Prachanda
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Prachanda, born Pushpa Kamal Dahal on December 11, 1954, is the leader of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (CPN (M)). The party launched the Nepalese People's War on the 13th of February 1996, and through armed conflict now controls large portions of Nepal. The name "Prachanda" can be translated to mean "the fierce one."
Prachanda's extension of Marxism-Leninism-Maoism to take specific account of Nepal's situation is known as the Prachanda Path. It takes the strategy of Shining Path insurrection in Peru as an important point of reference, along with the Cambodian Revolution and the Chinese Revolution.
Prachanda spent much of his childhood in Chitwan, western Nepal. His family were brahmins of modest means. Inspired by the Cultural Revolution in China, he became active in insurrectionist Communist politics as early as the 1970s. Pushpa lived underground even after the restoration of democracy in 1990. Until then a little-known figure, he controlled the clandestine wing of the party while the portion with parliamentary representation in the United People's Front was headed by Dr. Baburam Bhattarai. The duo gave the Prime Minister's office a list of 40 demands, threatening civil war if they were not met. Since then, Prachanda has directed the military efforts of the CPN (M) towards establishing a so-called "base area" particularly in the mountainous regions and western Nepal.
In summer of 2005, relations between Prachanda and Bhattarai soured. This was reportedly due to disagreement on a stance towards India. It was claimed by some media that Bhattarai may also have charged that Prachanda was consolidating too much power into central leadership. Baburam denies this, and it has since been reported that they again appear close.[1][2][3]
On September 3 2005, Prachanda announced a unilateral three-month ceasefire in the civil war. [4] The ceasefire was extended one month further on December 2 2005, at the end of which period, due to attacks by the Royal Nepalese Army on Maoist positions, the ceasefire was revoked.
On November 22 2005 Prachanda released a "twelve-point agreement" that enumerates CPN (M) political positions and claims to identify areas of agreement between the Maoists and seven more conventional Nepali political parties. Among other points, this document states that a dictatorial monarchy is the chief impediment to progress in Nepal, that the Nepali parliament must be reinstated, and that the Maoists are committed to human rights and press freedoms and a multi-party system of government. It pledges self-criticism and the intention of the Maoists not to repeat past mistakes. [5]