He controls a large part of western Nepal, and is in charge of roads, power, irrigation, schools and health care.But Comrade Dhurba is no government official, he is a veteran Maoist rebel heading a parallel administration that rivals Kathmandu’s writ here in Rolpa district.After a decade concentrating on fighting a war most agree they cannot win, the rebels are increasingly focusing on politics and development in one of the world’s poorest countries.“There were some problems in the working style of the party,” Dhurba says in the small mountain village of Tila, deep in the hills of Rolpa, 450 km west of Kathmandu, where the army rarely ventures. “We had no experience in running a government, so we had a rectification programme. “All these past 10 years, we were concentrated on war. Now we have started a political campaign as well.”The rebels have signed a loose alliance with Nepal’s seven main political parties to fight King Gyanendra’s assumption of total power more than a year ago, establish an interim government and restore democracy.They have also said they are prepared to give up their arms and accept a democratic republic — although possibly still as only a first step towards securing a communist state.While the Maoist liberation Army fights its “People’s War”, now focusing its strength on Kathmandu and other major cities, Comrade Dhurba’s focus is on raising the living standards of the villagers in his district, the Maoist heartland where the revolution began.
