Communist Party of Nepal (Maoists)

Nepal is among the world's poorest and least developed countries, with more than a third of its population living below the poverty line. Until 2008, this remote and mountainous country was one of the last absolute monarchies of the world. Given its history of poverty, oppression, and its remote geography, it is not surprising that communist ideology found a firm foothold in Nepal. The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), or CPN(M), aims at following the path of the Chinese Communist leader Mao Zedong and transforming the nation into a classless Marxist state.

Although the CPN(M) was founded by Pushpa Kumar Dahal—also known as Prachanda (the [Page 137]“terrible”)—in 1994, for several years most people in the country were not even aware of the group's existence. In early 1996, CPN(M) put forward a list of 40 demands that was completely ignored by the media. However, the group soon launched a guerrilla war that shook the nation. The group destroyed buildings, stole currency, and killed civilians. The Nepali Civil War—or, as the Maoists called it, the People's War—lasted from 1996 to 2006 and resulted in the deaths of more than 12,000 Nepalis. Human rights groups were critical of the CPN(M) for their alleged use of underage soldiers, some as young as 12.

In order to capture political power and defeat the forces of the central state, the CPN(M) proposed what it called the Prachanda Path, which combined the “education” of the masses and the creation of military bases in rural areas. From these bases the CPN(M) was to capture the ultimate power in Kathmandu, the seat of the Nepalese government. The success of the CPN(M) in the villages can be attributed to its ability to deliver a modicum of governance where previously there had been none.

King Gyanendra came to power in Nepal in 2001 after a massacre that killed the reigning monarch, Gyanendra's father, King Birenda, and the majority of the royal family. As the war escalated, the Maoists began attacking the Nepalese Army. Although there were intermittent cease-fires beginning in 2002, fighting continued through 2005, when the CPN(M) sought a permanent peace accord by forming a pro-democratic alliance with several other mainstream political parties that wanted to end the Nepalese monarchy. However, the autocratic King Gyanendra lost faith in the reconciliation process, and in February 2005 he took complete control of the government by dismissing the elected parliament.

This direct challenge by the king brought the conflict to a head. The opposition political parties were finally able to drive the king out in 2008, and they declared Nepal to be a republic. The CPN(M) then became part of a coalition government. In the new government, Prachanda was elected prime minster. However, even in power, after more than a decade of fighting, the relationship between the CPN(M) and the established powers, particularly the military, is far from smooth. In May 2009 Prachanda resigned his post after he tried and failed to remove the chief of the Nepalese armed forces.

The future of the CPN(M) is uncertain. There is growing discontent within the ranks of the former revolutionaries as the Maoist militia and armed guerrillas are being assimilated into the civil society. Without marketable skills, these young men and women are increasingly depending on their weapons to earn a living, which poses a serious challenge to the Maoist's popularity among the Nepalese people.

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