Communist Party of Nepal (Mashal) cadres attack a number of police stations in Kathmandu, seeking to incite a popular rebellion.
Kathmandu, officially the Kathmandu Metropolitan City, is the capital and the most populous city of Nepal with 845,767 inhabitants living in 105,649 households in 2021 and 2.9 million people in its urban agglomeration. It is located in the Kathmandu Valley, a large valley in the high plateaus in central Nepal, at an altitude of 1,400 metres (4,600 feet).
The city is one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in the world, founded in 2nd century CE. The valley was historically called the "Nepal Mandala" and has been the home of the Newar people, a cosmopolitan urban civilization in the Himalayan foothills. The city was the royal capital of the Kingdom of Nepal and hosts palaces, mansions, and gardens of the Nepalese aristocracy. It has been home to the headquarters of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) since 1985. Today, it is the seat of government of the Nepalese republic, established in 2008, and is part of the Bagmati Province.
Kathmandu is and has been for many years the centre of Nepal's history, art, culture, and economy. It has a multi-ethnic population within a Hindu and Buddhist majority. Religious and cultural festivities form a major part of the lives of people residing in Kathmandu. Tourism is an important part of the economy in the city. In 2013, Kathmandu was ranked third among the top ten upcoming travel destinations in the world by TripAdvisor, and ranked first in Asia. The city is considered the gateway to the Nepalese Himalayas and is home to several World Heritage Sites: the Durbar Square, Swayambhunath, Boudhanath and Pashupatinath. Kathmandu valley is growing at 4 percent per year according to the World Bank in 2010, making it one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in South Asia, and the first region in Nepal to face the unprecedented challenges of rapid urbanization and modernization at a metropolitan scale. It is the largest metropolitan area located in the Himalayas.
Historic areas of Kathmandu were severely damaged by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake in April 2015. Some of the buildings have been restored while some remain in the process of reconstruction.
The Communist Party of Nepal (Mashal) was an underground communist party in Nepal. CPN (Mashal) was formed in November 1984, following a split in the Communist Party of Nepal (Masal). The new party was founded at a congress (labelled the 'fifth congress') in Gorakhpur, India. It was difficult to identify any major ideological difference between the two factions, and probably the split was caused by dissatisfaction with Singh's authoritarian leadership methods. Mohan Baidya (alias 'Kiran') became general secretary of the new party. Other Central Committee members elected at the Gorakhpur conference were Chitra Bahadur K.C., Ramsingh Shris, Bhairav Regmi, Govindsingh Thapa, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Khambasingh Kubar, Bachaspati Devkota, C.P. Gajurel, Dev Gurung, Ishwari Dahal, Bishnu Pokhrel and Bhakta Bahadur Shrestha.In 1986 CPN (Mashal) reformulated its ideology from 'Marxism–Leninism–Mao Tse-Tung Thought' to 'Marxism–Leninism–Maoism'. The same year the party initiated a failed armed insurrection, which became known as The Sector Incident. A few police posts were attacked in the capital and a statue of King Tribhuvan was painted black. Later this incident was criticized within the party ranks on the grounds that the identity of the party had been revealed, eventually leading to the resignation of Mohan Vaidya and others in the party leadership.
In 1986 Pushpa Kamal Dahal (party name Prachanda) was named general secretary of the party.
During the popular uprising against the royal regime in 1990, CPN (Mashal) and CPN (Masal) united around the United National People's Movement.
In 1991 CPN (Mashal) merged with Communist Party of Nepal (Fourth Convention), and formed Communist Party of Nepal (Unity Centre).