Naxalism has emerged as the most serious internal security threat and a severe challenge in many states. In the current phase of Naxal violence in Bihar, anti-Naxal forces are often found to be more problematic. They create a social reaction which further breeds Naxalites. Anti-Naxal groups belong to those castes which have dominated the social order on caste line and have subjugated the scheduled castes and weaker sections of society. Unfortunately, the canvas of such groups in Bihar has expanded horizontally. Many middle castes, especially the Yadavs and Kurmis, who have become economically rich and politically powerful over the years, have joined the anti-Naxal forces.

The caste dynamics became more acute after the J.P. Movement in Bihar. The polarization along caste lines deepened when the dalits were mobilized by left-wing extremists and increasingly became stereotyped as Naxalites. This gave an opportunity to the upper castes to start their own private armies. Many anti-Naxal outfits began to challenge the Naxalites forces, among which the Ranvir Sena is the most deadly.

Over the years, the Ranvir Sena has extended its influence to the Jehanabad, Patna, Rohtas, Aurangabad, Gaya, Bhabhua and Buxur districts, mobilizing the landed caste groups in these districts against the various left-wing organisations. It has carried out a number of massacres in Central Bihar: on 16 June 2000, its cadres killed 34 persons at Miapur village, Aurangabad district; on 21 April 1999, 12 persons were killed at Sendani village, Gaya district; on 20 February 1999, 11 persons were killed in Narayanpur village, Jehanabad district; on 25 January 1999, 23 persons were massacred in Sankarbigha village, Jehanabad district; and, on 1 December 1997, 58 persons were massacred in Lakshmanpur-Bathe village, Jehanabad district.

The Ranvir Sena is largely represented by the Bhumihar and Rajput castes. For a long period in the history of the state, these zamindars (landlords) have dominated politics and have exploited their sharecroppers and agricultural laborers. Now new landlords have been added to the list. There is a case study of Pandura Rampur in district Bhojpur which has many castes. There is one particular caste, Yadav, which has purchased 70 percent of the total land sold in the village over the last ten years. This is more or less true in many other villages of Bihar. In Kurmi dominated areas, land is purchased by only Kurmis.

There has been a visible change in the power structure. First the Yadavs, then the Kurmis deposed the upper castes from political power. Now these middle castes have joined the anti-Naxal forces. Their aim is to protect their lands and establish their political and social hegemony. Besides the Ranvir Sena, there are a number of other armed groups who represent the interests of the other castes. The Bhoomi Sena of the Kurmis and the Lorik Sena of the Yadavs were formed in 1983 in Nalanda district and is most powerful in Gaya and Dhanarua blocks in Patna. It appears that these caste-based senas have degenerated into gangs that thrive on extortion from ordinary people. The people of Bihar have suffered from caste violence and goonda raj by one particular caste during the RJD rule in Bihar.

Scheduled castes constitute close to 14 percent of the population in Bihar; most of the agricultural laborers belong to these castes. There are more than one hundred backward castes, the dominant one being the Yadavs and the Kurmis. The implementation of reservations in favor of the backward castes has improved their status throughout the state; the same is not true of scheduled castes whose condition continues to deteriorate. Central Bihar, in particular, has seen a rise in abuses against scheduled castes since the early 1990s at the hands of upper castes and backward castes that employ them as laborers on their lands. Rapes and murders of dalit women have increased in this period.

In the Annual report for 2004, the then Home Secretary admitted that there has been a spurt in Naxal activity in Bihar. The Home Secretary stated that it could be treated in three parts viz. police response, development response and removal of cultural alienation. He then stressed the need to improve project implementation to keep the local youths away from Naxalism.

Successive Bihar governments have failed to implement land reforms and guarantees of minimum wages for agricultural laborers. Continuing disparities and increasing economic exploitation have given rise to numerous militant leftist groups, who have increased their membership, their political clout, and their weaponry since the 1970s. The solution is more complex than only maintaining law and order, whereas the empowerment of the middle castes and alienation of the scheduled castes in Bihar will generate more Naxalites in the coming years.