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Why People Choose to Become a Combatant?

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Combatants to Civilians

Part of the book series: Rethinking Peace and Conflict Studies ((RCS))

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Abstract

This chapter examines the military structure of the Maoists armed conflict and the drivers and dynamics of armed recruitment. The analytical framework particularly focuses on structural, environmental and mobilising factors that were instrumental in turning civilians to become combatants either voluntarily or coercively. While this chapter acknowledges that structural and environmental factors pushed many young people to join the Maoists People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the roles and agency of the armed conflict mobiliser, hence the Maoists, and the strategies, tactics, methods they used to attract combatants cannot be overlooked. A critical analysis of combatant recruitment is relevant and necessary in reintegrating ex-combatants effectively in the post-conflict period. Therefore, the chapter maintains that a critical understanding of war recruitment is an entry point to design a reintegration programme at the end of a war, which is often expected to address causes and drivers of conflict.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The term Madhesi refers to the people from Madhesh or the Terai , both indigenous and non-indigenous people who have their own language and normally follow either Hinduism or Islam.

  2. 2.

    The Bhramins are also called Bahuns; therefore, both terms are used in this volume.

  3. 3.

    Interviewed in November 2011.

  4. 4.

    Interviewed in December 2011.

  5. 5.

    Interview with a human rights activist in Dhangadi , 2011.

  6. 6.

    Interviewed in December 2011.

  7. 7.

    The Maoists had reportedly formed the revolutionary People’s Government in several districts of the mid-west and far-west . By mid-January 2001, they had formed such governments in the Rolpa , Rukum, Salyan and Jajarkot districts (Tiwari, 2001). In most parts, the Maoists’ “base areas” were under the control of the People’s Government, which was an alternative form of power structure that replaced the political, economic, justice and military system of the state.

  8. 8.

    Interview with a civil society activist in Kathmandu, November 2011.

  9. 9.

    Interview with a civil society activist in Kailai, December 2011.

  10. 10.

    Interview with a human rights activist in Dhangadi , December 2011.

  11. 11.

    Interview with a political analyst in Kathmandu, November 2011.

  12. 12.

    Although Dalits also traditionally follow Hinduism, they are not allowed to enter Hindu temples because of caste-based discrimination prevailing in the society.

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  1. University of New England, Armidale, NSW, Australia

    D. B. Subedi

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Subedi, D.B. (2018). Why People Choose to Become a Combatant?. In: Combatants to Civilians. Rethinking Peace and Conflict Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-58672-8_2

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