Love in conflict | Cover Story

PRATEEK RAJBHANDARI

Maybe because love and war are two extremes, and extremes have a way of attracting, love has become as much a part of the Maoist insurgency as war. Communists disapprove of love or sex before marriage but the number of love marriages within the rebel party has increased over the years.

The Maoist Sixth Division's Pili Smriti Brigade's vice-commander of the Eighth Battalion, Comrade 'Bidhan', married the love of his life a year-and-half after meeting her. "We fell in love in the course of the rebellion, then with the party's blessings, got married," says Bidhan. The Chaudhary girl from Bardiya, who worked in the same armed force as him, has now risen to the rank of company commander. The couple have a baby son, and still go to the battlefield together. Gopal Sharma 'Anul', who was recently transferred from being the in-charge of Banke-Bardiya to Rukum, is also married to a Chaudhary commander, he met on the battlefield. It's a coincidence that Anul is married to Bidhan's sister-in-law.

The majority of the Maoist army ranks are made up of young people. This may explain why many seek support and comfort in love affairs. To top it off, there is no gender-based discrimination or special treatment. Especially in the rebel armed forces, both women and men are expected to live and fight together. This gives them the opportunity to mingle with members of the other sex.

RAMESWOR BOHARA

Love affairs and marriages have become popular in the 'people's war'. In the course of battle, party workers and the rebel forces are made to walk for endless hours, day and night. They never know for certain when they will have to attack or be on the defensive. Each step could spell death. This uncertainty has led to the rising number of love marriages as couples plunge headlong into conjugal life. One company commander says, "You never know when you are going to die. That's why, when you know you love somebody, you marry the person right away so whatever little time you have, you get to spend together."

The Maoists have made rules regarding love affairs and marriages for the young men and women fighting in the 'people's war'. According to a Regional Bureau member of the Maoists, rebels of the party ranks who are in love and wish to get married must inform the party. If both partners agree, the party authority grants approval. If there are many willing couples in an armed circle, the party hosts a group 'Janabadi' marriage. Love and group 'Janabadi' marriages have become a fashion of sorts in the Maoist rebellion.

But not all marriages in the Maoist party are based on reciprocated love. Sometimes, if a girl likes a boy or a boy likes a girl, they propose their interest to the party and if the party approves, it arranges for their marriage. According to the Maoist party rules, married couples must wait at least five years before having children. As a result, contraceptive devices are widely available.

KASHISH DAS SHRESTHA

"To have children during a war will add to one's own burden and to that of others'," says a Maoist rebel couple who had a child within a year of their marriage. Some Maoists go to the battlefield with children on their backs. Adherence to the relative party rule is not monitored and the authority has shown little or no concern for this matter.

However, 'Janabadi' love marriages aren' t always successful within the Maoist party. Many lives have been thrown into dilemma and confusion. Two years ago, Taplejung's company commander Ranju met and married a rebel worker from western Nepal. Last year, her husband was killed in an ambush at Bankhet, Kailali. Shortly after she was widowed, Ranju gave birth to a son. As a girl from the eastern region, she finds it difficult being a single-mom fighting for the rebellion in the west. "Three months after my son was born, I went to my in-laws' house but the way they talk, live, dress, and their culture and traditions, are very different from where I come from. I'm having difficulties adjusting here, let alone in raising a son," says Ranju.

Maoist party worker, Resham Tamata of Banke, Kusum, met fellow rebel Samjhana at a Maoist cultural programme and married her. Three months after their wedding, while Resham was visiting his brother in Nepalgunj, Samjhana eloped with Yam Bahadur Chand, a security personnel.

KASHISH DAS SHRESTHA

A Maoist couple in the 118th Batallion of the People's Liberation Army in Eastern Nepal. They were married in a small 'Lal Wedding' at their camp.
Chand joined the government forces a year earlier and proposed to Samjhana at the same time as Resham. She rejected him in favour of Resham who worked in the Maoist ranks. Soon after, she returned to Chand, who quit his job and fled to India with her. Last December, Tamata came to Nepalgunj in search of his wife and sobbed out his story to security policemen.

Kalpana, president of Doti's Maoist Women's Group, fell in love and eloped with an ex-army man. Dan Singh Thapa defected to the Maoist party, sauntering in from Bajura's army barrack to the rebel area with an M-16 rifle slung on his shoulders. There he met Kalpana and the two asked for the party's approval to marry. When the party authority denied them its blessings, the two fled to India. Nobody has heard of them since.

Most rebels are busy in the party's work and so, many love affairs are left strained. Maoist leaders often take a second lover as they rise in ranks, which is why many Maoist District in-charges have been tried at the rebel court and sent to labour camp.

RAMESWOR BOHARA

In the course of the 'people's war' even after marriage, husbands and wives do not get to live together. Some rebel couples see their spouse after months or even years. They must compromise on their marriage for the sake of their commitment to the party or faction they believe in. That's why, even if they meet in the course of ambushes and attacks, they struggle to exchange love letters.

Love stories are woven thick in between the gory war stories of the Maoist insurgency. But in such violent times, even these love stories are short and tragic. Many lovers meet, but are then separated by transfers, distance, or death.