very interesting discussion going on here. well, if u r to b neutral without any affiliation to any ideology or institution, nepal army indeed outranks maoists in terms of human rights violation which has been throroughly justified by many which is just hypocracy. so, here i should say i stand with sidster. n i cum from strong military family background, my many relatives serves in various ranks in nepal army from colonel to corporal n gurkha regiments. everyone r well aware of maoists atrocities but it is just mad to justify gross human rights violation that inccludes genocides and tortures from nepal army in the name of national interest or king. it was so severe that it nearly cost them UN peace mission which is also lucrative source of income for personnels as well as whole institution n nation. indeed they did prevent maoists from full military takeover but the situation analysis suggets they were in stalemate position with neither side able to break through n rout each other which means war could hav escalated further to the point either with relsult that of sri lanka or that of cuba in unknown period of time. the core mantra of soldiering r discipline n professionalism which nepal army lacks to b frank, infact it lacks any incentives to attribute such traits in its ranks n files.

the incidents as in pilli where they suffered huge casaulties showed the incompetency of commander who chose to run away from the battlefield n save his life by hiding in a cave rather than commanding his man n fighting the batlle together. later in a report they stated 'due to the failure of rifle, INSAS' to which even my bro who is major in nepal army said 'nachna najanne agan tedho'(an example). well, sorry folks to bore u but just putting my personal thoughts that nepal army did fail in its operation to counter insurgency n not just beating hollow pride. they were not cable in eliminating rag tags maoists who were armed with improvised weaponry to watever availble n even thier intel couldnt  figure out 4-5 thousand guirella fighters which was only recently made public in prachandas speech. various retired generals of nepal army has accepted thier inept at dealing insurgents, ie they lacked enough competency, expereince, knowledge n resources. formation of ranger battallions with american help n strenghtning 11 brigade which is also an air force of nepal army were key elements in keeping maoists guerellas at bay.

currently army n police both r going through massive reform, it takes time, they r getting modernized n professional, just check out the gears of riot police n regular army infantry, i should say they look more modern, professional n smarter than at least indians(being superficial). my conclusion is both r equally responsible n personally i wont justify one to another for thier cause n interests.