The Maoists in the presence of senior leader CP Gajurel had established Nepal Progressive Worker´s Front in July 2008 in Malaysia professedly to protect the interests of thousands of Nepalis working there. However, the front instead is known to be fleecing Nepali workers of hundreds of thousands of rupees every month. The party headquarters reportedly receives Rs 500,000 to Rs 600,000 every month from the front. [break]
The front´s officials are working to expand the body. While within a short span of a year it has already made its presence felt in Malaysia. Currently, the front comprises a central committee, four regional committees, and 40 area committees.
The front levies a monthly charge of 20 Ringits (Rs 420) from the central committee members, and two to five Ringits (Rs 42 to Rs 105) from regional and area committee members. In its present strength, the Front boasts of more than 1,000 members in its central, regional and area committees. The regional committees are being expanded in four major locations in Malaysia -- Selangor, Penang, Johor, and Taiping.
Nepali workers, however, seem happy to part with the levy in turn for the front´s membership. Bishnu Rai, member of area committee in Kuala Lumpur, said that the levy was too little a cost for the opportunity to remain connected with political beliefs in a foreign country.
Marichman Tamang, who works as a security guard at a cricket stadium in Kelang, said he developed interest in politics only after he reached Malaysia. He said that he joined the front for the welfare of workers like himself. The front is expanding in leaps and bounds. Nepali students in Malaysia claim that if the front continued to expand at the same pace, it would have more than 20,000 members within a year. There are some 300,000 Nepalese working in Malaysia.
Dhan Bahadur Khadka, secretariat member of the Front, said a part of the fund collected through levy was spent for the workers welfare, while the rest was sent to party headquarters in Kathmandu. He claimed that the front was established with the aim of spreading political awareness and to protect the rights of the workers rather than collect donation for the party.
However, some of its members claim that the front´s former coordinator Sunil Chalise was replaced by new coordinator Mansingh Goyal after there was a dispute over levy collection. The front´s in-charge Shuva Sharma is close to Maoist leader Gajurel.
The Front says it collects Rs 100,000 a month in levy from members alone. But the front also collects donations from independent workers and “well-wishers”, apart from collecting special donations when Maoist leaders arrive here.
The average monthly earning of most members of the front is 500 Ringits (Rs 10,500).
The Nepali Congress and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) also have organizations in Malaysia, but they are largely inactive.
(Ram Chandra Giri, Editor of Nepali Awaz, published from Kuala Lumpur, contributed to this report.)
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