SUMMARY

In the context of MCC's struggle against the Government of India (see Government of India - MCC, the group has not only attacked government targets such as the military, but also made use of one-sided violence to promote its goals.

MCC's violence against civilians is often explained in terms of Maoist ideology, with the group targeting civilians deemed to be ‘class enemies’ or ‘class traitors’. Targeted victims in this category can range from police informers to village chiefs and include anyone who the group deems to not be supportive of its goals.

The bulk of those killed by MCC have however been upper-caste Indians, almost by definition being ‘class traitors’ due to their heritage. In response to massacres of lower-caste Dalits by private armies such as the Ranvir Sena MCC has on many occasions attacked villages populated by upper-caste Indians and murdered civilians belonging to this group. Members of the upper-caste groups stand for the bulk of those civilians killed by MCC during its “people’s war”.

The group’s main theatre of operations has been the Indian state of Bihar, which is also the MCC stronghold.

MCC first became active as a one-sided actor in UCDP data in 1992, when the one-sided violence resulted in at least 25 civilian deaths. The threshold was reached in February that year when fighters of the movement killed approximately 35 upper-caste villagers in the Gaya district of Bihar state. In 2004 the group merged with the People’s War Group (PWG) to create the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), and from that year one-sided activity by MCC is coded as being carried out by CPI-Maoist.