Rachana Khatiwada, who lost her son in the Gen-G movement, has become a proportional representation MP and has taken on the responsibility of raising the voices of the families of martyrs and victims in Parliament.
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Rachna Khatiwada is currently receiving a flood of congratulations from relatives and well-wishers. But how can she be happy at this time? She does not know.
She is the mother of 23-year-old Rasik from Kavre, who was martyred in the Gen-G movement on Bhadra 23. Rachna's name was made public on Sunday in the list of proportional representation MPs from the National Independent Party. While her relatives were texting her happily, Rachna could not hold back her tears for a while.
'No matter where I go, my young son will not come back,' Rachna says in an emotional voice, 'That is why I am not a drop happy.'
Rachna is the only MP from the Gen-G injured and martyred family. The Rashtriya Swatantra Party had put the names of Prakash Bohora and Pawan Shahi on the closed list on behalf of the Gen-G injured. But the results did not reach them. Instead, Rachna feels, ‘Now I can speak in the House.’
Rachna’s son Rasik had taken to the streets of Baneshwor demanding justice and good governance. But the state fired bullets against their voices. Rasiks made their last voices heard there. Rachna is still agitating against the ‘killers’ of her children. ‘I will raise my voice against them in Parliament too. I will work till my last breath to get justice for my sons,’ she says confidently.
Until Bhadra 23, Rachna’s life was different. She was an ordinary housewife. She was never interested in the country’s politics. The Rachna couple had raised their daughter Rasila and son Rasik by running a grocery store for 21 years. Rasila was in Australia. Rasik was also preparing to go there.
But on the 23rd, Rasik left the food she was eating and went out to protest. She kept watching the road for her son all day. Evening fell. The son, who had gone to make tea for his mother, never returned. The days after Bhadra 23 were no less painful and challenging for her.
Then she sat on a dharna, sometimes at Singha Durbar and sometimes at the Baluwatar gate, demanding justice for her son. She begged for justice on the street. ‘Our voices were suppressed. We had gone with this government with 14 demands. But the important thing was not fulfilled,’ she says, ‘We wanted justice. But they didn’t get it that day.’
Rasik was waiting for an Australian visa. But when the visa arrived, Rasik had already left the world.
‘My father’s Australian visa came just a few weeks ago,’ Rachna had told us while visiting her home in Teku in the second week of Kartik.
Rasik’s father Purushottam Khatiwada always used to add oil to the lamp burning near the photo of his son who was garlanded after bathing in the morning. When he heard the news of the visa, he had wiped his eyes and told Rasik, who was in the white and white photo, ‘Father, you have got your visa.’
The wound of not having a son had burned them so much that they had to spend many days and nights in unbearable pain. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) president Ravi Lamichhane had reached Babarmahal to meet the martyred family. At that time, he had heard Rachna’s tragic story. ‘He also watched my videos. He even cried after listening to me,’ says Rachna.
After that, the RSS was in constant contact with Rachna. There was also a discussion with her about putting her name on the proportional list. 'They were asking me for documents, I had sent them,' she says. Without saying a word, her name was included in the Khas Arya Women's Cluster of the proportional list. 'I didn't even want to be an MP. I was a victim. I wanted justice. I was fighting for justice,' says Rachana in a conversation after the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) decided to field her as a proportional MP. 'I will fight for justice even now.' She is optimistic about Ravi Lamichhane and Balendra Shah. 'Ravi and Balen should now take the first issue to the martyr's family,' she says. 'Ravi and Balen should now take the matter to the martyr's family first,' she says. 'Ravi's mother wants to see her son's smiling statue in front of the parliament building. Until yesterday, Rachana was the mother of one son. Who was deeply hurt by losing her son . She was fighting relentlessly for justice for her son . But now she has the issue of the entire martyred family and the injured on her shoulders . ‘There are brothers and sisters who are still walking with bullets in their bodies . There are many tears from the families of martyrs like me . For this too, my voice should be heard in the House,’ she says .
Before the election, Rachna had said, ‘We first won by voting for the old one . They killed our child instead. Now I will support the new one . If I reach there, I will be able to say two words .’ Now she has reached that place where she can speak and be heard . Now how will Rachna, who has reached the House, absorb the voices on the streets ? That remains to be seen .
