Karnali conflict victims cry out for justice

Dhanmaya Shahi of Surkhet lost her husband during the decade-long armed conflict.

Shahi, whose husband was killed by the then CPN-Maoist rebels, had filed a complaint at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) demanding action and justice for her husband’s killers.

Earlier, she had even submitted several petitions to the local peace committee and the administration. When, five years ago, she petitioned the TRC, she had hoped that action would finally be taken against her husband’s killers. That hope is now fading. “By delaying justice, the state has sprinkled salt on my wounds,” she rues.

This is the story of many Dhanmayas across the Karnali region who are yet to get any relief or justice from the state. Complaints lodged by victims seeking justice are rather being stowed away at the TRC headquarters in Kathmandu.

Another victim, Shanti Dhamala, who also lost her husband, says, “I have filed many petitions in the hope of getting justice. I have even gone to the International Court of Justice. To date, the commission has only exacerbated my wounds.”

According to official figures, the commission has received 11,000 complaints from Karnali, the region most affected by the conflict. But the commission is yet to investigate any of the complaints.

Kaviram Khadka of Mantada in Bheriganga Municipality, who was injured during the conflict, did not get timely treatment, and he to this day cannot move the lower half of his body. He was neither a Maoist nor a security guard. Khadka still had to suffer when he was shot, in two places, during the conflict.

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Janakali Malla of Birendranagar has not been able to see her daughter for well over a decade now. “Years have passed since my daughter went missing, but the government and the commission investigating the disappearance have done nothing,” she complains.

The pain of the victims’ relatives is no less. The TRC had set up offices in every province in order to facilitate preliminary investigation of complaints collected in respective provinces and to take the victims’ statements.

But lately, the offices of the commission have become inactive, which TRC Chairman Ganesh Datta Bhatt blames on lack of staff and resources. In Karnali, the commission had set up an office in Birendranagar, which is now closed.

The lack of functioning of the headquarters has also affected investigation of the complaints, delaying justice-delivery. Chairman Bhatt vows to resume operations soon. “We will open new offices too in order to speed up our work,” he says.

The TRC has promised to investigate and resolve all complaints within the next two years. According to the commission, 63,718 complaints have been registered from across the country. Bhatt says work was also affected due to the Covid-19 epidemic but now investigations are being sped up.