| Kuer Sena | |
|---|---|
| Leaders | Rajnath Singh Bir Bahadur Singh |
| Dates of operation | 1979–1990s |
| Active regions | Western Bihar |
| Ideology | Anti-communism Rajputsupremacy |
| Allies | Ranvir Sena,Bhumi Sena |
| Opponents | Lal Sena MCC People's War Group |
TheKuer Sena was acaste-basedprivate army operating in the Indian state ofBihar during the 1970s and 1980s.[1] The majority of its members were young men from theRajputs, and the militia was named after the 19th century anti-colonial revolutionary,Kunwar Singh, who is considered be a community hero by the Rajputs of Bihar.[2]
The Kuer Sena was one of the first of the caste-based militias to emerge inBihar during the early years of theNaxalite-Maoist insurgency.[3] It was founded by theRajput farmer and coal businessman Rajnath Singh, who was also an affiliate of theIndian National Congress (INC) party.[3] While it initially had innocent aims, it eventually grew into persecuting the people of the lower-caste who had Naxalite affiliations.[3]
Because of this, Rajnath Singh was eventually arrested by the local government and the running of the militia was left to his commander, Bir Bahadur Singh. Bir Bahadur Singh was also known to the local authorities and was connected to some 20 murder cases, meaning that he was often in and out of jail.[3] He was eventually elected as anMLA for theJagdispur area and his tenure was mired by atrocities against the so-called "lower castes".[4] They regularly engaged in battles with theMCC militias and often found themselves allying with other caste-based militias like theRanvir Sena which was controlled by theBhumihars and theBhumi Sena controlled by theKurmis.[5]
The organisation ended up collapsing due to its over-reliance on a few Rajput landlords as leadership, many of whom were often sent to jail.[3] The Rajputs soon started to band around a new caste-based militia known as theSunlight Sena which was formed in the early 1990s and allied withMuslim landlords in the region.[6][7]