This paper presents the history and politics of Nepal to allow the reader to better understand the Maoist insurgency that currently threatens Nepal's very existence. While my intent is to provide the little-known background information that one normally doesn't find in the press, I purposely avoid making recommendations or predictions for the future.
It has only been since the partition of British India in 1947 that Nepal established relations with the outside world. Previously, Nepal existed in self-imposed isolation. Even within the country the population rarely traveled based on the lack of roads, the harsh Himalayan terrain of the north and the particularly virulent strain of malaria in the southern Terai plains. 2 Though never occupied by a foreign power, poor governance and tyranny existed via Nepal's own rulers without the colonial benefits of an education system, medicine, road building and communications. 3 The era of hereditary Prime Ministers continued until 1951, and an absolute monarchy existed until 1990. Democracy debuted just 15 years ago and the Nepalese people will require a couple of generations in order to embrace the new idea of democracy and overcome the inertia of the divine right of kings as the only legitimate form of government. The big assumption here is that the Maoist insurgency will fail and a Kingdom of Nepal will exist for these future generations.
Contemporary Nepal
Ineffective government actions to date have politically crippled Nepal with declining tourism and other revenue sources due to the insurgency economically impeding national development. However, positive change is occurring as Nepali society tries to overcome the social order of the feudal days. The World Bank reports an 11% decline in poverty over the last eight years based on increased foreign remittances from the 1 in 11 Nepali males employed abroad. Construction is ongoing in Kathmandu to meet greater housing demands and city streets continue to be improved. However, that's Kathmandu; Nepal itself is among the poorest and least developed countries in the world with 42% of its population living below the poverty line. Average annual income ranges from a $220 country average to under $100 in the western district and Maoist stronghold of Rolpa. Sixty ethnic and class groups exist in Nepal with three being politically and economically dominant; 98% of Nepal's civil servants are from just two groups representing just 29% of the population. 4 While some reports estimate a decline of up to 70% in business activities in Kathmandu due to the insurgency, all political and economic power remains within the Kathmandu Valley, which many citizens consider to comprise the extent of Nepal. Outside the valley, the uneven distribution of income and wealth is astronomic and growing, and large tracts of fallow land exist in western Nepal due to mass migrations out of conflict areas. 5 Apathy is rampant within the Nepali population that is beaten down and seeks peace at any cost.
The Maoist Insurgency
The historical legacy of rulers pursuing their own personal gains opposed to the needs of the people is one of the driving forces behind the Maoist insurgency that today threatens the very existence of Nepal. 6 Maoist appeal lies with a general population that perceives itself as poorly served by their government and preyed on by officials. 7 The Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist (CPN(M)), a US-designated terrorist group via Executive Order 13224 of 2003 regarding terrorist property and the Terrorist Exclusion List (TEL) of 2004 banning immigration, has been waging an armed insurgency since 1996 to replace the Nepalese monarchy with a single party dictatorship followed by the collectivization of agriculture, elimination of class enemies, exporting the revolution and eventually placing the hammer and sickle on top of Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest). While the list of contributory factors and roots of the Maoist revolt itself would fill volumes, the majority of the Maoist heartland known as the Red Zone' exists in Rukum and Rolpa districts of western Nepal, a heavily forested, mountainous area smaller than Rhode Island. 8
After withdrawing from peace talks in November 2001, the Maoists attacked Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) bases and managed to overrun some RNA positions and recover weapons. Although the Maoists lack State sponsorship, a 1,700 KM porous border with India simplifies logistical support and coordination between the Maoists and insurgent groups in India. The Maoists increasingly criticize both the United States and Government of India's economic and military support for the Government of Nepal (GON), to include an attack against the American Center in Kathmandu in September 2004. 9 Maoists routinely commit horrendous atrocities as a matter of policy, and Nepal would likely parallel Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge if the Maoists came to power.
The Royal Family
For centuries the Shah family ruled Gorkha, a hill state west of Kathmandu. 10 From 1744 onward, these Gorkhas' gradually encircled their enemies in the Kathmandu valley. In 1767 the British East India Company sent 2,400 British and Indian troops against the Gorkhas, from which only a third left Nepal alive due to malaria and mountain ambushes. By 1769 Prithvi Narayan Shah had become the undisputed ruler of Nepal and the House of Gorkha controlled much of present-day central and eastern Nepal. However, Sikhs prevented further western expansion and the King avoided the British on the Indian plains to the south and east. The Gorkha's superiority in hill fighting could not match the massed British cannons and cavalry, proven during the Anglo-Nepalese war from 1814- 1816, ultimately lost by Nepal. To avoid rival heirs dividing up the kingdom upon his death, the king ordained the strict observance of primogeniture meaning male, legitimate and of pure lineage heirs being the future rulers. 11 Multiple wives and concubines obviously complicated this process, with some of the Shah family's greatest tragedies resulting from junior queens wishing to install their sons on the throne.
The Hereditary Prime Ministers
By the mid 19th century, Nepal had a dual system of government with all-powerful Ministers from the Rana family in charge and the Shah Kings reigning as mere figureheads. As with the monarchy, appointment as the hereditary Prime Minister was also by strict rules of succession. The Ranas grew rich as no distinction between public and personal finances existed. Like the Shahs, the Rana's practice of polygamy to extreme levels required further revision to the rolls of succession. 12 Also, feeble, weak-willed and frivolous Kings that intermarried with the Ranas were far less likely to try to reclaim their rightful authority.
Post partition, newly democratic India resented that the Ranas prohibited Nepal from following the same route. Prime Minister Nehru decided to help the Shahs escape their Rana imprisonment by allowing them to seek asylum within the Indian Embassy in Kathmandu and eventually New Delhi. Once the Shahs successfully escaped, the Ranas placed three- year old Prince Gyanendra on the throne as the Shahs had left him behind in Nepal. After the international community refused to recognize the new government, the Shahs eventually reclaimed their throne and today King Gyanendra once again rules Nepal.
The Aftermath of Regicide
On June 1st 2001 Crown Prince Dipendra shot and killed the majority of the Nepali royal family. Most accounts blame the palace massacre on the conflict between the Queen and the Crown Prince over whom he should marry. Confusion and panic existed immediately after the shootings as the King of Nepal stands above the law and cannot be investigated nor prosecuted. Even though in a coma himself from being shot, Prince Dipendra legally became King. No investigation of the new King Dipendra's killing of his father King Birendra, his mother Queen Aishwarya and many other members of the royal family could proceed because no provision exists in the constitution for anyone to intervene in royal household affairs. Upon his death three days later, Dipendra's body was cremated per Hindu ritual without the benefit of an autopsy. 13
The deaths of both Kings Birendra and Dipendra returned Gyanendra, Birendra's younger brother, to the throne. In October 2002, the new King Gyanendra dismissed the Prime Minister after the PM dissolved the parliament but failed to hold elections. Subsequently the King reinstated the same PM in 2004. On February 1st 2005 the King removed the Prime Minister and took over as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, with a commitment to the return to democracy within three years. The King ended the emergency on April 27, 2005 and has pledged to hold elections.
Nepali Security Forces
The Royal Nepalese Army (RNA), Armed Police Force (APF) and a small portion of the Nepal Civil Police comprise Nepalese security forces under RNA unified command. 14 The 85,000 strong RNA is roughly equivalent in organization to a US Army Corps comprised primarily of light infantry with supporting arms arrayed across Nepal in strongpoint defenses in the 75 district capitals. 15 The Government of Nepal created the paramilitary APF in 2001 to provide an armed and trained police force to fight the Maoists. Politically the APF was to serve as the civilian government's counter to the RNA, which politicians perceived as only supporting the King.
A power vacuum has existed in the countryside since mid-2000 when the Nepal police began closing outposts and consolidating forces into larger police stations for better defense against Maoist attacks. 16 Police presence is non- existent in most rural areas today, so by default the RNA is normally the only government presence existing outside the major cities. The security forces have been increasingly successful against the Maoists during recent actions, though the insurgents are far from being a defeated force. As insurgencies don't have purely military solutions, and success of government security forces does not equate to automatic success by the Government of Nepal.
Nepal became a member of the United Nations in 1955, and first provided military observers in the Middle-East with UNOGIL in 1958. To date Nepal has provided 46,000 persons to 29 missions around the world. Among the 102 troop contributing countries, the top four contributors are from South Asia and Nepal ranks fourth with a total of 3,451 peacekeeping troops, monitors and civilian police currently serving on UN missions, while concurrently fighting a growing Maoist insurgency within Nepal.
1. In the words of the first modern- era Nepali King Prithvi Narayan Shah during the 18th century, "Nepal exists as a yam between two boulders." This statement holds true today regarding Nepal's physical and political location between India and China.BACK
2. Bista, Dor Bahadur, People of Nepal, Ratna Pustak Bhandar, Kathmandu, 2004, pg. XIX.BACK
3. Gregson, Johnathan, Blood Against the Snows-The Tragic Story of Nepal's royal Dynasty, Fourth Estate, London, 2003, pg. 19.BACK
4. Thapa, pg. 64. The population of Nepal is approximately 26.5 million (2003). Nepalese consist of Brahmin, Chhetri, Newar, Gurung, Magar, Tamang, Rai, Limbu, Sherpa, Tharu, and other ethnic groups. Nepalis are 86.2% Hindu, 7.8% Buddhist and 3.8% Muslim and Nepal is the only official Hindu state in the world. BACK
7. Thapa, Deepak, A Kingdom Under Siege-Nepal's Maoists Insurgency, 1996-2004, The Printhouse, Kathmandu, 2004, pg. 58. Virtually everyone in western Nepal has been poor for generations and barely manages to survive. As such, foreign assistance plays an important role in development with the international community funding more than 60% of Nepal's development budget and more than 28% of budgetary expenditures.BACK
8. Gersony, Robert; Sowing the Wind History and Dynamics of the Maoist Revolt in Nepal's Rapti Hills; report submitted to Mercy Corps International; October 2003, pg 7. Origins of the insurgency are normally attributed to the Government of Nepal's prohibiting of the production, sale and distribution of hashish, the main source for cash income for he area, and the ensuing drop in standard of living. This event was just one of the many deeply embedded local grievances. Today not a single motorable road serves the Red Zone, and until 2003 not a single road existed in Rukum district. Only 10% of this land is arable. Both the fractured terrain and lack of road access made this area advantageous for a rural insurgency.BACK
9. Two improvised explosive devices detonated on the compound but caused no casualties.BACK
10. The British have recruited men for their Gurkha regiments from this and other areas since 1816 via the treaty of Sugauli, and after Partition British Gurkhas units were divided between the British Army and Indian Army. Both nations today continue the practice of recruiting Nepali soldiers.BACK
11. Contemporary Nepalese people revere their King as a reincarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu, to be worshipped and obeyed without question. Similarly, the mystery of the Nepalese King in a forbidden palace parallels the emperors of China and Japan. Gregson, pg. 218. BACK
12. Children of husband and wife of equal ranking castes equated A class,' those of different castes equated B class' and low caste were of C class;' only A class Ranas could rise above the military rank of Colonel. Gregson, pg. 83.BACK
13. Many people assume that Dipendra's use of narcotics guided his actions that June day.BACK
14. The King is the Supreme Commander of the RNA while the Prime Minister normally serves as Minister of Defense. BACK
15. The world famous Gurkha forces are not synonymous with the RNA; although of the same ethnic stock, approximately 3,400 Nepalese Gurkhas currently serve in the British Army and 40,000 serve in the Indian Army.BACK
16. Thapa, pg. 106. Many of the district capitals are located on hard to defend terrain.BACK