Dark Tihar
Nikita Gautam was watching angry street protests from the terrace of her home in Gaushala on 9 September when a group started attacking the police station across the road. Soon, it was on fire.
Police fired back, and a bullet tore through Nikita’s chest and hit another neighbour who was also watching. Nikita died on the way to hospital.
Nikita, 19, had just completed high school and was among 75 people killed during Nepal’s violent GenZ protests last month. For their families the Dasain festival was spent in mourning. Tihar will be just memories.
Bhai Tika, the sibling ritual which this year falls on 23 October, will be especially poignant for those who have lost their sisters or brothers in the protests.
Nikita’s brother, Nirmal, is studying in Denmark and the siblings were very close. He was trying to find a way to get Nikita also enrolled in college in Denmark.
“We used to talk daily on video call, she used to tell me whatever she couldn’t share with our parents,” a distraught Nirmal told us. “She was taking photos and videos of the GenZ protests and sending it to me.”
Nirmal had not been back for Bhai Tika the last two years, but was planning to visit this year. He rushed back to Nepal after finding out about his sister, but there is no Nikita to put a tika on his forehead.
The Gautam family is originally from Chitwan, moved to Kathmandu 33 years ago and lived in a rented flat 200m from the police station at the Gaushala intersection.
A month later, their mother Kalpana Gautam is still in shock. Nikita was a loving child who took care of the children in the neighbourhood. She says: “With Nikita gone, we cannot console ourselves.”
Nirmal has now returned to Denmark, and cannot come to terms with the void that losing his sister has left. “There is nothing left to do for me but to relive in my mind the countless memories of my sister.”
UMESH MAHAT
On the same day that he got his work visa for the UAE, 20-year-old Umesh Mahat was also shot at the Gaushala intersection.
Umesh’s sister Sumitra, 29, is the eldest of four siblings. Their parents are still in their hometown in Sindhupalchok.
“Our family’s happiness has been snatched, there is a gaping hole that cannot be filled. There is no Bhai Tika this year,” says a tearful Sumita.
Umesh was fun-loving, always respectful and willing to help others. He was close to the family and was the glue that held everyone together. He was good in studies and sports, and loved to play football.
Sumitra’s 10-year-old son is still in shock, not quite comprehending the enormity of the loss of his uncle. Members of the family say it is pointless living in a country that kills its own.
Umesh has been declared a martyr, but Sumitra and the family want those responsible punished, the individuals who ordered firing.
“He used to tell me not to worry about his protests, that he is there and will always take care of the family,” recalls Sumitra. “He is gone forever and will not be taking care of anyone anymore.”
GAURAV JOSHI
Gaurav Joshi, 27, was killed on 9 September. His sister Ayusha has been posting videos and raising her voice through social media. She recalls the last conversation she had with her brother where he told her he was coming home soon after the curfew was imposed on 8 September.
Minutes later, he had been shot outside Parliament. His last words still ring in her ears, and they haunt Ayusha. Her posts on social media hold the police and previous administration accountable, demanding that the new government focus on justice and not festivities.
While the rest of Nepal celebrates Dasain, tihar and Chhath the families of those killed in the GenZ protests are making rounds of Singha Darbar and Baluwatar seeking justice.
They want information about who gave the orders and who executed those orders to shoot students point blank in the head, and chest with live bullets from automatic weapons.
Families of the victims say their children were purposefully targeted and are angry that the investigation is too slow, and may absolve the culprits.
Sumitra Mahat is making rounds of government offices in Kathmandu. She says: “We have been going round and round in circles for a month from one office to another. No one listens to our demands for justice. We want the perpetrators punished, but it feels like they are dragging their feet.”