Saorsa
19th May 2010, 06:08
The official People's Governments don't operate above ground any longer, but the Maoists are still very much in control of their base areas. This report sheds some light on that.
Conflict-displaced still afraid to return
BARUN PANERU
DADELDHURA, May 18: It has been eight years since the house of Prem Singh Khatri in Jogbudha-3 has remained vacant and his land barren.
Strangers express surprise when they see the abandoned house that was torched by Maoists during the conflict and the barren land, said Sher Singh Khatri, a local. Prem Singh left the village with his family after the Maoists beat him up in 2002 for not calling back his son who was employed by Nepal Police, he added.
Fifty-year-old Prem Singh has been living with his family in a rented house at the district headquarters.
The houses and land of Dil Bahadur Bista of Lamigada village and Jagan Singh Khadayat of Tatapani village also remained abandoned for the past eight years. Bista and Khadayat have been living in Mahendranagar.
Most families of this district displaced during the conflict have not returned to their villages. According to the District Administration Office (DAO), over 900 people of 176 households were displaced during the conflict. A majority of those who were banished from the villages after Maoists seized their property were sympathizers of the Nepali Congress and Rastriya Prajatantra Party.
Living in the village is still not easy, said Bista. I returned to my village two years ago under the initiative of Insec, but the mood in the village was such that I couldnt mingle with villagers. I couldnt stay there for two days, he added.
Bista said villagers barred him from being a member of community organizations.
Like Bista, many displaced families were taken back to their villages by Insec. But most of them ended up choosing displacement.
All neighbors back in my village are Maoists, said Bista. After being unable to revive good relations with them, it wasnt possible to stay there.
Bista runs an eatery for a living. He says he lost property worth Rs 4 million including money the Maoists took away.
The DAO had distributed Rs 5,000 per family for the displaced to return home. According to DAO records, most families received the cash incentive. But a majority of the families ended up being displaced again after being unable to live in their villages, according to Keshav Bohara, a rights worker associated with Insec.
The problem of social inclusion was seen as the biggest hindrance, Bohara said.
But local Maoist leader Man Singh Mal claimed that all the displaced families have been urged to return to their villages. We organized functions to welcome them and asked villagers to live in harmony. But many displaced families had already made comfortable arrangements elsewhere and did not want to live in their villages, he claimed.
http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=18780
Conflict-displaced still afraid to return
BARUN PANERU
DADELDHURA, May 18: It has been eight years since the house of Prem Singh Khatri in Jogbudha-3 has remained vacant and his land barren.
Strangers express surprise when they see the abandoned house that was torched by Maoists during the conflict and the barren land, said Sher Singh Khatri, a local. Prem Singh left the village with his family after the Maoists beat him up in 2002 for not calling back his son who was employed by Nepal Police, he added.
Fifty-year-old Prem Singh has been living with his family in a rented house at the district headquarters.
The houses and land of Dil Bahadur Bista of Lamigada village and Jagan Singh Khadayat of Tatapani village also remained abandoned for the past eight years. Bista and Khadayat have been living in Mahendranagar.
Most families of this district displaced during the conflict have not returned to their villages. According to the District Administration Office (DAO), over 900 people of 176 households were displaced during the conflict. A majority of those who were banished from the villages after Maoists seized their property were sympathizers of the Nepali Congress and Rastriya Prajatantra Party.
Living in the village is still not easy, said Bista. I returned to my village two years ago under the initiative of Insec, but the mood in the village was such that I couldnt mingle with villagers. I couldnt stay there for two days, he added.
Bista said villagers barred him from being a member of community organizations.
Like Bista, many displaced families were taken back to their villages by Insec. But most of them ended up choosing displacement.
All neighbors back in my village are Maoists, said Bista. After being unable to revive good relations with them, it wasnt possible to stay there.
Bista runs an eatery for a living. He says he lost property worth Rs 4 million including money the Maoists took away.
The DAO had distributed Rs 5,000 per family for the displaced to return home. According to DAO records, most families received the cash incentive. But a majority of the families ended up being displaced again after being unable to live in their villages, according to Keshav Bohara, a rights worker associated with Insec.
The problem of social inclusion was seen as the biggest hindrance, Bohara said.
But local Maoist leader Man Singh Mal claimed that all the displaced families have been urged to return to their villages. We organized functions to welcome them and asked villagers to live in harmony. But many displaced families had already made comfortable arrangements elsewhere and did not want to live in their villages, he claimed.
http://www.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=18780