Bandarmude blast victims still await justice

June 6, 2005 is a day that lives in infamy. On this day 17 years ago, a jam-packed passenger bus was caught in an explosive ambush set up by the then Maoist insurgents in Bandarmude, Chitwan. The bus was carrying 120 passengers, of which 39 lost their lives on the spot, six others died in later dates, and 72 people were seriously maimed or injured. 

Krishna Adhikari, one of the survivors, is unable to shake off the memory of that fateful day. Though his wounds have healed, it still pains him to think that the persons who committed the heinous crime are still free. 

Most of the victims were civilians, with no concern whatsoever with the war between the Maoists and the state, Adhikari says. 

“Yet, we were attacked. Where are the people responsible?” he asks. 

Adhikari, like many other survivors and families of those killed in the incident, has been fighting tooth and nail for justice. But 17 years on, this struggle for justice has made little if no progress. 

Today, a concrete cenotaph stands on the incident site to commemorate the victims. Similarly, the incident’s anniversary is observed every year. But the promises made to the victims by the government and politicians, including CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, remain unfulfilled. Those promises included healthcare, jobs, and education.  

In the run-up to the 2017 parliamentary elections, Dahal had admitted that the Bandarmude incident was a grave mistake committed by his party during the insurgency and pledged in writing to redress the grievances of the victims. The three-point pledge never came to pass. 

Kanak Mani Dixit, writer and human rights activist, says the Bandarmude incident was not caused by some random booby-trap explosives. 

“It was a planned attack on a bus that was carrying mostly civilians,” he says. “The attackers saw the bus approaching the ambush site and pressed the detonator from a distance.” 

He has no explanation as to why even the local leaders are not speaking out to deliver justice to the innocent lives lost and destroyed in the incident. 

Sushil Pyakurel, another human rights activist, says the survivors and family members of people killed in the Bandarmude blast have been failed by the state. 

“The state has abandoned them. It’s as simple as that,” he says. “A passenger-carrying bus is ambushed intentionally, taking so many innocent lives. The guilty party has been established, and yet they remain unprosecuted.” 

Bishnumaya BK, another survivor of the incident, was traveling on the bus with her 13-month-old baby, on her way to see her parents in Pokhara. Her journey was cut short by a tragedy that changed her life forever.

She gets agitated if someone mentions the incident to her. 

“I have heard enough talks and promises of justice,” she says. “I am struggling to raise my family here. What good will a word of assurance do? Nobody is going to do anything.”