by KIRAN PUN, http://www.myrepublica.com/
Samana Pariwar
KATHMANDU, Aug 13: The recent efforts within the UCPN (Maoist) to end the continuing intra-party feud seems to have fallen apart, with a split in the party´s top cultural group – Samana Pariwar — on Friday.
Members of Samana Pariwar close to party Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal formed a separate cultural group, splitting from the group dominated by Senior Vice Chairman Mohan Baidya.
The faction of the cultural group close to Baidya was in Birtanagar for its cultural campaign “Saman Jansangeet Abhiyan” when the Dahal-faction announced a parallel group in Kathmandu.
“Finally, we announced a 23-member committee,” Bhim Kumakhi, newly appointed coordinator of the group close to Dahal-faction, told Republica. Earlier, he was the coordinator of the Magarat Pariwar.
This is the first time that the establishment faction of the largest party has split a sister organization. The group is the second wing of the party to have faced a split after the party´s trade union. The trade union was split into three groups.
Samana Pariwar had played a pivotal role in educating common people in rural areas about the Maoist ideology during the conflict.
The feud in the Maoist cultural group had surfaced some three months ago after the Dahal faction forcefully separated its members from members close to the Baidya faction.
Both the teams had conducted separate cultural programs in Rastriya Nachaghar and Nepal Academy last month in a clear indication of an imminent split.
Meanwhile, both the cultural groups have claimed to be the legitimate group of the party.
“The party should decide which group is legitimate,” said Bijaya Sampang, coordinator of Samana close to the Baidya faction. “We will file a case in the party against another group.”
Maoist cultural bureau in-charge Ninu Chapagain said the split is the reflection of the continuing intra-party feud. “The split reflects intra party rift. Disputes can be resolved if the faction leaders so want.”
After the split, both the factions have accused each other of being counter-revolutionary.
Published on 2011-08-13
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| Dahal’s tactics: Fall in line or starve | ||
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by KIRAN PUN KATHMANDU, Aug 1: Samana Pariwar, a cultural group of the UCPN (Maoist) that lives together in Kathmandu, is bearing the full brunt of factionalism in the party. The party´s topmost cultural group, which currently has 32 members, has said the party establishment is no longer funding their living expenses in Kathmandu. The reason? The Parivar members do not pay paeans to Dahal anymore. According to party insiders, it all began after the Palungtar Plenum last November when various party wings including the Samana Parivar openly backed their respective factions, each led by Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Senior Vice-chairman Mohan Baidya and Vice-chairman Dr Baburam Bhattarai. The current 32 members of Samana Parivar are loyal to Baidya, and four other members from the Dahal faction were separated from the group two months ago to create a parallel cultural group in favor of the party establishment. Samana Parivar, which lives collectively at Manamaiju in Kathmandu, would get Rs 100,000 from the party headquarters and Rs 25,000 from PLA every month to cover their accommodation and daily expenses. But things were not the same after the Palungtar Plenum where Samana Parivar members backed Baidya faction. Both the party headquarters and PLA stopped giving them the promised money. “We have not been clearly told why the party has stopped giving us money,” said Bijaya Sampang, coordinator of the Parivar. He said the Parivar is surviving on the money collected from selling the tickets of their cultural shows. “In the beginning, the chairman´s aides told us that we would get the promised money soon. Now, they openly say that they have decided not to give us the money,” artist Jhankar Budha Magar said. The Parivar has been active since the beginning of the insurgency and has played crucial roles in spreading the party´s ideology. “We too belong to the party. Why should only the chairman have monopoly over the party´s finances? We have invested the most productive years of our lives in the party,” said another Parivar member. According to Kishor BK who is the vice-coordinator of the Parivar, the total cost of living for the Parivar amounts to Rs 200,000. The members would get Rs 600 to 1,000 per month as pocket money but now they only get Rs 200-300 per month. Also, they would get Rs 1,500 for clothing every six months. “But we have not bought any new clothes for the last several months,” Jhankar Budha Magar said. Samana Parivar has decided to hold cultural programs throughout the day to collect money to meet their expenses. Many wings and organizations of the party are also reportedly undergoing similar experiences. The party´s organizations, where Baidya and Bhattarai have the majority, accuses Dahal of depriving them of party finances so that all can fall in line with the party establishment. |
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Published on 2011-08-01
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Frontlines of Revolutionary Struggle 
Some of us reporting in Nepal have heard this article is a distortion from the cultural group. They say that the cultural wing has not split and is under the leadership of the Kiran faction.
My wording is a little confusing up there, we heard from the cultural group that this article is a distortion.