The legacy of the decade-long ‘people’s war’

Former fighters don’t deny the gains of the sacrifices but wonder whether the political achievements have indeed brought socio-economic transformation in the country.

Laxmi Darji was 11 years old in 2000. It had been four years since the Maoists had launched the “people’s war”, an armed struggle against the state. When she joined in, she remembers the older ones talking about “mukti wa mrityu” (liberation or death), she said.