When television broadcast the scene of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed between the then rebel group and the Government of Nepal on November 21, 2006, Tulsi Prasad Apagai of Biratnagar Metropolitan City–3 had great hope of finally getting justice.
After his son Kuver Apangai, 22 disappeared from Biratnagar by the Nepal Army on September 27, 2003, accusing him of being a rebel, father Tulsi Prasad had suffered greatly searching for him. On the day of the peace agreement, the scenes shown on television and the statements in the news had certainly convinced him that justice would be delivered.
Founder Chairperson of INSEC, Sushil Pyakurel, was the coordinator, and the INSEC Secretariat served as the secretariat of the Citizens’ Monitoring Committee for Transitional Justice, where Apangai also served as a member from Koshi Province. His faith began to fade from April 17, 2022. While working in the committee to document the truth in accordance with the spirit of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement 2006, ensure reparation for victims, foster reconciliation in society, and hold the state accountable for human rights violations and grave crimes committed during the conflict, Apangai lost hope that the son taken by the Army would ever return and, on April 17, 2022, performed the final rites by creating a symbolic effigy of his son on the Mai River.
During a discussion in Biratnagar on April 5, 2024, organized by INSEC under the coordination of former Attorney-General of Koshi Province, Chudamani Acharya, Apangai said that he did not know whether justice would come from the state, but that the state had always ignored families of conflict victims.
As Apangai said, today, i.e., on November 21, 2025, it has been 19 years since the Comprehensive Peace Agreement was signed. Even after such a long time, the matter of transitional justice has not been settled. Victim families have not received proper reparation from the state.
While discussing the 19 years since the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the 70-year-old Apangai said, “My son, who was studying for a Bachelor’s degree at Mahendra Morang Campus, was disappeared by the Army from Biratnagar on September 23, 2003. I endured extreme hardship searching for him. The humiliating behaviour of the Army and Police always forced me to bow my head. But I did not get justice. That is why I performed his final rites on April 17, 2022.”
Kuver Apangai is included in the official list of persons disappeared by the state. Ever since the state disappeared his son, Tulsi Prasad has not experienced happiness in his life. Reflecting on the days since September 26, 2012, he said, “Organizations like INSEC provided tremendous support for justice for conflict victims, and there is significant national and international pressure on the state to resolve conflict-era cases. But political leaders have never felt the wounds of conflict victims, never felt the pain.” Apangai, who has himself been fighting for justice as a member of the Transitional Justice Citizens’ Monitoring Committee formed by INSEC in Koshi Province, expressed this view.
After the Army disappeared his youngest son, Kuver, under accusations of being a rebel, the suffering and hardship Tulsi Prasad endured in searching for him were immense. Hoping that his son might return or be found one day, he held on for years, but when he began to believe his son would never come back, he performed the final rites on April 17, 2022.
The peace agreement states that within 60 days, the condition of conflict victims should be made public, arrangements for justice and reparation provided, and those responsible for serious human rights violations must be punished according to law. But due to a lack of practical implementation, even after 19 years, families of those disappeared, disabled, and killed by the state during the conflict are still waiting for justice.
According to INSEC records, during the conflict, 785 people were disabled, 931 were disappeared, and 13,248 were killed, totalling 14,964 families who still wait in hopes of seeing the peace agreement fully implemented.
Based on INSEC records, in Koshi Province during the conflict, 121 people were disabled, 95 were disappeared, and 1,863 were killed, totalling 2,079 families awaiting justice.
According to INSEC records, in Koshi Province, 121 people were disabled, 1 in Jhapa, 7 in Ilam, 21 in Panchthar, 3 in Taplejung, 8 in Morang, 7 in Sunsari, 1 in Dhankuta, 1 in Tehrathum, 23 in Bhojpur, 5 in Udaypur, 5 in Khotang, 24 in Okhaldhunga, and 9 in Solukhumbu.
In Jhapa 12 people, Ilam 5, Panchthar 4, Taplejung 2, Morang 15, Sunsari 15, Dhankuta 4, Bhojpur 10, Sankhuwasabha 4, Udaypur 5, Khotang 1, Okhaldhunga 13, and Solukhumbu 5—totalling 95 were disappeared.
In Jhapa 178 people, Ilam 105, Panchthar 167, Taplejung 181, Morang 214, Sunsari 108, Dhankuta 55, Tehrathum 80, Bhojpur 132, Sankhuwasabha 114, Udaypur 114, Khotang 137, Okhaldhunga 167, and Solukhumbu 111—totalling 1,863 were killed.
According to the Commission on the Investigation of Enforced Disappearances formed by the government, 405 complaints have been filed from Koshi Province.
Koshi Province Office, Morang