Dispatches from the People's War in Nepal - Hardcover

Onesto, Li

3.94

33 ratings by Goodreads

9780745323411: Dispatches from the People's War in Nepal

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0745323413 ISBN 13: 9780745323411

Publisher: Pluto Press, 2005

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A Maoist revolution has been raging in Nepal since 1996. In 1999, Li Onesto became the first foreign journalist to travel deep into the guerrilla zones of this Himalayan country. Allowed unprecedented access, she interviewed political and military leaders, guerrilla fighters, villagers in areas under Maoist control, and relatives of those killed by government forces. Dispatches provides invaluable analysis of the roots of an insurgency that is now on the threshold of seizing power. As journal and photo-essay, the book gives a vivid, first-hand look at the social and economic conditions that have fueled this revolution and allows readers to meet some of the key people involved. Peasant farmers talk about how their lifelong suffering has driven them to desperate measures. Women recount how they defied relatives, fled arranged marriages, and broke with social taboos to join the people's army. Guerrilla commanders and fighters fresh from military encounters discuss strategy and tactics. Millions of people now live in areas in Nepal under guerrilla control, where peasants are running grass-roots institutions, exercising what they call new 'people's power'. Dispatches describes these transformations -- the establishment of new governing committees and courts, the confiscation and re-division of land, new cultural and social practices, and the emergence of a new outlook. Increasingly, the UK and US have directly intervened to provide political and military support to the counter-insurgency efforts of the Nepalese regime and Onesto analyzes this developing in the larger international situation and the US 'war on terrorism'.

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About the Author:

The International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM, formerly the ICEF) is based in Brussels and represents workers worldwide in nationally based unions.

Review:

This unique, intimate look into the People's War in Nepal provides invaluable background to the world's most vigorous Maoist movement, and insight into the theory and practice underlying contemporary Maoism elsewhere in South Asia and globally. Based on the author's reportage and interviews in guerrilla-controlled areas in 1999, Dispatches from the People's War in Nepal helps to explain why, five years later, the insurgency has acquired control over most of the Nepali countryside. Li Onesto's examination of the guerrilla army, the roles of women and national minorities in the People's War, and the conduct of general strikes in the capital of Kathmandu shed much light on the current struggle underway for the future of the Himalayan nation. -- Gary Leupp, professor of history at Tufts University and Coordinator of the Asian Studies Program In her dispatches from the ongoing revolutionary war in Nepal, where she was the first, and longest-staying, foreign journalist to report from the Maoist-held areas, Li Onesto keeps up the committed, conscientious revolutionary journalism of John Reed, George Orwell, and Agnes Smedley. Building around the narratives of guerilla soldiers and their families, of group leaders, farmers, local officials, teachers, and artists, she provides an intimate and sympathetic view of the early stages of the People's War while giving a sense of the arduous nature of fighting a war in the Himalayas. Hers is probably the best, if not only, account of how the Maoists built their organization and movement, and of how they operate and govern. She is especially sensitive to the voices and experiences of women in the guerilla columns, who have tended to be invisible in such accounts. Included here are new chapters in which the story is updated, taking into account international intervention and future prospects for the struggle. -- Stephen Mikesell, author of Class, State and Struggle in Nepal: Writings 1989-1995 This lively, exciting and enlightening presentation of the true portrait of the Maoist insurgency in Nepal will help people to understand the real state of affairs behind the 'People's War' waged by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) to liberate the Nepalese people from all kinds of exploitation and repression. The most important value of this book lies in its serious analysis of several human features of the Maoist Revolution with on-the-spot descriptive facility. I agree with the writer to say that 'the Maoist Revolution in Nepal is causing surprise with its success and re-raising the question of the relevance of Communist revolution to today's turbulent world.' -- Padma Ratna Tuladhar, independent left leader, senior human rights leader and one of the facilitators in the peace talks between His Majesty's Government of Nepal and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)

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