NEPAL, JULY 28, 2001: BBC south Asia correspondent Adam Mynott is one of the first Western journalists to travel to the mountainous Rolpa district of west Nepal, a stronghold of the Maoist rebels. They told him of their ambitions for Nepal, the only Hindu nation, and the rest of the world. The village of Holari, in the foothills of the Himalayas, is where the Maoist insurgents in Nepal carried out their most successful attack against Nepali government forces just over two weeks ago. Seventy-two police officers were captured and one was killed. More than 50 policemen are still in Maoist custody. Speaking in a hut in Holeri, Comrade Sizal, local committee secretary, said the current cease-fire between Nepali Government forces and the rebels was not an obstacle to the Maoists’ intention to take over the entire country. Maoists currently control eight of more than 70 districts in Nepal. They are in effect running these areas, collecting taxes and organizing education and health care. The rebels often use cultural shows to gather villagers in remote areas. Comrade Sizal recently addressed a mass meeting of more than 5,000 villagers who had come from all over the countryside to listen to speeches about the Maoist rebellion and watch musical entertainment with a Maoist theme.
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