SEDITION IN NEPAL

On 10 January 1990, the United Left Front (ULF) was formed, which, together with the Nepali Congress,
was the backbone of the movement for democratic change. However, communist groups, uncomfortable
with the alliance between the ULF and the Congress Party, formed a parallel front, the United National
People's Movement (UNPM). The UNPM called for elections to a constituent assembly, and rejected
compromises made by ULF and the Congress Party with the royal house. In November 1990,
the Communist Party of Nepal (Unity Centre), or CPN(UC), was formed, and included key elements of
the UNPM. On 21 January 1991, the CPN(UC) set up the United People's Front of Nepal (UPFN),
with Baburam Bhattarai as its head, as an open front to contest elections. The CPN(UC) held its first
convention on 25 November 1991, adopted a line of "protracted armed struggle on the route to a new
democratic revolution", and decided that the party would remain an underground party. In the 1991
election, the UPFN became the third-largest party in the Nepali parliament. However, disagreements
within the UPFN surged, regarding which tactics were to be used by the party. One group, led by Pushpa
Kamal Dahal (alias Prachanda), argued for immediate armed revolution, while the other group, led by
Nirmal Lama, claimed that Nepal was not yet ripe for armed struggle.
On 22 May 1994, the CPN(UC)/UPFN was split in two. The militant faction later renamed itself
the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), or CPN(M). This faction described the government forces,
mainstream political parties, and the monarchy, as "feudal forces". The armed struggle began on 13
February 1996, when the CPN(M) carried out 7 simultaneous attacks over 6 districts. Initially, the Nepali
government mobilized the Nepal Police to contain the insurgency. The Royal Nepal Army was not
involved in direct fighting because the conflict was regarded as a policing matter. On 25 July 2001, the
government of Sher Bahadur Deuba and the Maoist insurgents declared a ceasefire, and held peace
talks from August to November of that year. The failure of these peace talks resulted in the return to
armed conflict, beginning with the Maoist attack on an army barracks in Dang District in western Nepal,
on 22 November. The situation changed dramatically in 2002, as the number of attacks by both sides
increased greatly, and more people died than in any other year of the war.