Nepalese Civil War
Conflict leading
to the Nepalese Civil War in 1996 began as early as the 1950s when citizens began
talking about democratic reform. At this time, Nepal’s citizens’ desire
for a representative government was unfulfilled [4]. Two decades
later, a group of Nepalese students gathered to protest government reform; this specifically
turned into a series of violent protests, which eventually received attention
from the government. The government agreed to a “constitutional referendum;” however, this was a minor change which later caused more uproar [4]. “In 1990, Nepal’s main leftist parties united within a ‘People’s
Movement’, and combined with weeks of protest. This quickly pressured King
Birendra into establishing a multi-party political system and a constitutional monarchy
later that year” [4]. The country developed its first elected
government in 1991.
A time of political difficulties and economic struggles led to the creation of new left-winged parties that used violence as a form of protest against the government. The government quickly ended the viciousness by banning such protests, which only caused more political tension. This tension led to the formation of Nepal’s Communist Party, a Maoist faction [4]. Their focus was to defend the poor but also worked to overturn the government turning it into a “People’s Republic” [6]. This group of activist created the People’s Liberation Army. Their purpose was to “establish ‘a new democratic socioeconomic system and state’ by ousting the existing ‘semi-feudal’ state structures.” [6]. In 1996 the country fell under a civil war. With this war, the Maoist were able to gain control of rural Nepal while the government sustained control of urban Nepal. Conflict between the two political groups continued until November of 2006 when “the monarchy’s powers were immediately curtailed and ten years of Maoist insurgency came to an end as the government and rebels signed the Comprehensive Peace Accord” [4].
A time of political difficulties and economic struggles led to the creation of new left-winged parties that used violence as a form of protest against the government. The government quickly ended the viciousness by banning such protests, which only caused more political tension. This tension led to the formation of Nepal’s Communist Party, a Maoist faction [4]. Their focus was to defend the poor but also worked to overturn the government turning it into a “People’s Republic” [6]. This group of activist created the People’s Liberation Army. Their purpose was to “establish ‘a new democratic socioeconomic system and state’ by ousting the existing ‘semi-feudal’ state structures.” [6]. In 1996 the country fell under a civil war. With this war, the Maoist were able to gain control of rural Nepal while the government sustained control of urban Nepal. Conflict between the two political groups continued until November of 2006 when “the monarchy’s powers were immediately curtailed and ten years of Maoist insurgency came to an end as the government and rebels signed the Comprehensive Peace Accord” [4].