In 1992, in a situation of economic crisis and chaos in

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

, with spiralling prices as a result of implementation of changes in policy of the new

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...

government, far-left groups stepped up their political agitation. A Joint People's Agitation Committee was set up together by the

Communist Party of Nepal (Unity Centre) The Communist Party of Nepal (Unity Centre) was a communist party in Nepal. CPN (UC) was formed on 19–20 November 1990 through the merger of Communist Party of Nepal (Mashal), Communist Party of Nepal (Fourth Convention), Proletarian Workers O ...

, Samyukta Jana Morcha, Communist Party of Nepal (Masal), the Nepal Communist League and the

Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist-Leninist-Maoist) The Communist Party of Nepal ( ne, नेपाल कम्युनिस्ट पार्टी), abbreviated CPN, was a communist party in Nepal from 1949 to 1962. It was founded on 15 September 1949 to struggle against the autocratic Rana ...

. The committee called for a general strike on April 6. Violent incidents began to occur on the evening ahead of the strike. The Joint People's Agitation Committee had called for a 30-minute 'lights out' in the capital, and violence erupted outside

Bir Hospital Bir Hospital (बीर अस्पताल) is the oldest and one of the busiest hospitals in Nepal. It is located at the center of Kathmandu city. The hospital is run by the National Academy of Medical Sciences, a government A g ...

when activists tried to enforce the 'lights out'. At dawn on April 6, clashes between strike activists and police outside a police station in Pulchok ( Patan) left two activists dead. Later in the day, a mass rally of the Agitation Committee at Tundikhel in the capital

Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...

was attacked by police forces. As a result, riots broke out, and the Nepal Telecommunications building was set on fire. Police opened fire at the crowd, killing several people. The

Human Rights Organisation of Nepal Humans (''Homo sapiens'') are the most abundant and widespread species of primate, characterized by bipedalism and exceptional cognitive skills due to a large and complex brain. This has enabled the development of advanced tools, culture, an ...

estimated that 14 people, including several on-lookers, had been killed.Hoftun, Martin, William Raeper and John Whelpton. ''People, politics and ideology: Democracy and Social Change in Nepal''. Kathmandu: Mandala Book Point, 1999. p. 189 The violent incidents in connection with the strike spurred radical elements within the Nepalese communist movement to debate the usefulness of participation in legal politics. Two years later the Communist Party of Nepal (Unity Centre) was divided, with one section opting for armed struggle. This group would later rename itself as the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) and declare a "People's War" in 1996, which became the starting point for the decade-long

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

References

History of Nepal (1951–2008) 1992 Nepalese General Strike 1992 labor disputes and strikes 1992 in Nepal Labour in Nepal Protests in Nepal Politics of the Nepalese Civil War {{Nepal-hist-stub