Deo Kumar Singh (/dɛv kuˈmɑr sɪŋ/ hi, देव कुमार सिंह, 24 November 1950 – 21 March 2018), commonly known by his

nom de guerre A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

Arvind Ji, Vikash Ji and Sujeet Ji, was the leader of the Indian Maoist movement and the

Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contraction ...

Member of Communist Party of India (Maoist), a

banned A ban is a formal or informal prohibition of something. Bans are formed for the prohibition of activities within a certain political territory. Some bans in commerce are referred to as embargoes. ''Ban'' is also used as a verb similar in meaning ...

List of Organisations Declared As Terrorist Organisations Under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 - Ministry of Home Affairs

communist party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

in India. He spent his life as a student leader, a mass organiser and later led and strategised the

guerrilla warfare Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which small groups of combatants, such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or Irregular military, irregulars, use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, Raid (military), raids ...

against the Indian state.

Early life

Deo Kumar Singh was born in Sukulchak village in the Jehanabad district 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 ...

, the eldest child of a

middle-class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Comm ...

family. His father, Ram Narayan Singh was a government servant and mother Ajnaso Devi was a housewife. Singh had done schooling from Jehanabad and

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. ...

districts in

. He graduated in science from

College of Commerce, Arts and Science, Patna College of Commerce, Arts & Science, Patna (est. 1949) also known as COCAS is a constituent unit of Patliputra University (earlier it was a unit of Magadh University). It has been re-accredited by NAAC with 'A' grade, receiving 3.10/4 CGPA. It i ...

. He then married Prabhawati Devi and shortly afterwards moved to

Dehri on Sone Dehri also known as Dehri-on-Sone is a Nagar parishad and corresponding community development block in Rohtas district in the state of Bihar, India. Situated on the Son River, Dehri is a large industrial town and a railway hub. Etymology The n ...

, where he started a small food business.

Political life

He was known by several aliases including Arvind Ji, Vikash Ji, Sujeet Ji and Nishant. Singh started student politics in the era of Mahamaya Prasad Sinha and Jayaprakash Narayan movement. He soon entered left-wing politics under the influence of

Naxalbari uprising Naxalbari uprising was an armed peasant revolt in 1967 in the Naxalbari block of Siliguri subdivision in Darjeeling district, West Bengal, India. It was mainly led by tribals and the radical communists leaders of Bengal and further developed in ...

led by

Charu Majumdar Charu Majumdar (Bengali: চারু মজুমদার; 15 May 1918 – 28 July 1972), popularly known as CM, was a Communist leader from India, and founder and General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist). Born in ...

and

Kanu Sanyal Kanu Sanyal (1932 – 23 March 2010) was an Indian communist politician. In 1967, he was one of the main leaders of the Naxalbari uprising and in 1969 he was one of the founding leaders of Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) ( CPI ...

. He joined

CPI(ML) Party Unity A consumer price index (CPI) is a price index, the price of a weighted average market basket of consumer goods and services purchased by households. Changes in measured CPI track changes in prices over time. Overview A CPI is a statisti ...

led by Narayan Sanyal and formed a mass organisation

Mazdoor Kisan Sangram Samiti Mazdoor Kisan Sangram Samiti ( hi, मजदूर किसान संग्राम समिति, 'Worker-Peasant Struggle Association') was a mass organisation in Bihar, India. MKSS was founded in 1981 by Dr. Vinayan, Arvind Ji and other ...

( hi, मजदूर किसान संग्राम समिति) to campaign for land reform and to establish minimum wages for agricultural labourers. Later he became

General secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...

and a member of the Central Organising Committee (top functionary body) of CPI(ML) Party Unity. After the merger of CPI(ML) Party Unity,

Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) People's War Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) People's War, usually called People's War Group (PWG), was an underground communist party in India. It merged with the Maoist Communist Centre of India to form the Communist Party of India (Maois ...

and

Maoist Communist Centre of India 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 ...

, a new party Communist Party of India (Maoist) ( hi, भारत की कम्युनिस्ट पार्टी (माओवादी )) was formed on 21 September 2004; he became a member of the

Central Committee Central committee is the common designation of a standing administrative body of Communist party, communist parties, analogous to a board of directors, of both ruling and nonruling parties of former and existing socialist states. In such party org ...

and Central Military Commission. In 2013 he was elected to the

politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contraction ...

of the Communist Party of India (Maoist).

Role in Maoist movement

Singh was one of the most wanted persons by the

Indian government The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the Government, national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy lo ...

and nine states of India including

Jharkhand Jharkhand (; ; ) is a state in eastern India. The state shares its border with the states of West Bengal to the east, Chhattisgarh to the west, Uttar Pradesh to the northwest, Bihar to the north and Odisha to the south. It has an area of . It ...

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

and

Chhattisgarh Chhattisgarh (, ) is a landlocked state in Central India. It is the ninth largest state by area, and with a population of roughly 30 million, the seventeenth most populous. It borders seven states – Uttar Pradesh to the north, Madhya Prade ...

government alone had announced an award of 10,000,000 for any information leading to his arrest. He was known as the mass organiser and backbone to set up and strategise

under

People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (India) The People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) is the armed wing of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), a banned political organisation in India which aims to overthrow the Indian Government through protracted people's war. Background T ...

in Indian forests against the imperialist state. He had proposed a new

Strategy & Tactics ''Strategy & Tactics'' (''S&T'') is a wargaming magazine now published by Decision Games, notable for publishing a complete new wargame in each issue. Beginnings ''Strategy & Tactics'' was first published in January 1967 under its original edit ...

, Critic Document ( hi, आलोचना दस्तावेज), to central organising committee of CPI (ML) Party Unity which was accepted as a parallel thought of party line and played a key role in formation of Communist Party of India (Maoist) by unification of several left parties distributed across the country fighting for the same goal.

Life in prison

Singh was arrested for the first time in 1990 by

Bihar Police The Bihar Police Department is the law enforcement agency for the state of Bihar, India, with its headquarters in Patna. It has a sanctioned strength of 111,000 personnel, and as of 2017, employs 77,000 personnel. The annual Budgeted Estimate ...

and kept as a political prisoner in Bankipur Central Jail, Patna. After three years, he was released on bail. On 12 June 2003, he was again arrested in

Special Task Force Special Task Force may refer to: * Special Task Force (SAPS), a South African Counter-Terrorist force * Special Task Force (Sri Lanka), Sri Lankan Police Counter-Terrorist force * Special Task Force (India) In India, a Special Task Force (STF) i ...

and was held as a prisoner in Beur Central Jail, Patna, Jehanabad Jail and Bhagalpur Central Jail for more than two years.

Personal life

Singh was affable and courteous with his mates and a charismatic person. After massacre of

Arwal Arwal town is the administrative headquarters of Arwal district in Bihar state of India. It was earlier part of Jehanabad district. The district as formed to control the naxalism in the area. District was formed from the area of two near by ...

by police and the state ban on

, Singh went underground; he addressed some

press conferences A press conference or news conference is a media event in which notable individuals or organizations invite journalists to hear them speak and ask questions. Press conferences are often held by politicians, corporations, non-governmental organ ...

and gave only a few interviews, which include those with Alex Perry of ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine and Ushinor Majumdar, a journalist from '' Tehelka''.

Death

On 21 March 2018, after two months of severe illness, Singh died of respiratory arrest and heart attack at Burha Pahar, Latehar,

and paramilitary forces of India wanted to see his body as an evidence of death but failed to recover, they detained his family members and did not allow them to attend the last rites. His body was cremated in Latehar forest in

under the protection of PLGA surrounded by local people and sympathisers.

Monument

After his death, a bust made of granite on top of a 24-foot high concrete pillar has been created on 0.4 acre land at his native village Sukulchak. The process is currently underway by voluntary contribution involving physical effort and financial support. Status of Deo Kumar Singh

References

External links

India Today TV: Jharkhand's Most Wanted Maoist Leader Declared Dead

Tehelka: The hunt for the last Che Guevara of the East

International Campaign Against War on the People in India -Launched by ICAWPI
* Roy, Arundhati (29 March 2010)
"Walking With The Comrades"
'' Outlook''. * Thottam, Jyoti (24 October 2010)
"India's Scourge"
''Time''. * Sengupta, Somini (30 October 2005)

''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine Supplement (publishing), supplement included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted man ...

''.
"India's Maoist rebels: An explainer"

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...

. 26 April 2017.
"Military Assaults Against Revolutionaries and the Masses in India"
BannedThought.net. 20 April 2010.
Official Website: Deo Kumar Singh Memorial, Jehanabad
{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Deo Kumar 1950 births 2018 deaths People from Jehanabad district Communist Party of India (Maoist) politicians Anti-revisionists Indian guerrillas Indian Marxists