”No matter how many votes were cast, the government could not provide a single plot of land,” said Dhan Bahadur, mixing anger and pain. ”If there was a government, it would have looked after the poor like us.”
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Dhan Bahadur Tamang, 68, spent a decade hauling sand in the marshes of the Marsyangdi River, which flows through the border of Besisahar Municipality-8 and 10. Dhan Bahadur, who once earned his living by carrying loads on the Annapurna Circuit Trek, changed his daily life when jeeps started plying to Manang.
The car not only took away his burden of water and food, but also blocked the way to meet people in the morning and evening. Due to the conflict and family compulsion, he had moved to Besisahar with his wife Subina and daughters in 2062 BS. During the conflict, he was unable to live in a village hut due to the inquisitions of the army and Maoists. The urgency of having his youngest daughter delivered brought him to the market.
Dhan Bahadur, who does not have a piece of land as his property, has now built a small hut on the land of Lok Bahadur Magar of Besisahar. He is a resident of Khaderi, Besisahar Municipality 10.
He has made the area surrounded by trees and shrubs in Besisahar Municipality 8 cultivable with his own sweat. Potatoes and garlic have grown in a small garden in the back. However, the news of the bulldozer being used in the upper Ghahra area has robbed the couple of sleep. ‘The government had given them a document (Nissa) saying that it would give them land, but that too has disappeared,’ said Mrs. Subina. ‘Sometimes they say the government has changed, sometimes they say nothing. Hope began to die while they were waiting for the land to be found.’
Dhan Bahadur is now unable to carry heavy loads or move sand due to old age. 51-year-old Mrs. Subina Jami goes to work. She earns 800 rupees a day by sweating, but work is not always available. They have an 8-year-old grandson who, instead of going to school, has become a support for his grandparents.
Even the 3 goats and some chickens they raised in the hope of income do not support them in times of trouble. Suvina says, ‘When they need money, no one comes to buy chickens.’ Even a small goat had to be sold in a hurry for 3,000.' The cold head of the Marsyangdi river directly penetrates the old tin-roofed hut on top of the stone and mud walls, which makes their nights even more difficult.
The news of the Falgun 21 elections has reached Dhan Bahadur's ears. The voting place is nearby, but he is not enthusiastic. 'How many votes were cast, but the government could not give a plot of land to live on,' Dhan Bahadur said with a mixture of anger and pain, 'If there was a government, it would have looked after the poor like us.'
He has made a social security allowance card, but so far he has not received the money. He is not greedy for a luxurious life. He hopes for food, clothes to cover his body and a permanent roof to live on.
The environment around his residence near the Kapureshwor temple is equally gloomy. The garbage piled up in the temple area and the influx of drug users worry him. ‘If this place were cleaned, if there were arrangements for children to study and get jobs, no one would have to wander like this,’ he said.
Like the flowing waters of the Marsyangdi, the sad days of Dhan Bahadur’s life are also flowing. Governments change, elections come and go, but for Dhan Bahadur, ‘state’ is still just a lost piece of paper and an unfulfilled promise.
