Dhangadi, May 19

It’s been 13 years since Padamadevi Bam’s husband disappeared, but his whereabouts are yet to be known.

Ganesh Bam, then CPN-UML Village Committee Secretary, has been missing ever since the then Maoist rebels picked him up from his home on May 19, 2003.

Having lost hope almost entirely, Padama finally filed a complaint after the Commission for Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons made a clarion call to the victims to file their complaints promising them justice.

“After the former rebel party joined peaceful politics, I did ask many great Maoist honchos about my husband, but nobody would tell my anything,” lamented Padama, adding, “Though I have almost lost hope of finding him after all these years, I have filed the complaint hoping against hope.”

Binod Kumar, the husband of Krishnidevi Chaudhary of Udasipur-7, Khutiya, disappeared 15 years ago. A teacher at Shiva Primary School in Urma Rampur, he was taken away by the state security forces.

“After all these years of silence on the part of the government over my husband’s disappearance, I don’t have any hope for justice, yet I filed the complaint so that I could get relief of any sort to support my family in the absence of my husband,” said Krishnidevi, who recently filed a complaint with the CIEDP.

According to data with the Peace and Reconstruction Ministry, a total of 34-enforced disappearances complaints have been filed in Kailali so far. Though the district has just 31 persons featuring in the official list of the disappeared persons, the kin of nine of them are yet to file a complaint so far.

Of the total complaints filed, 11 are against the state and seven against the then Maoist rebels. Rest of the complaints are about disappearances exacted by some ‘unknown side’.

Regarding the number of complaints filed in the district with the CIEDP and the Commission for Truth and reconciliation, local Peace Committee Kailali office secretary Anu Hamal said the complaints filed are way less than expected.

“One month on the call was made to the victims to file their complaints, only a few complaints have been filed.

Even those who approached us were at first reluctant to lodge the complaint seeking prior guarantee of justice until we counselled them properly,” she shared. She added that there were 1,741 registered conflict victims in Kailai during the insurgency.

As per the local peace committee office, only 150 complaints have been filed with the TRC in the district so far.

Meanwhile, it is assumed that many of the victims are a confused lot as to whether to file any complaint for justice following the recent nine-point agreement between the party of former revolutionaries  Unified CPN-Maoist and the ruling CPN-UML.

On behalf of conflict victims, Conflict Victims’ Common Forum Central member and far-west Coordinator Ganesh Malla commented that the deal between the two parties had made victims doubtful.

It is important to note that the nine-point deal has it that the government will expedite the process of withdrawing cases and grant amnesty in political and other cases of the conflict era.