More of a caste war than class difference

Killing of at least 10 Maoists, most of them belonging to other backward classes like Yadavs, of the banned outfit CPI (Maoist) by breakaway faction Tritiya Sammelan Prastuti Committee (TSPC) in Jharkhand, has again highlighted the brewing caste feud amongst Maoists who are seemingly fighting a class war.

Killing of at least 10 Maoists, most of them belonging to other backward classes like Yadavs, of the banned outfit CPI (Maoist) by breakaway faction Tritiya Sammelan Prastuti Committee (TSPC) in Jharkhand, has again highlighted the brewing caste feud amongst Maoists who are seemingly fighting a class war.

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“Besides the killing of Yadav naxals, the TSPC has also abducted at least 10 to 15 cadres of the CPI (Maoist). Now they will be tried in so called ‘Jan Adalats’ and a spectacle will be made out it. Foot soldiers will be asked to join the breakaway faction and the rest will be punished with sentences varying from death to chopping of limbs,’ said a home ministry official on condition of anonymity.

According to sources, the TSPC was formed in 2002 against the hegemony of Yadavs in the naxal ranks by tribal Maoists belonging mainly to the Oraon, Ghanju, Turi and Badai castes. “It can be called a tribal-non tribal feud also but these non-tribals are basically Yadavs,” said the official.