Dispatches: Report from the People's War in Nepal
Part 9:
People's Power in RolpaBy Li Onesto
Revolutionary Worker #1023, September 26, 1999
On February 13, 1996, a new People's War was launched in Nepal, led by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), aimed at sweeping away imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism. Thousands of men and women participated in coordinated armed raids and attacks throughout the country. And for over three years now, the revolution in Nepal has continued to spread, sink roots and accomplish a lot. All this is a truly inspiring and significant development in the world and for the international proletariat. But it has remained a hidden story for most people in the United States and around the world. And for those of us who have been following the people's war in Nepal, there has been precious, but far too little news of this important struggle.
Now, the Revolutionary Worker has an exclusive story. RW reporter Li Onesto recently returned from several months in Nepal, where she traveled throughout the country with the people's army, meeting and talking with party leaders, guerrillas, activists in mass organizations and villagers--those waging this genuine Maoist people's war and beginning to exercise new people's power. The RW would like to give a "lal Salaam" (red salute) to all the people in Nepal who made this trip possible.
This is the ninth article of a new series of dispatches from this exciting trip. (See RW #1014 through #1020 and #1022 for Parts 1 through 8.)
After a few days of discussion with the comrade in charge of this zone, we are ready to start our trek, north and east, into Rolpa. We wake up very early and begin walking at 6:00 a.m. The mountains here in the Western Region loom large and the air is hazy and cool in the morning. When the sun comes up, its rays are blocked and diminished by thick mist. And so, instead of a brilliant sunrise, the day starts with an intense neon, reddish-orange ball rising out of the towering mountains. The security for our travel is very tight and systematic. Some of the squad goes up ahead, to clear and check the road. Our small group is in the middle and behind us more guerrillas walk vigilant. In this area the people's army can walk about openly during the daytime with their rifles. But we could still encounter police, so we have to be careful.
The paths traverse up and down the mountains and, like a lot of the terrain here, it is very rocky, winding around sheer cliffs. As I negotiate these steep, broken staircases nature has built, I wonder how I'll deal with them after the sun goes down. The squad easily travels these trails very quickly, for many, many miles, with little rest. But since they are with me, the going is a lot slower. And although we take short 10-minute rests only every two to two and a half hours, this is a lot slower than the guerrillas are used to.
By the time we stop for an evening meal at a peasant's house, we've been traveling for over 10 hours. My translator, Pravat, who sees how tired I am, asks whether we can stop someplace sooner for the night. But the other comrades think that for security reasons we should press on and reach our destination before the next sunrise.
We hit the trail again and after about a half hour the sun slips behind the mountains. Darkness quickly envelopes our convoy. Now I feel like I'm walking with a dark gray veil over my eyes and it's hard to distinguish potential obstacles on the path. But after a while my eyes get a little better at seeing in the dark. And I also start to use my ears--to take cues from the comrade walking in front of me. And I find that the sound of others' footsteps can give me vision my eyes no longer offer. For the next couple of hours we walk in silence as I concentrate on keeping my weary legs steady and moving.
We stop only two times for about 15 to 20 minutes. And each time, I immediately sit down, lean against a rock and instantly fall right to sleep! By 9:00 p.m. I am mentally and physically exhausted, but my comrades are so helpful--they anticipate each part of the path they think I will have difficulty with and extend their hand, helping me on slick rocks across rivers, steadying me on narrow paths that have become slippery with a thick bed of pine needles, and pulling me up the steepest parts of the path. There are many times when I stumble or start to lose my balance in the dark and it amazes me how, each time, in a split second, there is a hand that grabs my arm or reaches out quickly to make sure I don't fall. Finally around 9:30 p.m. someone whispers to me, "Comrade, we are now getting close to our shelter." I feel a shot of relief. But then he points into the dark night, in the distance, up at the mountain's peak and says, "Our shelter is at the top." My initial relief quickly melts--the dark house-shaped figure looks so far away and so high up. But I try to just think about how nice it will be to go to sleep when we get there. When we arrive, it is 10:00 p.m. and we've been traveling for 16 hours.
I think back about how I had answered the comrade who asked me if I thought I could travel for 14 hours, a lot of it in the night without a flashlight. I had joked, "My revolutionary spirit says yes, but I think my body will say no." After 16 hours, Pravat knew how hard it was for me on this first day of really hard travel. He comes over to me and says kiddingly, "We are here now and I thank not you, but Marxism-Leninism-Maoism, which gave you the revolutionary spirit to make it!"
Surprisingly I don't fall asleep immediately. My mind is still running with the day's long trek. I'm thinking about what a hard but incredible experience it is to travel with the people's army. Mao had written that one of the principles of operation for the Red Army in China was to: "Give full play to our style of fighting--courage in battle, no fear of sacrifice, no fear of fatigue, and continuous fighting (that is fighting successive battles in a short time without rest)." And today, I got a taste of how Maoist guerrillas in Nepal are adopting this revolutionary method of training and fighting.
People's Power
The next day we arrive in a village where I get a chance to talk with the party comrade in charge of Rolpa as well as leaders of mass organizations and families of martyrs. I am particularly interested to learn how the party's Fourth Plan of moving toward establishing base areas is being implemented here--and how they are setting up and carrying out new forms of people's power.
In areas where the People's War is strong, the official government structure has really lost much of its authority. Many government VDC (Village Development Committee) chairmen have been forced to resign or they've moved to the district headquarters. This created a power vacuum which, at first, the people weren't prepared to fill. But then the party developed a plan for exercising new people's power and called on the masses to reject the official government and create new revolutionary forms of power.
The party led the people to form 3-in-1 committees made up of people from the party, the people's army and the mass organizations. These new committees have been given authority to judge and settle various disputes among the people--like arguments over land, disputes over debts, cases where a husband is beating his wife, divorce, etc. More and more people have taken their cases to be judged before these revolutionary united front committees. And the masses have also used these new forms of revolutionary power to deliver justice to enemies of the people. For example, the people will struggle with spies and snitches and warn them to stop helping the police. But if these bad elements persist in their counter-revolutionary activity the 3-in-1 committee will decide they should be punished. And in some cases if what these people have done has resulted in the death of someone, they might be killed.
Certain organizational changes were made in the party and the people's army in order to carry out the Fourth Plan. The comrade in charge of Rolpa tells me: "Some comrades from lower levels were promoted according to a principle of combining 3-in-1, in this case, veteran comrades, newly promoted comrades and comrades who are mass leaders. In the army we have also applied rectification. We have formed platoons by selecting the experienced squad members from the rank and file. The platoon is formed and functions on a regional level. And in the formation of new squads we give priority to recruiting women members."
He also explains that there is a relationship between strengthening the people's army and moving toward establishing a base area and exercising people's power. In Rolpa, the party has been able to form a number of platoons and many squads--which are crucial in order to protect the area and prevent the police from easily coming into the villages. And as the people's army has carried out successful military actions against the police and local reactionaries, this has resulted in large areas that, while not yet base areas, are places where the people's revolutionary authority--militarily, economically and politically--is mainly in command. The revolutionary hold on these areas may still be fragile--if the police decide to raid the villages or launch a major repressive campaign, the people's army may have to temporarily leave the area. But these are areas where there is a lot of mass support and it is difficult for the government to regain any political authority. And this is a big part of the basis for the people's army to return and militarily re-establish people's power when it is lost.
At the very beginning of the Fourth Plan the party set out to deal the enemy some significant military defeats in Rolpa--to establish areas where the police are afraid to go, where the people have some relative freedom to exercise new forms of power. One of the first actions of the Fourth Plan was in October of 1998, where a platoon took part in sabotage of a police post in the southern part of Rolpa. The post was totally destroyed and police uniforms, papers and guns were burned. Two police were killed. Soon after this a people's army platoon was ambushed in Nimri. The comrades were preparing for an action when a spy told the police where they were. The police encircled the platoon but the guerrillas bravely broke through the encirclement--and killed one police and wounded three others. One platoon member was killed but all the others escaped safely. Then on February 6, 1999--one week before the third anniversary of the Initiation--three members of a people's army assault team attacked a group of 11 police on patrol in Jelwang. This included a sub-inspector and two police who were seriously injured.
These successes by the people's army, along with other smaller military actions, helped to demoralize the enemy and made them afraid to even go out on patrol. The police still continue to come into some villages but they don't go into some areas and many of them just stay inside their posts. The comrade tells me:
"After these military actions by the people's army the police enlarged their forces in every post. After theThird Anniversary police were not able to move about easily in many places. They changed their tactics. Where before they would come into villages and kill randomly, now they targeted the people's army and party cadre. Using spies they encircle the houses where people were staying, move in and kill them. Now the police come into the villages undercover to try and spy. If they are patrolling they have another group move to cover the first group. After the raid of Jelwang they closed down some police posts and combined forces. There are now fewer, but larger centralized police posts. But now the police are not mainly patrolling. This is the achievement of the Jelwang raid. This situation shows that the reactionary state power and its support forces in this district are being eliminated. It means there is a good situation to conduct our people's power. It shows the possibility of establishing the base area.
"Militarily, our main forces (platoons) and our auxiliary forces (squads) are working within this zone. After the big raid of the police post in Jelwang the reactionary government centralized the police posts in some particular places. And now the places without police posts are liberated and people's power is being practiced there. The people in those places are happily taking part in local people's power. Local officials are inactive in some areas and out of fear do not resist our activities. Before when there was a power vacuum we were not able to exercise power, but now we are. Militarily we are now able to raid police posts of up to 20 police. Politically we are exercising people's power in many areas."
3-in-1 Authority
I also talk to the Chairman of the United People's Front in Rolpa. He is the comrade in charge of developing people's power in this district. He tells me that after the party's Central Committee called for establishing united front organizations to exercise new people's power--one of the first things they did was carry out some investigation:
"We gathered population data all over the district--an assessment of ages, number of men and women, religion, politics, language, economic factors, etc. On the basis of this data, including numbers of people who can vote, who are over 18 years old, we decided to make committees in every ward. For example we set up a united front team of five members where there are 100 to 300 voters; seven members where there are 300 to 500; nine where there are 500 to 700 and eleven where there are 700 and over. Because of security and other organizational problems it was impossible to have an actual election at this point so we gathered the people in a mass meeting to select the united front ward committees. At this point we form teams of nominated united front people but we are aiming to make them elected.
"The basic principle of forming the revolutionary united front is to elect members on a 3-in-1 basis. For us this means, 40 percent from the party, 20 percent from the army, and 40 percent from the masses. The policy from the Central Committee is that when the people's representative assembly is formed it is supposed to elect two committees--a permanent committee and a functional committee. But now we only have the functional committee and this changes according to developments. We hope in the future to form permanent committees. The District Committee is at this point an ad hoc committee, not elected. Through these functional committees the strategic and tactical work is carried out. and there are different departments such as construction, health, cultural, security, judicial, economic and others."
The united front led by the party is now solving many of the disputes which occur every day among the people. Lawyers used to come into this area, take people's cases and charge lots of money. But now in much of this district, there are no longer any political cases--or any other kind of cases--being brought to the government's courts. The reactionaries used to register cases against the people but even they no longer go to court here because they are either afraid or know it is useless. Now the only cases being brought before official courts here are those filed by the police against people charged with revolutionary activity.
When people are arrested they have to pay a certain amount of bail money to get out of jail. Now with people's power the masses go to the reactionaries who were responsible for the cases and demand that they give the people this amount of money. The comrade tells me there have been about 30 cases like this. He also says that some cases over land, which have been pending in the courts for 10-15 years--like the case against a usurer who took over public land--are now being solved by the people's courts. The land owned by many liars and cheaters--people who have exploited the villagers--has been recaptured by the people's court and is now being farmed by the peasants.
On the area and district level there have been about 700 cases brought before the people's court. At the village level there have been a couple of thousand cases. Mass meetings of the people's court have been as big as 500 people. Most of the cases in the people's court here are over land. But there are also all kinds of other cases, like disputes over loans and cases around false bonds--certificates of debt which lie about the amount a peasant owes. In the Ghodaganun VDC a man who was brought before the people's court had made many false bonds--all together worth 700,000 rupees--which the party seized. The people's court has also taken up cases of women being beaten by their husbands. The comrade tells me, "In these cases the women gather to force the man to confess and beg forgiveness. Before the initiation there were many, many cases of wife beating. But now both men and women are politically conscious and there are very few cases of women being beaten by their husbands."
The 3-in-1 committees settle cases of various crimes and disputes after consulting with different sections of the people. The committee consults with others for two reasons. One is to decide and finalize the case. And the second reason is to decide what kind of punishment is appropriate. Maximum punishment so far has been beating and public humiliation. And minimum has been to make the person confess and say they are sorry. In cases where the person is given a beating, the comrade explains:
"If the crime was against a woman by a man, then the punishment is carried out by women. If the case is against a woman by a woman, the punishment is carried out by women. If the case is between two men, the punishment is carried out by men and women. If it is a crime against a man by a woman, punishment is carried out by women. In more serious political crimes, like spying and informing (by men or women) punishment can be carried out by the people's army. Because women are very oppressed in this society the party has so far not carried out any annihilations of women."
The authority of the united front and people's power is also beginning to take over many other administrative and economic functions in the community. The comrade says:
"In terms of economic questions and the united front: The usurers have all left the villages, but the peasants still need to borrow money. So to solve this problem we have established a Cooperative Financial Fund. It is handled by the area committee (not at the unit or district level now). The financial fund is built from two sources. One is by collecting people's savings. The second is from fines from the people's court. There are also fees, like for registering land, using forest materials, etc. The fund makes loans to the people in two categories. If people are sick or need to buy food grain there is no interest. Loans for production are charged 10 to 15 percent interest per year (which is very low). In the past usurers charged the people 60 to 120 percent interest per year. There is also a Martyr Memory Fund which donates money to martyrs' families (funds for this are collected from among the people, including at cultural programs and from schools.) This fund is used to help martyrs' families and is given according to their financial needs. In terms of health we hold medical examinations and distribute medicine to sick people. We have health assistants who do medical check-ups. We have hygiene and sanitation campaigns and educate people to go to clinics to deal with health problems and combat beliefs in magic and superstition. Through women's organizations and other mass organizations there are some sex education campaigns.
"Forms of people's power are also beginning to develop some cooperative agricultural production. Land taken from usurers is used to collectively grow food for the people's army and the party. And some land is distributed to individual peasants. Some people donate and take care of animals, like chickens and goats, for the party and army. And peasants will also buy a small cow or buffalo, raise it, sell it and then give the profit to the party or the people's army.
"In terms of construction in this district, we have built: 510 small martyr platforms under trees; 65 bigger monuments to martyrs; 174 wooden bridges; 135 small and big roads; 75 wells and water taps; 115 school and public toilets; and 15 playgrounds. This is done by the masses, party members, people's power committees and the people's army. There is also cooperative construction of houses for families that need homes."
*****
We have been talking for many hours now and it is late in the afternoon. For the last half hour the sounds of some type of commotion have been wafting into the room from outside. I wonder what's going on, but don't want to disturb our meeting by getting up to look out the window. Then a comrade comes into the room and informs us that word has been getting around in the nearby villages that "the revolutionary journalist from the United States" has arrived. And spontaneously, villagers have been gathering outside to greet me. The comrade suggests that maybe we should take a break from our discussion so I can meet people. We go outside and I can't believe it--over a hundred people have gathered on a hillside nearby in a moving gesture of proletarian internationalism.
To be continued.
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