Dispatches: Report from the People's War in Nepal
Part 13:
Families of Martyrs:
Turning Grief into StrengthBy Li Onesto
Revolutionary Worker #1029, November 7, 1999
On February 13, 1996, a new People's War was launched in Nepal, led by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), aimed at sweeping away imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat capitalism. Thousands of men and women participated in coordinated armed raids and attacks throughout the country. And for over three years now, the revolution in Nepal has continued to spread, sink roots and accomplish a lot. All this is a truly inspiring and significant development in the world and for the international proletariat. But it has remained a hidden story for most people in the United States and around the world. And for those of us who have been following the People's War in Nepal, there has been precious, but far too little news of this important struggle.
Now, the Revolutionary Worker has an exclusive story. RW reporter Li Onesto recently returned from several months in Nepal, where she traveled throughout the country with the people's army, meeting and talking with party leaders, guerrillas, activists in mass organizations and villagers--those waging this genuine Maoist People's War and beginning to exercise new people's power. The RW would like to give a "lal Salaam" (red salute) to all the people in Nepal who made this trip possible.
This is the thirteenth article of a new series of dispatches from this exciting trip. (See RW #1014 through #1020, #1022-1024 and #1027-1028 for Parts 1 through 12.)
Today we leave our shelter late in the afternoon. This parting is hard because the whole group that has been accompanying us in Rolpa will not be crossing with us into Rukum. We will have to say good-by to the squad that has been traveling with us. And the comrades who have been providing political and tactical leadership for our trip are also returning to their villages. When it's time for us to go, they initially leave with us, walking partway up the first mountain to give us a kind of send-off. Then we all stop to say our last farewells.
We cross the border into Rukum and when we arrive at our next shelter it is close to sunset. There are about 100 families in this village and people have been waiting for our arrival since this morning. By the time we rest a while and have a meal it is after dark. But people gather outside for a program to greet us and I especially enjoy the local villagers and the cultural squad who sing and dance for the crowd and provide a festive ending for my first day in Rukum.
The next day we meet all morning with some local area leaders. But we have been traveling non-stop for days. So we decide to take a break at noon so I can wash my clothes and take a bath. Since we crossed into Rukum, a group of women have been traveling with us, including Sunsara. She doesn't speak any English, but through eye contact and gestures, she has been acting very concerned and motherly towards me. I can see that she wants to communicate so badly--as I do too. And she repeats another phrase which I have heard from other comrades--"If we could speak the same language we would be talking for a very long time, all night, sharing our experiences."
Sunsara helps me clean my clothes and body. One of the women gives me a sari to wear--a brightly printed, very wide piece of material that is wrapped around like a dress. Saris are traditionally worn by Nepali women and they are also used as a kind of "shower curtain" when the women take baths at the village water tap. Today it's kind of overcast and even though the sun is high in the sky, the wind has a slight chilly edge. The cold water hits my body, sending me into shivers. But it feels good to get clean after days of dusty travel.
After we finish I ask Sunsara if she will sit down and talk with me about her life. I am surprised when she tells me she is 50 years old--I had guessed by looking at her that she was much older. But people's lives here in the countryside are so hard. And the impoverished conditions of life--backbreaking work, bad nutrition and lack of health care--take a huge toll on the physical state and appearance of the people. This is particularly true for women who have borne and raised many children.
I am constantly amazed at how strong people are here--how even small children can lug very heavy loads up and down mountain paths for hours. But the overall poor health of the people makes them very susceptible to all kinds of disease and sickness. Right now in the Western Region, in Jumla and adjoining districts, there is a major flu epidemic that has already struck over 10,000 people and killed more than 400. If you got this kind of flu in the U.S., it might mean a few days off from work or school. But here, since people's overall health is so poor, it can mean death--especially for older people and young children. The flu epidemic has already been going on for a couple of months, but the government has done little to provide medicine to the affected areas. I can now see why the average life expectancy in Nepal is only 55 years.
Sunsara, who is active in the local women's organization, starts off by telling me how she became active in the People's War. She says:
"I am an illiterate woman who cannot read and write at all. Seven years ago, when my son was seven and my daughter was five months, my husband died. After this I lived in my house for five years with my children. A few years ago some Nepali Congress goons killed two sympathizers in our village and the reactionaries accused sympathizers of the People's War of doing the murder. The police came to the village and arrested over 20 people. They came into the village three to four times a day looking for people. So many people left the village, including me. My children are now with my uncle and there is no one living in my house. I see my children every few months. Sometimes the police come to the house looking for me.
"Now I'm working in the main committee of the women's organization in this area and I'm also a party member. I started working in the women's organization two years before the initiation. I am very happy to be working in the party because I did not get to study in school but now I'm being educated in Marxism-Leninism-Maoism. And I feel collective life is happier than living an individual life. When I lived in my home I met many comrades and talked with them. We shared our happiness and sorrow. Now I am committed to sacrifice in every way to liberate our class. Before the initiation I was very oppressed--on the one hand by the government, and on the other hand by the men in the family. All the housework was done by women. After the initiation of the People's War there have been many changes. All household work is now done by men and women. Beside this, men inspire us to go forward, fight to liberate women and participate in the People's War.
"When I visit my children I tell them, I want to live with you but that is impossible because if I did the police would come here and arrest me. So it is better to do work in the party than live in this house. It is my duty in this situation because the People's War is growing day after day. We are all involved in the People's War to get victory. And you will also be involved in the war when you grow up."
The Martyrs of Rukum
I have traveled through the districts hit hardest in the last three years by the government's counter-revolutionary campaigns--Sinduli and Kavre in the east, Gorkha in the Middle Region and now Rolpa and Rukum here in the west. In all these places the families of martyrs provide stark testimony of the government's crimes against the people.
When I meet with the families of revolutionary martyrs they are always very curious to hear about what life is like for the masses of people in the United States. And they want to know if people in the U.S. are waging struggle against the government. I tell them how the police in the United States murder and brutalize people--especially in Black and Latino communities. And I tell them how people are waging struggle against police repression and against the whole way the system criminalizes the youth.
I talk with many mothers and fathers here who have lost sons and daughters in the People's War. And they are surprised to learn that in the U.S.--billed around the world as the "land of freedom and democracy"--there are thousands of parents, just like them, whose lives were shattered when their children were gunned down in cold blood by the police. I tell people about how mothers and fathers of children killed by police have come together to share experiences, help each other and organize to fight against police brutality. And I talk about the Stolen Lives project--how it is documenting thousands of cases in which people have been unjustly killed by police and other law enforcement agents. When I tell the families of martyrs all this, a connection gets made, across the globe.
All of the martyrs' families who come to talk tell me how proud they are to be the relative of someone who has given their life for the revolution. Bhadra Kali, whose 36-year-old husband Shyam Bahadur Pun was killed by the police in Rukum, tells me, "Though I lost my husband, I'm very proud to be a martyr's wife." Masta Bahadur Bista was only 23 years old when he was killed in Rukum, in 1996. His wife, Man Kumari Bista, who comes to see me with her two daughters, ages four and three, says, "My husband died for the nation and the party and all the oppressed of the world. My heart is full of pride to be a martyr's wife. If he was killed in another way I would be very sad but it was not so. I hope the Maoist party will do very good for the people. We follow the way of our martyrs and will never leave this path until we get victory. Enemies cannot stand up to the power of the people."
May Day Stories of Heroism
On May Day, International Workers Day, there is a program to greet me in the village where we're staying. And afterwards, several family members, who have had relatives killed by the police line up to tell me their stories. The first to sit down and talk are two women, adorned with nose rings and dressed in brightly colored clothes. They are here to tell me about Kami Buda, who was 27 years old when he was killed in 1955. Moti Kali Pun, his daughter, was only three years old when her father was killed. Kami Buda's sister, Aas Mali who is now 70 years old, begins the story:
"Kami Buda was in the Indian military. After the Communist Party was established in Nepal in 1949 he left his job in the army and came back to Nepal and joined the party. In 1952 the Communist Party was banned. When he was here in the west there was a sharp contradiction with liars and cheaters [oppressors in the villages] in Rukum. He was involved in party activities and the government arrested him in Jumla. At that time 27 people were arrested, including him. He told the authorities he was a leader in the party, but that the others were not. Then the others were released, but Kami was disappeared, he was killed. When he was in jail he was mistreated and he demanded better treatment. This angered the authorities and they took him to the forest and killed him. He could read and write and he wrote articles and poems. He was in jail one month before they killed him. First the government cut off his hands in jail so he could not write--so then he used his feet to write. Then the police cut off his toes so he couldn't use his feet to write. He was the first communist martyr of the party in Rukum."
I ask Moti Kali Pun what she sees as the link between what her father did and the People's War now and she says, "My father lost his life for the revolution. He wanted to overthrow the reactionary government. Now the Maoist revolution wants to overthrow the reactionary government. So there is a close relationship between the two."
In many cases people have just "disappeared"--the police take them away and they are never seen again. 15-year-old Naina Shing Chhinal, who comes to tell me about his 32-year-old father, Bhairam Chhinal, says, "My father was a strong sympathizer involved in party activities. He was a district advisory committee member of a lower caste organization--the caste which sews clothes. After the initiation the police called him to the police post many times. He was not charged with any case, but they asked him about Maoist activities. He didn't tell them anything. In October 1998 he went to the police post and he was disappeared. Formally family members don't know what happened, but we are sure he was killed."
Deadly Snitches
In other places I had heard about how spies and snitches give information to the police that leads to the capture and murder of party members, guerrillas and sympathizers. And many times, these snitches have been members of the revisionist, phony communist party, the UML (Communist Party of Nepal [United Marxist-Leninist]). This has also happened in this area. Pawn Kumar Bohra, was only 19 years old when he was killed in October 1998. His brother, 30-year-old brother, Dand Bahadur Bohara, is the next to come talk with me and says:
"Pawn worked in the student organization when he was a student. After he passed the high school examination he went to college and then later left his studies to become involved in party activities. He became a full-timer YCL (Young Communist League) member and commander of a people's militia. Six comrades were taking shelter waiting to take a military action. He and another comrade went near the police post and the house of a liar and cheater [someone who tells lies to cheat peasants out of land and money] to make a survey of the situation. At the time a UML goon knew about where the comrades were taking shelter and went to the police post and brought the police back to the area. The police saw the two comrades walking on the way and attacked them, shot at them. One of the comrades was able to run away but my brother was killed. The other comrades in the shelter heard the sound of gunfire and were able to run away and escape."
When I ask Dand Bahadur Bohara what he thinks about the People's War he says, "The Maoist revolution is good for poor people. Our class is very poor and there is no alternative way to liberate the poor class without people's war."
The police murder of Obi Ram B.K. is another case where people think a spy might have snitched to the police. Obi was killed in 1998 at the young age of 23 and his father and mother Mohan Lal B.K. and Pabita B.K. sit down next, to tell me about the death of their son. Mohan says, "Our son was underground since the initiation. He worked in the student organization and was also a squad member. He left student work in 1997 and was promoted to squad commander. He went to the district headquarters for a military action with three squad members under his command. They took shelter in a hotel and the police found out about their presence, perhaps from a spy. The police came to the hotel and arrested them. They were beaten and tortured and the police tried to get them to surrender and give information about the party. But they refused. The police tried for 24 hours to get them to talk and then killed them."
Some of the most heart-wrenching stories I hear are about young women martyrs. A lot of these women joined village militias or the people's army when they were only teenagers. And like most women in Nepal, many of them were not allowed to go to school when they were growing up.
Binita Buda was only 16 years old when she was killed in 1998. Ghiumali Buda, her 63-year-old grandmother, tells me that Binita was the treasurer of the area committee of the revolutionary student organization, a member of the area committee of the YCL, a party member and squad member. A member of the party who was with Binita when she died has also come to talk with me and recounts what happened: "Three of us, Binita Buda, a peasant, and me, went to the village to survey the situation in preparation for a military action. The police knew abut our shelter and encircled the village. But we didn't know about these police activities and we went to the shelter. Before reaching the shelter we met the police on the way. There was a face-off, but there were so many police we had to run away. The peasant and I reached the shelter, but Binita did not. Then after some time we heard she was arrested and taken into custody. The police tortured her and raped her the whole night and then killed her. She was the second woman martyr of Rukum district."
The last martyr's relative who I talk to today is Shankar Lal Gharti. He is the 24-year-old son of Bhadra Bahadur Gharti, who was killed when he was 49 years old, in 1998. Shankar says:
"My father was a strong sympathizer of the People's War. I and other comrades slept in the forest all night and early in the morning came to my family's house. We didn't know the police were around. When we entered the house my mother asked us to wait to drink tea. When the tea was ready the police came to the house and encircled it. The police fired into the house and another comrade, Chain Buda was injured in his left arm. We realized the police wanted to kill us and we shook the hands of all our family members. We said, if the police kill us, they will not kill our ideology and political line. Inside the house we wrote the slogans, 'Long live the People's War,' 'Long live the CPN (Maoist),' and 'Long live MLM.'"
"The police told us to come out of the house and said if we didn't they would burn the house down and kill everyone. I then decided to go outside. First we sent my mother out and when she went out the police arrested her. Then my wife came out and they arrested her also. Then my father came out and they arrested him.
"Only two of us were left inside and we came out last and they arrested us and tied us up. They tortured us, beating us with sticks and the butts of their rifles and tried to get us to tell abut the party and our activities. We didn't say anything and the police called the district to ask what to do. The order was given to kill us and they stopped asking us questions.
"The police took Chain Buda away and tried to get information from him. He jumped away and tried to escape and they shot him 10 to 12 times and killed him. Then the police took my father away and killed him also. When Chain Buda tried to escape, I also tried to run but the police grabbed me and tied my hands behind my back. I was able to escape after that and run away. When I ran away, after about 60 meters, there were more police who caught me and the other ones fired at me from behind. I was shot in the back and fell down. The police thought I was dead and went away. Then some peasants carried me to a safe shelter and I was taken to Kathmandu for treatment."
*****
By the time I have talked with all these relatives of martyrs, it is starting to get dark outside and it is almost time for our evening meal. I thank all the family members for coming to talk with me and assure them that their stories will be heard by people in the U.S. and beyond. I tell them that others will be inspired by how, in the face of such deep personal loss, they have maintained their revolutionary strength and defiance. And I extend, on behalf of the masses and revolutionaries in the U.S., sincere condolences and greetings of proletarian internationalism.
I ask them if they will let me take their photos and one-by-one they come outside to pose. Each of them stands tall and proud and looks straight into the camera, as if they are trying to send a message of determination through their eyes.
It has been a privilege to spend this May Day with such brave people. And they have given me another look at why the government is having such a difficult time trying to crush the People's War. The police have ruthlessly killed hundreds of people. But as Bhiusan Chhinal--the father of 28-year-old martyr, Kal Sing Chhinal--said, "My son lost his life in a war for the people and nation. But there are thousands of other sons who will now fulfill my son's aim."
To be continued.
This article is posted in English and Spanish on Revolutionary Worker Online
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