Centre
for Investigative Journalism
Himal Association's
Production
THE
LIVING OF JOGIMARA
A
film by Mohan Mainali
Duration:
38 minutes
Language: English (Also available in Nepali)
Format: DV
System: PAL (Also available in NTSC)
Centre
for Investigative Journalism
Himal Association
Patan Dhoka
PO Box 166, Lalitpur, Nepal
Tel: +977-1-542544
Fax: +977-1-541196
email: cij@himalassociation.org
www.himalassociation.org
Navaraj Adhikari, priest
Don’t cry sister. Console yourself. We are born to bear
everything in life.
Oh,
god, if only they could have seen the dead body. Not that
it would console parents.
You
should think of god.
We
make an effigy of kush grass to represent the physical body
of the deceased. We would make it here but we thought it would
be unbearable for the mother. So we will do everything there.
May
Rudralal’s soul rest in eternal peace.
We should go now.
Think
of Lord Vishnu, Lord Krishna and pray that your son will go
to heaven.
When someone dies from an unnatural death from assault, fire
or drowning and the body is not found, we cremeate an effigy
of kush grass which represents the corpse. We then throw the
ash in the river. That date is considered the death anniversary.
Pray
that the holy fire burns the body easily and carries it to
heaven.
The
head has to point to the north. Turn this cloth over, and
now believe that this is the face.
Let
us all join our hands in prayer.
His
name was Rudralal but we called him Raju. We don’t know
if anyeone enticed him or what. All we knew is a contractor
took him to Kalikot to work. His family and friends were all
waiting for his return. But instead came news that he had
been killed as a Maoist.
Narration
On the 28th of November 2001, Raj Kumar Shrestha, or Raju,
as he was known, left his home in the village of Jogimara
in Dhading district, just west of Kathmandu. He was one of
twenty men from his village to go to work on Kalikot’s
Kotwada airport in western Nepal.
Bel
Bahadur BK
We knew the contractor. We had worked for him before. He used
to pay us more than the other contractors. He was a good person
to work for. That is why we all agreed to go with him.
We
first went to Surkhet. The next day, we went to Dungeshwor.
Then, Ramaghat. It took us seven days to reach Kalikot. We
arrived on 4th December and began work on the 5th.
It
was a really remote area. Barren and steep. In the mornings,
the pond would freeze over like glasses. My skin was totally
lacerated and healed only after I came back here.
We
could not speak properly for 15 days because of our chapped
lips. We could not even open our mouth to eat. What a place
it was. At such a height.
I
would never go back to such a place.
Narration
Since Kalikot was a Maoist-affected area and because the army
had been mobilised to combat the Maoists, they were concerned
about being caught in the crossfire.
Bel
Bahadur BK
On 3rd January, a helicopter fired five shots at us. This
guy called Man Bahadur Bista was struck by something. It was
probably a stone splinter that hit him. He cried out it was
a bullet. But we told him it was only a splinter from a rock
struck by a bullet.
Any
way something hit him.
After
that incident, I started thinking that it was going to be
difficult to survive there. They were firing at us from the
sky. I decided that my life was dearer than the money. That
is why I came back home.
Bel
Bahadur Shrestha, Raju's father
One Bishwokarma, one Magar and our son’s brother-in-law
were the three who came back.
When
I asked my son’s brother-in-law why the others had not
come back as well, they said they were not allowed to leave.
My son was the head mason, so he was told he couldn't leave
until the work was complete. Since my son stayed back, others
who were his helpers also could not leave.
Radio
Nepal's news, 19 February 2002
This is Radio Nepal.
The news read by Gopal Basnet.
Last night armed Maoist terrorists launched an attack on security
forces on Mangalsen, the district headquarters of Achham in
Seti Zone. In the attack, 102 people are reported dead: 48
soldiers, 49 policemen as well as the Chief District Officer,
an official of the National Intelligence Department and his
wife, a postal worker and a local inhabitant.
The
Ministry of Defence has issued a statement that reinforcements
have already been despatched and the area has been cordoned
off for a massive search operation.
Narration
Responding to the biggest government setback so far, the army
became active in search operations in the neighbouring district
of Kalikot as well. When an army helicopter on patrol reached
the airport construction site in Kalikot, some Maoists who
had mingled with the labourers fired a few shots at the helicopter
before heading off. After that incident, the contractor ordered
the local labourers to stop coming to work. But because it
was not possible to leave the place at that time due to army
operations, the contractor as well as the labourers from Jogimara
and other places were forced to stay put.
Narration
A few days later, soldiers arrived at the construction site,
and began shooting at those living there. A total of 35 people
were killed. Among the dead were the 17 labourers from Jogimara,
workers from other parts of Nepal, the contractor, two children
and some locals.
Radio
Nepal news, 25th February 2002
According to the Ministry of Defence, security forces have
launched a massive search for Maoist terrorists who have escaped
into the jungle after attacking Managlsen in Achham. In various
encounters between the security forces and armed terrorists
in the neighbouring district of Kalikot the day before yesterday
a large number of terroriest were killed according to the
Defence Ministry. In the lastest security operations, 76 terrorists
were killed. And various kind of weapons and explosives devices
were recovered.
Bel
Bahadur BK
I, too have worked there. The government has said they could
have been Maoists. They may have joined the Maoists and got
killed. But government's claim is wihtout babis. We were workers
there. You can see our condition here. It was to make ends
meet that we went to work elsewhere. Had we any money, we
would have stayed at home. People studying in the eighth grade
and even in the 2nd or 3rd grade left home to make some money.
Everyone died. What can we do now?
One
of them was married to the daughter of my own uncle who lives
there.
Gyan
Bahadur Bishwokarma, Sanu's and Tek Bahadur's father
Two of my sons were killed. Go and get the citizenship certificate.
I want to show my son’s photograph.
What
day did the incident occur? Which month? People say it was
on 23 February. I was told that it was mentioned on the radio.
We don't have a radio at home. Our neighbour heard it on the
radio in the evening of 13th March. I was told such an incident
had happened. The next day I was told the morning news at
7 the next day had said the same thing. When I heard that
an MP from Kalikot had said 17 workers from Jogimara were
among those killed, I started fearing for my sons' safety
because they too were in the same place. Had they been killed
by mistake? When I went to where a radio was, the 7 o’clock
news was already over. We couldn’t understand the English
news at 8. I cannot even read Nepali, let alone English. Then
thinking there might be more information available at the
bazaar, we all hurried there.
We
did not all arrive at the same time. My elder brother and
I got there first. I have a sister there, a blood sister.
Even before we arrived there, she had already sent someone
to the next town to call up the contactor or our MP. But this
person came back, saying there was no answer. We stayed there
for three days trying to get some information. We tried phoning
here and there, but to no avail.
I
would go down the bazaar the day after. I was hoping someone
would be able to help me. Help me find a way out. Perhaps
get my sons back. What can I do when I could not even get
the body of a Nepali who died in Nepal itself? I cried and
begged but there was no one to help me.
There
were no dead bodies that we could see or touch. I performed
my sons’ funeral rites just in the belief that they
were dead. My elder daughter-in-law went to her parents the
day after the ceremony. The next day second one also left.
Bel
Bahadur BK
Two of their sons died there. Now, a total of five members
of their family have left home. What else could they do? With
the sons dead, their wives left. What else could they do?
One daughter-in-law went to her own parents’ place.
My own younger sister (and a child) has come here.
Gyan
Bahadur BK
Who else is there in the family, sir? I have these three daughters
and an 11-year-old son left.
My
happy days are over now. Out of eleven people, there are only
six of us here now.
Buddhisara
BK, Sanu and Tek Bahadur's mother
It hurts. Even one wound hurts so much. I have two wounds.
Two had died, but in reality it is five. It feels like the
door of my life has been shut.
Bel
Bahadur BK
Everyone feels the same loss when they lose their sons. My
sister's family and one from Goirang have lost two sons each.
Motimaya
Gurung, Gokarna and Tek Bahadur's mother
I did ask them to stay back saying we would not be able to
plant the potatoes of our own. But didn't listen and bundled
their clothes and left. We could not hold physically. We did
not even know the foreman!
Shanka
Bahadur Gurung, Gokarna and Tek Bahadur's father
We heard only bad things. There was no good news. We just
can’t bear it. We had sent our young and fit sons. All
to work as labourers. Now they say their bodies are lying
there charred.
Moti
Maya
The contractor should have broght them back all right.
Shankha
Bahadur Gurung
I am finding it difficult to endure one worry after another.
There is sorrow…a lot of sorrow.
Moti
Maya Gurung
Tears well up when I speak. And if I keep quiet without saying
anything…
Bel
Bahadur Bk
Some had only one son. One of them lives near the water mill.
She had only one son. Now she is planning to sell the land.
I’d gone there some time back. She says she will sell
her land. She doesn’t want to live here.
Dhan
Maya Praja, Budha Raj's mother
It’s not just one or two; it’s the whole village.
No one has returned so far. The rites have already been done
for some of them.
Narration
Dhan Maya’s niece, who is also Rajkumar’s wife,
is among those who have completed the funeral rites. She had
to undergo more than one tragedy. Not long after news of her
husband’s death, her grand father-in-law died. Then
a day later, her month-old child also died. To come to terms
with her loss, she has been alternating between her parents’
place and her own home.
Narration
The situation is not much better at her parental house. Her
own brother, Manju Thapa, and two cousins were also killed
in Kalikot.
Gita
Shrestha, Raju's wife
A photograph of my dead brother used to be there. My other
brother could not bear to look at it. He would look at the
picture and lament how could such a brother die and and start
crying. That is why he has hidden it.
Narration
Geeta’s uncle and his wife live two hours’ away
from Geeta’s house. Their 16-year-old son, Bhim Bahadur
Thapa, was among those killed in Kalikot.
Amar
Bahadur Thapa, Bhim Bahadur's father
The others had worked before. When my son said he wanted to
join them, I tried to stop him. But he argued that all his
friends and cousins going. I tried to stop him till the very
end.
Dhan
Maya Thapa Magar, Bhim Bahadur's mother
What's the use of looking at his picture? It just makes me
cry.
Gyanu
Maya Thapa, Bhim Bahadur's aunt
He looks like he will spring to life right now. He looks exactly
like he did before.My heart aches when I look at his photo.
It's been a long time since I looked at it. What is the use
of looking at his photo? We can't speak to him or hear his
voice.
Narration
Another of Gita’s uncles, Indra Bahadur, lost his 15-year-old
son, Gyan Bahadur, in the Kalikot incident.
Indra
Bahadur Thapa, Gyan Bahadur's father
He did not say where he was going. He merely said that he
was going to be work as a labourer. In a fairly distant place.
But the job was going to pay well. I gave him my permission.
Told him not to quarrel with him.I told him to be careful,he
might fall down and hurt himself .As it turned out, something
even worse happened.
Narration
For Indra Bahadur, the sorrow over losing his third son is
greater than when the death of his other sons in infancy.
Indra
Bahadur
I had a total of eight children—four girls and four
boys. One son died when he was ten months old. My second boy
died at age three. The one I’ve lost now is the third.
He was 15. He would have become sixteen soon.
Narration
Like Indra Bahadur, Man Bahadur, too lost his son. For these
two neighbours and others like them the loss is greater since
their sons were their only support for their old age.
Man
Bahadur BK, Raj Kumar's father
I pleaded with him not to leave. I asked him to think of us,
his parents. He had just grown up, and I was hoping he would
help me with my work. I told him there was enough at home
to feed him. But he went off without even speaking to me or
his mother. He did not even eat at home. He just got carried
away by what his friends said.
We
did not tell him we were having a hard time. That he should
work and earn some money. He did not even consult us.
Buddhimaya
BK, Raj Kumar's mother
I am in utter torment. From where will my son come back from?
Narration
Until the 27th of November, the master of this house, Chitra
Bahadur Praja, used to live here. The next day, he went along
with his fellow villagers to work on the Kalikot airport.
Govinda Bahadur Praja, Chitra Bahadur's son
We had taken loans to celebrate Dasain. The creditors had
started knocking on our door. We have no cattle, no goats,
or chickens to sell. We have no source of income. We make
a living working as labourers. This has been the case for
generations. We work as labourers. We never have enough to
feed ourselves more than six months a year. When my father
talked about going away in order to pay the loans, I had begged
him not to go, saying that we could borrow some more.
We
have always paid back our loans. He left without saying a
word. What alternative was there? This is a backward area.
I tried to convince my father perhaps some work will be available
nearby. But he was finding it extremely difficult to survive
under the burden of his debts, and so my 60-year-old father
went off. He left behind young children who were almost dying.
Hounded by creditors. He believed that it was his duty to
repay his debts. He left home under such conditions.
Narration
Govinda does not live in his father’s house. That is
his why the responsibility of looking after these five children
falls solely on the shoulders of the 40-year-old widow, Sukmaya
Praja.
Narration
Jogimara is now a village of widows and orphans. The incident
in Kalikot has deprived eighteen children of their fathers.
Ten women have been widowed, and some of them are still minors.
Kaman
Maya Praja, Kumle's wife
I know nothing. They say he is dead.
Narration
The fate of Mankumari Praja, the widow of Dilla Praja, is
no less tragic. She had been hoping that her husband’s
earnings would pay for the repair of their hut that had burnt
down the year before.
Man
Kumari Praja, Dilla's wife
My name? My name…I’ve forgotten. What should I
say?…Mankumari.
There
is nothing to eat at home; he said. 'Look after the children'.
‘I will make some money and come back for the sowing.’
But he has not returned. What should I do now? Look at my
home, my children. He has not returned. There is no one to
plant the fields. This is my own sister. That is my husband’s
younger brother. I have come to live with them. These three
are my children. How am I going to raise them? I have no land.
You have seen how much land I have and the condition of my
house. What am I to do now?
Narration
Jogimara is suffering the loss of its youth. Amongst those
killed in Kalikot, nine were under the age of 21. It has been
four months since they died but their memory still haunts
their peers.
Bel
Bahadur BK
I am on the verge of going mad. There are only two young men
left in this village. I and my cousin. We had all grown up
together. They’re all dead.
Narration
To conceal a dead body is considered a crime deadlier than
murder by Nepali society. That is because absence of proof
of someone’s death makes it very difficult for those
left behind, adding to their angst and suffering.
Beli
Maya Praja, Ram Bahadur's wife
I still think he will come back. He was alright when he left
home.
Govinda
Praja
Perhaps he is taking shelter somewhere. He could be looking
for a way to come back. He could be working somewhere else.
Bel
Bahadur BK
Part of me tells me they are dead.
The
funeral rites have been done only on hearsay. They may be
working or they could be dead.We are confused.
Indra
bahadur
We haven't given up hope. Even though the funeral rites are
over, I have hope that he'll be back. If he does come back,
we will keep him outdoors until we perform other rites to
undo what we have done. That's what I hope for.
Moti
Maya Gurung
I have a feeling they'll come back. But that hasn’t
happened. We planted the fields without them and the crop
is now ripe. They're still not back. My heart cries. Where
have my sons gone?
Man
Bahadur BK
Do I think of my son?
Me?
It's not that he was taken ill or anything. I keep thinking
he will come back just the way that he left. My heart aches
all the time.
Buddhi
Maya BK
What happened to my son? How did he die? What happened? Sometimes
I am overcome by wistfulness that he'll be back. But I suppose
that will not happen. Where can I find someone who can bring
my son back to me? I just wish he would come back just the
way he had left. I know it is impossible. I've brought myself
to this state.
Indra Bahadur Thapa
He'd gone that way, and I keep hoping he will come back the
same way. He might yet come back. He'd left carrying a bag.
He'd told us what we were to plant and which animals to rear.
He'd told us he'd bring back money but we were not to borrow
much.
Narration
Because of such lingering hope, many have not even performed
the funeral rites of their loved ones.
Shankha
Bahadur Gurung
My eldest son is mentally unstable. He is a deaf-mute. Perhaps
he is possessed by spirits. I have heard some of the others
have performed the funeral rituals. We wonder if we should
also do the same. But we have not done it yet. We are still
not sure they are dead. They could be in some remote place.
My sons are not blind. Nor are they lame. They could be hiding
somewhere and are safe. We parents hope that as well. Or perhaps
they were slaughtered. It happened so far away.
Beli
Maya Praja
We still think he will be back. We will not conduct the funeral
for four or five years more.
Narration
The grief and anger of losing their near and dear ones for
no reason manifested first in sorrow. With time, this sorrow
is turning into a cry of the wounded.
Buddhi
Maya BK
Why did the government kill them? Couldn't they see how poor
they were? The government should have seen that they were
just workers.
Gyan
Bahadur BK
If we'd got the bodies, we would have consoled ourselves.
We should have got the bodies at least. Cremate them or bury
them, I would have decided. Maybe their bodies were just thrown
away and now only the skeletons remain. Who knows? Why did
the government do this? The work was for a government airport.
Why couldn’t the government distinguish between the
innocent workers and the guilty others?
Dambar
Bahadur Thapa, Manju Kumar's father
They were all good boys. They killed the innocent this time.
Gyan
Bahadur BK
Didn't they kill poor and innocent people? Who is going to
look into this injustice?
End
note:
After news of the killing of 35 innocents from Jogimara and
elsewhere created a furore in the parliament in March 2002,
the government set up a Special Committe under the Prime Minister's
office to investigate such incidents.
The
families of the victims from Jogimara handed a petition to
the convenor of the committes through their own MP and the
one from Kalikot in April 2002.
In
July 2002, the member-secretary of the commmitte denied his
office had received notice of any such case.
In
the memory of the Jogimara dead.
Chitra Bahadur Praja
Buddha Raj Praja
Kumle Praja
Sher Bahadur Praja
Dilla Praja
Ram Bahadur Praja
Bikas Praja
Kanchha Praja
Gokarna gurung
Tek Bahadur Gurung
Manju Kumar Thapa
Bhim Bahadur Thapa
Gyan Bahadur Thapa
Raju (Raj Kumar) Shrestha
Raj Kumar Biswokarma
Tek Bahadur Biswokarma
Sanu Biswokarma
acknowledgements
The families of the victims
and villagers from Jogimara
Tanks
Bahadur Malla
(Jogimara village committee chairman)
and
International Media Support
archive
visuals
Umid Bagchand
Nepal Forum of
Environmental Journalists
post-production
Nepal Forum of
Environmenta Journalists
sound
Kaji Thapa
camera
Dhurba Basnet
computer
graphics
Sarun Tuladhar
music
Phanindra Rai
research
Bhup Raj Khadka
translation
Jyoti Thapa
narration
Deepak Thapa
production/direction
Mohan Mainali
©
Centre for Investigative Journalism
Himal Associoation 2002 |
