The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) or CPN(M) is a Maoist political party and military organisation founded in 1994 and led by 'Chairman Prachanda' (born Pushpa Kamal Dahal). It launched what it refers to as the Nepalese People's War on February 13, 1996, and now controls much of the country. Its main goal is to overthrow the monarchy and replace it with a Communist-style republic. They follow the Maoist strategy of people's war in which they attempt to take gradual control of the countryside to encircle the cities, only fighting with government forces on their own terms when they can significantly outnumber their enemy.

It has been alleged, because the CPN(M) have said that they do not accept the orthodox version of what happened in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge, that they are another Khmer Rouge in the making.

In 2001, the Nepalese Army began a military campaign against the Maoists, especially in the western areas of the country, although there have been intermittent ceasefires.

The CPN (M) is a member of the Revolutionary Internationalist Movement and the Co-ordination Committee of Maoist Parties and Organizations of South Asia .

Related topics

• History of Nepal
• Politics of Nepal
• Nepalese People's War

External link

• Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) official website
• Nepal Maoists, live news feed, nonauthoritative
• a critical view
• another critic