“As the news of the killing of Abdul Mohit Khan in Bishunpur spread like a wild fire, all of a sudden around 20 to 25 armed men equipped with homemade weapons appeared in the area and the unprecedented mayhem thus began. They looted houses and set shops ablaze. I tried to flee the area along with my wife and a daughter, however, it’s been more than five days, yet I have no clue as to where they are at the moment. I am breathing but lifeless.”

These painful words are of Ajip Narayan Sharma, though he is not alone. Thousands of people who have fled thenir homes have similar stories to tell- who are currently taking refuge in the Chandrauta Barrack, still engulfed in deep pain of loosing their kith and kins.

The brutal killing of Mohit Khan on September 17, 07 followed by the structured violence is yet to be investigated properly, however, reports are there that more than three dozen people have lost their precious lives and hundreds disappeared. No clue as yet is there as to what really happened to those missing? The question is what happened to them, were they burnt alive,…..after all, where did they vanish? And, there is no official version as to how many people have gone out missing since then and how many houses were set ablaze? Presumption is that more than twenty houses and shops were set ablaze. More perplexing is the scenario wherein different versions of the incident appear frequently from different human rights organizations and the media as well. Local businessmen in Kapilvastu estimate that properties worth more than Rs. 200 Million have been damaged. But the fact is that loss of precious lives and the mental wound cannot be estimated in numerical terms. Anyway, the task should be to learn lessons from such incidents henceforth, no incidents of such magnitude could make a comeback. Gaur Carnage, March 21, 07, was there to learn from but our leadership turned its deaf ear towards the mayhem that happened merely few months back, thus the result was there to see more in Kapilvastu.

Now dwelling into the basics, what citizens of a country demand from the State is rather simple. One is obviously the demand for their security and the other is to make certain that their basic rights to live life peacefully are guaranteed by the State. Unfortunately, we are neither secured nor can we live our lives peacefully in our homeland. In both the fronts, the government has failed miserably. The tax-payers’ money that is being used for security purposes have given no positive outcome, the people feel thus alienated in their land of birth. What a pity….Unfortunate incidents do take place now and then, but the job of the security agencies’ seem either not well understood or they are acting as mere onlookers to the ghastly events.

Learning from Gaur Carnage security situation throughout the country could have been tightened, however, on the contrary, the government acted as mere spectator thus dozens of precious lives and properties worth millions were lost in Kapilbvastu.

Feeling the brunt, millions have been displaced, forced to live a life miserable. Hundreds have become sick since then, the government needs to draw its attention towards making their lives normal and treat those who have become sick drinking polluted water and consuming contaminated food, though some have already lost their lives in the mean time. Some displaced women are pregnant- they must be guaranteed safe place to give birth. In reality, the victims have not yet been relieved from the mental trauma they went through. Eyes soaked with tears say the same thing, “If the security personnel would have arrived on time, the loss could have been minimized”. “Our police force could have stopped the Indian criminals from entering into our territory…..”, they repeat again and again. “Our own government left us dying…..” eyes soaked with tears say the same again and again.

Reports say that the most affected VDCs are mainly Patthardeiya, Khurhuriya, Bisanpur, Jouwari, Krishnanagar, Jagdishpur and Ganeshpur, among others.

The real statistics of the loss of properties and that of precious human lives figure is yet to become public. “Many women and children who could not go far enough entered the nearby sugarcane field fearing their lives; they were later brutally killed by the criminals. Before killing, women were raped and their sensitive organs callously mutilated…we have never experienced such a dreadful incident in our life”, said a local woman. “Some were even burnt alive”, she added with a pause.

More than eighteen public vehicles were set ablaze, added a person working for a local transportation company. He adds, vehicles used by the criminals had all Indian Government Registration number. They specifically targeted those vehicles that had Nepali registration number before setting them ablaze, he further said.

“Minor incidents did happen in the past but not of this magnitude and dimension, more than creating communal discord, this incident to me is structured in a way to loot, kill and above all to instill fear among the local populace”, said yet another.

Government’s Response

It was only after five days the government woke up and formed a three member probe commission. The results of commissions are expected; in the past too we had such commissions and their findings thrown into a trash can. Some government officials and security personnel stationed in the area at the time of violence were later transferred to different locations in the country. The transfer was it a subtle act to protect them or was a penalizing action? Who else better knows than the government?

Next, well protected Home Minster Krishna Prasad Sitaula enters into the violence hit area, he gave the feeling that he too feels unsafe in a country where his job is to guarantee security. Ten thousand rupees for the family of a dead and merely five thousand rupees for the victims of violence, Sitaula upon visiting Kapilvastu guaranteed. What a shame?

Nevertheless, there are thousands and thousands who are yet to receive the government assistance. Will they ever receive it or never..?

What is 1325?

The UN Security Council resolution 1325 which was passed unanimously on 31 October 2000, specifically, addresses the impact of war on women, and women's contributions to conflict resolution and sustainable peace. It reaffirms important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and in peace-building, and stresses the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security, and the need to increase their role in decision- making with regard to conflict prevention and resolution.  Further it urges the Secretary-General to seek to expand the role and contribution of women in United Nations field-based operations, and especially among military observers, civilian police, human rights and humanitarian personnel. All UN member states including Nepal must abide by this resolution.  [UNFPA]

In reality, in the backdrop of the Kapilvastu incident, government’s activity to date does hint that there has been the gross violation of article 1325 of the UNSC. The probe commission does not seem to have been formed to track down the real culprits. The point is that even after the Gaur carnage similar commissions were formed however, the report submitted to the government has yet to be made public. Thus, a similar conclusion can be drawn of the newly formed commission set to investigate the Kapilvastu event. The findings will be limited among the government and the Commission representatives. Nevertheless, in the present context, right to information bill has already been passed, thus the people will not remain quiet if the government tries to hide the outcomes of the Kapilvastu carnage as well.

Anyway, it is certain that the most affected are women and Children in Kapilvastu. Deplorably, in the investigative commission there is no representation of a woman. Call it government’s ignorance or sheer gender discrimination or is it that the government wants to prove that women cannot investigate such critical issues?

In Kapilvastu incident too, women- who have been tortured and sexually abused, could have investigated the incident properly and understood the real situation more than a male counterpart. It would have been lot easier for women victims to convey their agony to a woman investigator than to a man.

Thus, if the real culprits are to be found in the future, all the stakeholders- mainly the government and the political parties it is necessary that they follow various commitments made in the international fronts and above all, the UN Security Council resolution 1325 must be abided by.