Kirat Janabadi Workers Party

Last updated
Kirat Janabadi Workers Party
किरात जनवादी वर्कर्स पार्टी
AbbreviationKJWP
Leader Binod Rai
Chairperson Mina Khumbu-Sankemma Kirati
Founded2006
Split from Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre)
Ideology Kirati nationalism
Kirati Autonomy

Kirat Janabadi Workers Party is a political party and rebel group in Nepal, whose goal is the establishment of an autonomous or independent state for the ethnic Kirat in eastern Nepal. Despite the group insisting their legitimacy as a political organization, some factions of the KJWP have been involved in attacks on police posts, kidnapping, property seizure, [1] threatening of politicians and business owners, [2] [3] and multiple bombings. [4] [5] [6]

In 2015, the Party surrendered their arms and announced the end of their armed struggle, demanding the government take care of its semi-military personnel, saying that they will carry on with their struggle ideologically, also demanding the Constituent Assembly declare Kirat an autonomous state with right to self determination. [7]

History

The Khambuwan Rashtriya Morcha was responsible for the first instance of armed violence in Nepal after the return to multi-party democracy in 1990. Active in the eastern hills, the KRM demanded an ethnic Rai homeland. Later, with the expansion of the Maoist insurgency into the east, a section of the KRM and its incipient Kirat Workers’ Party merged with the Maoists in 2003. The Kirat Janabadi Workers’ Party, broke away from the Maoists after the 2006 Comprehensive Peace Accord. [8] The KJWP has experienced two major splits, causing it to split into at least three factions. [9] The first took place in 2009 and divided the group in half, when one faction aligned itself with Rabin Kirati and another remaining loyal to Binod Rai. The second seems to have taken place in 2012, when Ananta Kranti, brother of Binod Rai, broke away and set up the Samyukta Jatiya Mukti Morcha. [1]

References

  1. 1 2 "The Missing Middle: Examining the Armed Group Phenomenon in Nepal (NAVA Issue Brief 1) | Small Arms Survey" (PDF). www.smallarmssurvey.org. 2013-05-01. Retrieved 2025-12-11.
  2. Singh, Rishi (2009-08-04). "Kirat party's threat". The Himalayan Times. Retrieved 2025-12-11.
  3. "Kirat party unleash donation terror". myrepublica.nagariknetwork.com. 2024-08-08. Retrieved 2025-12-11.
  4. archive, From our online (2012-05-15). "Bombers target Nepal's Vice-President again". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2025-12-11.
  5. "Untitled Document". Archived from the original on September 13, 2008. Retrieved September 13, 2008.
  6. "कान्तिपुर - नेपालको राष्ट्रिय दैनिक, Online News and articles from Kantipur Daily".
  7. "Kirat Janawadi Workers Party surrenders weapons". kathmandupost.com. Retrieved 2025-12-11.
  8. Deepak, Thapa. "Post-war armed groups in Nepal" (PDF). Retrieved Dec 11, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. Nepal's Political Rites of Passage (PDF). International Crisis Group. 29 September 2010. p. 15.