Deo Kumar Singh
देव कुमार सिंह
Born(1950-11-24)24 November 1950
Jehanabad, Bihar, India
Died21 March 2018(2018-03-21) (aged 67)
Latehar, Jharkhand, India
Resting place25°16′05″N 84°59′14″E / 25.267917°N 84.9872655°E / 25.267917; 84.9872655
MonumentsA bust and a 24 feet high pillar has been constructed at his birthplace by voluntary contribution involving physical effort and financial support from the people
NationalityIndian
Other namesArvind Ji, Vikash Ji, Sujeet Ji, Nishant
Occupation(s)Maoist, guerrilla warfare
Years active1977–2018
Organization(s)Politburo and Central Military Commission Member of Communist Party of India (Maoist)
General Secretary of Mazdoor Kisan Sangram Samiti
Member of Central Organising Committee, Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Party Unity
Known forProminent figure of the Maoist movement in India, far-left politics
SpousePrabhawati Devi
Children3

Deo Kumar Singh (/dɛv kuˈmɑr sɪŋ/ Hindi: देव कुमार सिंह, 24 November 1950 – 21 March 2018), commonly known by his nom de guerre Arvind Ji,[1] Vikash Ji and Sujeet Ji, was the leader of the Indian Maoist movement and the Politburo Member of Communist Party of India (Maoist), a banned[2] communist party in India. He spent his life as a student leader, a mass organiser and later led and strategised the guerrilla warfare against the Indian state.

Early life

Deo Kumar Singh was born in Sukulchak village in the Jehanabad district of Bihar, the eldest child of a middle-class family. His father, Ram Narayan Singh was a government servant and mother Ajnaso Devi was a housewife. Singh had done schooling from Jehanabad and Patna districts in Bihar. He graduated in science from College of Commerce, Arts and Science, Patna. He then married Prabhawati Devi and shortly afterwards moved to Dehri on Sone, where he started a small food business.

Political life

He was known by several aliases including Arvind Ji, Vikash Ji, Sujeet Ji and Nishant. Singh started student politics in the era of Mahamaya Prasad Sinha and Jayaprakash Narayan movement. He soon entered left-wing politics under the influence of Naxalbari uprising led by Charu Majumdar and Kanu Sanyal.

He joined CPI(ML) Party Unity led by Narayan Sanyal and formed a mass organisation Mazdoor Kisan Sangram Samiti (Hindi: मजदूर किसान संग्राम समिति) to campaign for land reform and to establish minimum wages for agricultural labourers. Later he became General secretary of Mazdoor Kisan Sangram Samiti and a member of the Central Organising Committee (top functionary body) of CPI(ML) Party Unity. After the merger of CPI(ML) Party Unity, Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) People's War and Maoist Communist Centre of India, a new party Communist Party of India (Maoist) (Hindi: भारत की कम्युनिस्ट पार्टी (माओवादी )) was formed on 21 September 2004; he became a member of the Central Committee and Central Military Commission. In 2013 he was elected to the politburo of the Communist Party of India (Maoist).[3]

Role in Maoist movement

Singh was one of the most wanted persons by the Indian government and nine states of India including Jharkhand, Bihar, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh. Jharkhand government alone had announced an award of ₹ 10,000,000 for any information leading to his arrest.[4] He was known as the mass organiser and backbone to set up and strategise guerrilla warfare under People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (India) in Indian forests against the imperialist state. He had proposed a new Strategy & Tactics, Critic Document (Hindi: आलोचना दस्तावेज), to central organising committee of CPI (ML) Party Unity which was accepted as a parallel thought of party line and played a key role in formation of Communist Party of India (Maoist) by unification of several left parties distributed across the country fighting for the same goal.

Life in prison

Singh was arrested for the first time in 1990 by Bihar Police and kept as a political prisoner in Bankipur Central Jail, Patna. After three years, he was released on bail. On 12 June 2003, he was again arrested in Patna by Special Task Force[5] and was held as a prisoner in Beur Central Jail, Patna, Jehanabad Jail and Bhagalpur Central Jail for more than two years.

Personal life

Singh was affable and courteous with his mates and a charismatic person. After massacre of Arwal[6] by police and the state ban on Mazdoor Kisan Sangram Samiti,[7] Singh went underground; he addressed some press conferences and gave only a few interviews, which include those with Alex Perry of Time magazine and Ushinor Majumdar, a journalist from Tehelka.[8]

Death

On 21 March 2018, after two months of severe illness, Singh died of respiratory arrest and heart attack at Burha Pahar, Latehar, Jharkhand.[9] Indian government and paramilitary forces of India wanted to see his body as an evidence of death but failed to recover, they detained his family members and did not allow them to attend the last rites. His body was cremated in Latehar forest in Jharkhand under the protection of PLGA surrounded by local people and sympathisers.

Monument

After his death, a bust made of granite on top of a 24-foot high concrete pillar has been created on 0.4 acre land at his native village Sukulchak.[10] The process is currently underway by voluntary contribution involving physical effort and financial support.

Statue of Deo Kumar Singh
His wife Prabhawati Devi paying the last respect


References

  1. ↑ Deepak Kumar Nayak (22 November 2013). "Naxalism: Profile of Deo Kumar Singh Alias Arvindji". IPCS. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
  2. ↑ List of Organisations Declared As Terrorist Organisations Under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 - Ministry of Home Affairs Archived 2010-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ Bharti Jain (5 February 2013). "Latehar operation mastermind tipped for Maoist politbureau berth?". The Times of India. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
  4. ↑ "Rs 1 crore reward on four top Maoist leaders in Jharkhand". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
  5. ↑ Sanjay Singh (13 June 2003). "PW chief gives a talk to sleuths". The Times of India. Retrieved 13 June 2003.
  6. ↑ "Massacre of Arwal". Studymoose. 3 October 2016.
  7. ↑ "CM Bindeshwari Dubey's decision to ban MKSS raises doubts about his grip on Bihar". India Today.
  8. ↑ Ushinor Majumdar (18 January 2014). "The hunt for the last Che Guevara of the East". Tehelka. Archived from the original on 9 April 2018. Retrieved 18 January 2014.
  9. ↑ "Jharkhand's top Maoist commander Arvindji died of heart attack: Police". Hindustan Times. 21 March 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2018.
  10. ↑ Karmarkar, Debashish (2 April 2018). "Plan to put up Maoist leader's bust in Jehanabad". The Times of India. Retrieved 23 August 2019.
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