Twelve years ago Nepal’s Maoist party launched an ambitious armed revolt against the monarchy, inspired by Mao Zedong’s precept that “power grows out of the barrel of a gun.” Now they are considering dropping the Chinese revolutionary leader – literally.
The Maoists began to call themselves the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) in 1994-95 after they split from the parent organization – the Communist Party of Nepal (Unity Centre).
Now, the formerly underground party that returned to mainstream politics two years ago under the leadership of Pushpa Kamal Dahal “Prachanda”, is considering removing the Maoist tag.
“In the past, there were several communist parties who donned tags like the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist and Communist Party of Nepal-Marxist Leninist to distinguish one party from another,” Maoist Finance Minister and de facto deputy party chief Baburam Bhattarai said.
“So, we also took the tag of Maoist. But now it has been proved that the Maoists are the number one party in Nepal. So we don’t need any tags.”
Bhattarai was bombarded with questions by journalists when he arrived at the Tribhuvan International Airport following reports that during his sojourn in the U.S. he had said his party was considering removing the Maoist appendage.
“The issue will be discussed at the party’s national convention,” the minister said.
The Maoists’ national convention, after a hiatus of nearly 10 years, will start in Kathmandu on Nov. 10.
By Sudeshna Sarkar
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