भिडियो सहित हेर्नुहोस !

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The year 1996 marked the launch of the ‘P eople’s War’ against the Nepali state. The impetus behind the war was to fundamentally al ter the ‘historical re lations of oppression’ in Nepal. To what extent this is a ‘People’s War’ as opposed to a coercive ‘insurgency’ on the people remains a deeply contentious i ssue in Nepal and worldwide. Nevertheless, the outcome, in 2006 (after ten years since th e war) has been control over 90% of the rural areas by the ‘People’s Government’ fo rmed by the Communist Party of Nepal- Maoist (CPN-M from henceforth ) party. In the early stages of the Maoist movement, the government had termed the movement as ‘a n insurgency’, condemned the CPN-M as ‘terrorists’, and reacted with brutal force to suppress the movement. At the moment and as this paper is being written, the governme nt and the international community at large have come to realize that the Maoist moveme nt is a force to reckon with. As the country has embarked on the process of redefining itself, CPN-M has gained an unprecedented political recognition. For instance, one of th eir central demands for electing a constituent assembly to draft a new constitution has been accepted by all the major political players in Nepali politics. Given this current scenari o, it is crucial to understand why the Maoist movement started in 1996 and escalated since then. This has ramifications not only for understanding a powerful social movement in contemporary South Asia, but also in inferring how the current initiative for state-building is going to unfold.