The terror of being forcibly taken by the Maoists from a government school in Furkechaur, Makawanpur still haunts her. Rechristened Ambika, she now has the added responsibility of looking after her son. “They (Maoists) forcibly took me saying I had to fight for the country and people but I have been thrown out,” she rued. [break]
Ambika fell in love with fellow Shaktikhor combatant Prajjwal Shrestha with whom she tied the knot in May, 2007. However, she has been forced to fend for her child on her own as her husband has been retained. She has returned to her mother Parbati in Pathlaiya, Bara. “My own future is uncertain, what will happen of this infant?” she wondered.
Local Maoist cadres had come to her with an offer of joining local politics. However, frustrated by the turn of events she turned down the offer. Parbati is happy to finally have her daughter back but is worried about her daughter´s future.
Ambika has survived the war before she was 16 but has been disqualified when she has come of age. “I fought many battles at a tender age. But now that I have matured in both war and politics, I have been labeled disqualified,” Ambika pointed at the irony.
Struggling with the disappointment of disqualification Ambika is further peeved at the fact that UNMIN will monitor her and other disqualified combatants for a year. “No one has the right to invade our freedom after being discharged as disqualified. We must be allowed to do what we wish like other citizens,” Ambika argued.
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