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Communist movement 61st anniv
- Marriage and divorce go hand-in-hand
KATHMANDU, APR 22 -
As the communists here celebrated on Thursday the 61st anniversary of the founding of the communist movement in Nepal, they walked past a history that witnessed 60 splits and unifications. Of the offshoots, only 13 survive today after the six-decade long merging and splitting.
In the crowd of communist parties, the UCPN (Maoist) has of late emerged as the largest communist party in Nepal securing the most seats in the Constituent Assembly (CA) elections while the CPN-UML is second.
“The communists have a tendency to split because they disagree on minor issues,” said Surendra KC, a researcher on the communist movement in Nepal. “Most of the time, a group of middle-class careerists join the communist party and works for its vested interests within the party, leading to division.”
The incidents of unification are visible of late in the Maoist party, which has intensified its activities to absorb fringe communist parties into it while some dissatisfied leaders have formed separate parties after quitting the Maoists. A faction of Jana Morcha Nepal and CPN (Unified ) have merged with the Maoists. Former Maoist leaders Matrika Yadav and Mani Thapa have formed separate parties called CPN (Maoist) and Revolutionary Communist Party Nepal (RCPN), respectively.
“When there is a gap between ideology and practice, leaders break away and form new parties. It is the common tendency,” said Mani Thapa.
Apart from this, ML, Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party, CPN (Masal), CPN (United), CPN (Marxist), CPN (Maoist), Ram Singh Shrish-led CPN (Unified), CPN United Revolutionary, Jana Morcha Nepal and CPN (Samyabadi) and Revolutionary Communist Party Nepal are prominent communist parties.
UML General Secretary CP Mainali said leaders’ over-ambition, opportunism and ego problem split the parties into different factions.
On April 22, 1949, four Left ideology oriented youths -- Pushpa Lal, Niranjan Govinda Baidhya, Narayan Bilasi Joshi and Karmacharya had formed the CPN to struggle against feudalism and imperialism. But today, Nepali communists are fighting each other.
“Nepali communist leaders never fight against the targeted force. Instead, they practice forming and dissolving parties for their own interests,” added KC.
The rifts have widened further these days.
The UCPN (Maoist) has called an urban protest to topple the UML-led government.
After six decades of establishment of the CPN, communists have a strong majority (62 percent) in the Constituent Assembly. The once-sidelined communists got a chance to lead the country but are still engaging in backbiting and public mudslinging.
Posted on: 2010-04-23 07:41
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