Krishna Bahadur BK and his younger brother Durga Bahadur have been doing rounds of government and non-government organizations in the Valley after Bardiya National Park administration failed to provide relief and crematory expenses as agreed. [break]
“I have come here in hope of some relief after the park didn´t provide any assistance even after two months of the incident,” said Durga Bahadur who was seen Tuesday on the premises of the National Dalit Commission.
Wives of Durga Bahadur and Krishna Bahadur -- Amrita and Devisara, respectively -- and Krishna Bahadur´s daughter Chandra Kala had died on the night of March 10 when Nepal Army forest guards opened fire at the three from Hariharpur, Surkhet who had gone to the park to collect the bark of kaulo tree.
The park administration had agreed to give Rs 75,000 for expenses of cremation rituals in an agreement reached at Bardiya district headquarters Gulariya 10 days later. Park warden Tika Ram Adhikari had signed the agreement that promised disbursement of Rs 20,000 immediately and the rest Rs 55,000 on April 7. They have come to the capital on Sunday after the national park dilly-dallied in paying the rest of the amount.
“When we went to collect the money on the scheduled date, they made us wait for two days saying they have not received money from the higher authorities,” Krishna Bahadur recalled.
“They then made us sign a paper for withdrawing our complaint filed with the police,” he said adding that he knew about the fact only after the news was published in newspapers.
The brothers are now in Kathmandu with the agreement letter signed with the national park. They will visit National Human Rights Commission, Defense Ministry, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Nepal and parliamentarians to relate their woes.
The brothers have no hopes whatsoever of receiving the amount recommended by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and probe committee formed by the parliament.
NHRC had recommended Rs 300,000 per death while the parliamentary committee had recommended Rs 1 million per death. “They have not even paid the amount agreed under government stamps. How will they give Rs 1 million?” Durga Bahadur questioned.
Said Krishna Bahadur, “Money can never pay for the lost lives but that amount would be a great relief for poor people like us.”
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