Implosion in Nepal will subsume ‘red corridor’
Implosion in Nepal will subsume ‘red corridor’
A precept of the Pashupati to Tirupati theory of sub-continental Maoism was the seamless meshing of Nepal’s rebellion with that of India’s. While there certainly were fraternal links—providing sanctuary; attending key meetings; occasional training of cadre; and such—Nepal’s war was its own.
With renewed militancy of the Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), or UPCN (Maoist), which has brought government near to standstill, and disrupted economic activity in this already impoverished country, there is again speculation of Maoist meshing. Those who indulge in it fail to acknowledge Nepal’s dynamics; and the fact that developments in Nepal can have far-reaching implications for India beyond the obvious laboratory lessons of Left wing extremism and its immediate aftermath.
Nepal had for long been at a dead-end politically and economically, which in great part assisted Maoists there to achieve their initial goal in 12 years—from the first attack on a police camp in 1996 to helping to overthrow a seedy monarchy and to run a democratically elected government for several months, until May. As premier, the sharply dressed Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who encourages the nom de guerre of Prachanda (fierce) even led a business delegation to India.
Also Read Sudeep Chakravarti’s earlier columns
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