REPORTER: Ginny Stein
The rich Kathmandu valley, centre of Nepal's wealth and power. For decades, the tranquil mountains and ancient traditions have captivated travellers. But now, tourism is taking a battering. The number of tourists visiting the medieval streets of the temple city of Bhaktapur has halved. A home-grown Maoist insurgency has thrust this Hindu kingdom into a vicious guerrilla war.
SANKHA NARAYAN DANGOL (Translation): Tourists come here thinking it's good but the country's in a grim situation. They come with great expectations, but they lose them when they see the reality.
Nepal is sandwiched high in the Himalayas between two giants, China and India. One-third of the country is now caught in a campaign of terror, for Nepal's Maoists are murdering, torturing, bombing and kidnapping, all in the name of protecting the people.
NEPAL TV NEWS (Translation): Good evening. This is the Nepal news. First, the headlines. A massive battle at Rukam Kokhara took place last night between Maoists and the army. So far, 142 bodies of Maoists have been retrieved.
The nightly news is a horror show. Atrocities are taking place across the nation - more than 4,000 dead in six years, most in the past six months. Strikes by Maoists on police and military bases usually leave no survivors.
REGIONAL MILITARY COMMANDER: What we have seen from so many battles with the Maoists rebels, they will assassinate all the people and they will kill.
Last month, the military struck back. When militiamen attacked this isolated military post near Rukum in Nepal's far west, the Royal Nepalese Army was ready. The rebels were outgunned - at least 200 were killed. Until 12 years ago, Nepal was ruled by its all-powerful monarchy. Then came multi-party democracy. A number of leftist parties emerged, including a handful subscribing to Maoist principles. At this rally last year, their largest ever show of support, thousands packed into the main square in the capital, Kathmandu. Support for their revolutionary ideals was fuelled by the people's disillusionment with democracy. But it was the decision to abandon politics for terror late last year that led to the Maoists being declared enemies of the state.
'MAOIST MOST WANTED" TV PROGRAM (Translation): Hello, viewers. Welcome to today's army news.
Nepal's military produces its own 'Maoist Most Wanted' TV program.
"MAOIST MOST WANTED" TV PROGRAM (Translation): Do you recognise any of today's most wanted Maoists?
The movement's leaders are now under cover, on the run, or have fled the country. The armed forces are having a hard time hunting them down. That's because the Maoists' message of equality and an end to the monarchy quickly resonated across the mountains. And they have terror on their side.
KUNDA DIXIT, "NEPAL TIMES" EDITOR: The path chosen was of violence and armed struggle and there's no...they were not squeamish about that. From the beginning, it was, "Armed struggle is the only way," because these people who believe in this sham democracy, according to them, were never going to liberate the people, the people are going to be as downtrodden and as exploited, so the only way was to just start from year zero, and that is their, that is their whole thing is to uproot everything old, replace it with the new. In that sense, they are very similar to the Khmer Rouge, which also tried to do something very similar.
The Maoists have not yet been able to assert themselves or their "year zero" vision in the capital. But last year, when tragedy shook Kathmandu, it was to their advantage. A drunken crown prince machine-gunned eight members of his family, including the king and queen, and then killed himself. As Nepal farewelled its royal leaders, a traumatised and disbelieving nation struggled to understand. In a country that revered its monarchy, the resulting destabilisation spurred on the Maoist revolt.
KUNDA DIXIT: The whole people's war and the revolution for the Maoists was designed as - they didn't say it - but perhaps as a 20-year war at the end of which, there would be a People's Republic of Nepal, you know, governed by the Communist Party, Maoists. And then, June 1, 2001, exactly one year ago, the entire royal family is massacred by the crown prince. So they seemed to have decided to telescope their entire revolution from 20 down to 2 or 3 years.
The Royal Nepalese Army is ill-equipped to deal with the challenge. They agreed to take me into the Maoist heartland. Nepal's military has, for much of its existence, been an ornamental force. It has but a handful of helicopters at its disposal, to fight this war, in some of the most inhospitable and remote mountains in the world. Here, in the middle hills of the Himalayas, there are few roads - the only way in and out for the most part is by foot. This is Nepal's wild west. The military is well aware it is under siege here. It's upped its training regime. Lessons learnt here were to be put into practice just days after my visit. When the Maoists attacked, the military was ready. More than 50 rebels were killed, the military lost five. The army requested no commanding officer's face be shown, as the families of officers have become Maoist targets in this war.
REGIONAL MILITARY COMMANDER: If we left from this place, there might be a problem for the local people, those who are supporting us. After our leaving from this place, the Maoist rebels, they will come and they will just threaten them. And, if they are real supporters, they will even kill those people.
Human rights investigators say one of the Maoists' most despicable combat practices has been repeatedly brought to bear in battles near here. The first to die in these gunfights are not necessarily Maoists, but terrorised villagers enlisted under the threat of death. Villagers are brought along as human shields and not just to strengthen numbers, but also to help carry away or bury the dead.
SUBODH RAJ PYAKUREL, HUMAN RIGHTS WORKER: If someone refuses to go over there, the family members are killed or they are tortured. And even, in many cases, the young children are abducted. So people are bound to send there one person from each of the family.
The military is marking time here. It can do little but guard government infrastructure. It is an over-deployed force facing a war being waged on many fronts.
REGIONAL MILITARY COMMANDER: There are so many pressures. The terrain is quite difficult and the strength of the army, you know...we are trying to send our patrol in the nearby, so those people feel safe, so they are totally in favour of the army.
Nepal's security forces were given carte blanche to respond following the government's declaration of a state of emergency in November.
SECURITY OFFICIAL: No, you can't take the camera.
REPORTER: I have permission to be here.
SECURITY OFFICIAL: Sorry, you cannot take.
More than 4,000 suspects are now locked up. 19-year-old Shashi Bahadur Ale is not just a suspect - he willingly admits to being a loyal militiaman.
SHASHI BAHADUR ALE, MAOIST DETAINEE (Translation): This conflict has occurred to create equality for everyone, to end the gap between rich and poor.
But Shashi's days as a front-line fighter ended abruptly a few months ago when he accidentally tripped a home-made grenade he was carrying. He's uncertain what is going to happen next. He is waiting to be charged. But, even in the presence of his jailers, his Maoist convictions appear to be holding firm.
SHASHI BAHADUR ALE (Translation): We cannot just ignore this situation. That would be wrong and I believe the Maoists won't leave things as they are.
The success of the Maoists isn't hard to understand - it lies in Shashi's simple desire for greater equality. Six years ago, when the Maoists declared a people's war, they did what no other political force before it had done. They took their message direct to Nepal's most remote villages. They promised to impose law and order, to bring an end to the monarchy and install a communist state. But no-one, including these villagers, was prepared for the intensity of the violence to come.
SUBODH RAJ PYAKUREL: Maoist are very strong in these places. The day before yesterday, they attacked in this district, called Rukum, and their headquarters is here - this place is called Rulpa.
Subodh Raj Pyakurel is a leading voice in human rights. He says the Maoists found themselves a captive audience.
SUBODH RAJ PYAKUREL: General people understand the simple solution of the complicated problem, OK? The Maoists used to go to the villages and tell the people that, "Look, landlords always live in the town, city and, when you harvest the crop, they will come and they will claim that half of the crop is entitled for them because they are the land-owners and the remaining half, they will take on the account that they have lent you money and you need to pay for the interest and the principal."
Kathmandu newspaper editor Kunda Dixit has watched the movement emerge. He says, at first, the Maoists targeted the powerful and corrupt.
KUNDA DIXIT: In the beginning, you know, when they started the people's war in February 1996, they went after the village crooks. They went after local leaders who had a bad reputation for exploiting people or for extortion or corruption or misuse of authority, whatever. And they either hounded them out or they killed them.
REPORTER: Is it by accident or by design that this "year zero" vision is there?
KUNDA DIXIT: No, I think they've learned from revolutions elsewhere, and they think that in Nepal it will actually work, because they feel the contradictions in society and the inequality and the injustice and the frustrations of the downtrodden is so great that it would work.
The Maoist campaign of terror has now become more specific. Rebels brutally attacked each and every person hospitalised in this ward. Such is the fear, many of the victims here don't want their faces shown. Human rights groups say more than 200 people have been executed and thousands more tortured by the Maoists in recent months. The educated classes are among the chosen in this second wave of terror. Their sin? Failing to use their influence to promote Maoist teaching. This businessman, who dared to disagree, was beaten with sticks. The Maoists make a habit of attacking people's legs and hands, taking their detractors out of action. This man, a principal at a remote mountain school, asked for his face to be disguised.
MOUNTAIN SCHOOL PRINCIPAL (Translation): They attacked me with a stick all over my body, starting with my ankles. They hit me on both my ankles. They broke the bones on both my legs. Then I fell into a position like this. After I'd fallen, they attacked me from behind. One hit me with a stick and one crushed my hand with a stone.
Like so many others who have fled, he knows to try to return home would be to invite death.
MOUNTAIN SCHOOL PRINCIPAL (Translation): I'm not in any condition to go home. I can't. If the situation improves, I may go home. But not now.
This is the man the government considers responsible for the campaign of violence. Dr Baburam Bhattarai is co-founder of Nepal's Maoist movement and a member of Nepal's educated elite. He's an architect by profession. This rare footage of him was filmed in 1992, the year after Nepal's experiment with multi-party democracy began. He was an emerging political voice when he spoke at the funeral of a human rights advocate.
DR BABURAM BHATTARAI, MAOIST PARTY LEADER (Translation): While man exploits man, the situation will never improve. A new light must shine to bring about a better society.
Dr Bhattarai's brother, Shiva, has not seen his infamous sibling since the movement went underground. He refuses to believe that his brother could condone all the violence.
SHIVA BHATTARAI (Translation): The military attacks the people from one side and the Maoists attack from the other and the people don't have much choice.
Shiva Bhattarai says social justice always motivated his brother.
SHIVA BHATTARAI (Translation): My brother and I had a very liberal upbringing. When democracy came to Nepal in 1990, the people believed they would get clothes to wear, food to eat, jobs, the naked would be clothed, the homeless sheltered, the peasants would get to study and get medicine and medical treatment. People were devastated when this didn't actually happen.
Dr Bhattarai's sister-in-law also speaks fondly of a man who pushed women to study.
DURGA NEUPANE: He used to encourage us to do something well, especially for women and even he encouraged us to study and to do such good things. He encouraged us, and not only us, even also females of the village, to come out from the traditional norms and such practices.
This checkpoint is just a couple of hours by road from Kathmandu. It is the gateway to the birthplace of the movement. For it is here in Gorkha, west of the capital, that the rebel's leaders, including Dr Babaram Bhattarai, were raised. This was once a fertile recruiting ground for the movement. But with social justice taking a back seat to violence, the rebels are losing support. These two men once thought the Maoists had something to offer, but not any more.
NEPALI MAN 1 (Translation): The Maoists...they've been unjust, killed people...what can I say?
NEPALI MAN 2 (Translation): People are taken away to be questioned and then murdered. Even soldiers are attacked. Nepalese are killing Nepalese. It's wrong.
The Maoists know they are under pressure. It is perhaps the reason this senior Kathmandu political commander, a wanted man, agreed to risk coming out of hiding to speak openly to Dateline.
REPORTER: You say that the movement is about making the people equal. Then why are you killing the people?
"GYANENDRA", MAOIST COMMANDER (Translation): Accusations of killing people have been spread about. We don't agree with this. I've said this before. This killing is not for show and entertainment. When the royal authorities give orders to shoot on sight, in the process, things happen.
Calling himself Gyanendra, the name of the current king, he took me on a taxi drive through the streets of the capital. Our meeting had been furtively arranged after weeks of negotiations. But this drive was a bold attempt to show that he can still operate freely, even here in the city.
"GYANENDRA" MAOIST COMMANDER (Translation): We are very safe. Even in the capital city itself there are thousands of our people living safely with the general public and struggling to survive.
In the countryside, they don't trust anyone any more. Less than two hours by road from the provincial capital, Nepalgunj, is the village of Banke. It's deep in Maoist territory. People here are caught in the middle. Fearful locals are forced to feed both soldiers and rebels when they come to the village.
NEPALI VILLAGER (Translation): But if someone asks for food I'm obliged to feed him. I'll fry some corn or cook rice. Either way, it looks as if I'm taking sides. So I have no choice and we're all stuck in this.
The nightmare for this woman's family was the day a group of soldiers turned up.
DATNA (Translation): They said they would rape and kill my daughters. They said they would insult my daughters and kill them. For no reason they would say just that. I would say, "No, my daughters aren't Maoists. We're not Maoists."
Datna took us home to meet her daughters, Dilmaya and her two sisters. The day the soldiers came calling, their father was away and Dilmaya was upstairs studying for exams. The soldiers didn't carry out their worst threats, but they beat the girls.
DILMAYA (Translation): We thought the army was patrolling to protect the public and us women. Or I wonder if they were patrolling to harass us.
The Maoists may stand accused of the worst of atrocities, but the security forces are also not above murder. Hera Maya Dangol knows only too well.
HERA MAYA DANGOL (Translation): My son was the source of my income, but now he has gone.
Her eldest son was one of five men picked up by police at random from his village on the outskirts of the Kathmandu valley.
HERA MAYA DANGOL (Translation): I don't feel like eating or doing anything. All I do is cry. If my son were here, he would know exactly what to do and so much work would have been done. What am I to do? Now everything is just left as it is. It's three months since I last visited our farm. And today I decided to have a look but when I went there, it just reminded me of my son and that's why I started to cry.
Four days after his arrest, the body of Kancha Dangol was delivered to Kathmandu Hospital. He had been beaten and slashed, and then shot in the head and chest, but most probably after he was already dead. No-one, not least his mother nor his daughters or human rights workers who investigated the case, believe the official story that this simple village carpenter was shot following an encounter with security forces.
SUBODH RAJ PYAKUREL: That's totally false. We have visited the spot, we have talked with the people, there are so many eye witnesses - not only that. There are the people who were taken by the army along with Kancha Dangol inside the barracks. Other people came back and Kancha Dangol's dead body was found in the hospital, so it's not true.
Amidst Nepal's worsening security crisis, the country's prime minister is fighting for his own survival. Faced with a revolt within his party, on this day, following a party meeting at his residence, he dissolved parliament and called an election for November. Perhaps due to his own political crisis. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba appeared untroubled about evidence of human rights abuses by the nation's security forces.
REPORTER: Do you agree that human rights abuses are occurring on both sides?
PRIME MINISTER SHER BAHADUR DEUBA: No, not both sides. They are the criminals. They are killing people. Regarding our side, I have given instructions to the security forces to take extra care not to violate human rights. If there are any mistakes, we will correct. We will give compensation.
REPORTER: It's a bit late in the case of Kancha Dangol - one man who was killed by the security forces - it's a bit late when someone has been killed by the security forces...
PM SHER BAHADUR DEUBA: Where did this happen?
REPORTER: This happened very close to Kathmandu on the outskirts of... in the valley of Kathmandu.
PM SHER BAHADUR DEUBA: I don't, I am not aware of these things, but if there are any cases, we might investigate.
The Nepalese Government still insists the rebels can be defeated. Prime Minister Deuba may have come to power as a peacemaker, but his overtures have been scorned.
KUNDA DIXIT: Well, the Prime Minister has a sort of a... has a deep sense of personal betrayal, because he really went in good faith to negotiate with them, you know, last October. And they did, you know - he is right in that respect - that they did unilaterally, not just broke the truce, but they went and attacked the army. You know, so he feels really, really betrayed by that.
For now, Prime Minister Deuba is flatly refusing to negotiate.
REPORTER: What about a political solution - is that something that you'd be willing to work towards?
PM SHER BAHADUR DEUBA: How can I trust them, who could give guarantee, on behalf of them that they will surrender the arms? Even after negotiations start, no, I don't think so.
REPORTER: So you're no longer the peacemaker? You now believe in a military solution?
PM SHER BAHADUR DEUBA: No, I am a peacemaker, but who is going to give the guarantee? Can you? On behalf of them?
These fighting words do not suggest a political solution is anywhere in sight.
KUNDA DIXIT: There's no military solution to this. If we go for a military solution, we're going to be fighting for the next 20, 25 years. It will be like Sri Lanka. And I think, at the end of 25 years, after 100,000 killed, we're going to come to the realisation that this was pretty stupid.
Nepal has much to lose if the violence escalates. It is fair to suggest that most Nepalese, even the military, share this sentiment. The people of Nepal can only hope both the Maoists and the government will eventually work that out.
The rich Kathmandu valley, centre of Nepal's wealth and power. For decades, the tranquil mountains and ancient traditions have captivated travellers. But now, tourism is taking a battering. The number of tourists visiting the medieval streets of the temple city of Bhaktapur has halved. A home-grown Maoist insurgency has thrust this Hindu kingdom into a vicious guerrilla war.
SANKHA NARAYAN DANGOL (Translation): Tourists come here thinking it's good but the country's in a grim situation. They come with great expectations, but they lose them when they see the reality.
Nepal is sandwiched high in the Himalayas between two giants, China and India. One-third of the country is now caught in a campaign of terror, for Nepal's Maoists are murdering, torturing, bombing and kidnapping, all in the name of protecting the people.
NEPAL TV NEWS (Translation): Good evening. This is the Nepal news. First, the headlines. A massive battle at Rukam Kokhara took place last night between Maoists and the army. So far, 142 bodies of Maoists have been retrieved.
The nightly news is a horror show. Atrocities are taking place across the nation - more than 4,000 dead in six years, most in the past six months. Strikes by Maoists on police and military bases usually leave no survivors.
REGIONAL MILITARY COMMANDER: What we have seen from so many battles with the Maoists rebels, they will assassinate all the people and they will kill.
Last month, the military struck back. When militiamen attacked this isolated military post near Rukum in Nepal's far west, the Royal Nepalese Army was ready. The rebels were outgunned - at least 200 were killed. Until 12 years ago, Nepal was ruled by its all-powerful monarchy. Then came multi-party democracy. A number of leftist parties emerged, including a handful subscribing to Maoist principles. At this rally last year, their largest ever show of support, thousands packed into the main square in the capital, Kathmandu. Support for their revolutionary ideals was fuelled by the people's disillusionment with democracy. But it was the decision to abandon politics for terror late last year that led to the Maoists being declared enemies of the state.
'MAOIST MOST WANTED" TV PROGRAM (Translation): Hello, viewers. Welcome to today's army news.
Nepal's military produces its own 'Maoist Most Wanted' TV program.
"MAOIST MOST WANTED" TV PROGRAM (Translation): Do you recognise any of today's most wanted Maoists?
The movement's leaders are now under cover, on the run, or have fled the country. The armed forces are having a hard time hunting them down. That's because the Maoists' message of equality and an end to the monarchy quickly resonated across the mountains. And they have terror on their side.
KUNDA DIXIT, "NEPAL TIMES" EDITOR: The path chosen was of violence and armed struggle and there's no...they were not squeamish about that. From the beginning, it was, "Armed struggle is the only way," because these people who believe in this sham democracy, according to them, were never going to liberate the people, the people are going to be as downtrodden and as exploited, so the only way was to just start from year zero, and that is their, that is their whole thing is to uproot everything old, replace it with the new. In that sense, they are very similar to the Khmer Rouge, which also tried to do something very similar.
The Maoists have not yet been able to assert themselves or their "year zero" vision in the capital. But last year, when tragedy shook Kathmandu, it was to their advantage. A drunken crown prince machine-gunned eight members of his family, including the king and queen, and then killed himself. As Nepal farewelled its royal leaders, a traumatised and disbelieving nation struggled to understand. In a country that revered its monarchy, the resulting destabilisation spurred on the Maoist revolt.
KUNDA DIXIT: The whole people's war and the revolution for the Maoists was designed as - they didn't say it - but perhaps as a 20-year war at the end of which, there would be a People's Republic of Nepal, you know, governed by the Communist Party, Maoists. And then, June 1, 2001, exactly one year ago, the entire royal family is massacred by the crown prince. So they seemed to have decided to telescope their entire revolution from 20 down to 2 or 3 years.
The Royal Nepalese Army is ill-equipped to deal with the challenge. They agreed to take me into the Maoist heartland. Nepal's military has, for much of its existence, been an ornamental force. It has but a handful of helicopters at its disposal, to fight this war, in some of the most inhospitable and remote mountains in the world. Here, in the middle hills of the Himalayas, there are few roads - the only way in and out for the most part is by foot. This is Nepal's wild west. The military is well aware it is under siege here. It's upped its training regime. Lessons learnt here were to be put into practice just days after my visit. When the Maoists attacked, the military was ready. More than 50 rebels were killed, the military lost five. The army requested no commanding officer's face be shown, as the families of officers have become Maoist targets in this war.
REGIONAL MILITARY COMMANDER: If we left from this place, there might be a problem for the local people, those who are supporting us. After our leaving from this place, the Maoist rebels, they will come and they will just threaten them. And, if they are real supporters, they will even kill those people.
Human rights investigators say one of the Maoists' most despicable combat practices has been repeatedly brought to bear in battles near here. The first to die in these gunfights are not necessarily Maoists, but terrorised villagers enlisted under the threat of death. Villagers are brought along as human shields and not just to strengthen numbers, but also to help carry away or bury the dead.
SUBODH RAJ PYAKUREL, HUMAN RIGHTS WORKER: If someone refuses to go over there, the family members are killed or they are tortured. And even, in many cases, the young children are abducted. So people are bound to send there one person from each of the family.
The military is marking time here. It can do little but guard government infrastructure. It is an over-deployed force facing a war being waged on many fronts.
REGIONAL MILITARY COMMANDER: There are so many pressures. The terrain is quite difficult and the strength of the army, you know...we are trying to send our patrol in the nearby, so those people feel safe, so they are totally in favour of the army.
Nepal's security forces were given carte blanche to respond following the government's declaration of a state of emergency in November.
SECURITY OFFICIAL: No, you can't take the camera.
REPORTER: I have permission to be here.
SECURITY OFFICIAL: Sorry, you cannot take.
More than 4,000 suspects are now locked up. 19-year-old Shashi Bahadur Ale is not just a suspect - he willingly admits to being a loyal militiaman.
SHASHI BAHADUR ALE, MAOIST DETAINEE (Translation): This conflict has occurred to create equality for everyone, to end the gap between rich and poor.
But Shashi's days as a front-line fighter ended abruptly a few months ago when he accidentally tripped a home-made grenade he was carrying. He's uncertain what is going to happen next. He is waiting to be charged. But, even in the presence of his jailers, his Maoist convictions appear to be holding firm.
SHASHI BAHADUR ALE (Translation): We cannot just ignore this situation. That would be wrong and I believe the Maoists won't leave things as they are.
The success of the Maoists isn't hard to understand - it lies in Shashi's simple desire for greater equality. Six years ago, when the Maoists declared a people's war, they did what no other political force before it had done. They took their message direct to Nepal's most remote villages. They promised to impose law and order, to bring an end to the monarchy and install a communist state. But no-one, including these villagers, was prepared for the intensity of the violence to come.
SUBODH RAJ PYAKUREL: Maoist are very strong in these places. The day before yesterday, they attacked in this district, called Rukum, and their headquarters is here - this place is called Rulpa.
Subodh Raj Pyakurel is a leading voice in human rights. He says the Maoists found themselves a captive audience.
SUBODH RAJ PYAKUREL: General people understand the simple solution of the complicated problem, OK? The Maoists used to go to the villages and tell the people that, "Look, landlords always live in the town, city and, when you harvest the crop, they will come and they will claim that half of the crop is entitled for them because they are the land-owners and the remaining half, they will take on the account that they have lent you money and you need to pay for the interest and the principal."
Kathmandu newspaper editor Kunda Dixit has watched the movement emerge. He says, at first, the Maoists targeted the powerful and corrupt.
KUNDA DIXIT: In the beginning, you know, when they started the people's war in February 1996, they went after the village crooks. They went after local leaders who had a bad reputation for exploiting people or for extortion or corruption or misuse of authority, whatever. And they either hounded them out or they killed them.
REPORTER: Is it by accident or by design that this "year zero" vision is there?
KUNDA DIXIT: No, I think they've learned from revolutions elsewhere, and they think that in Nepal it will actually work, because they feel the contradictions in society and the inequality and the injustice and the frustrations of the downtrodden is so great that it would work.
The Maoist campaign of terror has now become more specific. Rebels brutally attacked each and every person hospitalised in this ward. Such is the fear, many of the victims here don't want their faces shown. Human rights groups say more than 200 people have been executed and thousands more tortured by the Maoists in recent months. The educated classes are among the chosen in this second wave of terror. Their sin? Failing to use their influence to promote Maoist teaching. This businessman, who dared to disagree, was beaten with sticks. The Maoists make a habit of attacking people's legs and hands, taking their detractors out of action. This man, a principal at a remote mountain school, asked for his face to be disguised.
MOUNTAIN SCHOOL PRINCIPAL (Translation): They attacked me with a stick all over my body, starting with my ankles. They hit me on both my ankles. They broke the bones on both my legs. Then I fell into a position like this. After I'd fallen, they attacked me from behind. One hit me with a stick and one crushed my hand with a stone.
Like so many others who have fled, he knows to try to return home would be to invite death.
MOUNTAIN SCHOOL PRINCIPAL (Translation): I'm not in any condition to go home. I can't. If the situation improves, I may go home. But not now.
This is the man the government considers responsible for the campaign of violence. Dr Baburam Bhattarai is co-founder of Nepal's Maoist movement and a member of Nepal's educated elite. He's an architect by profession. This rare footage of him was filmed in 1992, the year after Nepal's experiment with multi-party democracy began. He was an emerging political voice when he spoke at the funeral of a human rights advocate.
DR BABURAM BHATTARAI, MAOIST PARTY LEADER (Translation): While man exploits man, the situation will never improve. A new light must shine to bring about a better society.
Dr Bhattarai's brother, Shiva, has not seen his infamous sibling since the movement went underground. He refuses to believe that his brother could condone all the violence.
SHIVA BHATTARAI (Translation): The military attacks the people from one side and the Maoists attack from the other and the people don't have much choice.
Shiva Bhattarai says social justice always motivated his brother.
SHIVA BHATTARAI (Translation): My brother and I had a very liberal upbringing. When democracy came to Nepal in 1990, the people believed they would get clothes to wear, food to eat, jobs, the naked would be clothed, the homeless sheltered, the peasants would get to study and get medicine and medical treatment. People were devastated when this didn't actually happen.
Dr Bhattarai's sister-in-law also speaks fondly of a man who pushed women to study.
DURGA NEUPANE: He used to encourage us to do something well, especially for women and even he encouraged us to study and to do such good things. He encouraged us, and not only us, even also females of the village, to come out from the traditional norms and such practices.
This checkpoint is just a couple of hours by road from Kathmandu. It is the gateway to the birthplace of the movement. For it is here in Gorkha, west of the capital, that the rebel's leaders, including Dr Babaram Bhattarai, were raised. This was once a fertile recruiting ground for the movement. But with social justice taking a back seat to violence, the rebels are losing support. These two men once thought the Maoists had something to offer, but not any more.
NEPALI MAN 1 (Translation): The Maoists...they've been unjust, killed people...what can I say?
NEPALI MAN 2 (Translation): People are taken away to be questioned and then murdered. Even soldiers are attacked. Nepalese are killing Nepalese. It's wrong.
The Maoists know they are under pressure. It is perhaps the reason this senior Kathmandu political commander, a wanted man, agreed to risk coming out of hiding to speak openly to Dateline.
REPORTER: You say that the movement is about making the people equal. Then why are you killing the people?
"GYANENDRA", MAOIST COMMANDER (Translation): Accusations of killing people have been spread about. We don't agree with this. I've said this before. This killing is not for show and entertainment. When the royal authorities give orders to shoot on sight, in the process, things happen.
Calling himself Gyanendra, the name of the current king, he took me on a taxi drive through the streets of the capital. Our meeting had been furtively arranged after weeks of negotiations. But this drive was a bold attempt to show that he can still operate freely, even here in the city.
"GYANENDRA" MAOIST COMMANDER (Translation): We are very safe. Even in the capital city itself there are thousands of our people living safely with the general public and struggling to survive.
In the countryside, they don't trust anyone any more. Less than two hours by road from the provincial capital, Nepalgunj, is the village of Banke. It's deep in Maoist territory. People here are caught in the middle. Fearful locals are forced to feed both soldiers and rebels when they come to the village.
NEPALI VILLAGER (Translation): But if someone asks for food I'm obliged to feed him. I'll fry some corn or cook rice. Either way, it looks as if I'm taking sides. So I have no choice and we're all stuck in this.
The nightmare for this woman's family was the day a group of soldiers turned up.
DATNA (Translation): They said they would rape and kill my daughters. They said they would insult my daughters and kill them. For no reason they would say just that. I would say, "No, my daughters aren't Maoists. We're not Maoists."
Datna took us home to meet her daughters, Dilmaya and her two sisters. The day the soldiers came calling, their father was away and Dilmaya was upstairs studying for exams. The soldiers didn't carry out their worst threats, but they beat the girls.
DILMAYA (Translation): We thought the army was patrolling to protect the public and us women. Or I wonder if they were patrolling to harass us.
The Maoists may stand accused of the worst of atrocities, but the security forces are also not above murder. Hera Maya Dangol knows only too well.
HERA MAYA DANGOL (Translation): My son was the source of my income, but now he has gone.
Her eldest son was one of five men picked up by police at random from his village on the outskirts of the Kathmandu valley.
HERA MAYA DANGOL (Translation): I don't feel like eating or doing anything. All I do is cry. If my son were here, he would know exactly what to do and so much work would have been done. What am I to do? Now everything is just left as it is. It's three months since I last visited our farm. And today I decided to have a look but when I went there, it just reminded me of my son and that's why I started to cry.
Four days after his arrest, the body of Kancha Dangol was delivered to Kathmandu Hospital. He had been beaten and slashed, and then shot in the head and chest, but most probably after he was already dead. No-one, not least his mother nor his daughters or human rights workers who investigated the case, believe the official story that this simple village carpenter was shot following an encounter with security forces.
SUBODH RAJ PYAKUREL: That's totally false. We have visited the spot, we have talked with the people, there are so many eye witnesses - not only that. There are the people who were taken by the army along with Kancha Dangol inside the barracks. Other people came back and Kancha Dangol's dead body was found in the hospital, so it's not true.
Amidst Nepal's worsening security crisis, the country's prime minister is fighting for his own survival. Faced with a revolt within his party, on this day, following a party meeting at his residence, he dissolved parliament and called an election for November. Perhaps due to his own political crisis. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba appeared untroubled about evidence of human rights abuses by the nation's security forces.
REPORTER: Do you agree that human rights abuses are occurring on both sides?
PRIME MINISTER SHER BAHADUR DEUBA: No, not both sides. They are the criminals. They are killing people. Regarding our side, I have given instructions to the security forces to take extra care not to violate human rights. If there are any mistakes, we will correct. We will give compensation.
REPORTER: It's a bit late in the case of Kancha Dangol - one man who was killed by the security forces - it's a bit late when someone has been killed by the security forces...
PM SHER BAHADUR DEUBA: Where did this happen?
REPORTER: This happened very close to Kathmandu on the outskirts of... in the valley of Kathmandu.
PM SHER BAHADUR DEUBA: I don't, I am not aware of these things, but if there are any cases, we might investigate.
The Nepalese Government still insists the rebels can be defeated. Prime Minister Deuba may have come to power as a peacemaker, but his overtures have been scorned.
KUNDA DIXIT: Well, the Prime Minister has a sort of a... has a deep sense of personal betrayal, because he really went in good faith to negotiate with them, you know, last October. And they did, you know - he is right in that respect - that they did unilaterally, not just broke the truce, but they went and attacked the army. You know, so he feels really, really betrayed by that.
For now, Prime Minister Deuba is flatly refusing to negotiate.
REPORTER: What about a political solution - is that something that you'd be willing to work towards?
PM SHER BAHADUR DEUBA: How can I trust them, who could give guarantee, on behalf of them that they will surrender the arms? Even after negotiations start, no, I don't think so.
REPORTER: So you're no longer the peacemaker? You now believe in a military solution?
PM SHER BAHADUR DEUBA: No, I am a peacemaker, but who is going to give the guarantee? Can you? On behalf of them?
These fighting words do not suggest a political solution is anywhere in sight.
KUNDA DIXIT: There's no military solution to this. If we go for a military solution, we're going to be fighting for the next 20, 25 years. It will be like Sri Lanka. And I think, at the end of 25 years, after 100,000 killed, we're going to come to the realisation that this was pretty stupid.
Nepal has much to lose if the violence escalates. It is fair to suggest that most Nepalese, even the military, share this sentiment. The people of Nepal can only hope both the Maoists and the government will eventually work that out.