Eleven years have passed since the Comprehensive Peace Accord was signed between the government and the then Maoist. Conflict victims could not still feel peace and relief.
Sarita (name changed) of Khara, who was raped during the armed conflict, has not still got relief. Her mental health is deteriorating.
Sarita said the state was not serious in her treatment.
Similarly, Subodh Serpali of Mahat-5 still has bullet lodged in his body. Ex-combatant of the then Maoist, Serpali, is facing problem to carry out activities easily due to this.
The bullet which is in his body constantly reminds him of the conflict and his heart aches while remembering the conflict.
Likewise, Surul Pun of Ranmamaikot has the same problem like Serpali. He still has shrapnel in 35 different locations of his body.
He said, “How can I forget the conflict as the shrapnel in my body gives me pain.”
The conflict victims blamed that although Maoist leaders– Janardan Sharma, Lokendra Bista Magar, Ganesh Man Pun, Daljit Serpali, Kamala Roka and Bimala KC of Rukum became ministers, they are not found serious towards the problems of conflict victims.
Not only treatment, the conflict victims even could not get relief that has been making their problems more complex.
They demanded that the government should do treatment of injured conflict victims and arrangement of employment.
Saying he lost his both eyes for the change in the country, District-level Nepali Congress leader, Gopal Prasad Sharma, said, “I lost my both eyes. How can I take my life ahead? Whether or not the state should make arrangement for my livelihood?”
Durga KC could not even see the dead body of her husband. She says she is waiting in the hope of getting justice rather than compensation from the government.
Maoists hacked the hand of teacher Narjeet Basnet during the conflict period. He is now disabled. “My wound will not heal until those responsible for this crime are tried and punished. The wound of the conflict period is as it was.
The state could not alleviate it,” he said.
The conflict victims rue that they were neglected even when the Maoist joined the government after coming to the peace process.
They have still not been provided with relief and health treatment services even after the country has entered the phase of political stability. The conflict survivors say that the dreams of those who laid down their lives in the conflict would be fulfilled and their pain also relieved if the transitional justice mechanism could completes its works.
Nepali Congress leader Prem Prakash Oli said the dreams of their relatives who laid down their lives and those people who were wounded in the conflict would feel relief if problems like inflation, corruption, unemployment, which still persisted, were resolved. Oli’s father had also attained martyrdom during the conflict.
The common people here feel that the politicians and party leaders have forgotten the people while concentrating only for their interests.
The then CPN Maoist had to face a big setback in Khara raid some two decades back. Learning from this setback, the party then decided to give up war and join the peace process after its convention in Chunawang in 2062 BS. After this, the Maoist and the then government signed a seven-point agreement.
The Maoist party that had started the People’s War from Chunawang also ended the war from the same place.
Rukum was one of the most affected districts from the conflict and suffered a big loss of lives and property. Many people were displaced, many were killed, even more were injured, many women were widowed and many children orphaned in the district during the conflict. Many mothers are living with the hope of seeing their missing children.
The conflict has inflicted a deep wound in the hearts of many people here which is yet to be healed.
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