But Nanda Prasad Adhikari and his spouse Gangamaya of Fujel village in Gorkha are not listening as they are determined to “get justice for their son” who was reportedly murdered by the then Maoist rebels back in 2004. [break]
The doctors at the public hospital on Friday had intervened and put them on a saline drip after their condition worsened. Once they came to consciousness, the couple, however, have been refusing to take the drip.
Tears keep on welling up in Gangamaya´s eyes due to weakness, and only on Sunday, the doctors had to remove the saline drip on both of them after their hands swelled beyond a tolerable limit.
"The condition of both the patients is very serious. They will die if they do not break the hunger strike immediately," said Dr. Nuchhe Man Dongol, emergency chief of the hospital.
Dr. Dongol also informed that all their efforts to persuade the couple to end the hunger strike have failed. "If we had not intervened on Friday, they would have died," he added.
But the couple remain intransigent. Nanda Prasad said that he would rather die than give up “the struggle”. He argues that the state gave them no choice. "After all our efforts to get justice for our son failed, we resorted to this means; do we have a choice here?" Adhikari said with much difficulty.
Gangamaya, on the other hand, only shed tears, when asked if she could speak.
The victim have been appealing for justice for their late son Krishna Prasad, who was allegedly murdered in cold blood by the then CPN Maoist in June 2004.
When the state kept on turning a deaf ear to all their pleas over the years, they came to the capital on January and start fast on to death in front of the Prime Minister´s residence.
Instead of addressing their demand, the then government started harassing them. The police eventually detained the couple and sent them back to Gorkha as they said that the case falls under the jurisdiction of Gorkha District Administration. The couple did not give up on their cause, and resumed the huger strike there, too. Doctors at the district hospital had to refer them to Bir Hospital for treatment as their health condition deteriorated.
They resume the fast onto death after the hospital discharged them. This time the police forcibly sent the couple to the Nepal Mental Hospital at Lagankhel, Lalitpur. They were dumped at the hospital for 38 days and later the doctors at the hospital certified that they are not mental patients and discharged them.
Adhikari complained that he was kept unconscious for more than 12 days at the mental hospital. The couple are now struggling for life at the Bir hospital´s emergency ward.
Meanwhile, the National Human Right Commission (NHRC) and other right organizations and individuals have been expressing concern over the couple´s deteriorating health, and have asked the government to fulfill their rightful demands immediately.
What exactly happened to Krishna Adhikari?
Krishna, 16, youngest son of the Adhikari couple, had returned home on 6 June, 2004 from Pokhara, as he was preparing for higher education. He was living with his elder brother in Pokhara, as the insurgency was in the peak and environment of the village was not favorable. His family supported Nepali Congress party, and was targeted by the then Maoist rebels. The very day he reached home, Krishna was abducted and whisked away to Chitwan, and later murdered. " “Charging him with being a spy, he was subjected to the extreme forms of torture, and was later gun down, " accuses Santosh Dhakal, his cousin brother.
He further claims that Krishna was killed not because of his political ideology but because of a local dispute. The victim´s family holds Januka Poudel, Chhabi Lal Poudel, Kali Prasad Adhikari, Baburam Adhikari, Ram Prasad Adhikari, and Shiva Prasad Adhikari responsible for Krishna´s murder.
´Justice cannot be denied in the pretext of legal void´
Gauri Pradhan, Commissioner, NHRC
The Adhikari couple have been appealing for justice for long. I have met the couple scores of time since the incident took place and have been following the case very closely. Now that their health condition is very critical, we have asked the government to immediately launch an investigation into the case. Then we can request the couple to consider other options.
We have also called upon the Minister for Home Affairs and the Chief Secretary in person and have urged them to open the case file for investigation. The government, however, seems reluctant to open the file of Adhikari murder case as it says there is a legal void to investigate incidents pertaining to the conflict era.
There is a political understanding to settle all issues regarding human rights violation through the proposed Truth and Reconciliation Commission, but it has not materialized yet. We cannot deny justice to the victims in the pretext that we have failed to form the commission.
Moreover, the proposed commission can only recommended the government to initiate action against the alleged perpetrators. But the onus lies with the government to investigate into the cases pertaining to serious violation of human rights. The NHRC is a constitutional body and its order will be mandatory. The government cannot remain indifferent to our order.
Out of over 10,000 cases filed at the NHRC over 90 percent are related to the conflict era. We have been recommending the government to give compensation to the victims, to rehabilitate them and to take action against the perpetrators. In Adhikari´s case, the government obeyed our order regarding compensation and rehabilitation, but is reluctant to obey our order to bring the alleged perpetrators to book. No law barred the government to investigate into any case of human rights violation. As the accused themselves have urged the government to launch the investigation in this particularly case, I don´t see any problem for the government not to do so.
Can´t let bygones be bygones
Dinesh Tripathi, expert, Constitution and International Human Rights Law
Adhikari´s case relates to a case of serious human rights. The government seems reluctant to respond to give justice to the victim´s family. But it cannot shrug off its responsibility as it has already ratified the Geneva Convention. It must eventually start investigating the cases pertaining to a serious violation of human rights, and Adhikari´s case is one among them.
The government cannot run away from the responsibility in the pretext of a legal void. We have series of Supreme Court verdicts on serious violation of human rights such as those pertaining to Maina Sunwar, Dekendra Thapa, Balkrishna Dhungel, Agni Sapkota, inter alias, which serves as a precedent for this case.
Transitional justice is very much important in the post conflict society. The world history shows that there will neither be peace nor stability, if justice is not ensured to the victims. We cannot ask the victims to wait for justice until the government forms the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in future. The government should acknowledge the fact that blanket amnesty is not possible when it comes to a serious crime like the one concerning Adhikari. Justice must be given to the Adhikari family and perpetrators must be brought to book.
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