KATHMANDU, NEPAL, May, 14, 2001: Clutching vintage Enfield .303 rifles, Nepalese police patrol the bazaars of the remote western town of Musikot. Maoist rebels control most of Rukum and several neighboring districts, confining the police to a few places like Musikot. The Maoists have killed more than 100 police officers this year. The strategy is to assert sovereignty over the countryside by demoralizing the police, and it seems to be working. It has been just over five years since Nepal’s Maoists began fighting the elected government in Kathmandu for a “People’s Republic.” In Kathmandu, the authorities are determined to press ahead with army deployment to stamp out the revolt. “We have to stand up for democracy and the rights of our nation,” says Deputy premier Ram Chandra Poudel.
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