Mazdoor Kisan Sangram Samiti ( hi, मजदूर किसान संग्राम समिति, 'Worker-Peasant Struggle Association') was a mass organisation in

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 ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. MKSS was founded in 1981 by Dr. Vinayan, Arvind Ji and other mass leaders. The following of MKSS was largely made up of

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 ...

. MKSS emerged from the

Jayaprakash Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), popularly referred to as JP or ''Lok Nayak'' ( Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian independence activist, theorist, socialist and political leader. He is remembered for l ...

-led anti-

Emergency An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...

struggles in Bihar. Dr. Vinayan and Arvind Ji had been leaders of the JP movement and influenced by

Mahamaya Prasad Sinha Mahamaya Prasad Sinha (1 May 1909 – 1987) was an Indian politician. He was the fifth Chief Minister of Bihar from March 1967 to January 1968 which was the first non congress Government in Bihar. Sinha was a follower of Maharaja Kamakhya Narain ...

. They had founded MKSS to struggle for

land reform Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultural ...

and minimum wages. The

Jehanabad Jehanabad is a town in Nagar parishad, Nagar Parishad and is the headquarters of Jehanabad district in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Bihar. Jehanabad is famous for Barabar Hill Caves these are the oldest surviving rock-c ...

and Gaya districts were the epicentres of the movement. The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Unity Organisation (from 1982 onwards, the

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 statistica ...

) aligned with MKSS. Effectively CPI(ML) Party Unity came to operate as the armed squad of MKSS, confronting the private armies of landlords (''senas'').Nedumpara, Jose J.
Political Economy and Class Contradictions: A Study
'. New Delhi: Anmol Publications, 2004. pp. 116-117 In 1984 the MKSS secretary Krishna Singh was killed by landlord ''senas''. In April 1986 police opened fire on a MKSS rally in Arwal where 23 poor peasants were killed. Following the Arwal massacre MKSS was banned. In June 1987 MKSS was divided in two. Dr. Vinayan became increasingly hostile to CPI(ML) Party Unity, citing that the killings conducted by the party damaged the image of MKSS. One MKSS faction remained loyal to Dr. Vinayan, the other led by Arvind Ji retained links to CPI(ML) Party Unity. The Dr. Vinayan faction reconstructed themselves as the Jan Mukti Andolan. CPI(ML) Party Unity reconstituted its peasant front as the Mazdoor Kisan Sangrami Parishad. However, the names 'Sangram Samiti' or simply 'Sangram' remained in day-to-day conversations in Bihar.Kumar, Rabindra.
Impact of Rural Development on Scheduled Castes
'. New Delhi, India: Anmol Publ, 2002. p. 59

References

{{reflist Bihar: the area of Darkness, India Today, December 31, 1986: Link:http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/root-cause-of-almost-all-rural-conflicts-in-bihar-attributed-to-land/1/349141.html Indian agriculture and forestry trade unions 1981 establishments in Bihar Organisations based in Bihar Organizations established in 1981 Political organisations based in India Organisations designated as terrorist by India