"The hills are not mere hills now
They are red warriors
The jungles are not jungles now
They are mass of people’s armies
The villages are unified
In the camps of retaliation
In this peak of the land
Everest is glowing as red flags"
Salute Jelbang
Krishna Sen Ichhuk
That is how this story begins: with a poem describing Nepal's Maoist Dream. This interesting report elaborated by Al Jazeera focuses on that -too often forgotten- dream. Some people may not know where Nepal is. They may even wonder why we should care about the History of an underdeveloped country. Fine. If you have identified yourself with these ideas, please, do not waste your time and stop here. If not - and I hope you did not- keep on reading!
Asia is a huge continent. As such, it is composed of lots of wonderful states, each and every one of them with a historical, political, social, cultural and economic background. Yet, we tend to forget that. Social movements did not only have an impact on Europe. Nepal is a clear -unknown- example of that.
Nepalese History is long and complex. Let's summarize it a little bit, shall we? 1950. Up to this year, Nepal had been governed by different dinasties. Finally in 1951, Nepal started to be administered by an hereditary government- similar to the monarchical system.
After many struggles for democracy throughout the 20th century, in 1991, Nepal held elections. Despite the constitutional reforms, the system was still corrupted. Five years later, in 1996, the UCPN (M) (Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)) led a violent insurrection that marked the beginning of a bloody Civil War which lasted for 10 years.
In 2006, the new government and Maoist rebels finally signed a ceasefire and began the negotiations for the establishment of a Republic and the constitution of an Assembly, therefore putting an end to monarchy and hopefully setting the first steps for a democratic state. In September 2015, a new constitution was promulgated.
Al Jazeera's article tells the stories and testimonies of different people that were somehow affected by this Civil War. Students, warriors, teachers, writers. What they all had in common was that Maoist dream. A dream of hope, a dream of change, a dream of opportunities and, above all, a dream of justice.
Did they succeed? Did they achieve anything at all? Was it really worth the suffering ?
Maybe these questions can be answered. Maybe not. Just in case you want to try, here you have the article. You can download it as a pdf :-)
Have a nice weekend!
