Darkest night

Will we be alright again?

by ABHA ELI PHOBOO

FROM ISSUE # 124 (April 2006) | IN THIS ISSUE
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Every year, on the eve of Mangsir Purnima, a fair is organised at Kali Devi's temple in Chihandanda, Nagarkot. The villagers here regard Kali Devi as the protector of the village. It is ironic that it was at such a fair on the night of 14 December 2005 that 13 people were shot and 19 injured.

Shops had been set-up and the celebrations were in full swing when according to reports, Basu Dev Thapa, a Royal Nepal Army personnel, had an argument with the local Pipalbot gang. Soon a violent tussle ensued, and Thapa produced a knife but the boys took it from him and threw it away. Apparently, Thapa then left enraged for the nearby army barrack and returned with a loaded gun. By then the gang had fled.

"I was drinking tea with my friends in that stall," says Resham Magar, a young villager, pointing to a bamboo frame that is being taken down. "Suddenly we heard shots. People were screaming and running, we didn't wait to find out what had happened, we just ran with them."

There are bullet marks in places—tree trunk, broken bottles, walls. "One bullet flew through our bedroom window," says Gyan Bahadur Magar, who lives a few metres away from the site. "Luckily, nobody was there. My family and I had retired early from the festival, we had heard shots but didn't know what was happening. A few minutes later, two young boys and a girl knocked at our door. They asked if I could show them another way home. I returned the other way round, which passes by the temple area, when somebody grabbed my feet in the dark and asked for help. A little further off, I could see somebody coughing up blood. There were people injured and dying everywhere. I was scared, too scared to do anything and ran home."

"I saw the army guy fight with some people. Then later I saw him return again and raise his gun. Somebody said crouch down. Shots went ringing every which way, there was a stampede," says Pawan Khadka, 13, a grade seven student. His classmate Binod Shrestha adds, "We sat with our hands over our heads then decided to run. Our legs were trembling, we were so scared."

Army man Basu Dev Thapa is said to have had differences with the local gang on previous occasions. This time, however, he went to the extreme. Some reports say he returned to the festivity with other security personnel and started firing at random before turning the gun on himself. Others say he was shot at. Whatever happened, a pall hangs over the village as the villagers prepare to bury their dead and shake off the memory of that dark night.

Of the 13 people killed were Dipak Tamang, a grade eight student, Ram Lal Nagarkoti, 40, and Nagarkoti's eldest daughter, Nani, 19. Dipak was the eldest son in his family. His father had recently left for Malaysia to earn money so his three sons would have a chance at a better life.

Nagarkoti was a farmer and his daughter, Nani, worked in Hotel Space Mountain. Both were the only breadwinners in the family. Nagarkoti had two wives, who are now left to look after their five remaining children. Though the government has talked of giving financial compensation to the families of those dead or injured in the incident, it will do little to ease the pain that engulfs this sleepy village. As Krishna Kumari, the first-wife, says crying, "I just want my family whole again."

Thirteen-year-old Pratap Nagarkoti, Ram Lal's eldest son, stands stolidly by his siblings watching his mother cry. "I was there," he says, "I saw a bullet hit my father in the forehead before he fell. Another whizzed by my shoulder, I jumped over the wall and ran away. I didn't see him hit the ground, I didn't even look for my sister."

A long pause. Then he turns away, adding, "I couldn't sleep that night. I don't know if I'll be alright again."