Nepal Becomes a Democracy — Then Loses It

In the spring of 1990, the Jana Andolan (People's Movement) swept through Nepal's cities and towns. Hundreds of thousands of Nepalis took to the streets demanding multiparty democracy, defying curfews, tear gas, and live ammunition. After weeks of protests and dozens of deaths, King Birendra capitulated on April 8, agreeing to end the partyless Panchayat system that had concentrated power in the monarchy since 1960. A new constitution was promulgated in November 1990, establishing a constitutional monarchy with a multiparty parliament. The euphoria was genuine but short-lived: the 1990s brought political instability, frequent government changes, pervasive corruption, and a failure to address the deep inequalities of caste, ethnicity, and geography. By 1996, frustrated by the failures of parliamentary democracy, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) launched a People's War — an armed insurgency that would claim over 17,000 lives and ultimately topple the monarchy itself.