Paper short abstract:

The Cultural Revolution undertaken in the base area of Nepal, as documented by poetry, diaries and homages from Maoist journals, is explored here in order to grasp the daily occupations of the revolutionaries and the way they describe their actions and motivations.

Paper long abstract:

This paper explores the Maoist poetry, diaries and homage to the dead soldiers in order to grasp the motivations to engage in the People Liberation Army, the daily occupations of the revolutionaries and the way they describe their actions, both of construction and of destruction. The contents of the weekly Maoist journals Janadesh and Janaawaj document these fields, without «governmental» or «reactionary» misinformation. Within it, I chose to deal more specifically on the theme of the Cultural Revolution, for it is badly documented.

In the base region, the CPN (M) undertakes activities of creation, and not of destruction as in the rest of the country. The simultaneity of these two types of action is repeatedly presented as the sign of the advanced form of the Nepal People's War compared to the Russian or Chinese revolutions where collective structures were implemented only after the revolution had been achieved. It is through its actions in the base region that the CPN (M) shows that it is not a mere party, or a guerrilla, but a kind of alternative government, equipped with structures capable of not only managing the population in a proper way, but even of bringing them development Thus, it is reported that elections were organised in June 2005 in all the localities of 10 districts of the base region, whereas the old government does not have the means to do so. In the same way, the construction of the 100 km-long road of the martyrs in the Magarant is the pride of the revolutionaries. The Maoist journalist retells their wonderful feeling when travelling to this region full of heroes, and of peasants who are now detached from themselves. This achievement was made possible through cultural programs, which were the first form of propaganda undertaken by the CPN (M). It included songs and dances, but rapidly, vast literature, poetry and more recently, some novels, were produced. It is based on the idea that «Art cannot be for all. » (Janadesh.01.2006) and therefore includes the creation of a new culture and the destruction of the «indecent culture». The initially cultural movement evolved to include the ban of some religious practices, the creation of People's tribunals, of working camps, of public self-criticism and criticism of the party, of collectivisation, communes and cooperatives, of new education and training centres. The perception of the Cultural Revolution by the revolutionaries is exclusive, as it is compared to a newborn baby, which is «disgusting» to his father and close relations (up until the age of five months) but loved by his mother, though he was born bloody, because she made sacrifices for him (Janadesh June 2005).