On Contradictory Statements from Nepal’s Maoist Leaders

Maoist women fighters with their weapons. Click for full picture by Ben Peterson

By Mike Ely

Gary pointed out the piece below that appeared in the Nepali Times.

It reports a discussion with Baburam Bhattarai in which he says “contradictory statements from our leaders is one of our weaknesses.”

This is an acknowledgment of an obvious fact: That for a long time, the public remarks by leading Maoists in Nepal have contradicted each other, pointing in different directions and giving different explanations for policy. It is true of individual leaders (including Bhattarai himself) that their remarks (to put it mildly) vary.

This fact has produced quite a bit of debate among those of us who follow the Nepali revolution closely. It has caused controversy. Some forces internationally have seized on this or that phrase to justify their views (often their dismissal) of the Nepali Maoist strategies — as the rest of us repeatedly discover that other phrases are used at other times and create a more textured complexity to that party’s public expression.

What explains this?

• Is it the case that the Nepali Maoists have “loosened” the hold of public discipline — allowing different leaders to act as individual public political players expressing their individual views?
• Is it the case that the line struggle within the Maoist party has become sharp enough that different factions are publicly making their case and fighting for adherents?
• Is it the case that the Maoists are expressing both tactical slogans in the politics of each moment (especially to the daily press), while also expressing long range strategic goals (especially in more formal documents)?

I think it is all of these things.

Events Quicken, Conflict Sharpens — Eyes On Nepal!

A collision has been building for months — since the Nepali military refused to accept civilian control and restructure along the lines ordered by the Maoist-dominated government. Since then the Maosts resigned from national office and regrouped in a series of strategic meetings. They have called for public actions — suggesting that this might build to the kind of storm that toppled the King a few years ago. The word insurrection has been mentioned.

And meanwhile the reactionary forces have braced themselves and grouped around the military high command. The chances of a military coup, or strike against the Maoists is very real. And there are reports of the Nepali military leaders meeting with the U.S. representatives and other reactionaries.

All of this has been reported here on Kasama or on our sister site Revolution in South Asia. We urge our readers to back up and reread the interviews and analysis we have been publishing. In particular the recent interview with Baburam Bhattarai is worth reading closely and soberly.

Now the talking, planning, and organizing have come to this: the Nepali Maoists have launched their wave of actions. And we should urge everyone to set their eyes onto Nepal, and prepare to speak out in defense of its people and revolutionary movement.

Basanta Interview: Possible Victory or Collapse in Nepal’s Revolution

This article was published on the WPRM’s home site.

Nepal: Interview with Comrade Basanta

When we first met Comrade Basanta, together with Comrade Laxman Pant, on the edge of the Thamel area of Kathmandu, we were greatly impressed by their down to earth manner. Comrade Basanta, it would be fair to say, exudes an air of quiet dignity without being distant, taking great pains to accurately put across his points.

“When we were in the government… the reactionaries clearly understood that Maoists were not abandoning revolution but familiarizing their programmes within the masses.”

“Before us there is a big opportunity, but serious challenges also. If we take the correct steps there is a big possibility that we can accomplish New Democratic revolution. But if we make a mistake then the whole revolution can collapse.”

* * * * * *

WPRM: Can you explain the current situation in Nepal since the resignation of Prachanda from the government?

Basanta: First of all I would like to say something about the situation in which we had to enter into this process.

When Gyanendra usurped the whole political power, the contradiction of the Nepalese people with monarchy became the principal political contradiction. It created a situation in which all the political forces that had a certain level of contradiction with the king could come tactically together to fight absolute rule of the monarchy. It was in the Chunwang meeting held in 2005 that we adopted a new tactic of democratic republic, which became a basis for 12-point understanding between our party and other 7 parliamentarian parties.

Everyone in the world knows the result, the unprecedented mass uprising in April 2006. After that the king, relinquished his absolute power and reinstated the parliament. In the Constituent Assembly election, we emerged as the largest party and the king was removed and the country was declared Federal Democratic Republic from the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly.

In fact, it was basically the end of the tactics adopted from the Chunwang meeting.

New Pamphlet: A Revolution at the Brink – Stand With Nepal

The FIRE Collective has produced a pamphlet the revolution in Nepal — describing its emergence and importance.

Printable Pamphlet and Online PDF

* * * * * * * *

A Revolution at the Brink: Stand With Nepal

by the FIRE Collective

Today, seemingly a world away, the population of a small, oppressed nation is engaged in an ongoing revolution that is straining and maneuvering for a decisive victory. Rather than pursuing a rigid path in a sterile and dogmatic way, these revolutionaries have employed a diversity of tactics — from a people’s war to political negotiation to mass protests — aimed at freeing the country’s people. Their thinking is fresh, and they’ve wedded creative innovation with a movement committed to socialism and worldwide liberation from capitalism and imperialism.

They deserve our active political work. We need to help break through the mainstream media whiteout — so more people here in the U.S. can see the ways this revolution is radically changing society, and so we can stop the U.S. government from intervening in Nepal while falsely branding revolutionaries there as terrorists.

5 Nepal Posters: Share, Print, Post

The FIRE Collective in Houston has produced a series of five posters supporting the revolution in Nepal. Here they are in pdf format. The posters are easy to print — 8×11 paper in black-and-white.

One version with blank space for local contact information (for events, local phone etc.)
One version without blank space (but with Kasama URLs)

The FIRE collective has recently written:

“Today, seemingly a world away, the population of a small, oppressed nation is engaged in an ongoing revolution that is straining and maneuvering for a decisive victory. Rather than pursuing a rigid path in a sterile and dogmatic way, these revolutionaries have employed a diversity of tactics… Their thinking is fresh, and they’ve wedded creative innovation with a movement committed to socialism and worldwide liberation from capitalism and imperialism. They deserve our active political work. We need to help break through the mainstream media whiteout…”

WPRM: Nepal’s Gaurav speaks on Democracy & Cultural Revolution

This article was published on the WPRM Britain website.

Question: Do you envision a role for Nepali Congress and CPN (United Marxist-Leninists) after the New Democratic Revolution?

Answer: “If they don’t change their ideological-political line, we don’t envision that they will be able to take part in those elections. The New Democratic system will not allow this if they don’t change their ideological-political line and behaviour.”

“…we expect from our comrades internationally that they should give suggestions, they should express their political concerns about whether the party or line has been deviated. But it is their responsibility to always support us. Condemning the revolution as a whole, or not making any positive contribution to the revolution, that is not a good thing. That is not proletarian internationalism.”

* * * * * **

Nepal: Comrade Gaurav speaks on Democracy and Cultural Revolution

Gaurav has recently been made one of the secretaries in the new Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (UCPN[M]) leadership structure. Activists with the World Peoples Resistance Movement  met him at the party office in Paris Dand, Kathmandu, where we tried to get deeper into the issue of democracy, specifically the UCPN(M) concept of 21^st century democracy, of holding elections under New Democracy, and how this relates to the theory and practice of Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution in China.

WPRM: In the current situation when the UCPN(M) has its sights set on New Democratic Revolution, it seems more important than ever to understand the party’s idea of 21^st century democracy, competitive elections under New Democracy and socialism, can you explain this concept to us?

Comrade Gaurav: Yes we are now in the stage of completing the New Democratic Revolution.The New Democratic system is not a socialist system. It is a bourgeois democratic system. The difference is that the revolution is made under the leadership of the proletariat.

Li Kui Responds: Observing Maoist Education Early in Nepal’s Revolution

Kasama has been sharing a series of accounts from a group of revolutionaries traveling through Nepal — associated with the World Peoples Resistance Movement of Britain and Ireland. The report from a model Maoist school led  Fritz to raise questions, starting with his own recent experience (in Rukum and Rolpa):

“Does anybody know when this article was written? I was just in Nepal and visited the model school in Rolpa (the Maoists’ stronghold where their military bases are) and only found out, after I had gotten there, that the model schools had all been shut down, as part of the peace process.

“I didn’t get to see the schools in action, but did talk to several of the teachers, as well as got their textbook (which I need translated, if anybody knows anybody who knows Nepali). I was pretty disappointed in the lack of change that the Maoists brought about in the field of education.”

The following is a response to the discussion  of “How Should We Judge a Living Revolution.”

* * * * * * *

by Li Kui

Comrades,
I’m glad our report on the Maoist school has already been the subject of much debate on this site. I don’t have much time to contribute a lot at the moment, but we will soon have more important information coming out.

I can say on the situation in Rolpa that we did not have much time there and did not get to visit Thawang, but our article “Maoist Practice in the Heartland of the Revolution” tried to provide some information. According to a regional bureau member and the district vice-secretary, the communes in Thawang and Jailwang VDCs are still operating as before, as are the model schools in both of those villages. I was surprised to hear Fritz writing that the school had apparently shut down, because a friend spent one month there in Thawang last summer and it was still operating as a model school.

Anyway, that is all, to some extent, speculation. In Jiri we discovered that as well as those two schools in Rolpa, five new schools had been opened in 2009, one in each of the main regions of the country.

A Revolutionary School: Raising a New Generation for a New Nepal

In the U.S. there is a lot of debate reforming education — and a story like this cuts into that important discussion from a startling angle. It raises the possibility of a radically new society, and the role of education in THAT process. Not “preparing” kids better for “success” in this one — but making them conscious and critical actors in a great historic transformation.

The following is part of the series of reports made by members of the World Peoples Resistance Movement from Britain and Ireland currently who are visiting Nepal. The full series is available both here on Kasama (where we are posting articles as they arrive) and on the WPRM-Britain’s own site.

Educating Revolutionary Successors: A Maoist Model School in Jiri

Our journey started, as many do in Nepal, with a five hour bus trip where the only available free space was the roof. Although the journey was long it was only just over 100km, following narrow, windy mountain roads which were bumpy and at times treacherous. The roof however provided stunning views of the scenery and the opportunity to meet many local people, including a family of seven brothers and two sisters who found us a great source of amusement but were eager for us to visit their village and stay with their family. They were very friendly and not reserved at all, especially the girls unlike in many parts of Nepal and Asia in general, but we politely told them of our need to get to the town of Jiri in Dolakha district, east of Kathmandu.

Jiri is quite a remote town, of average size and the start of the popular trek to the Everest base camp. For this reason we were straight away accosted by hotel managers looking for business in the off-peak season. As with many tourist hotels in Nepal the managers are supporters of Nepali Congress and, indeed, the deposed royal family. In these areas images of the Dalia Lama are numerous. Our first port of call in Jiri was the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) office, a hive of activity compared to the cemetery stillness of the Nepali Congress office opposite. There we met the Area Secretary Comrade Kulbindra, various Young Communist League (YCL) activists and a teacher from the Sahid (Martyrs) Memorial Boarding School. After a brief chat over Nepali tea, we were asked whether we wanted to walk up the easy of the difficult route to the school, which was high up a mountain. Doubting that the school could be on the very top of the mountain we chose the difficult route, a choice that would soon come back to haunt us.

Turkish Translation: Katmandu Toplantısı, proletaryanın bir zaferi

The following is a Turkish translation of The UCPN(M)’s Paris Height Meeting, a victory of the proletariat by Basanta, central committee member, Unified Communist Party Nepal (Maoist). The English version originally appeared on the re-opened Red Star website. (Special thanks to the Turkish translator team.)

[Check out Kasama's Translation page. And send in translations for us to add.]

Katmandu Toplantısı, proletaryanın bir zaferi

Indra Mohan Sigdel (Basanta)
BNKP(Maoist) Merkez Komite Üyesi

Partimiz, Birleşik Nepal Komünist Partisi(Maoist)’in Katmandu’da yapılan Merkez Komite Toplantısı bir süre önce sonuçlandı. Bu toplantı, Nepal devrimi bir dönüm noktasındayken organize edildi. Bu nedenle, tüm dünya halkları bu toplantının sonuçlarıyla yakından ilgilendiler. Emperyalistler, yayılmacılar ve dünya üzerindeki her türlü gericiler, partimizin bir bütün olarak reformist bir rotayı kabul etmesini, bu gerçekleşmezse en azından bölünmesini istediler. Büyük medya kuruluşları tasarımlarının gerçekleşmesi için bir sürü para harcadılar. Öte yandan, uluslararası işçi sınıfı ve dünya üzerindeki tüm ezilen kitleler, partimizin doğru bir ideolojik ve siyasi çizgi geliştirmesini ve aynı zamanda emperyalizm ve uşaklarına karşı savaşmak için öncekinden daha birleşik ve güçlü kalmasını istediler.

Uluslararası proletaryanın arzuladığı gibi, aynı anda doğru bir ideolojik-politik hat oluşturmak ve parti birliği bozulmadan tümüyle korumak, bu toplantı için çok kolay bir iş değildi. Bu tabii ki genel olarak, düşünme tarzında bariz farklar olan Merkez Komite üyelerine özel olarak ise başlıca liderlere verilen çetin bir görevdi. Öncesinden farklı olarak, üst düzey liderler de dahil olmak üzere pek çok Merkez Komite üyesi, partinin devrimci bir hat oluşturup aynı zamanda birliği koruması konusunda şüpheliydiler. Sonuç olarak, bu toplantıdaki tüm Merkez Komite üyeleri iki ağır sorumluluk yüklenmişlerdi. İlk olarak doğru bir çizgi inşa etmek ve ikinci olarak parti birliğini eskisinden daha sağlam olacak şekilde geliştirmek.

Socialism in One Country? How Precious? How Difficult?

by Mike Ely

Richard Stark recently wrote to me:

“If we had just ONE socialist state in the world! At this point I’d bloody well settle for Lichtenstein or San Marino!”

And he added in another note:

“India has a whole lot of Maoists. We need to do our share, wherever we are, for the world revolution.”

I think there are three parts to this that demand our attention:

First, I think that it is just not widely understood just how precious it is to have a radical socialist state in the world. (Even, as Richard says, “just one!”)

It has been a long time (too long) since the world saw a socialist state like Mao’s China that was truly a “beacon of revolution” in the world — training and helping revolutionary movements, providing revolutionary theory and literature, creating a pole among states in the world outside the empires and the dominance of commodity markets, and providing the inspiration of ongoing radical social change.

In many ways it almost seems strange to a new generation when they read how captivated previous generations of communists were by the experiences of the Soviet Union and then (after the 1950s) of revolutionary China. It seems unbalanced for revolutionary movements in this country to be so closely entwined with events and movements so far away.

WPRM Eyewitness: Maoist Practice in the Heartland of Nepal’s Revolution

The following account is written by a team from the World People’s Resistance Movement in Britain that has been touring Nepal. Among the significant parts of this report is that it gives a picture of the ongoing revolutionary work in the Rolpa District — famous as the starting point of Nepal’s revolution. And the discussion here of the  rural communes and forms of revolutionary power is a valuable counterpoint to those who (often without evidence or investigation) claim that such things have disappeared (or been deliberately dismantled) over  the last few years.

The journey to Liwang from Dang took 10 hours by bus along a winding road gradually getting higher into the mountains of Rolpa district. Coming to the end of the monsoon season there was no rain but a few landslides blocked our way and made the journey longer than usual. The few diggers that the government provided were working overtime to keep the roads clear. At times the bus seemed to hover on the edge of the road giving us a view down the steep mountainside but as we came to the top of this range we disappeared into the clouds. As they dispersed it seemed we could see all of Rolpa ahead of us.

The district capital Liwang is situated on the side of a valley, the building’s descending into the basin below. Arriving in the bus park in the centre of town, a red flag fluttered in the breeze. Coming down into the town we had passed a fortified Nepali Army base. While this town had never been taken by the Maoists in the People’s War, the countryside in all directions forms the heartland of the revolution.

The next morning we had breakfast in a small eatery in the centre of town. A man on the next table started talking to us and before long mentioned that he was a member of the Nepali Army. Talking to a soldier we remained reserved. But to our surprise, in broken English he told us his favourite party is the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist). When we asked why, he explained to us that many people had told him the Maoists were bad, but he didn’t think so. He also said that after the Maoists he likes the Communist Party of Nepal (United Marxist-Leninists) but thinks Nepali Congress is an ‘old party’. Before saying goodbye he pointed us in the direction of the Maoist office which was located in the centre of town.

2-Line Struggle At Paris Height: Report from Key Meeting of Nepal’s Revolutionary Leaders

The following piece appeared on the re-opened Red Star website.

“The central committee meeting was held in such a challenging situation in which the adoption of a correct ideological and political line would lead the Nepalese people to a victorious conclusion of new democratic revolution while an incorrect one would either entrap the whole party into reformism or defeat it for a long way ahead in the face of tightening encirclement of the enemy nationally and internationally. This situation had unsurprisingly made the entire central committee members serious in their responsibility… there was in this central committee meeting a vigorous ideological and political struggle against various wrong ideological trends, principally the right opportunism, which is the main danger in the contemporary communist movement.“

“….the tactic of democratic republic that was adopted from Chunwang meeting had already completed with the promulgation of federal democratic republic from the Constituent Assembly. When the tactical political objective had been achieved then the tactical unity expressed in the form of the 12-point understanding between seven parliamentarian parties and ours had also become obsolete. In spite of this, for a long one year and more our party remained hesitant to address it correctly but remained in the main groping in the dark with no comprehensive ideological and political line and correct tactical slogan to go forward to establishing people’s democratic republic under the leadership of the proletariat. Unless this situation was dealt with in a Marxist-Leninist-Maoist way the danger of democratic republic, the tactic adopted from the Chunwang Meeting, eating up the strategy of new democratic revolution was looming on the horizon. It was the main ideological question where the two-line struggle was focused on.”

Nepal’s Bhattarai: We Maoists are Our Own State

The following appeared in Telegraph Nepal (Sept 8). As always, accounts in the mainstream press have to be viewed skeptically, and often short statements by revolutionaries are taken out of context. (For example: the article headline “We are the State” mis-characterizes, or misunderstands, the quote within the article, in which Bhattarai suggests there are two competing states in Nepal, and that the Maoist forces are constituting a new state.)

We are the State: Nepal-Maoists’ senior leader

// TGW

While partners of the ruling coalition government are alleging the Maoists’ so-called Street and Constituent Assembly Protest to restore Civilian Supremacy, as their move to grab power in Sing Durbar, one of the senior leaders of the Unified Maoists Party made it clear that “Indeed, the protests are intended at derailing the incumbent government”.

He said, “Yes, politics is done for power only.”

“There is nothing except power in politics, rest are fake.”

“The Maoists’ on its own are the State” said Dr. Babu Ram Bhattarai adding, “The government in Singh Durbar instead is a parallel one of the Maoists’ State.”

Dr. Bhattarai, the Unified Maoists’ Party Vice President made these remarks talking to press-men in Sunsari District September 7, 2009.

The FIRE Collective: Our Declaration to Our Generation

A new communist collective, calling itself FIRE, has formed in Houston. Kasama would like to welcome this  effort, and share with everyone FIRE’s new Declaration. FIRE  promises more documents explaining their emerging thinking on the efforts, in both theory and practice, to build a new revolutionary movement in the U.S. (FIRE Collective website, Declaration PDF , facebook)

The FIRE Collective writes:

“…while it is true the kind of revolutionary organization necessary does not currently exist, this is no reason to give up or settle for the choices currently presented. In fact, this means revolutionaries need to take up the sorely neglected task of actually finding the way forward to revolution in the heart of this empire, forging the kind of revolutionary organization needed to achieve that, and settling for nothing less! These challenges call for revolution, and nothing could be more worthwhile…

“There is a great revolutionary process of revolutionary refoundation going on nationally and internationally for us all to join into, let’s join into it and fight for a world free from oppression. Those who want to take on the challenge of revolution need to deeply begin studying and summing up the struggles that came before us, to launch many new kinds of struggle, to form many new groups and collectives – with all of this aimed at contributing to our ultimate goal of a liberated future.”

Interview with Mike E: On Revolution in South Asia, Black Panthers, Kasama and a New Internationalism

Joel Cosgrove and Alastair Reith interviewed Mike  Ely on their “Unnamed Radio Show” based in New Zealand. The interview is an hour long.

The topics included the ongoing Maoist revolutions in Nepal and India, the communist politics behind the Kasama Project, thoughts on revolutionary organizing among working people, the legacy of the Black Panther Party, and how internationalism poses itself in the world today.

Streaming audio	M3U	Stream
Download Zip		59 MB
Download MP3	59 MB	44 MB

Turkish Translation: Prachanda in London

Prachanda, London

The following is a Turkish translation of Prachanda’s remarks (originally made in English) during his August 2009 visit to London. Thanks to OSP for transcribing the English version. The Turkish translation has been done by the daily news site halkingunlugu.net. The video is also available with Turkish subtitles.

Kasama gathers translations together on a dedicated page.

BNKP (M) Başkanı Prachanda’nın Londra’nın Woolwich kasabasında yaptığı konuşmasını okurlarımıza

Birleşik Nepal Komünist Partisi (Maoist) Başkanı Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda), kısa süreli bir ziyaret için gittiği Londra’nın Woolwich kasabasında katıldığı bir konferansta uzun bir konuşma yaptı. Konuşmanın büyük bölümü Nepalce yapıldığı ve henüz çevirisi elimize ulaşmadığı için sizlerle paylaşamıyoruz. Aşağıdaki bölüm, Prachanda’nın konuşmasının en sonunda İngilizce olarak yaptığı kapanış konuşmasıdır.

Çok büyük bir sorumluluğumuz olduğunun ve bugün yüz yüze olduğumuz gerçek, tarihsel bir fırsatımız olduğunun tamamen farkındayız. Ve diğer parti ve kurumlardaki kardeş yoldaşlarımızın kaygılarını, Nepal devriminin geleceği hakkında çok kaygılı olduklarını anlıyoruz: Yaratıcı, bilimsel bir yolda mı ilerleyecek, yoksa yılların temel teori ve ideolojisinden sapacak mı?Ben kendi fikrimce şundan oldukça netim, sapmayacağız. Çünkü biz, bu teoriyi 21. yüzyılın şartlarına en iyi şekilde uygulamak için çabalıyoruz.

21. yüzyılın bütün dinamiklerini anlıyoruz. Biz Nepal’de, devrimin fazlaca kendine has özellikleri olan, çok özel bir türüne önderlik ediyoruz. Bu süreçte her ne kadar, inişler, çıkışlar, bükülmeler, ters yüz oluşlar olsa da sonuç olarak biz bu devrimi değişen koşullara göre sürdürüyoruz.

Prachanda’s talk in London (Video)

thanks to Democracy and Class Struggle. Prachanda speech in English at Woolwich Town Hall – London 10th August 2009

Hisila Yami: Line Struggle within Nepal’s Maoist Central Committee

Alastair Reith wrote:

“I think you guys will find this article interesting. It’s by Hisila Yami, a leading woman in the UCPN (M), and sheds a lot of light on the situation. …As far as I’m aware it’s the first article that a leading Maoist has released that explicitly admits that there is a sharp line struggle within the party between ‘those who were advocating a new democratic revolution’ and ‘those who were in favour of restructuring the state.’ And the article states further that in this recent line struggle ‘the full central committee meeting… agreed that regressive forces within and outside the country wanted to see the UCPN (Maoist) taking a bourgeois line while forward-looking forces wanted to see the party taking the course of a new democratic revolution.’”

This piece origionally appeared on eKantipur. The subheads and paragraph breaks below are Kasama’s.

* * * * * * *

“The full central committee meeting also agreed that regressive forces within and outside the country wanted to see the UCPN (Maoist) taking a bourgeois line while forward-looking forces wanted to see the party taking the course of a new democratic revolution. It was agreed that the enemy was trying to isolate the party by pushing it to war thus the subject of bringing the peace process to a logical conclusion must be addressed. It was also agreed that civilian supremacy must reign over military supremacy as it was related with restructuring the Nepal Army which has been long due since the monarchy reigned in Nepal.

Similarly, there have been attempts to make the exercise of writing the constitution a dummy affair, thus the party must make the constitution people-oriented and result-oriented.

There have been attempts to undermine the sovereignty of Nepal and break up the country, hence it is the party’s duty to unite all patriotic and democratic forces to consolidate the nation.

And in order to achieve this aim, it is important to rope in all those forces which oppose these regressive steps to form a national unity government under the leadership of the UCPN (Maoist). It is understood that these steps will eventually lead to establishing a people’s federal republic system.”

For the full article >

Now in Farsi: 4 Reasons the Revolution in Nepal Matters

Note: Kasama has now created a Translation page — and will gather there the translations of Kasama essays into Farsi, Spanish, French, Turkish and other languages.

Here: Newly translated into Farsi is our short essay on the importance of the revolution into Nepal.  Thanks to the translator team. (Also available in English)

Click for pdf.

Eyes on the Maobadi:
4 Reasons Nepal’s Revolution Matters (Farsi)

by Mike Ely

Something remarkable is happening. A whole generation of people has never seen a radical, secular, revolutionary movement rise with popular support. And yet here it is – in Nepal today.

This movement has overthrown Nepal’s hated King Gyanendra and abolished the medieval monarchy. It has created a revolutionary army that now squares off with the old King’s army.

A Third People’s Uprising: New Nepal’s Only Option

After the 2008 constituent assembly elections the United Communist Party of Nepal (formerly the Communist Party of Nepal – Maoist) became the largest elected body in Nepal’s transitional government. In May of 2009, the UCPN decided to sack the Chief of Army Staff General Katawal due to his refusal to follow orders on multiple occasions. Hours after the decision he was reinstated by the ceremonial President, causing the UCPN to withdraw completely from the government. Over the past two months the UCPN has been engaged in intense debate over what their next steps are to be, and whether to include a “people’s revolt” in those next steps. This appears to be the first time Pushpa Dahal (Prachanda), the party chairman, has stepped out publicly in favor of this option (assuming this report has fairly characterized his position).

This article was published on Telegraph Nepal. Thanks to Ka Frank for pointing it out.

Nepal Maoists determined for waging final Peoples’ Revolt
TGW

The Unified Nepal Communist Party-Maoist is preparing to lead a new peoples’ revolt.