Bajura, May 28

Kul Bahadur Shahi and Mohan Bahadur Shahi of Matesanghu at Jayabageswori VDC-8, Bajura are siblings with divergent political beliefs. Kul is aligned to CPN-UML, while his brother Mohan has allegiance to Nepali Congress.

After a dispute ensued between NC and UML about two decades ago, the two brothers have been avoiding each other in social activities and celebration of festivals. Bishna Bahadur Shahi who is affiliated to UML, and Dhan Bahadur Shahi who is with Nepali Congress are brothers  living in the same village. Because of their differing political leanings, Bishna and Dhan do not attend the same social functions in the same place at the same time.

“Our relationship has been strained for ten years. We avoid each other in functions such as weddings and festivals,” Dhan shared. He added that although the bitterness had gone down to some extent, they still don’t participate in social functions together. Matesanghu is home to as many as 123 families, of which 38 families are supporters of the CPN UML, while the remaining families are with NC. Ganesh Bahadur Shahi, a CPN UML district committee member from Matesanghu, said differences in political convictions had caused a conflict among family members.

The village has separate ‘main’ priests for NC and UML supporters. Gokul Shahi is the main priest for NC supporters in the village, while Lal Bahadur Shahi is the main priest for CPN-UML.