For years, supporters of the old regime have been trying to protect its existence by hook or by crook. But now, even those who claim to be creators of the new regime are slaughtering Nepalis. They are beheading people, planting booby traps at schools, roads and public places. They are killing and maiming people. Is this the revolution Marx and Lenin talked about?

What kind of political movement is this that believes its expansion is possible only after it kills political activists of other parties, kills teachers and turns schools into death zones? What kind of revolution will such a party attain? What kind of nation would such a revolution make? And what kind of justice can the people expect?

"Plant bombs wherever possible. Kill people and spread panic, only then will the government lose and we will win," seems to be the Maoist credo. What an easy-going attitude towards human life. And these are the people who talk about building a new Nepal! What a gory thought. How bizarre to believe that you can erect the golden staircase of revolution on a mass grave.

I wish I was killed and not 12-year-old Deepak Gurung. I am 63 year old and it is downhill from here in terms of my contribution to society. The Maoists in Nepal have been following Mao's cultural revolution as their role model. But they have overtaken Charu Majumdar when it comes to Naxalite fundamentalism. Majumdar at least had rules about eliminating class enemies. An anti-people person would first be blacklisted, then the party committee would ratify the selection and under the instruction of the party's chief, the military unit would be deployed to execute the person. With their random and arbitrary assassination campaign, Nepali Maoists have overtaken Indian Maoists. They are not bothered who is killed in their ambushes and blasts. They have descended to the nadir of radical terrorism.

There appears to be a widening gap between the ideology of the leadership and the lower rungs. When they came aboveground, the Maoist leadership promised the business community they would support the free market system. At the same time they even praised the economic reforms in China, and said they would struggle against the Americans who were trying to destroy China by establishing bases in Nepal. Suddenly, they have now gone back to the cultural revolution as their guiding principle. We see a great contradiction between rhetoric and behaviour within the Maoist fold. If they go on like this they will not just threaten our existence as political entities but also that of our nation.