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The movie ‘Gaun Ayeko Bato’ brought back a flurry of past memories. I remembered the song “Gaun Gaun Bata Utha, Basti Basti Bata Utha…” a revolutionary song sung by Jhapalis during the 1970s when they were fighting against the monarchy. Today we are done with monarchy but our Gaun (villages) are getting empty with no one to sing the song “Gaun Gaun Bata Utha…”!

The movie also reminded me of ‘Shahid Marg (91 km)’, which was built by the Maoists during the People’s War (PW)when I was working there. When I became Minister for Physical Planning and Works (2007) after the PW, I allotted a budget for that road. In the movie, I had seen how building a motorable road had affected the Rai culture and economy adversely. I worry if the Shahid Marg (metaled now) has adversely affected the Magars’ way of life?

Being a Janjati architect, I am aware how careless development can jeopardize indigenous way of life affecting their ‘Gaas Bas Kapas’. I am not against development but it should be inclusive development. 

During PW, some efforts to integrate development with indigenous ways of life were practiced in Thawang village. Magars in Rolpa eat pork heavily, salad was introduced to digest and prevent constipation. Within their homes, they used to raise pigs by feeding human feces directly. The Maoists made the villagers separate pig breeding from their homes. Earlier, the villagers used to sell hemp, the Maoists helped them make rucksacks, which was much in demand during PW.

In the movie, one can see the local brewery being replaced by ‘coca cola culture’, the indigenous rooftop by synthetic building material and indigenous underwear being replaced by flashy synthetic lingerie.

I had seen how the Karnali region was left out of development during the monarchy era. On the positive side of development, I am also aware how that region, after the country became a republic and federal, is now flourishing as a separate province, getting basic amenities such as hospitals, university and road networks. It is also welcoming to see Marshi rice, Kodo (millet), honey and Sishnu from Karnali finding a market in Kathmandu’s malls. Seeing how fast indigenous ‘Gaas Bas Kapas’ was being replaced by consumerism, I am quite worried. What will happen to Karnali if the government does not protect their products?

Coincidentally, 2/3 days after seeing the movie, I got to see a photo exhibition by Rastriya Samachar Samiti on the occasion of the Republic Day displaying major infrastructure development works throughout the country. The first thing that struck me was the economic viability of these projects, secondly the participation and ownership of the projects by the local people and thirdly, whether these works will benefit the local people. If these factors were not considered while undertaking these works, I fear Indian goods will flood our villages. Remember, we share almost two-third of our border with India, a market that is nearly 80 times bigger than Nepal.

The photo exhibition reminded me of my 30-day trip from Chiwa Bhanjyang (Ilam district) adjoining Sikkim, India to Jhulaghat, Baitadi district bordering Uttaranchal, India from Jan 29 to Feb 27 in 2019, covering 28 districts along the Pushpalal Marg, a mid-hill highway. The salient feature of this road was that it covered all the Janjati and Khas communities of the country. 

The road is so strategic that, had the government given it first priority before the construction of Mahendra Rajmarg, migration from hills to Tarai would have been checked. After seeing the movie, I became acutely curious during my recent 10 day trip from Ilam to Kanchanpur (27 June-7 July 2024), covering 18 districts.

While traveling I saw almost no economic activities throughout the highway except seeing children waiting for their school buses to reach private schools in the mornings and evenings. It reminded me how remittance has accelerated the flow of population from villages to small towns, cities near highways. How have private English boarding schools flourished in these cities? I remembered in the movie, ‘Papa’ being called again and again by the little son and how proud the father felt hearing English words from his son!

Lastly, I must say, I was lucky to come back safely to Kathmandu, after 10 days of harrowing trip. I saw trails of destruction of roads, houses and paddy fields due to flooding and landslides killing people, animals and destroying goods while returning. At one point, we got stuck in the middle of the road when we found a huge landslide blocking the road ahead and flooding the road behind us. We had to backtrack on the road after the rain stopped. Once again I was reminded how in Thawang reforestation was taken up and check dams were built to save the village from surrounding rivers during PW.

Unfortunately, the same Maoist force, which has been in the government for the last nine years, has hardly been effective in implementing sustainable development works, instead they have been busy running after power. 

The author is a politician and architect. Views are personal

Top leaders of three major parties—Nepali Congress, CPN-UML, and CPN (Maoist Center)—have pledged to endorse the amendment bill related to the Transitional Justice Act through the current session of the House of Representatives. Prime Minister and CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli, Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba, and CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal made this commitment while receiving a report prepared by a cross-party panel formed to address the contentious issues in the bill, particularly those related to serious human rights violations.

“I consider this a success achieved after the formation of the new government under Prime Minister Oli,” said Dahal after receiving the report. He added, “Now the bill, which is in the parliamentary committee, should be forwarded to the full House and endorsed through this session of Parliament.” A cross-party task force comprising Ramesh Lekhak from NC, Mahesh Bartaula from UML, and Janardhan Sharma from Maoist Center worked hard to forge consensus on the contentious issues of the Enforced Disappearances Enquiry, Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act. According to Lekhak, who now heads the Ministry of Home Affairs, issues of reconciliation, reparation, and prosecution were addressed while considering the concerns of the victims.

Prime Minister Oli said that consensus was achieved considering the Supreme Court’s 2015 verdict, meeting international standards, and addressing the concerns of the victims. He added that the government would expedite tasks related to appointments in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP), two transitional justice mechanisms formed in 2015. Oli also said that there are no longer any ambiguities or confusions regarding the transitional justice laws. The international community has yet to react to the agreement reached among the three major leaders.

NC President Deuba remarked that Nepal would set an example in the international arena if the transitional justice process is amicably settled. He said that if the task force’s resolutions are endorsed by Parliament and war-era human rights cases are settled, it would send a positive message to the world. The TRC and CIEDP, formed in 2015 to address transitional justice mechanisms, have struggled due to the absence of laws in line with the Supreme Court’s 2015 verdict and international standards.

Over the past 10 years, the two commissions have made some progress. The TRC has registered 63,718 complaints, including 314 related to rape and sexual violence. Similarly, the CIEDP has recorded 3,000 complaints. Both commissions have completed preliminary investigations on some cases. However, in recent years, they have been without heads and members, rendering them virtually defunct. Their tenures are being renewed to prevent complete collapse.

Disputes among parties primarily revolve around how to address serious human rights violations committed during the insurgency era. The international community insists that there should be no amnesty for serious human rights violations. Although the three parties claim to have resolved the disputed issues, it remains to be seen how Parliament, the international community, and most importantly, the conflict victims will respond.

Economic empowerment is a crucial condition for gender equality. While the employment situation of women in Madhes Province has been dire, their participation in the labor force has begun to increase of late.

Rampari Devi (45) never went to school and was married at a young age. After her marriage, she had to rely on others even to fetch goods from the weekly market for nearly 20 years. However, after the male members of the family left for foreign employment, the family’s responsibility fell on Devi’s shoulders. She now has to manage everything, from farming to market activities, alone.

Currently, Devi is cultivating vegetables on about six kattha (approximately 2,000 square meters) of land with her daughters-in-law. She sells the vegetables at the local market herself and her work has significantly contributed to her family’s income.

Until about 15 years ago, Rekhadevi Sah (50) from Dhirapur had not even thought of working in her own fields. Her days were spent doing household chores. But now, Sah has also started farming. “The times were different then. In our society, women were not allowed to go outside the house. When we were newly married, we were even forbidden from laughing or speaking loudly. Times have changed now. We have educated daughters-in-law. Women have also started working in agriculture, business and other sectors,” said Sah. “Madhesi villages are not the same as before. In the past, there was no practice of employing women as laborers in the village, but now both men and women work together.”

Different factors like employment, business property rights and per capita income are considered for economic empowerment. Although women in Madhes are at the bottom of economic empowerment compared to other provinces, they have slowly started to climb the ladder.

Dilkhush Paswan from Matihani in Mahottari had to struggle a lot to go out to work and earn just because she was from the Dalit community. “The biggest problem came from the family itself. If you went out to work or joined women’s groups, they would say you would get spoiled or engage in wrong activities. Some even said they wouldn’t give work if the group included a Dalit woman,” Paswan said, recalling her past. “But after much struggle, I have now been able to do small business in the village. I have also gained respect in the family.”

Paswan has started a small business and is also involved in farming.

Until 10 years ago, it was difficult for women in Madhes to receive equal wages for equal work. There was no practice of involving women in agriculture, animal husbandry or small businesses. However, after the men in the villages started going abroad for jobs, women also started to be accepted as workers. Now, there is equality in wages, says agricultural worker Sangita Sada. “Earlier, they used to give Rs 300 to men and Rs 250 to women for farm work. They would not give us the money, though. Men would go as our guardians and receive the money,” said Sada. “We are paid the same wages as male workers these days.”

Bedanand Jha, who was busy transplanting paddy in his farm, said the number of women is comparatively higher than men in farms these days. “Since most men have started going abroad, women have started taking charge of agriculture,” he said, adding: “If female workers don’t engage in work, agriculture becomes even more difficult.”

Bina Singh, Dhanusha district coordinator of WOREC Nepal, an organization working in the field of women rights, said most of the women in Madhes had to endure violence due to a lack of economic empowerment in the past. “Even today, there is no conducive environment for women and girls to work outside their homes in Madhes. Women, especially from Dalit, Muslim and under-privileged families, are trapped in economic dependence and poverty. But efforts have begun to slowly break all these barriers,” she said. “Now, the trend of educating daughters and involving them in work has started to increase.”

As per the 2021 census, 49 percent, or 3,048,849, of the total population of 6,114,600 in Madhes Province, are women. The literacy rate for women is 54.7 percent, while it is 72.5 percent for men. About 68.7 percent of the cottage enterprises are primarily operated by men and 31.3 percent by women.

Five persons died when a helicopter of Air Dynasty crashed at Suryachaur in Shivapuri Rural Municipality-7, Nuwakot on Wednesday.

Captain Arun Malla and four Chinese nationals died in the incident.

Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal spokesperson Hansaraj Pandey confirmed the death of five persons onboard the chopper.

The deceased Chinese nationals have been identified as Jutad Tang (38), Jie Li (36), Yiyad Wo (31) and Zeming Xie (41).

The helicopter with four Chinese tourists was heading to Syabrubesi of Rasuwa from Kathmandu when the tragedy took place this afternoon.

It has been found that all the Chinese tourists, who lost their lives in the Air Dynasty helicopter crash, had entered Nepal through Kerung, Rasuwa.

They entered Nepal through the Rasuwa border at 9 am on Monday.

The Chinese tourists came to Nepal on multiple entry visas. 

 The reason behind the crash is yet to be established.