Dear Peasants,
The Kurmi caste is well known as an honest, hard-working and brave caste. It has produced quite a considerable number of progressive individuals and revolutionaries. Many whole-time cadres of our Party hail from your caste. Many leaders and cadres, like Mahendra Singh, Sachchidanand Singh and Shyamnarayan Patel, of democratic organisations, like the IPF or the Kisan Sabha, also belong to your caste. Altogether, your caste is held in high esteem in the whole society.
Our Party is leading the people towards a revolutionary transformation of the entire society, and you are an integral part of the people. But some persons are out to drive a wedge between us by giving you a false impression about our Party. We admit that we had made certain mistakes in the past, but we have already rectified them. Undoubtedly, some shortcomings may still be there and you are absolutely welcome to point them out, but please know us closely and don’t misunderstand us. We are consistently fighting for your all-round development.
Now, some arch-reactionaries and their goons, who also happen to come mainly from the Kurmi caste, have formed a gang like the Bhoomi Sena that is out to perpetuate your deprivation and backwardness and to make life hell for you. And some persons are associating your entire caste with this notorious gang to tarnish your great image. You must be knowing it very well what a tremendous hatred the people have for this Bhoomi Sena. Do you not want to preserve the respect the people have always shown towards your caste? Do you not want to prosper economically, socially, politically and culturally? Do you not want to break out of this bondage of backwardness? Surely you do, and we, therefore, appeal to you to isolate and smash this notorious gang and to march forward to a better tomorrow. And in this forward march towards the fulfilment of your just aspirations, you can always count on our fullest help and cooperation.
Just think how many progressive individuals and revolutionaries have been murdered by this gang and what a great loss it has inflicted on the people. They have snatched away from you such beloved mass leaders as Premchand Sinha, Lalbabu Singh and Sharda Singh. This gang is indeed a disgrace to the entire society and as such it is imperative to wipe it out completely from the face of this earth.
As far as we are concerned, we associate only Girish Singh, Lallu Singh, Beni Singh, Jeevlal Singh and Vijay Singh with the Bhoomi Sena. They are the main enemy in this area and we will not spare them. If anyone else has, by mistake, aligned himself with these elements, he should dissociate himself immediately. We bear no enmity towards anybody else. However, in the interest of the masses, particularly of the Kurmi caste, we are prepared to work out a compromise with these elements and avoid bloodshed if possible. We will not take any action against them till 31 March and wait for their response. But if we do not get any response from them by 30 March, we will assume that they do not want any compromise, they do not have any sympathy for the Kurmi peasants and want to play with their lives. After that we will be free to mobilise the masses in any action against this gang of five.
Peasants of the Kurmi caste, unite with the peasants of all other castes. No caste can prosper in isolation. Landlords of all castes are getting united. You, too, must take immediate steps. You must make your choice between light and darkness. Our Party is also your Party, and it will remain yours for ever.
Patna District Committee of your own party,
Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) (Liberation)
15 February, 1986
