Maoist Revolution

On the final day of my November trek north of Kathmandu, through the mountains of Gosainkund and Langtang, I entered the small village of Talamarang, the last village of my trek. This sleepy, picturesque hamlet of but a few hundred people is connected by a bridge suspended across the Melamchi Khola river. In the center of town some of the young men played volleyball while others sat or stood to watch the only available entertainment. My guess is that, on a per capita basis, the players commanded a larger, more loyal fan following than any of the NFL franchises.

My guides and I checked into the Talamarang tea house. It was an unusually tall structure of three stories with a rooftop bar and restaurant. Our host and owner of the establishment, Asha Ram Lama, told us of the Maoists visiting upon their village in August. He and other villagers were told to stay inside then a squad of men poured kerosene and ignited the police station. Asha Ram Lama went to his roof to witness the burning.

According to the tea house proprietor, local police had exercised the better part of valor and abandoned the station several days before. The speculation in the village is that the Maoist sent a warning to the police of the impending desecration of their facility, giving them ample time to get the hell out of Dodge. Notably, no effort to reestablish the presence of the police in Talamarang has been attempted.

The State Department's travel advisory warns of Maoist violent activity. It reports 1400 deaths since the beginning of the insurgency in February 1996. However, this violence has been directed toward government officials, politicians or repressive landowners; not tourists. Many of the deaths have been the result of those in power being found by the Maoists to be enemies of the people by abusing power or benefiting from corruption, thereby earning a spot on the infamous hit list. The State Department's concern with reference to this violence is generally directed toward western areas of Nepal. In these regions many towns and villages are under Maoist control. Most are isolated deep in the Himalayan mountains, away from roads or utilities.The burned out police station I witnessed, however, is in central Nepal, a short distance, (if you are a crow), north of the capital and principle city of Nepal, Kathmandu. Rather than being isolated, Talamarang has electrical and telephone service and the first road I had seen in many days of trekking. The dirt road, after the monsoon season, is driveable and eventually connects to a mostly paved road then finally to traffic jams, pollution and other familure signs of civilization.

Recently the Maoists, instigated by their two intellectual leaders, Dr. Santa Ram Bhatteral and Comrade Prachanda, and the government convened a much-talked-about mediation. It is now obvious that neither side is interested in meaningful discussions. Both sides appear to be jockying for a major confrontation. This tense atmosphere was aggravated to critical mass when Nepalese plain clothes police abducted and kept in seclusion Gita Shahi, regional president of Nepal Women's Association--a sister organization of underground CPN (Maoist). The government denied knowing about the incident for several days then admitted to her confinment, creating lousy PR and raising the ire of Amnesty International.

The people I talked to on my trek did not have a bad feeling about the Maoists. Instead they had the general impression that the insurgents fought against corruption and those who took advantage of their power.

The conflicts have been confined for the most part to Maoists and the police but this limited conflict will soon pull in the Nepalese Army. We are about to find out whether the army, possessing its centuries-old Gurkha pride can route the zealot Maoists from the security of their mountainous hideouts and sympathic villagers.

The question is, no matter who wins or if issues fall once again into a stalemate, will there be any practical effect on the rice farmer who is more interested in the condition of his wooden plow and the health of his buffalo or yak. Debates of idealogy command much more interest of those who are not worried about daily survival.