi gangster Ashok Mahto.The chief told Singh not to antagonise Kurmis as their real enemies were Yadavs.The fact that core base of Samata Party were Kurmi and Bhumihars and in case of differences between them Yadavs can get an upper hand prevented Sena to retaliate against the Kurmis.[5]

Aftermath

According to an Indian Express report Rashtriya Janata Dal government was selective in visiting the place of massacre.The leaders frequently visited the places were Dalits were killed but gave less importance to the places were "upper caste" were the victim.During "Afsar massacre", Lalu Prasad condemned the incident but avoided visiting the site as during his earlier visits at "Senari" and other places were "upper castes" were killed, he was hooted by the kinsmen of the victims..[2] Meanwhile, the "Mianpur" was the last big massacre perpetrated by Ranvir Sena after which it went into dormancy.[6]

The Massacre at Afsar (Nawada) was also followed by large scale rioting by Bhumihar youths, who thrashed the glasses of vehicles passing through the nearby Highway and pelted stones at them.[2]

See also

• Bara Massacre
• Dalelchak-Bhagaura Massacre 1987

References

1. "Chronology of massacre in Bihar". South Asia Terrorism Portal. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
2. Ahmed, Soroor. "Bihar massacre jolts NDA base". rediff.com. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
3. Chakraborty, Tapas. "12-shot-dead-in-bihar-midnight-massacre". The Telegraph. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
4. "Ranvir Sena massacres 35 in Bihar Call for Rabri Government's dismissal". The Tribune. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
5. Ahmed, Soroor. "Ranvir Sena kills 34 in Bihar". rediff.com. Retrieved 13 August 2020.
6. Singh, Santosh. "A lasting signature on Bihar's most violent years". Indian Express. Retrieved 13 August 2020.