Andrei Kuznetsov
18th February 2004, 19:25
With 80% of the Kingdom of Nepal under the control of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and the People's Liberation Army, I thought this was an article that truly brought forth some excellent thoughts:
Nepal: Revolution at the Top of the World
Li Onesto Looks at Eight Years of People's War
Revolutionary Worker#1230, February 22, 2004, posted at rwor.org
When I was in Nepal in 1999, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) had been leading an agrarian-based armed struggle against the Nepalese government for only three years. The guerrilla forces were still mostly armed with primitive weapons and an occasional modern rifle seized from the police. They were carrying out relatively small actions--raiding isolated police posts and attacking hated landlords and corrupt politicians. Such actions sometimes led to the seizure and redistribution of land and were popular among many impoverished peasants who saw their oppressors run out of the villages and who benefited from the social, economic and political transformations made in the areas under Maoist control.
The fighting units at that time were squads of 7-9 guerrillas and platoons with 24-30 fighters. In the Maoist stronghold of Rukum, I visited a camp of "special forces" which had been formed to carry out larger actions during the boycott of the elections. This was part of an attempt at the time to form company-size units of about 100 guerrillas. By 2002 the People's Liberation Army (PLA), which had just been formally declared, had several permanent companies, and in some cases was fighting in units of brigade strength--several hundred soldiers.
At the time of my trip, the Maoists were also in the beginning stages of establishing political authority and organization in the villages. The party had divided the areas where they were active into three zones. (1) "Guerrilla Zones" where there was a police presence and fighting and armed resistance was taking place; (2) "Propaganda Zones" in urban areas where the regime's power remains strong and the main aim is to prepare the ground for eventual insurrection--and the main forms of work are political education, mass activities, and building support for the struggle in the countryside, including among the middle classes; and (3) "Main Zones" where they were in the process of establishing "base areas" that would serve as embryos of "red political power."
Less than three years later, by the end of 2002, the People's War had made impressive advances, expanding the areas under its control, as well as developing new institutions of "people's power." The government structure of VDCs (Village Development Committees) had broken down in much of the countryside. Elected VDC chairmen had either left the area or quit their posts and were working with the Maoists. And politically, the government had little if any presence and authority in the countryside. The Maoists had established base areas not just in the Western Region, the stronghold of their revolution, but also in the Eastern and Central Regions. They stated that in the Western Region, 10 million people--out of Nepal's total population of 23 million--lived in areas under their control. Reports in mainstream newspapers and intelligence reports admitted that the Maoists were active in most of Nepal's 75 districts... to read more go to http://rwor.org/a/1230/nepal.htm
For more info on the People's War in Nepal, check out:
Official Homepage of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (http://www.cpnm.org/)
International Nepalese Solidarity Forum (http://www.insof.org/)
A World to Win! News Service (http://www.awtw.org/)
The People's War in Nepal @ Revolutionary Worker (http://rwor.org/s/nepal.htm)
Nepal: Revolution at the Top of the World
Li Onesto Looks at Eight Years of People's War
Revolutionary Worker#1230, February 22, 2004, posted at rwor.org
When I was in Nepal in 1999, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) had been leading an agrarian-based armed struggle against the Nepalese government for only three years. The guerrilla forces were still mostly armed with primitive weapons and an occasional modern rifle seized from the police. They were carrying out relatively small actions--raiding isolated police posts and attacking hated landlords and corrupt politicians. Such actions sometimes led to the seizure and redistribution of land and were popular among many impoverished peasants who saw their oppressors run out of the villages and who benefited from the social, economic and political transformations made in the areas under Maoist control.
The fighting units at that time were squads of 7-9 guerrillas and platoons with 24-30 fighters. In the Maoist stronghold of Rukum, I visited a camp of "special forces" which had been formed to carry out larger actions during the boycott of the elections. This was part of an attempt at the time to form company-size units of about 100 guerrillas. By 2002 the People's Liberation Army (PLA), which had just been formally declared, had several permanent companies, and in some cases was fighting in units of brigade strength--several hundred soldiers.
At the time of my trip, the Maoists were also in the beginning stages of establishing political authority and organization in the villages. The party had divided the areas where they were active into three zones. (1) "Guerrilla Zones" where there was a police presence and fighting and armed resistance was taking place; (2) "Propaganda Zones" in urban areas where the regime's power remains strong and the main aim is to prepare the ground for eventual insurrection--and the main forms of work are political education, mass activities, and building support for the struggle in the countryside, including among the middle classes; and (3) "Main Zones" where they were in the process of establishing "base areas" that would serve as embryos of "red political power."
Less than three years later, by the end of 2002, the People's War had made impressive advances, expanding the areas under its control, as well as developing new institutions of "people's power." The government structure of VDCs (Village Development Committees) had broken down in much of the countryside. Elected VDC chairmen had either left the area or quit their posts and were working with the Maoists. And politically, the government had little if any presence and authority in the countryside. The Maoists had established base areas not just in the Western Region, the stronghold of their revolution, but also in the Eastern and Central Regions. They stated that in the Western Region, 10 million people--out of Nepal's total population of 23 million--lived in areas under their control. Reports in mainstream newspapers and intelligence reports admitted that the Maoists were active in most of Nepal's 75 districts... to read more go to http://rwor.org/a/1230/nepal.htm
For more info on the People's War in Nepal, check out:
Official Homepage of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (http://www.cpnm.org/)
International Nepalese Solidarity Forum (http://www.insof.org/)
A World to Win! News Service (http://www.awtw.org/)
The People's War in Nepal @ Revolutionary Worker (http://rwor.org/s/nepal.htm)