Maoists in Nepal By Sangeeta Thapliyal India should be cautious while dealing with Nepal. Any kind of military or material support from India becomes an emotive issue in Nepal and can be misinterpreted as interference. Contemporary politics of Nepal has been witness to crisis after crisis. The latest is the challenge posed by the Maoists. Emergency has been imposed in the country and the army has been called out. The Maoists' emergence is the outcome of political instability and socio-economic backwardness. The kingdom's main challenge after the change in the political system in 1991 was to stabilise democracy. The intra and inter-party feuds failed to provide an effective Government much to the disappointment of the common people who participated in the movement for democracy. The ground was, thus, ripe for the Maoists to wage a war against the Government. The Maoists also found support across the country where people were tired of their socio-economic condition. Once part of mainstream politics, the United People's Front of Nepal (UPFN) led by Mr. Baburam Bhattarai had captured nine seats in the 1991 general election. It was the political front of the Unity Centre formed by the coming together of four extreme Left groups. The UPFN, which considered itself the precursor of the revolutionary movement in Nepal, justified its participation in the election to expose the deficiencies of the multi-party system. However, it was soon disillusioned when the Left forces under Mr. Man Mohan Adhikari formed a Government in 1994. Mr. Bhattarai was dissatisfied with the working of the Left parties which, he said, had digressed from the Marxist goal of creating a classless society. The UPFN left mainstream politics and in 1996, joined hands with the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) to start a ``people's war''. The CPN(M)'s main objective is to establish a `people's government' through a `people's war', in line with the ideology of Peru's Shining Path group. To form a `people's government', the CPN(M), which bases its ideals, aspirations and course of action on Mao's style of dictatorship of the proletariat, adopted the ``strategy of surrounding the city from the countryside''. On February 4, 1996, the Maoists submitted a 40-point memorandum to the Government of the Prime Minister, Mr. Sher Bahadur Deuba, demanding the abolition of royal privileges and promulgation of a Republican Constitution, abolition of the Mahakali Treaty with India etc. The Government did not pay heed to their demands. Consequently, on February 13, 1996, the Maoists carried out simultaneous attacks in different parts of Nepal. Starting from six western districts - Rukum, Rolpa, Jajarkot, Salyan and Gorkha - and Sindhuli in the east in 1996, their influence has spread to 66 of Nepal's 75 districts, particularly in the poverty-stricken, economically-backward areas. Since then, the guerillas have attacked Government installations, indulged in loot and arson and killed local bureaucrats, village headmen and influential people especially in the western, central hill areas and the western terai. The Army, left untouched in the initial stages of the `war', became a target in the recent spurt in violence. The Maoists' traditional support base, comprising Brahmins, Chettris and Newars, has been expanded and they now draw support from Rais, Limbus, Gurungs, Magars, Tamangs etc. Economic backwardness, political instability and social discrimination led the ethnic minorities to extend support to the Maoists. The cohesive structure of Nepali society was shaken in 1990 when the new Constitution declared Nepal to be a Hindu state with Nepali the only official language. The other ethnic groups (mainly Tibeto-Burman) questioned the propriety of declaring Nepal a Hindu state, as they do not consider themselves Hindus. The ethnic disparities became glaring between the ethnic minorities and the dominant castes. The domination of the dominant castes in education, employment etc., was prevalent even in the Panchayat regime but the commencement of democracy and the new Constitution gave voice to the people. The new Constitution has given freedom of expression to the people who were earlier silent spectators. The ethnic groups in Nepal have organised themselves against economic discrimination and the imposition of Sanskrit as a compulsory subject in schools or Nepali as the country's lingua franca. The Maoists have been sympathetic towards the demands of the ethnic minorities and have been demanding that ethnic minorities should have autonomy over areas where they are in majority. Presently, the Maoists' call to the indigenous ethnic groups to join the people's war has been answered by the Khambuan Mukti Morcha. Unless the Government takes care of the people's grievances, the possibility of the disgruntled people joining the people's war is a possibility. The Government has used force, persuasion and negotiation to tackle the issue, all in vain. The police have proved ineffective against the better armed and better organised Maoists. The mechanisms adopted to persuade the guerillas to give up arms by forming the Ganesh Man Singh Peace Campaign in July, 1999, or the Government's initiative to set up a six-member committee led by Mr. Deuba did not make any breakthrough. Ending their four-month-old ceasefire, the Maoists attacked several districts in November this year. King Gyanendra declared imposition of emergency on the recommendation of the Cabinet and deployed the Army to tackle the Maoists. The Maoists have been declared terrorists. The lack of a consensus is behind the Government's failure to tackle the issue be it on the issue of the use of army or implementing an anti-terrorist bill. On an earlier occasion, the Government's demand for deploying the Army against the Maoists had been turned down by the King. What does the Maoist movement in Nepal spell for India? To begin with, the Maoists specifically have an anti-India bias. The document adopted at the third plenum of the CPN(M) central committee in March, 1995, declared that the armed struggle was specifically against ``Indian imperialism''. It also voiced opposition to the recruitment of Gurkhas in the Indian Army. It is alleged that the Maoists are being trained by the ex-Gurkha soldiers. The Maoists fraternal links with the People's War Group (PWG)and Maoist Communist Centre (MCC) in India are well established. It is said that the Maoists got electronic detonators and explosives from the PWG, while pistols, ammunition and high-quality detonators were provided by the MCC. Nepal, in fact, is emerging as the conduit for illegal arms brought from India, which are smuggled back again to India. The socio-political turmoil in Nepal has a spillover effect in India. The timing of the attacks by the PWG in Andhra Pradesh with the end of extended support to the declaration of emergency in Nepal. Condemning violence by the Maoists, India said it would not allow its territory to be used by forces inimical to Nepal's interests. India should be cautious while dealing with Nepal.It should be borne in mind that any kind of military or material support from India becomes an emotive issue in Nepal and can be misinterpreted as interference. While dealing with the Maoists, the Government of Nepal has to be clear whether it is a terrorist problem, a political problem or a socio-economic one. It has to assess its own strengths while dealing with the Maoists be it on seeking external support or its own negotiating strategy. (The article had appeared in The Hindu on December 18, 2001.)