View Points

The International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances was observed worldwide on August 30, 2014 (14th of Bhadra, 081 in the Nepali calendar). In Nepal, organizations like the Informal Sector Service Centre (INSEC) celebrated the day with awareness programs. During the decade-long armed conflict, both the state and rebel factions forcibly disappeared civilians, leading to over 3,000 complaints filed with the Commission on Disappeared Persons. As per the records of INSEC 69 citizens have gone missing in Dang. The government has moved forward with the introduction of the Third Amendment to the Transitional Justice Act, of 2022. However, the disappearance of the guardian of the household has not only caused suffering for the family but has also led to various family problems. In this context, the public opinion gathered by INSEC Dang district representative Jayanarayan Pun from the families of the missing citizens in Dang is presented here.

Chuma Acharya

Conflict Victim, Sub-Metropolitan City, Dang

Thaneswar Acharya went missing on 15 August 2002, while leaving home to teach at school. It has been 22 years since Chuma Acharya’s husband hasn’t returned home. Their five-year-old son is now 27. The mother and son have been waiting in the hope that Thaneswar will come back. They have managed to survive somehow, but there is no peace of mind. The government has been unable to search for him after all these years. If the state itself cannot find him, how can ordinary people in rural areas possibly search for the missing? There is still hope that he might return, but no clues exist about his condition. Life without my husband has been difficult managing the household and dealing with society’s behavior. Despite everything, the feeling that he might return one day remains, though the pain of having a missing husband is always there. Family problems have begun to increase as well. The process of dividing property within the family has come to a halt. We are unable to transfer the land registered in my father-in-law’s name to our own. Without the land in our name, we cannot engage in any financial transactions. Every time we visit the land revenue office to transfer the land we are entitled to, they keep delaying us, saying we need to bring my husband or a death certificate. How can I declare my missing husband dead on my own when I still feel he might come back? I cannot register his death while still wearing my bangles and sindoor. My heart does not accept it. I would rather leave the property and land as they are. The land revenue office insists I obtain a judicial declaration of death from the court, but I am not ready to do that. I still hope he will return. However, if I don’t register his death, the entire family may turn against me. It feels like my own actions could cause opposition within the family, as the division of property among the siblings has also been delayed. So far, we haven’t been able to divide the property, and declaring my missing husband dead is something I cannot bring myself to do. Yet, without it, the family may hold me responsible for the delay. This is why I believe the state must urgently disclose the status of missing persons. The pain of being a conflict victim, combined with these family problems, has made life even harder for families like mine. I hope our suffering is addressed as soon as possible.

Masuri Chaudhary

Conflict Victim Dangisharan Rural Municipality

My husband, Hariram Chaudhary, went to Tulsipur on 12 June 2002, to buy chemical fertilizer. However, we heard rumors that he was taken away by the police right from the market. We are ordinary farmers; our family sustains itself through agriculture. A person who went to the market to buy fertilizer for farming was forcibly disappeared by security forces. At home, I had a two-year-old son and a three-month-old daughter in my womb. Now, my daughter is studying for her BBS. I’ve been managing her education through hardship, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult to support her studies. My son has already stopped studying, and now my daughter is also struggling. I barely earn enough to eat by working as a laborer in someone else’s home. How can victims like us educate our children? The government should consider this. We don’t have enough land, and there are financial challenges in running a business. No one helps us find employment; they only support their relatives. Who is there to look after conflict victims? We have been surviving on the money earned from working in other people’s homes, just to keep going. We don’t even know if my husband is dead, yet we are forced to register his death for property division. With little land available and no other options, I was compelled to declare him dead to manage things, even though there was still a hope he might return. But he hasn’t come back yet. At the very least, I wish I knew where and how he was taken. Not only my husband but my brother-in-law, Ram Bahadur Chaudhary, is also missing. Both brothers went to TulsiPur market to buy chemical fertilizer and have not returned. The government should have searched for them and, even if they were killed, at least told us where it happened and taken action against the perpetrators. I hope that the perpetrators will be punished.

Ram Prasad Chaudhary

Conflict Victim, Sub-Metropolitan City, Dang

My eldest daughter, Ramkali Chaudhary, was forcibly disappeared by security forces on 16 April 2001. She was unwell and had gone to the Raptai Sub-Regional Hospital in Ghorahi for treatment. While she was waiting in line for a health check-up, security personnel came and took my ill daughter away, and she was never seen again. I have no idea where they took her or what they did. It has been 23 years, and there is no trace of my daughter Ramkali. Even if she is said to be dead, I don’t know where or who might have killed her. How can a mother and father bear the news of their child’s death? There is still hope that they might come back. Less than a year after our daughter went missing, our eldest son Arjun Chaudhary was also killed by security forces. It feels like the world has fallen apart after losing a child just when we hoped they would grow up and support us. But what can we do? We have to endure, no matter what. Our youngest daughter Sushila is now a lawyer. Our youngest son Samir is with us. We find some solace in them. It was the security forces that took our son and daughter. The state itself has made us victims. We need to know the circumstances surrounding our missing daughter and the reason our son was killed. The government has stripped away our support and left us in pain. It is the government that should provide justice. Years have passed without any progress toward that justice. I am starting to wonder what will happen now. I want nothing more than for those responsible for my daughter’s disappearance and my son’s killing to be held accountable.

Krishna Chaudhary

Conflict victim, Sub-Metropolitan City, Dang

My husband, Birju Chaudhary of Ghorai sub-metropolitan city-17, went to the Ghoriha market on 1 April 2002, to buy household items. While he was at the market purchasing vegetables and other goods, people from the market reported that soldiers from the army barracks in Ghoriha had detained him near the telecommunications area and taken him to the barracks. When my husband didn’t return, we began searching for him, and upon hearing that the soldiers had taken him, we went directly to the barracks to inquire. When we asked at the Tulsipur Army Barracks, they claimed that they didn’t know about him. It has been 23 years since my husband went to the market, and he has not returned home. Neither have we seen a body nor have we received any news about him. We are exhausted from waiting. We are facing financial difficulties. Since I couldn’t provide for my son’s education, he has gone to India to earn money. I arranged for my daughter’s marriage, but I couldn’t educate or support them well, what else could I do? I am currently living with my brother-in-law’s family. Alone, I feel lost and unsure of where to go. With very little land left to farm for our sustenance, I wonder what we can cultivate on less than 3,645 square feet. We have to rely on others’ land to survive. That small piece of land was bought using relief funds after registering my husband’s death. If we had more land, we could sustain ourselves through farming, but instead, we always depend on cultivating someone else’s land. We demand that the government provide urgent assistance to victims like us. Our family feels lost after the disappearance of the earning member. My children couldn’t pursue their education. Even if nothing else could be done, they should have been given employment opportunities. With some financial support, we could have bought land and farmed for our sustenance. I believe those responsible for taking my husband should be held accountable.