Jagdish Mahto
[1][2] 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.[6] Prior to his involvement in the Naxalite movement, Mahto taught science at Harprasad Das Jain College, Arrah.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.The tipping point to revolt was the sexual harassment of the wife of Ramayan Chamar, who used to work as an agricultural labourer in the fields of Charichan Singh, by the sons of her landlord.[12] On 14 April 1970, Mahto, along with Rameswar Ahir and Latafat Hussain, organised a massive rally and candle march in support of Harijanistan, a separate territory to be inhabited by the lower-castes.The Naxalbari revolt in West Bengal motivated Mahto and his friend Ramnaresh Dusadh, who were joined by a bandit called Rameswar Ahir, to lead an armed uprising against the exploitative Zamindars.A group of Koeris and Dusadh under Jagdish Mahto met with the Sub-Divisional Magistrate and a police office was established in the village to handle any future skirmishes.On 23 February 1971, a landlord named Shivpujan Singh, who was accused of raping a Harijan women in a village called Inrukhi, was assassinated by the Mahto group.Mahto and his wife went underground, and by 1971 the Ekwari village was divided on a class line between two groups, one containing the influential landlords and the other containing poor peasants and the Dalits.[7] Jagdish Mahto became a notable figure among people of Ekwari and several books were written to commemorate his struggle against the landlords for the cause of poor and the deprived.Some of the biographical accounts of Mahto are Bhojpur Mein Naxalvadi Andolan (Kalyan Mukherjee and Rajendra Yadav), Master Saab (Mahashweta Devi), Raktim Tara (Suresh Kantak), and Arjun Zinda Hai (Madhukar Singh).