The Afsar massacre was a
mass shooting
There is a lack of consensus on how to define a mass shooting. Most terms define a minimum of three or four victims of gun violence (not including the shooter or in an inner city) in a short period of time, although an Australian study from 200 ...
that killed 12 people in the
Indian
Indian or Indians may refer to:
Peoples South Asia
* Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor
** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country
* South Asia ...
village of Afsar, in 2000. The massacre was the result of
caste
Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultura ...
wars of
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West Be ...
, which originate from clashes between
upper-caste, who were supporters of the existing
status quo
is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, political, religious or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the current state of social structure and/or values. W ...
, and the lower castes, who wanted to change the current system. According to the data by the "South Asia terrorism portal", the victims of these caste wars were most often
Dalits
Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold varna system of Hinduism and were seen as forming ...
, followed by
Forward Castes, while
Upper Backwards were victims less frequently than any other group.
Trigger
The massacre was a
vendetta
Vendetta may refer to:
* Feud or vendetta, a long-running argument or fight
Film
* ''Vendetta'' (1919 film), a film featuring Harry Liedtke
* ''Vendetta'' (1950 film), an American drama produced by Howard Hughes
* ''Vendetta'' (1986 film), a ...
killing undertaken by members of the
Kurmi
Kurmi is traditionally a non-elite tiller caste in the lower Gangetic plain of India, especially southern regions of Awadh, eastern Uttar Pradesh and parts of Bihar. The Kurmis came to be known for their exceptional work ethic, superior tilla ...
caste against the
Bhumihar
Bhumihars, also called Babhan, are a Hindu caste mainly found in Bihar (including the Mithila region), the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, the Bundelkhand region of Madhya Pradesh, and Nepal.
The Bhumihars claim Brahmin statu ...
s. Ten days before the massacre, the Bhumihars of Afsar village in central Bihar were involved in killing of eight people from the backward castes. Of these eight people, three belonged to the Kurmi caste, who retaliated by killing twelve members of the Bhumihar community.
Over 50 armed men dressed in paramilitary uniforms entered after midnight and opened fire on 15 people sleeping on a terrace. The killers then captured those who survived the gunshots and slit their throats with long swords. Eleven people died on the spot. Of the remaining four, one died on the way to the hospital. The dead included a four-year-old and a 10-year-old. Two schoolboys who tried to escape, when the firing started, were admitted to the hospital at
Patna
Patna (
), historically known as Pataliputra, is the capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Patna had a population of 2.35 million, making it the 19th largest city in India. ...
. According to a report of ''
The Telegraph
''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include:
Australia
* ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...
'', the 67-year-old Babulal Sharma who was a survivor of the incident said:
The root of the caste tension lay in the election of Aruna Devi, wife of
Akhilesh Singh, as
Member of Legislative Assembly
A member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) is a representative elected by the voters of a constituency to a legislative assembly. Most often, the term refers to a subnational assembly such as that of a state, province, or territory of a country. S ...
for the region. Chief Minister
Lalu Prasad Yadav
Lalu Prasad Yadav (born 11 June 1948) is an Indian politician and president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). He is a former List of Chief Ministers of Bihar, Chief Minister of Bihar (1990-1997), a former Ministry of Railways (India), Railway ...
came to the village to assure the victim backward castes of proper compensation and also launch a campaign against Akhilesh Singh as well as the
Ashok Mahto gang, which was supposed to have perpetrated the massacre of upper castes at Afsar village. The victims were close relatives of Akhilesh Singh.
Investigation
Earlier it was thought by a large section of media and the families of victims that the massacre was a retaliation by
Yadav
Yadav refers to a grouping of traditionally non-elite, Quote: "The Yadavs were traditionally a low-to-middle-ranking cluster of pastoral-peasant castes that have become a significant political force in Uttar Pradesh (and other northern state ...
s for the "Rajobigha massacre", in which five Yadavs were killed by the Bhumihars. But, investigation unfolded the cause of killings to be retaliation by Kurmis who avenged the death of three Kurmis at the hands of Bhumihars. It was reported that the
Deputy superintendent of police P.K Mandal aided Mahto gang kill the Bhumihars at Afsar.
Since the formation of
Samata Party
The Samata Party (SAP) is a political party in India, initially formed in 1994 by George Fernandes and Nitish Kumar, now led by Uday Mandal its National President. Samata Party once launched Nitish Kumar as the Chief Minister of Bihar. It was ...
; Yadav, Kurmi and the
Koeri
The Koeri (spelt as Koiry or Koiri) and also referred to as Kushwaha and Maurya in several parts of North India are an Indian non-elite caste, found largely in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, whose traditional occupation was agriculture. According ...
had mutual differences against each other. But this carnage was seen as a possible alliance between the two to take on the Bhumihar Brahmins.
The incident which took place at Afsar village made
Ranvir Sena
The Ranvir Sena is a militia functioning as a landlord group, mainly based in the state of Bihar, India. The group was formed by Bhumihar landlords in 1994, with the aim to counter the influence of various left-wing militants, Naxalite groups ...
, a militant organisation of Bhumihar Brahmins to perpetrate the "Mianpur carnage", in which 35 people most of them belonging to Yadav community and some of the Dalits were killed.
The Mianpur massacre was a signal 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
The Rashtriya Janata Dal ( RJD; translation: ''National People's Party'') is an Indian political party, based in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Kerala. The party was founded in 1997 by Lalu Prasad Yadav.
The party's support base has tradit ...
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 Bhumihar Brahmins 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
The Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) was one of the largest two armed Maoist groups in India, and fused with the other, the People's War Group in September 2004, to form the Communist Party of India (Maoist).
Dakshin Desh
When the Communist Party ...
.
Investigation also found it contrasting that although the "Afsar killing" was engineered by the
Kurmi
Kurmi is traditionally a non-elite tiller caste in the lower Gangetic plain of India, especially southern regions of Awadh, eastern Uttar Pradesh and parts of Bihar. The Kurmis came to be known for their exceptional work ethic, superior tilla ...
s, Bhumihar Brahmins 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, whose family members and relatives were gunned down by the
Kurmi
Kurmi is traditionally a non-elite tiller caste in the lower Gangetic plain of India, especially southern regions of Awadh, eastern Uttar Pradesh and parts of Bihar. The Kurmis came to be known for their exceptional work ethic, superior tilla ...
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 Bhumihar Brahmins and in case of differences between them, Yadavs can get an upper hand. This prevented Sena to retaliate against the Kurmis.
Aftermath
According to an ''
Indian Express
''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split betw ...
'' report, Rashtriya Janata Dal government was selective in visiting the place of massacre. The leaders frequently visited the places were
Dalit
Dalit (from sa, दलित, dalita meaning "broken/scattered"), also previously known as untouchable, is the lowest stratum of the Caste system in India, castes in India. Dalits were excluded from the four-fold Varna (Hinduism), varna syste ...
s 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.
Meanwhile, the "Mianpur" was the last big massacre perpetrated by Ranvir Sena after which it went into dormancy.
The Massacre at Afsar (
Nawada
Nawada is a city and a municipality in Bihar, India. It is also the headquarters of the Nawada district.
It is the headquarters of the subdivision of the same name, lying on both sides of the Khuri River( also known as Sakri river in some part ...
) was also followed by large-scale rioting by Bhumihar youths, who thrashed the windows of vehicles passing through the nearby highway and pelted them with stones.
See also
*
Bara Massacre
Bara massacre was a caste based carnage that took place in 1992 in Bihar. At midnight on 12–13 February 1992, the Maoist Communist Centre of India (now the Communist Party of India (Maoist)) killed 40 Bhumihars at Bara Village in Gaya distri ...
*
Dalelchak-Bhagaura Massacre 1987
Dalelchak-Bhagaura massacre was a caste based carnage that took place in 1987 in the Aurangabad district of Bihar. The incident was described by the media as one of biggest massacres in the history of Bihar. During this masacre, nearly 50 member ...
*
List of caste based violence in Bihar
The Caste based violence in Bihar has a history of long drawn conflict between the Forward Castes, who controlled vast swathes of land and the Lower Castes who were mostly poor. The Zamindari abolition and Communist upsurge in Bihar gave rise ...
References
Massacres in India
Anti-Brahminism
2000s in Bihar
2000 murders in India
Caste-related violence in Bihar
Violence against men in Asia
Massacres in 2000
20th-century mass murder in India
2000 mass shootings in Asia
Mass shootings in India
Mass stabbings in Asia
Deaths by stabbing in India
Deaths by firearm in India
Stabbing attacks in 2000
Sword attacks
Nawada district
Further reading
*
*{{cite book, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kd28Ay09adgC&q=afsar+nawada+massacre, title=Broken People: Caste Violence Against India's "untouchables", author1= Human Rights Watch Asia, author2=Smita Narula, publisher=Human Rights Watch, year=1999,
isbn=1564322289