Lal Sena (लाल सेना; lit. Red Army in
Hindi
Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...
) was an organised armed militia of
CPIML Liberation in northeastern India, across the terrains of central
Bihar
Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...
, north-west of today's
Jharkhand
Jharkhand (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in East India, 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 a few districts of eastern
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...
. It was formed mainly by lower caste (middle and lower class) peasantry and landless labourers. It was active from 1974 - 1990
Background
In 1960s, when the
Naxalite
Naxalism is the communist ideology of the Naxalites or Naxals, a grouping of political and insurgent groups from India. It is influenced by Maoist political sentiment and ideology.
Inspired by Maoism, Charu Majumdar wrote the Historic Eight ...
movement started under the leadership of
Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist)
The Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) (CPI(ML)) was an Indian communist party formed by the All India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries (AICCCR) at a congress in Calcutta in 1969. The foundation of the party wa ...
,
the poor peasantry and agricultural labourers who belonged mainly to the lower castes started taking side with the communists in central Bihar across the districts of
Bhojpur,
Gaya,
Nalanda
Nalanda (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: , ) was a renowned Buddhism, Buddhist ''mahavihara'' (great monastery) in medieval Magadha (Mahajanapada), Magadha (modern-day Bihar), eastern India. Widely considered to be am ...
,
Patna
Patna (; , ISO 15919, ISO: ''Paṭanā''), historically known as Pataliputra, Pāṭaliputra, is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and largest city of the state of Bihar in India. According to the United Nations, ...
and
Aurangabad
Aurangabad (), officially renamed as Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in 2023, is a city in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the administrative headquarters of Aurangabad district and is the largest city in the Marathwada region. Located on a ...
. Several violent armed clashes occurred between the landlords and poor/landless peasantry. During the 1970s, CPI (ML) faced hard offence from central and state governments throughout India and splintered into several ML factions. In 1974, one of the ML factions was able to hold on to the grounds and reorganised itself into the
CPI(ML) Liberation
A consumer price index (CPI) is a statistical estimate of the level of prices of goods and services bought for consumption purposes by households. It is calculated as the weighted average price of a market basket of Goods, consumer goods and ...
political party.
Meanwhile, the landlords/landowners most of whom economically were from upper class peasantry (mainly upper caste ) organised themselves based on caste lines into several landlord gentries. In retaliation Lal Sena guerrilla armed squads, were organised by then underground CPI (ML) Liberation.
After 2005
Since the late 2000s, Lal Sena's squad activity has been curtailed. The CPI (ML) Liberation party's movements took a militant but democratic approach through legalised workers, peasants, students, youth and women organisations, as noted by Dr. Sanjay K. Jha:
See also
*
Ranvir Sena
*
Kuer Sena
*
List of communist parties in India
References
{{Reflist
Communist organisations in India
Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation
Defunct communist militant groups
Land rights movements
Left-wing militant groups in India
Naxalite groups
Politics of Bihar