Jagdish Mahto was a naxal leader who led the 1970 Bhojpur uprising in the landlord-dominated Bhojpur region of Bihar. He was a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist), an organisation which was leading the Naxalite insurgency against the Government of India. He also fought against the upper-caste landlords for the cause of lower-caste people. Mahto, also called Master Saheb, was a member of the Bihar State Committee of CPI(M–L) and one of the founding leaders of the party in Bhojpur.
Life
Jagdish Mahto was born in Ekwari, Bihar. He was a member of Koeri community. Mahto established a newspaper called Harijanistan ("Land of Dalits") in order to voice support for the rights of the Dalits. Shri Bhagwan Singh Kushwaha, a former Minister in the Government of Bihar, is Mahto's son-in-law.
Prior to his involvement in the Naxalite movement, Mahto taught science at Harprasad Das Jain College, Arrah. Later in his life, he developed an interest in politics and was inspired by the writing of Karl Marx. Later, he became an Ambedkarite after reading the philosophy of B. R. Ambedkar. Mahto was a staunch supporter of the rights of the Dalits. He was also against many of the privileges that the upper castes enjoyed, particularly those who had been "twice born"(dvija). When Bengal and Punjab experienced a Dalit upsurgence in 1967, the Bihar region saw no similar uprising from the oppressed sections of the society. Scholars attribute this lack of uprising to prevalent landlordism and the dominance of upper castes in the area, creating fear within lower castes. The first spark of Naxalism developed in Mushari, but it was soon extinguished by feudalistic forces.
Communist upsurge under Mahto
In the 1967 election, Mahto was supporting his friend Ram Naresh Ram in the elections to the legislative assembly, who was running on the ticket of the Communist Party of India against a candidate supported by local Bhumihars. When Mahto went to the polling booth, he saw that a Bhumihar youth was preventing voters from casting their votes. Mahto spoke out against this and was beaten badly by other Bhumihars. He was admitted to the hospital, where he remained for several months. After being discharged, Mahto became sympathetic to radical ideas. Mahto met Charu Mazumdar during this period, who had led a "communist uprising" in Bengal and had travelled to Bhojpur to deliver a speech against the landlords.
Mahto formed an alliance with other like-minded youths, including Ram Naresh Ram and Rameswar Ahir. They assembled their supporters under the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation. They began organising murders of landlords and their henchmen. According to author Bernard D'Mello:
By the end of the 1970s, a large number of landlords were killed. The movement pushed for economic reforms (e.g., eliminating unpaid labour of the Dalits for their masters) as well as increased respect for the Dalits. Prior to the movement, there were virtually no consequences for landlords who engaged in unwanted sexual contact with Dalit women. The Dalits were mostly landless labourers who were fighting under Jagdish Mahto for their honour.
Associates
One of the most notable associates of Mahto was Ganeshi Dusadh, who is described as an outstanding guerrilla fighter. He was the son of a landless bonded peasant from the Chauri village of the Sahar block. Under the leadership of Dusadh, the CPI-ML guerrilla fighters made several attacks on the regional landlords. They killed landlords as well as moneylenders, which was followed by the confiscation of their lands and the organisation of peasants to sow those lands. In addition, the grains of large trading companies were seized and distributed by the guerrillas. For at least six months in 1973, the Chauri village remained under the control of the Naxalites' revolutionary committee. On 6 May 1973, the armed police force entered the village along with the henchmen of the local landlords. The battle that ensued saw the villagers and CPI-ML guerrillas under Ganeshi Dusadh fighting the police and henchmen of the landlords. After a twelve-hour-long conflict, Ganeshi Dusadh was killed.