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While, on the one
side, the government was holding elections, on the other the CPN (Maoist) put
forward its 4th Plan entitled "March forward along the path of building base
areas." The qualitative and quantitative development in the people’s army,
the qualitative development in military actions, and the party’s development in
its political understanding — i.e., marching forward basing on the lessons of
the GPCR, mobilisation of the masses in resistance struggles against reaction’s
brutal repression, bringing the military and non-military struggle into a
dialectical linkage — have brought a power vacuum in the local political
situation. In this context, the embryonic forms of revolutionary political power
have emerged from the grass roots. The press reports that more than 20 lakh
people under more than 300 publicly elected committees exercise real
revolutionary political power under the leadership of the CPN (Maoist).
On June 13, ’99
Maoist guerrillas raided an area police post at Pawan Ghat of Kalikot district
in Western Nepal; after a four-hour pitched battle with the police they seized
14 rifles, 2 pistols and more than a thousand rounds of ammunition. One police
died on the spot, four were seriously injured and 14 others surrendered.
Similarly, series of actions took place from Goorkha district at one end of
Nepal to Jajarkot at the other, via Kalikot. On June 14, ’99, for example,
guerrillas seized 3 pistols, 18 .303 rifles and one thousand rounds of
ammunition on a raid on a police command post. Four policemen were killed and
six seriously injured.
Janadesh weekly of
July 14 reported that the CPN(Maoist) mid-Western Regional Bureau issued a
statement signed by political commissar, Comrade Ananta, and military commissar,
Com. Passang, declaring the success of military actions. Synthesising the first
military plan conducted by the party under the plan of "marching forward on
the path of building base areas", the commissars traced the successful
actions from May to July. Quoting a joint statement issued by the political
commissars of the mid-Western Regional Bureau, the CPN(Maoist) writes that the
guerrillas have successfully captured a striking base camp of the armed commando
police at Lahen in Jajarkot district on June 17, ’99. In the course of the
3-hour battle four policemen and four Khukuri Dal members (local informer goons)
were killed, while the rest of the 19 policemen and two goons surrendered. The
guerrillas seized 17 rifles, two pistols, 977 rounds of ammunition and a large
amount of bullet-proof war materials. The statement further clarified that the
surrendered were treated in accordance with the Geneva Treaty on prisoners of
war. They were later freed after a briefing on Maoist politics of people’s war
and after giving first aid treatment to the wounded.
Mahima weekly of
June, 19, ’99 quoting a statement issued by Com. Puran, in-charge of 1/4
District Organising Committee of the CPN (Maoist) reported, that guerrillas
successfully seized the Nepal Bank Ltd at Khimti Besi in Romechhap district, in
the eastern region — three modern guns, 142 bullets, Rs. 16.7 lakhs and valuable
metals worth Rs. 20 lakhs were confiscated.
In this period at
least 43 people have ‘disappeared’ throughout Nepal, including the general
secretary of the National Teachers Association of Nepal, Mr. Bishnupukar
Shrestha, on September 2. Also on September 3, a special police commando force
killed Com. Suresh Wagle (Com. Bashu) an alternative polit bureau member of the
central committee of the CPN(Maoist). The government terror on the masses and
its policy of ‘disappearing’ and killing has been widely criticized by many
writers, artists, journalists and prominent personalities. For example, one
Daman Nath Dhunga (a prominent person of the Congress, an advocate, a human
rights activist and a member of the Constitutional Assembly for forging the
present constitution of Nepal, who was once a speaker of the parliament in the
Congress regime) has strongly condemned the government’s conspiracy to destroy
democracy. Also Janadesh weekly of August 7, ’99 listed a large number of
prominent citizens who have condemned the government’s terror. They include
Kritinidhi Bista, the then prime minister of the Panchayat system; Rishikesh
Shah, a prominent member of an international human rights organisation; Padma
Ratna Tuladhar, an ex-minister in the UML regime; Maniklal Shrestha, a prominent
figure amongst leftists; Sindhunath Pyakurel, an ex-parliamentary member of the
upper house elected on behalf of the United People’s Front of Nepal, etc, etc.
They handed over a memorandum to the then prime minister, Bhattarai on August 6
concerning extra-judicial killings, disappearances, detention and other
government atrocities.
Also there was a
general strike by 4 student organisations on September 13 with a 29-point
charter of demands including demands to stop state terror. In addition 14 human
rights organisations publicised their second programme against state repression
— organising rallies, demonstrations, mass meetings, etc. Also all the
opposition parties, except the UML, have come to a common understanding to
develop mass resistance struggles. The United National Mass movement
Coordination Committee is reportedly taking initiative in this direction.
In the current year
the armed struggle has reached new heights. It has been reported that between
February and May 2000 Maoists attacked 204 police posts of which 71 were totally
destroyed; 171 policemen have been annihilated and 500 injured. Maoists have
seized in these four months 310 rifles, 160 12-bore guns and vast amounts of
ammunition and sophisticated communication systems. They have seized Rs. 16
crores from the enemy, in cash and property.
Particularly, three
major raids devastated the enemy forces. All three were conducted by company
formations now developed by the CPN(M).
In late March in
Gharti village, Ropla district the police station was overrun. Gharti was being
propagated as a model by the enemy forces. Having the support base of the Nepali
Congress the enemy instead of having their police station on the outskirts of
the village, spread their station to 4 to 5 rented houses within the village.
The commando force of 50 was defenced by 5 to 6 posts spread in different
corners of the village. This P.S. was notorious for its massacres and
terrorisation of the people. The company formation led by Maoist guerrillas
attacked all the posts sumultaneously. Four enemy commandos were killed, the
rest surrendered.
The second action was
in Rukum district, where the Maoist guerrillas simultaneously attacked a police
station and an outpost. Both were captured after heavy fighting resulting in the
death of five policemen and two guerrillas.
The third attack was
the raid on the P.S. at Pchkatia village, Jajarkot district. Of the 51
policemen, 22 ran away to the district headquarters, 12 including an inspector
died, and the rest were seriously injured.
Further the June 17
issue of the pro-Congress weekly, ‘Jana Ashta’ reported in an article entitled
‘capital under Maoist encirclement’, that "because of the big push,
the industrial sector has collapsed, millions of property destroyed ...."
the weekly further writes, that two policemen were killed in Gorkha and seven
were injured.... 3 policemen were killed in Solukhunbu district ... similarly
there have been flaming processions in the Kathmandu valley chanting Maoist
slogans. |
