View Points

During the decade-long armed conflict in Nepal, enforced disappearances were carried out extensively by both the state and the then-rebel forces. Over 3,000 complaints have been filed with the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons by the families of those forcibly disappeared during the conflict. According to INSEC’s records, 21 citizens from Sindhupalchok district were disappeared during the armed conflict. The government has initiated amendments to the Enforced Disappearances Inquiry, Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act, 2014. However, after the disappearance of their loved ones, families continue to face not only emotional pain but also various familial, social, and cultural challenges. In this context, INSEC’s Sindhupalchok district representative, Natibabu Dhital, gathered public opinions from the families of the disappeared citizens in Sindhupalchok, which are presented here.

Dalli Sarki

Conflict-Affected, Chautara Sangachokgadhi Municipality-13, Sindhupalchok

 

My son, Gore Bahadur Purkoti, went to Kathmandu to study. He was disappeared by security forces on May 16, 1999, while staying in Kathmandu, and he has not returned home since. I had hoped that my son would be my support in old age, but the government has taken away that hope. It has been 25 years since my son was disappeared by the government, and there is still no news at all. His friends have become honorable ministers, but I still do not know whether my missing son is alive or dead. What a tragedy! Even if he was killed, I wish I knew when, where, and how it happened. Those who entered the government should have informed me. At least I could have performed his last rites, but I am left unable to do so for my son. He was my only child, and now he has been disappeared by the government. My husband has passed away, and I am barely surviving with the support of my daughter. During festivals, when the neighbors’ children come home, I wait by the road, hoping my son will return too, but he never does. I feel like I am like the sun on the hill, waiting for my time to come. There is no pain greater than that of having a son whom you gave birth to go missing. I have endured this suffering, and I hope that no one else has to experience such pain or that anyone else is disappeared

Sita Basnet

Conflict Victim, Chautara, Sangachok Municipality-6, Sindhupalchok

My husband, Krishna Bahadur Basnet, left home for Kathmandu and has been missing since February 24, 2005. Twenty years have passed, and my husband has not returned home. I have heard that he was taken away by Maoist rebel activists from Sangachok Bhanjyang. The pain of having a missing father caused my daughter to pass away. Now, my son and I are waiting for him. We are constantly troubled by thoughts about what condition my husband might be in. We have managed to get by through farming, but there is no peace in our hearts. Despite such a long time passing, no one has searched for my husband. Some days, I feel like he will surely come back home, but who knows? Although I have requested various organizations to search for him, there has been no initiative from anyone, and he has still not been found.

The government should be the one to search; it feels as though our loved ones are not being sought because the government is not on the side of the families of the disappeared. Only those of us who have experienced the pain of having a missing husband truly understand how excruciating it is. The absence of my husband changes the way society looks at us. Because the land is in my husband’s name, we cannot transfer the title, and as a result, I have been unable to do anything with it, including taking loans against the land. We have not performed any religious rites for him at home. Even if my missing husband has died, if the government had declared his death, I could have registered it and taken care of all the necessary matters, but that has not happened either. The government should have quickly made the situation of my missing husband public and provided a solution. By neglecting the issue of the disappeared, the government has only caused more suffering for victims like me.

 

Tulsa Kumari Nepal
Conflict Victim, Chautara, Sangachok Municipality-4, Sindhupalchok

My youngest son, Madhav Nepal, was made to disappear by security personnel on November 28, 2003. He went to learn computer skills and did not return. I was informed that security personnel had taken him away from Koteshwor in Kathmandu. I have no idea where they took him or what they did. Today marks 21 years since my son Madhav went missing, and there has been no trace of him. Two months after my youngest son was made to disappear, my eldest son, Prem Nepal, was killed in Ainselukhark of Khotang district. Now, I live relying on my remaining son. Out of my three sons, two are gone, and I have come to terms with this by taking care of my elder son.

I have searched for my missing son in many places, but there has been no news. When Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda) was Prime Minister, I even went to meet him through Agni Prasad Sapkota. I told Prachanda that we needed to find out the status of my missing son. He said to wait, that they would soon make the status of the missing public. It was the same old talk from the Prime Minister; until now, the status of the missing persons has not been made public. I have come to terms with my deceased son; the funeral rites were performed. That is done. However, the pain of having a son or daughter go missing is a wound that a mother feels, and it seems others cannot understand. Every day I wonder if he will come today or tomorrow, but he never does. How long can one bear such pain? I hope that no mother has to endure such suffering in the future.

Kalimaya Shrestha
Conflict Victim, Lisankhu Pakhar Municipality-5,Sindhupalchok

My daughter, Nakali Shrestha, was made to disappear by security personnel from Chautara Jail on November 7, 2003. She was arrested by security personnel on February 26, 2003, in Piskar, ward 4 of Tripurasundari Rural Municipality, and held in jail. I am in doubt whether my daughter, who went missing from jail, will return or not. When local Maoist activists suggested that my daughter might have been killed, I could not calm my mind. Even if she has been killed, it has been 21 years since she went missing. Why has this not been made public? What crime did my daughter commit? Why was it necessary to label her as an enemy simply for having faith in the Maoist party? Even if she is dead, where might her bones be found? I still have a faint hope that one day she might return home, calling out to me as ‘Mother.’ However, so much time has passed in hope. Why has the government kept us in this uncertainty for all these years? Even if she was killed, they could have at least identified where she was buried and her remains so that we could perform her last rites according to tradition. The worry for my missing daughter haunts me, making me wonder how I will breathe my last.