The Maoists have been fighting the Royal Nepal Army (now Nepal Army) for the last decade after they lose elections very badly and the violence has consumed over 12,500 lives. There is an equivalent Maoist campaign in India too and there is fear that they would be emboldened by successes of their Nepalese counterpart and also a linking of these groups across borders. However, the Nepalese group officially says that it has not extra-territorial aspirations but in speeches to cadre talk about paint the whole of South Asia red.

After sustained protests that paralyzed the capital and New Delhi and Beijing declined to intervene, Gnanendra capitulated and transferred power to a caretaker Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala who has brought the Maoists around largely through appeasement and stripping Gnanendra, tainted with allegations of power abuse, of many constitutional powers. Under the new peace deal, elections will be held next June for the assembly and also write a new constitution.

There is also a disarmament portion of the deal where the guerrillas and the Army will hold their weapons in barracks under UN supervision in return for 73 seats in the new 330 seat Constituent Assembly. Maoist demands to include the cadre in the Army has been rejected by both security leaders and political players.

The Maoists routinely terrorize the population and civilian entities with impunity. Recently, Paris-based Reporters Without Borders criticized the guerrillas for “a series of assaults, threats and coercive measures take by Maoist cadres against the press in various parts of the country.” Acknowledging that “Maoist attacks on journalists have considerably decreased” over the years, the say that the communists continue with their “regular and symptomatic of a failure to tolerate criticism.” They called on the Maoists to “respect” their promises on “commitment to the freedom and security of journalists.”