National
Bardiya starts honouring war victims, families
Amid the failure of the federal government to provide reparation to the victims of Maoist insurgency, local governments in Bardiya district have started naming local infrastructure after the deceased and disappeared, and felicitating the victims’ families.Binod Ghimire
Amid the failure of the federal government to provide reparation to the victims of Maoist insurgency, local governments in Bardiya district have started naming local infrastructure after the deceased and disappeared, and felicitating the victims’ families.
The district’s Barbardiya Municipality has named seven major roads after victims, either killed or forcefully disappeared, during the decade-long insurgency.
The executive council of the municipality last month named the road sections as Sahid Bishnu Marg, Shahid Dhani Marg, Sahid Sagun Marga, Sahid Bhim Marga, Sahid Ruplal Marga, Sahid Hukum Marga and Sahid Mohan Marga. All seven belonging to the local Tharu community were, either killed or forcefully disappeared, by the state security forces.
The local government has started preparing detail project report to develop a park in memory of the victims. The park, estimated to cost Rs 200 million, will have a monument that would bear the names of the deceased.
Municipality Mayor Durga Bahadur Tharu told the Post, “It is our duty to pay tribute to our martyrs who gave their lives to bring about huge political and social changes in the country. This move could provide some relief to their families who are waiting for justice for more than a decade.”
Bardiya district’s Rajapur Municipality last Monday felicitated around 150 people from the area who have lost their close ones or gone missing, or suffered torture and injury. The felicitation is a beginning by the municipality towards providing reparations.
The local governments started reparations following the initiative of the leaders of the Conflict Victims Common Platform (CVCP), an umbrella body of 13 organisations advocating justice for war-era victims, to reach out the local level authority for support.
CVCP Chairman Bhagiram Chaudhari told the Post, “The initiative by the local governments in Bardiya is first of its kind which others can replicate. This has regenerated optimism among victims’ families for justice.”
The other six local governments from the district too are planning to start the reparation drive for the victims, he said. Bardiya is one of the most affected districts with highest -197 cases of disappearance- 212 deaths from 1996 to 2006. At least 17,000 people were killed and 1,344 were forcefully disappeared while hundreds of others were injured and victims of either the state or the Maoist party during the insurgency.
Three years have passed since the formation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Commission of the Investigation on the Enforced Disappeared Persons. Both commissions are yet to come up with a reparation policy. Along with seeking truth, prosecution and assurance for non-repetition, reparation is one of the major pillars of transitional justice.