<figure><img width="1000" height="720" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101124/637209a29c7e80680e0b5553jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Devi Sunar and her adopted daughter Maina in front of the picture of Devi’s late daughter Maina who was only 14 when she was tortured and killed by the Royal Nepal Army. Photo: GULIGO JIA.</figcaption></figure>These days, every other day seems like an anniversary of one of the more famous crimes committed during the insurgency years. Today marks 18 years since 14-year-old Maina Sunar was <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2015/02/17/remembering-maina/">detained and murdered by the Royal Nepal Army</a> in Panchkhal of Kavre District.At the peak of the Maoist War, Maina’s case became a symbol of the human rights violations perpetrated by both sides in the decade-long conflict. Nearly two decades later, her mother Devi is <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2013/02/16/still-waiting/">still fighting for justice</a> for the extrajudicial killing of her daughter.Unable to access official channels, Devi has written an open letter asking Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba to uphold rule of law and respect the Court’s decision.'My daughter would have been 33 this year. I had many dreams for her, as I am sure you do too about your son. Everything was robbed from me and my family. Although I won’t be able to bring my daughter back, and nothing could repair that loss, I want to see those responsible brought to justice,' the letter reads.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-unpunished-war-crimes/">Nepal's unpunished war crimes</a>, Sabita AdhikariShe continues: 'This will give a sense of security and hope, not only to me and my family, but also to hundreds of victims who suffered from similar losses during the armed conflict.'On 17 February 2004, an army patrol looking for Devi detained Maina and her brother for interrogation as a suspected Maoist. Soon after, she disappeared, never to return. Her brother was however sent back. For three years, Sunar’s family kept looking for Maina, having known that she was taken by the soldiers. <img width="400" height="406" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101124/637209a49c7e80680e0b5554jpeg.jpg" alt="">It was later revealed that Maina was <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/issue/313/FromtheNepaliPress/12418#.Yg5Dse5Bz0s">electrocuted to death</a> on the same night as retribution for her mother Devi’s vocal criticism of the Army’s involvement in the murder of her niece, Reena Rasaili, accused of being a Maoist supporter.Under pressure from international rights groups, the Army set up a <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=9966#.Yg5DxO5Bz0s">court of inquiry</a> to investigate the incident and the accused Colonel Bobby Khatri, Captain Sunil Prasad Adhikari and Amit Pun were sentenced to six months imprisonment, fined Rs50,000 and faced a ban on future promotions.But Devi did not think the punishment was commensurate with the crime and filed a case in the civil court. During this time, with help from the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNOHCHR), Maina’s body was exhumed from Panchkhal barracks.On 16 April 2017, after a thirteen-year-long legal battle, the District Court Kavre found three army officers guilty of murdering Maina but they have not been arrested or punished.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/still-missing-but-not-forgotten/">Still looking for dad missing in Nepa</a>l, Anita BhetwalIn her letter, Devi has questioned the existence of two commissions set up to investigate war crimes, the Disappearance Commission and the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/conflict-victims-fear-TRC-only-serves-interests-of-state,2042">Truth and Reconciliation Commission</a> that have little to show in the way of delivering transitional justice.In fact, successive governments made up of former enemies the state has used the commissions to do their bidding and cover up their war crimes. Moreover, the Supreme Court’s order to amend the Transitional Justice Act mechanism is yet to be implemented.'Dear Prime Minister, I have promised my daughter that unless I bring those perpetrators to justice, I won’t rest. The remains of my daughter are still in the Teaching Hospital, and I am not able to perform her last rituals pending the implementation of the court’s decision,' concludes the letter. 'I am waiting to see your commitment to protecting victims instead of perpetrators and respecting court orders to ensure the rule of law in the country.'Read more: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16781#.Yg5HPu5Bz0s">Open Wounds</a>, Mallika Aryal

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'She would have been 33 this year'

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110813114/636a46529c7e80680e04d3d0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>'Comrade Pratista, 14, dances to the tune of a revolutionary song at a Maoist mass rally in Dang in 2001 during a Dasain ceasefire. Photo: TAKAAKI YAGISAWA/A PEOPLE WAR</figcaption></figure>Men and women in unisex combat fatigues dance energetically on stage. Their modernistic, martial moves would not look out of place in a tv reality show. But the lyrics tell a different story:It is time to sharpenthe shining khukri againThis YouTube video clip shows members of the Samana Cultural Group affiliated with the Biplav faction continuing where the mainstream Maoist party left off after the ceasefire in 2006.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vpqh0qAN72sSongs like these were hits during the insurgency, when Maoist propaganda units toured the country performing and mustering public support for the revolution. In many places, it worked.But even though Nepal has gone from war to peace, from <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/nepal-from-royal-to-republic,3736" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">monarchy to republic</a>, and many of the performers have either migrated for work overseas or turned to other professions, members of the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/its-a-crime-not-to-call-it-terrorism/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Biplav faction</a> are still singing to show that the revolution continues.The tradition of revolutionary songs did not begin with the Maoists. Ranudevi Adhikari, the first female voice on radio, sang songs against the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/the-rana-reign-a-recap-of-history,3751" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rana regime </a>that were broadcast from clandestine stations in 1949. One of them went:                Nepali, Nepali,                Let’s march forward                with the flag of revolution in our handsThe genre came to be known as janabadi, and the songs were revived during the Panchayat when four youngsters, Raamesh, Raayan, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=3643#.XQtmIhYzaUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Manjul </a>and Arim, established a group called Ralfa.“At the time, the only songs were about love, not about the harsh life of poor people,” remembers Raayan, who today heads the Nepal Academy of Music and Dance. “Our intention was to bring awareness and to change society through music.”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UMN8Sm9H-sThe group went on to create rousing songs like <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=868#.XQtmIxYzaUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gaun Gaun Bata Utha</a> and Gariba ko Chameli, and toured Nepal singing songs protesting against the Panchayat regime and establishing the pragatishil genre, which shares many features with protest music worldwide.The lyrics mainly dealt with social inequities and injustice. The music was often martial and easy to repeat and understand because it was based on simple folk tunes. When performed as dances, the songs were deliberately non-sexual, featuring uniformed men and women.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm-NhAb2XRAThe tunes were instrumental in the success of the anti-Panchayat people’s movement of 1990 and the 2006 anti-monarchy protests. During the 1996-2006 insurgency, the messages focused on injustice and an exhortation to rise up and fight. There were krantikari (revolutionary) songs eulogising courage on the battlefield and mournful ones about martyrs.“The function of revolutionary songs was to recruit people to the revolutionary cause, and to rally the people,” recalls Mani Thapa (video below), who headed a Maoist cultural group. “They were relevant at a particular moment in history, and we don’t really sing such battle-ready songs anymore.”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UnxO2TAn_QMany of the songs are now lost because they were never recorded, but also because the cause dissipated after the war. Writer and music analyst Raman Ghimire believes this is the fate of all revolutionary songs: “They are associated with a particular ideology and are only relevant as long as the movement needs them. They are never going to be popular in the mainstream.”The Maoist party’s cultural wing attracted many talented lyricists, composers and singers, but it was later dismantled. “After the ceasefire we had intense debate about which way we should go, towards peace or towards another revolution (shanti ki kranti),” remembers Laxmi Gurung (video below) who joined the Maoists out of revenge after her leftist father was disappeared by state security and her husband killed. It is her voice in dozens of revolutionary songs, including Rana Maidan Ma, in which a line says, ‘the lives of brave warriors bloom in the battlefield’.https://youtu.be/zZRtHbEGuDYLaxmi Gurung (above) joined the Maoists after her father and husband were killed. She did vocals for dozens of revolutionary songs.“More bloodshed will not be good for the country,” says Gurung now, adding that it is hard to survive as a singer in peacetime. Other members of her troupe have chosen other paths  too. Mani Thapa became a politician, while Maila Lama (video below) who sang songs exhorting guerrillas to battle, has joined the Biplov faction.Pragati Mahara of the Maoist Pratirodh Cultural Group today sings songs about social ills and transformation. “The songs about battles are a part of history,” says Mahara. “Now that our revolution is over, we are more focused on the need of the day.”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfkOcWj7TJoMeanwhile, the original Ralfa generation is still active, perhaps more so than the Maoists who came after them. But even they have distanced themselves from politics. As head of a government institution, Raayan is focused on promoting Nepal’s folk art.Raamesh also shuns political affiliations, even though Ralfa’s songs were used by many political movements: first against the Panchayat, then by the Maoists, who saw them as precursors to their own revolutionary songs, and finally by political parties during the 2006 anti-monarchy protests.Raamesh is now more active as a children’s song creator. “We sing people’s songs, which speak up for the poor and disenfranchised. If anyone wants to use them for a good cause, they are welcome. But using it for vested political interests is a crime,” he says.Unlike Maoist songs, Ralfa’s numbers are evergreen because they speak of the larger causes of justice and equality. There is a lesson there in what makes a song endure, while others disappear.Jeevan Sharma, who established the Raktim Cultural Group, is among the few revolutionary singers who has gone mainstream. “The people always need a voice, and songs that speak truth to power. If they do that, songs do not need to be associated with any political party – they can have a life of their own.”Sharma’s own song of the life of the disenfranchised, Simali Chhaya ma Basera, has that long shelf-life.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Izb4dfqUt1ISince the Raktim Cultural Group was associated with the NCP Masaal led by Mohan Bikram Singh, Sharma’s songs were unofficially banned during the monarchy days and the composer himself was semi-underground during the Panchayat and the war years.Ironically the Maoists, who once promoted revolutionary songs, are today <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/creeping-control-over-the-press-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cracking down</a> on protest songs. Those who claimed to speak for people’s rights now try to ban songs like Pashupati Sharma’s Lutna Sake Loot.Raamesh himself is still writing songs, and his latest shows the fire has not gone out:                A great storm arose                To raise the fallen head of justice                Their deceitful face is now clear                Now we know they are regressive<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110813114/636a46559c7e80680e04d3d1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="985"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><h2>Laxmi Gurung's wartime memories in pictures</h2><figure class="gallery-item"><a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/laxmi-gurung-with-purna-gharti-another-revolutionary-artist.jpg" data-elementor-open-lightbox="default" data-elementor-lightbox-slideshow="55de498"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110813114/636a46589c7e80680e04d3d2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="100" aria-describedby="gallery-1-28728"></a><figcaption id="gallery-1-28728" class="wp-caption-text gallery-caption">Laxmi Gurung with another revolutionary singer</figcaption></figure><figure class="gallery-item"><a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/laxmi-gurung-with-sita-acharya-and-other-party-cadres.jpg" data-elementor-open-lightbox="default" data-elementor-lightbox-slideshow="55de498"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110813114/636a465b9c7e80680e04d3d3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="108" aria-describedby="gallery-1-28729"></a><figcaption id="gallery-1-28729" class="wp-caption-text gallery-caption">laxmi gurung with Maoist singer Sita Acharya and other party cadres</figcaption></figure><figure class="gallery-item"><a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/laxmi-gurung-is-welcomed-with-flowers-at-a-village-during-her-campaign-as-a-revolutionary-singer.jpg" data-elementor-open-lightbox="default" data-elementor-lightbox-slideshow="55de498"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110813114/636a465f9c7e80680e04d3d4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="101" aria-describedby="gallery-1-28732"></a><figcaption id="gallery-1-28732" class="wp-caption-text gallery-caption">laxmi gurung is welcomed with flowers at a village</figcaption></figure><figure class="gallery-item"><a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/laxmi-gurung-during-the-Maoist-era.jpg" data-elementor-open-lightbox="default" data-elementor-lightbox-slideshow="55de498"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110813114/636a46629c7e80680e04d3d5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="101" aria-describedby="gallery-1-28733"></a><figcaption id="gallery-1-28733" class="wp-caption-text gallery-caption">Laxmi Gurung during her days as a member of Maoist Cultural troupe</figcaption></figure><figure class="gallery-item"><a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/laxmi-gurung-with-maila-lama-a-revolutionary-artist-who-is-with-biplov-faction-today-1.jpg" data-elementor-open-lightbox="default" data-elementor-lightbox-slideshow="55de498"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110813114/636a46669c7e80680e04d3d6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="97" aria-describedby="gallery-1-28734"></a><figcaption id="gallery-1-28734" class="wp-caption-text gallery-caption">laxmi Gurung with Maila Lama, a Maoist ]artist who is with Biplov faction today</figcaption></figure><figure class="gallery-item"><a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/laxmi-gurung-with-sita-acharya-another-revolutionary-singer.jpg" data-elementor-open-lightbox="default" data-elementor-lightbox-slideshow="55de498"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110813114/636a46689c7e80680e04d3d7jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="103" aria-describedby="gallery-1-28730"></a><figcaption id="gallery-1-28730" class="wp-caption-text gallery-caption">Laxmi Gurung with Sita Acharya, a prominent member of Samana Cultural Group</figcaption></figure>Read also: <a style="text-indent: -15pt; background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/issue/350/Nation/13572#.XQtlIBYzaUk">Voice of the party</a>, Govinda Luitel

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Still dancing and singing for Nepal revolution

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171148/636937a39c7e80680e03fe4djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="932"/><figcaption>Photo: THE TULIP</figcaption></figure>Greta Rana’s Hostage follows a simple Tharu man, Hari Prasad Mahato, in his journey for work in the Gulf. It is fiction, but might as well be fact – as we speak, these stories are happening to thousands of Nepali migrant workers.Hari is a boatman on the Rapti River, but yearns for a future in Qatar so he can earn enough money to redeem his debt to the landlord, and pay for his children’s school fees. We are introduced to Siva Bahadur, a young <a style="letter-spacing: 0.15px; background-color: #ffffff;" href="https://nepalitimes.atavist.com/ex-minor-ex-maoists" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Maoist</a> and his story provides a backdrop of the insurgency to the book. Again, Siva's story was repeated many thousands of times during <a style="letter-spacing: 0.15px; background-color: #ffffff;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/forgotten-people-of-the-peoples-war/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepal’s ten-year</a> war. Multiple plot twists lead Siva to the Gulf as well, where Hari and Siva end up as roommates. Siva was a young, boisterous young man whose loquacity often annoyed Hari, who was focused on his goal of saving enough.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171148/636937a69c7e80680e03fe4ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="174">Three years pass by in one sentence, and one would have expected the author to dwell a little more on Siva and Hari's relationship after the energy she puts into developing both individual characters in the beginning.Greta Rana employs an informal tone throughout the book, and lets the characters’ thoughts and feelings propound the social injustices that drove them away from Nepal. Frustration about <a style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.15px;" href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/interview/corruption-and-democratic-decay,4144" target="_blank" rel="noopener">corruption</a> and exploitation burst through the pages, as characters dream of a better future for themselves, their families and the nation – all amidst the background of the dispiriting and unjust reality of home. The story line delves into the political ideologies of communism and extremism, and how individuals seek redress to inequality and discrimination.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/shared-stories-shattered-dreams/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shared stories, shattered dreams</a>, Sonia Awale<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171148/636937a79c7e80680e03fe4fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="624"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Despite the strong plot and grim backdrop, the narration is passive, missing the passion that should be there to add depth and texture to the story. Crucial events like Hari’s first job and his relationship with Siva are described to us, rather than letting the protagonists show us through their actions. Like all discussion on ideology, the paragraphs go on a bit and seem detached from the characters’ experiences. The climax is frightening, but we do not quite get to the fears, terrors and significant tensions which arise.Read also:<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/changing-the-headlines-on-migration/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Changing the headlines on migration</a>, Upasana Khadka<a style="letter-spacing: 0.01em; font-weight: bold; background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/labour-pain/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Labour Pain</a>, Om Astha RaiThe diversity of characters, however, is well-developed. Even though Hari and Siva’s disconnect makes us wonder if their two stories had to be told in the same narrative, the counterpoint between a simple Tharu villager to a Maoist rebel, corrupt Nepali politicians and Arabian lawyers keeps the story taut.The women are especially strong: Hari’s soft-spoken wife Jamuna, his intelligent and hard-working daughter Subhadra, or the politically progressive and astute Anjeli, Greta Rana’s women demonstrate strength as well as wisdom.Hari Prasad’s trajectory does depart from the general experience of most Nepali migrant workers -- especially with the twist in the climax that gives Hostage a distinct fictional flavour. To readers familiar with the contemporary exodus of young Nepalis, Hostage reinforces familiar tales of injustice that drive them away and is a one-sit read that could be a modern English version of Lil Bahadur Chhetri’s Nepali classic, Basain.

A hostage situation

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171112/63692eb69c7e80680e03c068jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1125"/>Books are scattered around in a dark room, an earthen pot lies shattered to pieces, and clothes litter the floor. The sound of crickets chirping and a woman sobbing add to the eerie atmosphere. This is an installation at Nepal Art Council, recreating the room of a woman who was forcibly detained and raped by the security forces during the 1996-2006 war.It is part of an exhibition titled Memory, Truth, and Justice organised by Voices of Women Media and Conflict Victims Common Platform, which shares stories of more than 100 victims from both sides of the conflict. Some are audio-visual testimonies, there are photographs while others are artistic re-creations.“We wanted to bring these stories out because we realised that everyone was forgetting the war,” explains project manager Bikkil Sthapit. “The government and leaders are not doing anything. And even for family members of those killed and disappeared, memories are fading. Justice is being forgotten. We wanted to record these memories before they are totally gone, inform the public and advocate for justice.”Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/No-justice-yet-for-the-victims-of-peoples-war,2984" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“How many times do we need to share our story?”,</a> Seulki Lee<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/just-not-justice/">Just not justice</a>, Om Astha Rai<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=10616#.W7X4vnszbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The ten year war</a> cost 17,886 lives, 1,530 were forcibly disappeared, 8,191 were maimed, millions were displaced. The conflict left deep physical and psychological scars on individuals, families and society. Like most wars, many of the victims were civilians. Innocent bystanders lost their limbs in bus bombs, girls and women were subjected to sexual violence, suspects were tortured, former child soldiers sacrificed their childhood and are now abandoned.Conflict victims and family members have lent items they have preserved lovingly: a shirt bought from first salary, letters smuggled in with noodle packets. These items present victims’ stories with an urgency and immediacy that is lacking in the numbing statistics of war. The first person accounts, often graphic and intense, can be very hard to watch and listen to.“The exhibition reminds us that we should be ashamed that so little has been done for the justice of conflict victims,” says Prakash Wasti of the National Human Rights Commission. “These issues do not belong to the 100 people whose stories are represented here, but to the whole country.”Memory, Truth, and JusticeNepal Art Council Until 6 OctoberRead also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/its-all-in-the-mind/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">It's all in the mind</a>, Sonia Awale<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-art-of-healing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The art of healing</a>, Sewa Bhattarai<h2>Sharmila Chaudhary, Dang​</h2> Sharmila is the mother of Jagi Ram Chaudhary, a Kamaiya who was disappeared at the age of 17."I still put some food for my son in this plate before I eat any meal. Though he was disappeared 16 years ago, I still hope that one day he will come back to eat what I serve."Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/doors-closed/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Doors closed</a>, Om Astha Rai<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/children-of-maoist-conflict-in-nepal,1694" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Children of war,</a> Kunda Dixit<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171112/63692eb99c7e80680e03c069jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="636"><h2>Shova Rayamajhi, Nuwakot</h2><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171112/63692ebd9c7e80680e03c06ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171112/63692ec09c7e80680e03c06bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171112/63692ec39c7e80680e03c06cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="288">Shova Rayamajhi was 11 when she was given a gun to fight for a cause she did not understand. After the war, the UN Mission to Nepal (UNMIN) verified a total of 4,008 minors and ‘disqualified’ them from compensation. She missed out on education, even though she fought for the rights of the oppressed. She is now an activist demanding rights for child soldiers like her. The government had earmarked Rs 200,000 for child soldiers so they could reassimilate into society. A writ petition was filed against the decision which the Court stayed.Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.atavist.com/ex-minor-ex-maoists">Ex-minor ex-Maoist</a>, Om Astha Rai<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171112/63692ec49c7e80680e03c06djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="5472" height="3648"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><h2>Sandip Pun, Rukum</h2>Sandip's parents, Surya Prakash Pun and Parampara Gautam, were Maoists and were killed by the army. Parampara wrote this in her diary the day she left home. Sandip has treasured the diaries, but has never turned the pages to read them himself.The day I left my son behind(My son), a piece of heart holds me close.I tell him I am going to bring him some grapes. Son, I give him a loving kiss on the cheek and tell him I am leaving.On the way my mind and body are both unwell. My mind is not in its place. How can I leave the little one behind and travel to village after village. All these things trouble my heart.The bus continued at its speed. I was feeling dizzy. My head was aching. I do not feel like eating anything.When I see bunches of grapes somewhere. Suddenly I am reminded of my son and my heart was troubled anew.It’s ok, I hope my son lives. One day we will surely meet.- 1999/ 6/ 18, Paru<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171112/63692ec89c7e80680e03c06ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="639"><h2>Krishna Ghising, Dolakha</h2><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107171112/63692ecc9c7e80680e03c06fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1920" height="1080">Even today, I get scared every time I hear a certain kind of music. There was music playing when I gained consciousness after 19 days in a coma. It was a radio jingle which played during intervals of news bulletins of Radio Nepal.I had gone to my village to make my passport with a dream of going to Korea. On the way back to Kathmandu, our bus was moving slowly when there was an explosion. Some passengers died on the spot, the injured were taken to hospital. I survived, but over half my body was paralysed because of a spinal injury. All my dreams were shattered.I left the hospital in a wheelchair after nine months. It was a difficult time. When I was in the ambulance, I felt like I was carrying my own corpse.I wanted make my son a famous person one day. The conflict made me incapable of looking after myself, who cannot move without the help of others.Perhaps, it would not have been so much pain if I was born disabled. But we were made disabled. It is the duty of the state to take care of us. Instead, they humiliate us. I have spent 15 years in a wheelchair now. This is my second life. I don’t know how long this one will last.Read also: <a style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/psychological-scars-of-maoist-conflict-on-young-survivors-take-longer-to-heal,1519">Post-conflict stress syndrome</a>, Taylor Caldwell<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/the-spark-that-lit-the-Maoist-revolution,2870"> </a><a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/the-spark-that-lit-the-Maoist-revolution,2870">What the people think about the ‘People’s War</a>’, Seulki Lee

Remembering not to forget the people's war

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