The Maoists launch People’s war
On 13 February 1996, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) or shortly CPN-Maoist started its so-called "people’s war" (jana yuddha) to topple what it called the reactionary old feudal regime and replace it by a new people’s republic. Though news reports about what actually happened were sketchy, it clearly hinted that the rebels could not be taken lightly. In the following days, the Maoists attacked police posts in mid-western Nepal, a soft-drink bottling factory owned by a multi-national company and a portion of the building torched in Kathmandu, a liquor factory in Gorkha district.
They also attacked the Small Farmer's Development Programme of the state-owned Agricultural Development Bank in Chyangli Village, a landlord’s house and destroyed loan documents worth several million rupees in Kavre district adjoining the Katmandu valley.
Besides, police outposts were also raided in Rolpa, Rukum and Sindhuli districts while the store of the outpost at Holeri in Rolpa was seized. This was only the beginning of the maoist insurgency. The days ahead were marked by unprecedented violence in the history of Nepal.
For a decade since February 1996, the Maoist rebels have intensified their armed raids, bomb attacks and transport blockades in various parts of the country. The rebels’ indiscriminate attacks on army and police personnel, plainclothes and unarmed civilians turned the country into virtual killing fields. This has severely weakened the government at the centre and worsened the law and order situation. The violent nature of these rebels has caused serious havoc in developmental activities of the country as a whole and diminished prospect of tourism regarded as the backbone of the country’s economy. As a result of the civil war, Nepal's greatest source of foreign exchange, its tourism industry, suffered considerably. The popularity of Nepal as a tourist destination had gone down from the tenth most popular among adventure travelers to the twenty-seventh. This was the first time that Nepal had been outside the top 10 for several successive years and is a strong indication of the pressures on the government. The conflict has forced the young and able to seek work abroad. These laborers work predominantly in the Gulf (Qatar, Saudi Arabia etc.) and Southeast Asia (Malaysia etc). The regular flow of remittance from these laborers has helped the country to avoid serious economic crisis or economic bankruptcy. The economy of Nepal has become as dependent on the infusion of foreign income from the laboring class.
On the other hand, the destruction of the development infrastructures has pushed the country several years backward.
Timeline for the events / Maoist attacks
On 13 February 1996, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) or shortly CPN-Maoist started its so-called "people’s war" (jana yuddha) to topple what it called the reactionary old feudal regime and replace it by a new people’s republic. Though news reports about what actually happened were sketchy, it clearly hinted that the rebels could not be taken lightly. In the following days, the Maoists attacked police posts in mid-western Nepal, a soft-drink bottling factory owned by a multi-national company and a portion of the building torched in Kathmandu, a liquor factory in Gorkha district.
They also attacked the Small Farmer's Development Programme of the state-owned Agricultural Development Bank in Chyangli Village, a landlord’s house and destroyed loan documents worth several million rupees in Kavre district adjoining the Katmandu valley.
Besides, police outposts were also raided in Rolpa, Rukum and Sindhuli districts while the store of the outpost at Holeri in Rolpa was seized. This was only the beginning of the maoist insurgency. The days ahead were marked by unprecedented violence in the history of Nepal.
For a decade since February 1996, the Maoist rebels have intensified their armed raids, bomb attacks and transport blockades in various parts of the country. The rebels’ indiscriminate attacks on army and police personnel, plainclothes and unarmed civilians turned the country into virtual killing fields. This has severely weakened the government at the centre and worsened the law and order situation. The violent nature of these rebels has caused serious havoc in developmental activities of the country as a whole and diminished prospect of tourism regarded as the backbone of the country’s economy. As a result of the civil war, Nepal's greatest source of foreign exchange, its tourism industry, suffered considerably. The popularity of Nepal as a tourist destination had gone down from the tenth most popular among adventure travelers to the twenty-seventh. This was the first time that Nepal had been outside the top 10 for several successive years and is a strong indication of the pressures on the government. The conflict has forced the young and able to seek work abroad. These laborers work predominantly in the Gulf (Qatar, Saudi Arabia etc.) and Southeast Asia (Malaysia etc). The regular flow of remittance from these laborers has helped the country to avoid serious economic crisis or economic bankruptcy. The economy of Nepal has become as dependent on the infusion of foreign income from the laboring class.
On the other hand, the destruction of the development infrastructures has pushed the country several years backward.
Timeline for the events / Maoist attacks
