UpdateBot at 13:27, 29 May 2022

2022-05-29T13:27:28Z

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{{Short description|Caste based militia in Bihar}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=March 2020}}
{{Infobox war faction
| name = Kuer Sena
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| war = [[Naxalite–Maoist insurgency]]
| image =
| caption =
| active = 1979–1990s
| ideology = [[Anti-communism]]<br>[[Rajput|Rajput caste]] [[Supremacism|supremacy]]
|status=| position =
| leaders = Rajnath Singh<br>Bir Bahadur Singh
| clans =
| headquarters =
| area =[[Bihar|Western Bihar]]
| size =
| partof =
| predecessor =
| successor =
| allies = [[Ranvir Sena]], [[Bhumi Sena]]
| split =
| opponents = [[Lal Sena]]<br>[[Maoist Communist Centre of India|MCC]]<br>[[Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) People's War|People's War Group]]
| battles =
| website =
}}

The '''Kuer Sena''' was a caste-based militia operating in the Indian state of [[Bihar]] during the 1970s and 1980s.<ref>{{cite journal | title=Class War Spreads to New Areas | author=Prakash Louis | journal=Economic and Political Weekly |volume = 35|issue = 26| year=2000 | pages= 2206–2207|jstor = 4409433}}</ref> The majority of its members were young men from the [[Rajput]] caste, and the militia was named after the 19th century anti-colonial revolutionary, [[Kunwar Singh]], who is considered be a community hero by the Rajputs of Bihar.<ref name="Bayly2001">{{cite book|author=Susan Bayly|title=Caste, Society and Politics in India from the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HbAjKR_iHogC&pg=PA347|date=22 February 2001|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-79842-6|pages=347–}}</ref>

==History==
The Kuer Sena was one of the first of the caste-based militias to emerge in Bihar during the early years of the [[Naxalite–Maoist insurgency|Naxalite-Maoist insurgency]].<ref name="Kumar2008">{{cite book|author=Ashwani Kumar|title=Community Warriors: State, Peasants and Caste Armies in Bihar|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=num2I4NFGqIC&pg=PA118|year=2008|publisher=Anthem Press|isbn=978-1-84331-709-8|pages=118–}}</ref> It was founded by the Rajput landlord and coal businessman, Rajnath Singh who was also an affiliate of the [[Indian National Congress]] party.<ref name=Kumar2008 /> While it initially had innocent aims, it eventually grew into persecuting the people of the lower-caste who had Naxalite affiliations.<ref name="Kumar2008" />

Because of this, Rajnath Singh was eventually arrested by the local government and the running of the militia was left to his commander, Bir Bahadur Singh. Bir Bahadur Singh was also known to the local authorities and was connected to some 20 murder cases meaning that he was often in and out of jail.<ref name=Kumar2008 /> He was eventually elected as an [[Member of the Legislative Assembly (India)|MLA]] for the [[Jagdispur]] area and his tenure was mired by atrocities against the so-called "lower castes".<ref name="Englehart2017">{{cite book|author=Neil A. Englehart|title=Sovereignty, State Failure and Human Rights: Petty Despots and Exemplary Villains|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uT4lDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA142|date=8 May 2017|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-315-40821-7|pages=142–}}</ref> They regularly engaged in battles with the [[Maoist Communist Centre of India|MCC]] militias and often found themselves allying with other caste-based militias like the [[Ranvir Sena]] which was controlled by the [[Bhumihar|Bhumihars]] and the [[Bhumi Sena]] controlled by the [[Kurmi|Kurmis]].<ref>{{cite journal | title= Mukhiya's Assassination: Jungle Justice in the Face of Systemic Injustice | author=ANAND TELTUMBDE | journal=Economic and Political Weekly |volume = 47|issue = 26/27| year=2012 | pages= 10–11|jstor = 23251677}}</ref>

==Disintegration==
The organisation ended up collapsing due to its over-reliance on a few Rajput landlords as leadership, many of whom were often sent to jail.<ref name=Kumar2008 /> The Rajputs soon started to band around a new caste-based army known as the Sunlight Sena which was formed in the early 1990s and allied with [[Muslim]] landlords in the region.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.firstpost.com/politics/will-the-muslim-militia-polarise-community-on-caste-lines-in-bihars-imamganj-2470308.html |title = Will the Muslim militia polarise community on caste lines in Bihar's Imamganj?}}</ref><ref name="GhoshGhosh2000">{{cite book|author1=S. K. Ghosh|author2=Srikanta Ghosh|title=Bihar in Flames|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1Qwd4I6Q5uMC&pg=PA60|year=2000|publisher=APH Publishing|isbn=978-81-7648-160-1|pages=60–}}</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Bhumi Sena]]
*[[Ranvir Sena]]
*[[Samajwadi Krantikari Sena]]
*[[Lorik Sena]]

== References ==

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Paramilitary organisations based in India]]
[[Category:Caste-related violence in India]]
[[Category:Anti-communist terrorism]]
[[Category:Rajputs]]

Kuer Sena - Revision history

UpdateBot at 13:27, 29 May 2022