In 1992, in a situation of economic crisis and chaos in Nepal, with spiralling prices as a result of implementation of changes in policy of the new Congress government, far-left groups stepped up their political agitation. A Joint People's Agitation Committee was set up together by the Communist Party of Nepal (Unity Centre), Samyukta Jana Morcha, Communist Party of Nepal (Masal), the Nepal Communist League and the Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist). The committee called for a general strike on April 6.
Violent incidents began to occur on the evening ahead of the strike. The Joint People's Agitation Committee had called for a 30-minute 'lights out' in the capital, and violence erupted outside Bir Hospital when activists tried to enforce the 'lights out'. At dawn on April 6, clashes between strike activists and police outside a police station in Pulchok (Patan) left two activists dead.
Later in the day, a mass rally of the Agitation Committee at Tundikhel in the capital Kathmandu was attacked by police forces. As a result, riots broke out, and the Nepal Telecommunications building was set on fire. Police opened fire at the crowd, killing several people. The Human Rights Organisation of Nepal estimated that 14 people, including several on-lookers, had been killed. [1]
The violent incidents in connection with the strike spurred radical elements within the Nepalese communist movement to debate the usefulness of participation in legal politics. Two years later the Communist Party of Nepal (Unity Centre) was divided, with one section opting for armed struggle. This group would later rename itself as the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and declare a "People's War" in 1996, which became the starting point for the decade-long civil war.
The history of Nepal is intertwined with the history of the broader Indian subcontinent and the surrounding regions, comprising the areas of South Asia and East Asia.
The politics of Nepal functions within the framework of a parliamentary republic with a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the Prime Minister and their cabinet, while legislative power is vested in the Parliament.
The Kingdom of Nepal was a Hindu kingdom in South Asia, formed in 1768 by the expansion of the Gorkha Kingdom, which lasted until 2008 when the kingdom became the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal. It was also known as the Gorkha Empire, or sometimes Asal Hindustan. Founded by King Prithvi Narayan Shah, a Gorkha monarch who claimed to be of Khas Thakuri origin, it existed for 240 years until the abolition of the Nepalese monarchy in 2008. During this period, Nepal was formally under the rule of the Shah dynasty, which exercised varying degrees of power during the kingdom's existence.
The Nepalese Civil War was a protracted armed conflict that took place in the former Kingdom of Nepal from 1996 to 2006. It saw countrywide fighting between the Nepalese royal government and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), with the latter making significant use of guerrilla warfare. The conflict began on 13 February 1996, when the CPN (Maoist) initiated an insurgency with the stated purpose of overthrowing the Nepalese monarchy and establishing a people's republic; it ended with the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Accord on 21 November 2006.
The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre) (Nepali: नेपाल कम्युनिस्ट पार्टी (माओवादी केन्द्र)), abbreviated CPN (Maoist Centre), CPN-Maoist Centre, CPN Maoist Centre, or CPN (MC), is the third largest political party in Nepal and a member party of Socialist Front. It was founded in 1994 after breaking away from the Communist Party of Nepal (Unity Centre). The party launched an armed struggle in 1996 against the Nepalese government. In 2006, the party formally joined mainstream politics after signing a peace agreement following the 2006 Nepalese revolution.
The Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) (Nepali: नेपाल कम्युनिष्ट पार्टी (एकीकृत मार्क्सवादी-लेनिनवादी); abbr. CPN (UML)) is a communist political party in Nepal. The party emerged as a major party in Nepal after the end of the Panchayat era.
The Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist–Leninist–Maoist), abbreviated CPN (MLM), was a minor communist party in Nepal. The party was as founded in 1981 by Krishna Das Shrestha. Initially known as the Nepal Marxist-Leninist Party, Shrestha had broken away from the Bagmati District Committee, which functioned semiautonomously, of the Communist Party of Nepal in 1969. Krishna Das Shrestha was the party president.
The Communist Party of Nepal (Unity Centre) was a communist party in Nepal. CPN (UC) was formed on 19–20 November 1990 through the merger of Communist Party of Nepal (Mashal), Communist Party of Nepal (Fourth Convention), Proletarian Workers Organisation, and Communist Party of Nepal (Janamukhi). Soon thereafter, a group led by Baburam Bhattarai and Shital Kumar, who had left Communist Party of Nepal (Masal), joined the party. Samyukta Janamorcha Nepal was set up as the open mass front of the party.
The Communist Party of Nepal (Masal) was a communist party in Nepal. CPN (Masal) was formed in 1983, following a split in the Communist Party of Nepal (Fourth Convention). The party was led by Mohan Bikram Singh.
The Nepal Communist League was a communist organisation in Nepal. NCL was led by Shambhuram Shrestha. Shrestha, who had been a central secretariat member of the original Communist Party of Nepal, broke away from Man Mohan Adhikari's faction in the mid-1970s.
Mohan Bikram Singh, often referred to as MBS, party name Gharti, is a Nepalese communist politician. His father was a wealthy landlord in Pyuthan District who was close to King Tribhuvan. MBS however joined the opposition Nepali Congress in 1950, and took part in the 1950–1951 uprising for democracy.
Upendra Yadav is a Nepalese politician who served as the chairman of the People's Socialist Party, Nepal from 2020 until 2023.
The Nepal Communist Party, abbreviated NCP is a defunct communist party of Nepal. It was founded on 17 May 2018, from the unification of two leftist parties, Communist Party of Nepal and Communist Party of Nepal. The unification was completed by the Party Unification Coordination Committee, after eight months of negotiation. The two predecessor parties subsequently dissolved, making way for the new united party. The party retained the electoral symbol of the CPN (UML), the sun.
The Madhesi Jana Adhikar Forum, Nepal (MJFN), or the Madhesi People's Rights Forum, Nepal, was a political party in Nepal. It was initially not a political party as such but a political advocacy movement demanding ethnic self-determination rights with the formation of a Madhes autonomous region for Teraibasi people, an election system based on proportional representation, and the setting-up of a federal republic in Nepal. The MJFN includes former leaders of other political parties like the Nepali Congress and CPN (UML).
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The United People's Front of Nepal, abbreviated SJM, was the front of the Communist Party of Nepal, or CPN (UC).
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