Communist Party of Nepal (Fourth Convention)
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The Communist Party of Nepal (Fourth Convention) (in Nepali: Nepala Kamyunishta Parti (Chautho Mahadhiveshan)) was a communist party in Nepal 1974-1990. It was the major communist group in Nepal during the latter part of the 1970s, but gradually lost influence due to internal disputes. The party actively participated in the struggle for democracy in 1990, and its leader took part in writing the Nepalese Constitution. It later merged with other forces to form the Communist Party of Nepal (Unity Centre), out of which the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) emerged.
[edit] Founding
In September 1974 Mohan Bikram Singh and Nirmal Lama organized a "Fourth Convention of the Communist Party of Nepal" in India. Other CPN fractions did not recognize this '4th convention', and effectively CPN(4th Convention) became a separate party.
Prior to this conference both Lama and Singh had belonged to the 'Central Nucleus' group, gathering leftwing elements from the Amatya-led Communist Party of Nepal. The Central Nucleus, which initially had also included Manmohan Adhikari and Shambhuram Shrestha, had tried to reorganize the party and reunite with the Pushpa Lal group. However, such a merger never took off, partly due to Pushpa Lal's hesitation to merge his own faction into another party (since he claimed to represent the legacy of the original Communist Party of Nepal) and partly due to Pushpa Lal's wish to collaborate with the Nepali Congress against the royal regime (which MBS did not accept). In the end the Central Nucleus was divided.
The Central Nucleus had also been approached by the young revolutionaries of the Jhapa movement, but the Central Nucleus denounced cooperation with them. MBS branded the Jhapa uprising as left adventurism.
By 1979 CPN (4th Convention) was the largest communist party in Nepal. CPN (4th Convention) had its main base in the home region of MBS, Gorkha and Pyuthan areas in West-Central Nepal.[1]
[edit] Split
In 1983, at the time of its 5th convention, the party suffered a serious split. Some sources say that Mohan Bikram Singh was expelled from the party, other indicate that he left voluntarily. A major part of the party militants broke away and followed him. They soon formed Communist Party of Nepal (Masal). Amongst those who followed MBS were future Maoist leaders like Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Baburam Bhattarai. The remainder, led by Nirmal Lama, continued to work under the name of CPN (4th Convention).
In a simplified manner one might say that the key issue behind the split was diverging opinion on who was the main enemy of the party. MBS claimed that the main enemy was India expansionism, which was backing up the royal house in Nepal. Since the Nepali Congress, according to him, were Indian puppets cooperation with them was not feasible. According to Lama was feudalism as the main enemy, and that the royal regime was proping up the feudal system. The main priority was to fight against the royal regime for a democratic opening, and thus fight against feudalism itself. To Lama, the Nepali Congress was a potential ally in this struggle.
[edit] People's Movement and Transition to Democracy
CPN (4th Convention) was a member of the United Left Front and took part in the uprising against the autocratic regime in 1990.
In November 1990, CPN (4th Convention) merged with Communist Party of Nepal (Mashal) and other smaller fractions, forming the Communist Party of Nepal (Unity Centre).
