ABSTRACT
In the People's War in Nepal, fought to uproot the monarchy and all other feudal patriarchal structures from Nepali society, almost one third of the Maoist combatants were women. This chapter analyzes the multiple levels of hierarchies' women combatants are subjected to in terms of their career, marriage, motherhood so on in different social and political settings. This chapter presents an attempt to understand the ways through which certain gender constructs had been challenged in the People's War, and how these violations provided new arenas of maneouvering for the combatants in Nepal. It also tries to locate the shifts and changes in the lives of ex-combatants in the post-conflict situation, and how they see and recount their life in the party within this context. The Maoist movement in Nepal, with its commitment towards the left ideological apparatus, tried to alter various traditional power equations and raised significant questions about women's rights.
