Kathmandu, Aug 29: Bhajali Chaudhary of
Dang, whose daughter had disappeared, finally made an effigy of her dead
daughter to perform her last rites.
She decided to cremate her as per Hindu
tradition after the death of her daughter Dhana Kumari was confirmed almost one
and half a decade after she was taken away by security personnel.
For the distraught mother, the symbolic
last rites of disappeared daughter came as an emotional catharsis.
Ek Raj Wagle, who lost his son Gopi
Krishna, termed Chaudhary family lucky one for she eventually knew about the
status of her daughter at least and lamented that hundreds of families like his
had been going through a big trauma in search of their kith or kin perished in
the decade long violent conflict.
Jamuna Sedhain of Chitwan has been
reeling from similar grief. Her husband was forcefully disappeared 15 years
ago.
"Give me my husband dead or
live," she demands.
Ranga Nath Pandey, whose son was
forcefully disappeared from Dhading, said, "My whole family has been
waiting to know the whereabouts of him for years. We have no idea how to
overcome our pain."
As the world is marking the 'Day of the
Disappeared' tomorrow, the families of the disappeared persons in Nepal shared
their painful moments and memories at a function in the capital Monday.
Speaking amidst the families of
disappeared, civil society members, chair and other representatives of the
Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP), government
officials, Red Cross and media in Lalitpur, the family of the victims demanded
to bring the culprits to book.
They refused to be the subject of mercy
and sought for more sensitivity from the government and other stakeholders on
the fate of disappeared and their families.
"We are not seeking the
government's pity or compensation and we don't want pity from anyone either. We
want respect and justice," said Rubi Shrestha from Lalitpur whose brother,
husband and brother-in-law were forcefully disappeared.
According to the updated data published
by the International Committee of Red Cross and Red Cross (ICRC) and Nepal Red
Cross Society (NRCS) approximately 1,335 persons are still missing in Nepal.
Families of 3,237 disappeared persons
had informed the ICRC and NRCS about the missing.
President of Nepal Society of Families
of the Disappeared and Missing (NEFAD) Ram Kumar Bhandari informed that about
80 per cent of the disappeared males were married and their spouses and
children are in a sea of trouble.
"Economic condition of most of
those families is pathetic and yet the government is least concerned about
their condition," said Bhandari.
He along with other participants
expressed dissatisfaction over the slow progress of the CIEDP. The Commission
has only five and a half months remaining out of its two years mandate.
CIEDP chair Lokendra Mallik maintained
that the Commission was moving in a sluggish way as it almost 13 months of time
was wasted in the absence of by-laws.
He also maintained that the CIEDP was
facing the shortage of skilled manpower needed to prepare ante-mortem
certificate and the laws needed to declare the enforced disappearance and
torture as crime are yet to be passed by the parliament.
Confusion prevails as the existing laws
do not recognize 'enforced disappearance' and 'torture' as crime.
"There was a delay. But, we are
doing fairly well in the recent months. Many things will be clarified after
Dashain, the largest Hindu festival that falls on October," Mallik said.
He urged the families of the missing
persons for greater cooperation saying that it would help the Commission to
speed up the process.
He remarked that the culprits- no
matter who are they or which position they hold- would be punished.
ICRC head of mission for Nepal Andre
Paquet expressed his solidarity with the families of the disappeared persons.
"The 10-year conflict brought
tragedies to so many Nepalese – thousands of people who killed and scores went
missing. In that respect, the International Humanitarian law requires the
authorities to take all feasible measures to account for the missing
persons," he said.
On the occasion, the ICRC and NRCS
released the 9th edition of the 'List of Missing Persons in Nepal',
a photo book called 'Commemorating the Missing' and a documentary of 'The
Doll's Funeral' – the story of Bhajali Chaudhary.
According to Paquet, the List of
Missing Persons aimed at bringing recognition to the families of missing
persons while it was an appeal to the government and former parties to the
conflict, to clarify the fate, and whenever possible the whereabouts, of those
who went missing during the conflict.
The event was organized by the ICRC,
NRCS and NEFAD.
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