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Kin of missing soak streets in Mid-West with tears
BANKE, DEC 19 - They came from all over the region. And they were in the streets searching for their near and dear ones who have disappeared in the conflict.
"I came here in search of my father," said eight-year-old Siddhartha Tharu of Shumshergunj Village Development Committee (VDC)-4, his eyes filled with tears.
Tharu was among the hundreds of family members who were marching today on the streets of Nepalgunj displaying placards of their near and dear ones who were "forcibly disappeared" by both the warring sides.
The boy, who participated in the rally along with his mother and sister, was seen holding aloft a placard with a photograph of his father, Bhagat Prasad Tharu, whose whereabouts is still unknown ever since his arrest by the security forces one-and-a-half-year ago from his home.
There were others, too. Marching together with human rights activists, the desperate family members were demanding that both the warring sides – government and Maoists — make public the whereabouts of their near and dear ones.
Sixty-year-old Bishnu Maya Dhakal was looking for her only son, Bhojraj Dhakal, who went missing after the Maoists abducted him. She was also seen holding a placard with her young son’s picture on it.
"They (Maoists) abducted my only son when he was offering obsequies to his father five months ago," she said. Bhojraj was abducted from his home at Naya Basti in Kohalpur VDC.
The protestors had arrived here from 15 districts of the Mid-West region.
The peace demonstration was organised by the Committee for the Protection of People’s Rights, an alliance of various human rights organisations and civil society.
This was the first rally of its kind, which saw hundreds of victimised people swarming this regional hub ever since the Maoist rebellion started. It is the Mid-Western region, the hotbed of Maoist insurgency, which has lost most number of people in the last eight years.
During interviews, some of the family members of those disappeared by security forces said that the latter simply denied having taken them into custody.
"I inquired in all the army barracks and police offices in the district about my bother, Raj Kumar Chaudhary, since his arrest two years ago," said Paras Muni Chaudhary. "But the officials always denied having taken him into custody."
According to figures made available by the Committee,
at least 430 people were
forcibly disappeared by both the security forces and the Maoists from the region’s 15 districts.
The statistics revealed that the state party led to the disappearance of total of 369 people in the region — 159 in Bardiya, 68 in Banke, 67 in Dang, 26 in Rolpa, 17 in Surkhet and 14 in Salyan, and the rebels are responsible for the disappearance of at least 61.
The state party has killed a total of 3,004 persons and Maoists 1,074 persons in the region since the start of insurgency in 1996.
Similar rallies were also organised in Parbat, Taplejung and Jhapa districts where family members staged a sit-in campaign in the respective district headquarters.Posted on: 2003-12-20 02:21
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