The problem with youth movements, it has long been said, is that they inevitably take on lives of their own, at which point they are not easily controlled by the mother parties. According to some observers, the mother party may use exactly this 'unruliness' in its favour, particularly when 'illegitimate' targets are to be achieved. In a strategic move, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) has given its youth wing, the Young Communist League (YCL), an expanded new role. The exact nature of that role, however, remains unclear. Is the YCL, as the Maoists contend, a democratic organisation working to help the poor and clean up corruption, or does it actually remain more of a paramilitary force?
Whatever the answer to that question, nearly all observers agree that the YCL played a significant role in the May 2008 elections in Nepal, as it spearheaded an 'anti-corruption' campaign. Previous Nepali elections had resembled big Christmas parties, with copious gifts being given on all sides – a practice that the YCL managed to reduce. In so doing, however, the YCL was also accused of violating the rights of the candidates of other parties; some have even suggested that YCL intimidation could have played a significant part in swinging the elections results in the favour of the Maoists in the more outlying areas. An NGO report states that 772 people were abducted by the YCL from the time the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA) came into effect in November 2006 until the Constituent Assembly election. In addition, 22 people were killed by the Maoist youth wing. Given this past and present, as Nepal finally forms its first democratically elected government in years, the future of the YCL has become a topic of central importance – and vociferous debate.
There is little information on the exact origin of the YCL, except that it was activated in November 2006 as the CPN (Maoist) came over-ground to join the mainstream political process. An Internet portal also notes that YCL members have "reportedly received extensive training in unarmed combat, [with] cadres openly [carrying] knives, sticks, iron bars and other improvised weapons … without fear or restriction" since the signing of the CPA. Other informed sources report that a predecessor to the YCL was to be found in the Communist Party of Nepal (Ekta Kendra) of the early 1990s. At that point, it was considered to be a fighting organisation, established to be deployed in clashes with the then-dominant Nepali Congress. This unit was later replaced by the Ladaku Dal (Fighting Force), which spearheaded the Maoist uprising starting in January 1996.
As for the strength of the YCL, it claims a membership of around half a million. Of these, some 450,000 are said to be ordinary and around 50,000 are active cadre; in addition, some 6000-7000 of 'whole-timers'. To judge its importance in present-day Nepal, however, here are a couple of noteworthy recent facts. When the CPN (Maoist) celebrated the Constituent Assembly election victory in early May, Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal (aka 'Prachanda') invited the YCL leader, Ganesh Man Pun, to address the crowds. At a YCL Central Committee meeting later in May, the leadership also set a goal of recruiting a million additional YCL members within 2008 alone. Although little is known of the present success of this membership drive, there is no doubt that the organisation is growing.