Home Minister Omprakash Aryal had announced that on the day of his appointment, the family of the deceased would be given Kazkiria expenses at the rate of one lakh rupees.
Although the government has announced that the families of those who lost their lives in the Gen-G movement will be given Kazkiria expenses immediately, the victims have complained that they have not received it. The family members said that they had to take out loans and do chores because they did not get relief from the government.
Home Minister Omprakash Aryal announced that on 30 August, on the same day he was appointed, he would immediately provide one lakh rupees for Kazkiria expenses. At that time, it was said that the families of those who lost their lives on 23 and 24 August would be given Kazkiriya expenses. After the Home Minister's decision, the cabinet meeting decided to declare the deceased a martyr and give 1 million relief to the family and 1.5 million to spend an additional 5 million.
42-year-old Dilnarayan Tamang, who was shot dead in Baneshwar, Kathmandu during the August 23 movement, is being held at the Nepal Buddhist Dharma Association in Swayambhu. According to the Tamang tradition, Kazkiriya should be done for 21 days. "Those of us who make a living by working do not have money. We only hope that the government will give it, we don't know when it will give, now we are praying with relatives and friends,' said Dilnarayan's wife Maya.
Dilnarayan of Temal rural municipality-7 of Kavre used to work as a daily wage earner and run the house. After her death, the entire family is on Maya's shoulders. He has two sons. Earlier, Dilnarayan alone took all the responsibilities of the house.
According to Maya, the day of Ghewa (purification) costs the most. On the day of Ghewa, 14/15 Lamas should be worshiped. It costs a lot of money. "Relatives, best friends, girlfriends, friends should be invited and fed," said Maya, "It is difficult to raise the expenses to be able to do everything." Dilnarayan's relative Milan Moktan said that the one lakh rupees announced by the government will not cover the cost of the last rites.
The family of 25-year-old Yogendra Neupane (Roshan) of Golanjor rural municipality-1 Chakhutar of Sindhuli has completed the kiriya on Sunday. Yogendra, who was preparing for public service in Kathmandu, was shot dead on 23 August. Umesh, the father of the deceased, said that he was saddened that no representative of the government came in contact until his son's work was completed. It seems that the government is confused in the game of making ministers, we are afraid that our son's support will be wasted. We did not ask for money,' he said, 'Many people like my son have shed blood for change, let their dreams come true.'
19-year-old Dipesh Sunuwar of Sindhuli's Tinpatan Rural Municipality-6 Bhalayodanda also lost his life in the agitation. Mother Bhimkumari found her son's body during the search. She belongs to a poor family and has not received anything from the government. "We have done our work according to our culture, the state has not inquired anything," said Bhimkumari, "Our son did not shed blood for money, but in the game of forming the government, everything was forgotten." Dineshsagar Bhusal, the chief district officer of Sindhuli, said that since there was no circular from the higher authority, he could not provide any kind of support to the family of the deceased.
Srijana Shrestha, the grandmother of 21-year-old Yog Bahadur Shrestha of Sindhupalchok, who died on August 23 due to gunshot wounds, urged the government to immediately proceed with the hearing process of not only Kazkiria expenses but also other demands. Some of the deceased were housewives. So that their families do not have to suffer more, the government should understand the problems of the families of the deceased," she said.
The family of Mohan Sardar of Sunsari Itahari, who died due to police firing, has complained that they have not received any help from the state. "Until now, there has been nothing but financial support from the government, no government agency has come to offer condolence when the family has been hit by such a thunderbolt," said Mohan's brother Gawanlal Sardar.
40-year-old Mohan of squatter settlement in Itahari-14 was shot by the police on 23 August while returning from a wage-earning job. Various personal support has been given to the Sardar family. Narayan Adhikari and his wife Srijan Adhikari of Jhapa Shivsatakshi, who are living in Colorado, USA, have donated 1 lakh rupees to provide relief to the family. Ganga Bahadur Adhikari, the officer's brother, handed over the amount to the deceased's wife Manju on Monday.
The chief district officer of Sunsari, Dharmendra Kumar Mishra, says that the relief money to be provided by the government has not yet been handed over to the victims' families.
The families of 22-year-old Srikrishna (Yog Bahadur) Shrestha of Sindhupalchok Bahrbise-6 Gati and 21-year-old Umesh Mahat of Chautara Sangachokgadhi Municipality Irkhu who lost their lives in the movement have returned to their village after cremation in Kathmandu. "The government itself has not received the money that it has promised to give immediately. Many people like Bhai have given their lives for the country. Let the government take this seriously, look after the family," Umesh's elder sister Sumitra said. A few days ago, she said that she did not receive anything from anyone other than the ward president of Chautara Sangachokgadi Irkhu who gave 10,000 rupees and a tribute letter.
Both the grieving families are worried that their sacrifices will be wasted. Umesh's parents run a small shop in Kathmandu. On the other hand, Shrestha's family is dependent on agriculture. Mukund Shrestha, a relative of Srikrishna, said that both the families, who were barely united after the earthquake, were greatly affected by the grief. Both of them took bullets when they asked for a corruption-free country. The whole family is saddened by this, but there is concern that the sacrifices will be wasted," he said. Srikrishna was preparing to go to Malta and Umesh to Dubai. Twelve-year-old youth has launched a campaign to build a salik of the deceased Shri Krishna.
The 13-day death rites of Bimalbabu Bhatt of Barpak Sulikot Rural Municipality-5 Jafati in Gorkha have ended. The Bhatt family, who are building a house from farming, have been able to get the rent from the villagers. On 23 August, Bimal died in front of the parliament building in New Baneshwar. He was cremated at Darodi Ghat on August 30 by bringing a Gorkha.
Father Ramakrishna and mother Sita's eyes have not closed since they got the news of their son's death. Bimal, who went to Kathmandu on August 5 to come home on Dasain, was waiting for a visa to go to Portugal. Bimal's brother Anil says that no one came in contact with the government except the village chairman until the 13-day work was completed.
Ramuraj Kadaria, the chief district officer of Gorkha, said that they only got to know the list of those who received sahadat from the media. "Officially, the list has not come from the ministry," he said.
Both 82-year-old father and 78-year-old mother of Arjundhara-11, Gyanendra (Gopal) Sedhainko Kazkiriya, who died in police firing during a demonstration in Birtamode, Jhapa, on 24th August, lived in Kora. Kazkiria was over on Monday, but the family has not reached the cost of the money that the state will give.
"They called from the district administration and asked about the details of the family, they didn't say anything else," said Tulsa, Gopal's older sister, "We managed Kazkiria by taking a loan from a relative. Now I am worried about how to pay.' She said that although the neighbors have helped as much as possible, they have not received any help from the government yet.
The last rites of Dinesh Rajwanshi, 32, of Jhapa Arjundhara-8, who lost his life due to police firing on 24 August in Birtamode, is on Wednesday. Thursday is the day of Malami Chokhine who attended his cremation. Even though the deeds after his death are over, no body of the state has reached the royal family's yard to inquire about the martyr's family.
'Until now, we have worked with loans. Now Wednesdays and Thursdays cost more. Dinesh's brother Govardhan says, "We have heard that the government will pay for Kazkiria, but there is no news as to when it will be received."
At around 10 o'clock in the morning, a good friend came and told us to go to the movement. Don't go, let's work at home. If my friends hadn't come to pick me up, maybe nothing would have happened to my husband," said Sita Paudel Bhandari of Panchthar Hillihang-2. Her husband Kamal Bhandari died on August 24 when he was shot by the police during a demonstration in front of the local police office building in Birtamod, Jhapa.
31-year-old Kamal first worked in Qatar for 3 years and then in Saudi Arabia for 5 years and returned home last Baisakh. After returning from abroad, he was building a house at Birtamode-10 Biratpokhara in Jhapa along with his wife and son. Father Ganesh Prasad Bhandari said that he did not even come to meet them due to the arrangement of building a house in Ghaderi which he bought with his foreign earnings.
His body was brought to Amarpur on August 28 and cremated at Limbuni Bridge, after which his uncle Shanti Ram Bhandari, mother Khagmaya and wife Sita performed the funeral. 57-year-old father Ganesh is sick and mother is not listening. His wife Sita, who is 3 months pregnant, has not been able to swallow anything. He has a 5-year-old son with him. Where did he go from time to time? When she asks when she will come, she becomes even more frantic. At that time, all the members of the Bhandari family's throats are repeatedly blocked.
'After the death of my brother, no friend who would take him to the movement has come in contact, nor has anyone leading the movement met, talked or called. Not only this, no one from the administration, people's representatives, political party leaders, activists to the ward president has come to understand the latest news," added sister Maya.
Kamal's family has 6 members namely parents, wife, son, brother and sister. It is not even known that the Bhandari family declared Kamal a martyr and announced relief until 2 weeks after his death. Kamal's kazkiriya has been done at Panchthar's house in Hilihang-3 Sinhapur.
The family of the deceased policeman carried out the last rites.
Relatives of police sub-inspector Milan Rai, who has a house in Sindhuli, could not take him to the village and perform the last rites due to financial and family reasons. The family has completed the kazkiriya with the sapti.
Milan from Dudhauli Municipality-8 of Sindhuli was orphaned at the age of one and a half years. Her mother, who was deranged after her father died of blood cancer, also died within a few months. Milan was brought up under the care of his uncle. Only 4 months ago, he sent his wife Mangala Shrestha to Japan to seek a loan. His family still has to pay monthly installments of Rs 40,000.
According to Milan's uncle Keshav, Rs 40,000 was received from the police welfare fund during the last rites at Pashupati Aryaghat in Kathmandu. We have not received any other support. 50,000 rupees were spent at Aryaghat itself," he said. "According to the religious method, two and a half lakh rupees were spent on doing Kazkiriya. 30-year-old Milan, who is working in the Crime Investigation and Action Branch of Maharajgunj police circle, was beaten to death by protesters calling him DSP on August 24 while he was still in plain clothes.
The story of Uttam Thapa, a police constable working in Maharajganj police circle, is also the same. His body was also not taken to the village for burial due to financial problems. Apart from the 40,000 given by the police welfare fund in Pashupati Aryaghat, this family has also not received any assistance.
Darchula Lekam Rural Municipality-3 Uttam's brother, who lives in Gumakholi house, died after falling from a cliff just 7 months ago. The mother of two children is now alone in the village. Uttam's father had already died of diabetes. Uttam's job was running his house.
The mother told that the expenses of the last rites were paid with the help of her uncles. According to him, money from buying ration to other household expenses is yet to be paid in the village. 30-year-old Uttam was in police service for 9 years.
The family of 31-year-old Police Assistant Constable Amrit Gurung, who died while serving in the Koteshwar Police Division, also completed the last rites. "There is still work to be done according to the tradition of the Gurung community," Amrit's wife Shanti Gurung said, "1 lakh rupees have been spent so far. We did the rites with the neighbor.'
Kaski is the only son of the Amrit family of Rupa Rural Municipality-5. Amrit's mother died of brain haemorrhage only 9 months ago. The debt of that time is also in the Gurung family. Amrit has a son, father and wife at home along with a 22-month-old son. He joined the police service on 15 October 2070. The police head office has decided to give Rs 10 lakh to the families of the deceased policemen by deducting from the salaries of the IGP to the police inspector, but the distribution is yet to be done.
Relatives of the deceased had complained to Home Minister Omprakash Aryal on Sunday that he had to do the work by borrowing money. Kamal Subedi, coordinator of Gen-G movement's deceased and victimized family struggle committee, complained that the funeral expenses were supposed to be received the day after the funeral, but they have not been paid yet. "The family of the martyrs in the village is forced to take a loan and do Kazkiria. According to the community, Malami should be cleaned and fed on 7, 13, 21 and 45 days," he said. "In the Tamang community, 5-6 people should be worshiped each time."
Rabindra Acharya, Assistant Spokesperson of the Ministry of Home Affairs informed that he has sent a letter to the relevant district administration office to send a list to the Ministry after ascertaining the rightful ones to give the money including rental expenses.
-Jyoti Shrestha (Kavre), Rajkumar Karki (Sindhuli), Arjun Subedi (Sunsari), Anish Tiwari (Sindhupalchok), Hariram Upreti (Gorkha), Lakshmi Gautam (Panchthar), Navraj Subedi (Jhapa), Vivek Pokhrel and Prashant Mali (Kathmandu)
