In the Line of Fire
His Majesty’s Government of Nepal declared a state of emergency in November 2001 following the end of four-month Maoist-government ceasefire and the attacks on Royal Nepal Army bases. It was a time of great fear and uncertainty.
This was perhaps most palpable in long-distance bus journeys where passengers had to go through over a dozen checkpoints along the highways including body searches. There was also always a risk of an ambush, and every other person was suspicious of the other.
This report about one such trip in Dang’s Ghorahi depicts the terror that Nepalis went through every day as the conflict escalated. Excerpts from page 1 story from issue #72 14-20 December 20 years ago this week:
The bus journey to Ghorahi in Dang district took much longer than usual. Over a dozen checkposts had sprung up along the highway west of Narayanghat. In addition, mobile paramilitary checkpoints also sprang out of nowhere. Most of the checking is routine. Security officials step into the vehicle and check your belongings. But there are also those that require you to step out and line up for a body search.
It feels like you’re entering a war zone as you reach Bhalubang, the point where you officially enter the mid-west. You get a thorough frisking: bags are opened, diaries are read and telephone books scanned. You are asked where you are headed and why. The person sitting next to you in the bus may not want to have a casual conversation. There is apprehension in the air.
When I reached Ghorahi on 7 December, this usually busy highway junction looked like a ghost town. It was undergoing its 13th night of dusk-to-dawn curfew that began even before the state of emergency was declared on 26 November. (Elsewhere in the region, an unofficial curfew is in place after sundown, as nobody ventures outdoors in any case.)
Ghorahi is the site of the 23 November rebel attack which effectively ended the four-month-old government-Maoist ceasefire. Several government offices were plundered and weapons looted from the military barracks. But signs of the conflict can be seen even before you reach Ghorahi. The roadside is lined by stumps of trees felled by the rebels as roadblocks.
Every now and then the dusty stillness is shattered by the heavy roar of rotors as helicopters ferry supplies and troops to the frontlines in Salyan and Rolpa districts. Schools are slowly opening their doors but bewilderment is written in the faces of students-a suppressed fear that echoes, like the sound of gunfire you can hear almost every night. The unseen scars are deeper still.
From archives material of Nepali Times of the past 20 years, site search: www.nepalitimes.com
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