Some communists never recover from what Lenin called the “infantile disorder”. Others have argued that the streak is there anyway in the ideology of communism. Nepal’s Maoists make no secret that they want to thrive on spreading disorder. Their latest offensive — an indefinite economic blockade around Kathmandu — is, however, more cynical than infantile. It comes close on the heels of the shutdown that they forced on a dozen business ventures on the plea that these filled the coffers of the country’s royal family at the expense of the workers. They have forced other shutdowns — on tourism and transport sectors and educational institutions, while turning the country into a killing field. The Maoists’ gameplan is to shut the country down and hold its government to ransom. It would be simplistic to assume that they do these only to force the government into fresh peace negotiations. For they do not accept the legitimacy of the present or any other government or even the constitution. This is apparent from their demands that include the abolition of the country’s constitutional monarchy and the setting up of a constituent assembly to draft a new republican constitution. Although they have joined — and walked out of — several rounds of peace talks in the past, they use these only as a ploy. All their demands and offensives are thus a call to disorder and anarchy.

Successive governments in Nepal have tried — and failed — to buy peace with the Maoists. But there is one lesson from the failed attempts that the government of Mr Sher Bahadur Deuba must take. It is that no peace comes through the barrel of a gun. A government that succumbs to peace talks at gunpoint is bound to be disappointed with the outcome. Mr Deuba’s is an interim government that was appointed by the palace, and whose legitimacy has been questioned by the kingdom’s largest political party, the Nepali Congress. Obviously, the Maoists want to exploit this vacuum in the political process. Their differences notwithstanding, the government and the parties must come together to call the Maoists’ bluff. Also, there is a larger dimension to the rebels’ threat. It is a challenge to the region’s security and to bilateral relations between Nepal and India. The Maoists receive arms and logistical support from their Indian comrades, thereby threatening India’s own security. New Delhi has to stand by Nepal in the interest of its own and the region’s security.