Mazdoor Kisan Sangram Samiti
Encyclopedia
Mazdoor Kisan Sangram Samiti was a mass organisation in Bihar
, India
. MKSS was founded in 1981 by Dr. Vinayan and others. The following of MKSS was largely made up of Dalits.
MKSS emerged out of the Jayaprakash Narayan
-led anti-Emergency
struggles in Bihar. Dr. Vinayan had been a leader of the JP movement. He had founded MKSS to struggle for land reform
and minimum wages. The Jehanabad
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) aligned with MKSS. Effectively CPI(ML) Party Unity came to operate as the armed squad of MKSS, confronting the private armies of landlords (senas).
In 1984 the MKSS secretary Krishna Singh was killed by landlord senas. In April 1986 police opened fire on a MKSS rally in Arwal. 23 poor peasants were killed. Following the Arwal massacre MKSS was banned.
In June 1987 MKSS was divided in two. Dr. Vinayan was become 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 Aravind) retained links to CPI(ML) Party Unity. The Dr. Vinayan faction reconstructed themselved as the Jan Mukti Andolan. CPI(ML) Party Unity reconstituted its peasant front as the Mazdoor Kisan Sangram Parishad. However, the names 'Sangram Samiti' or simply 'Sangram' remained in day-to-day conversations in Bihar.
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. MKSS was founded in 1981 by Dr. Vinayan and others. The following of MKSS was largely made up of Dalits.
MKSS emerged out of the Jayaprakash Narayan
Jayaprakash Narayan
Jayaprakash Narayan , widely known as JP Narayan, Jayaprakash, or Loknayak, was an Indian independence activist and political leader, remembered especially for leading the opposition to Indira Gandhi in the 1970s and for giving a call for peaceful Total Revolution...
-led anti-Emergency
Emergency
An emergency is a situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property or environment. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening of the situation, although in some situations, mitigation may not be possible and agencies may only be able to offer palliative...
struggles in Bihar. Dr. Vinayan had been a leader of the JP movement. He had founded MKSS to struggle for land reform
Land reform
[Image:Jakarta farmers protest23.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Farmers protesting for Land Reform in Indonesia]Land reform involves the changing of laws, regulations or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution,...
and minimum wages. The Jehanabad
Jehanabad
Jehanabad is a city and a municipality in and the headquarters of Jehanabad district in the Indian state of Bihar. Earlier, Jehanabad was part of Gaya district. It is 50 km away from both Patna and Gaya.-Demographics:...
and Gaya
Gaya District
Gaya is one of the thirty-eight districts of Bihar state, India. The district is having a common boundary with the Jharkhand state in the south. Gaya city is its largest city and the district headquarters.-History:...
districts were the epicentres of the movement. The Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Unity Organisation (from 1982 onwards, the CPI(ML) Party Unity) aligned with MKSS. Effectively CPI(ML) Party Unity came to operate as the armed squad of MKSS, confronting the private armies of landlords (senas).
In 1984 the MKSS secretary Krishna Singh was killed by landlord senas. In April 1986 police opened fire on a MKSS rally in Arwal. 23 poor peasants were killed. Following the Arwal massacre MKSS was banned.
In June 1987 MKSS was divided in two. Dr. Vinayan was become 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 Aravind) retained links to CPI(ML) Party Unity. The Dr. Vinayan faction reconstructed themselved as the Jan Mukti Andolan. CPI(ML) Party Unity reconstituted its peasant front as the Mazdoor Kisan Sangram Parishad. However, the names 'Sangram Samiti' or simply 'Sangram' remained in day-to-day conversations in Bihar.