Thirteenth Global Studies Conference

Abstract

This paper explores how Nepal’s decade long (1996-2006) Maoist insurrection is best understood as an assertion of minority and regional group rights rather than an ideological movement. The Nepal Communist Party-Maoist Centre leaders framed the rebellion in ideological terms and the central government and major foreign donors viewed it in a similar light. In practice, the movement was organized around the mobilization of disaffected communities across the country. The Maoists voiced the desire of tribal (janajati) and regional groups to put an end to social, economic and political domination by upper caste Hindus from the middle hills that was symbolized by the country’s monarchy. After the Maoists entered the political mainstream in 2006 and began participating in government, their policy focus shifted from pursuing ideological goals to servicing the groups that supported them. This duality of the Maoist phenomenon is reflected in the memorials erected to the 1996-2006 conflict and its political fallout.