SUMMARY
The CPN-M (Samyukta Jana Morcha; Communist Party of Nepal - Maoist) was a rebel group that fought the government of Nepal from the late 1990s until the mid-2000s. The group was formed in 1994 by Pushpa Kamal Dahal; more commonly known as Prachanda.
CPN-M was formed after a split in the Communist Party of Nepal-Unity Centre block in 1994. The aforementioned Prachanda, and his comrade Baburam Bhattarai, accused the other communist parties in Nepal of being "revisionists", due to their participation in the parliamentary process in the country, and for failing to initiate an armed struggle to topple the government. In the year that followed the formation of the group, on 13 February 1996, the group declared a “people’s war” on the government of Nepal and initiated its armed struggle. A peace agreement was signed between the CPN-M and the government in 2006, and was followed by a demobilisation of the CPN-M’s cadres and elections in 2008. In these elections the CPN-M became the party to win the most seats in the assembly.
At its inception the CPN-M adopted Maoism as its guiding ideology, with a focus on the establishment of a communist society through a “people’s war” against the government. In its formative stages the group modelled itself along the lines of the Peruvian communist group Sendero Luminoso. The government was to be defeated through the Maoist strategy of encircling the cities from the countryside before seizing complete power. Through seizing power the group wished to establish a proletarian people’s government to ward of “feudalism” and “imperialism”, and fundamentally transform Nepal. Demands on the government included the abolishment of the monarchy and a new, republican, constitution. In the context of this “people’s war” the CPN-M has carried out one-sided violence, and also engaged in non-state conflict.
CPN-M is divided into a military wing, the People’s Liberation Army, and a political wing, the United People’s Front. The party itself is ruled by a “standing committee” and has several sub-committees below this echelon to carry out the day-to-day running of the organisation. Prachanda occupies the seat of Chairman of the party, and is also the Supreme Commander of the armed wing. His founding partner, Bhattarai, heads the political wing of the movement. During the conflict with the government of Nepal the CPN-M continuously expanded its area of control, setting up “people’s governments” in the rural districts they controlled. These “people’s governments” also included a courts system and policing. The CPN-M has also founded a number of regional and ethnic political organisations (which are under its control), so as to spread its influence further and to channel the grievances of minority groups in its favour.
The armed wing at its peak numbered somewhere between 10 000 to 18 000 full-time fighters. In addition, the ranks included thousands of part-time fighters, political cadres and other supporting units. Also, the CPN-M had a political following of several hundred thousands. The armed wing’s weapons –to a significant degree looted from the Nepalese army and police- consisted mostly of AK-47s, light machine guns, grenades, and other light weaponry.
In terms of links to other rebel groups the CPN-M has since 2001 cooperated with other communist movements in southern Asia through the Coordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organisations of South Asia (CCOMPOSA), which included as its members the PWG (People’s War Group), the MCC (Maoist Communist Centre), and other left-wing groups. Some training ventures for militants appear to have taken place on Indian territory under the auspices of CCOMPOSA-affiliated groups, as well as a small number of joint military operations. Some reports also mention links with insurgents in India’s north-east, such as ULFA (United Liberation Front of Assam) and KLO (Kamtapur Liberation Organisation). Allegedly, the CPN-M also cooperated with the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam), receiving weapons training from this source.
In terms of leadership the movement has been led since its inception by Pushpa Kamal Dahal, also known as Prachanda (meaning “The Fierce One”). After the 2008 elections Prachanda became Prime Minister of Nepal, when the CPN-M swept to an electoral victory.
CPN-M has been involved in the intrastate, non-state and one-sided categories of UCDP organised violence.
