Chitwan, Sept 23: Those people who were disabled during a decade long insurgency are looking for their identity. They are now demanding recognition and compensation from the responsible bodies and stakeholders.
A large number of the people are now facing such problems. Of them, one is Surendra Khatri of Myagdi. Khatri was going to the fields for work in the year 2063 BS, all of sudden he was crippled by a bomb that was left unattended during the clashes.
He lost both his hands in the blast. Even though he is disabled for no reason, he is disappointed with the lack of support from the state and other responsible sectors. Khatri complained that disabled people like him were looked at with contempt and mocked at in the society. He said, now he has the only identity of disabled. He further expects appropriate opportunity from the state so that they could forward their career being employed.
Another conflict victim, Ram Ratan Chaudhary of Banke has same experience and expectation like Khatri. He was severally thrashed by then rebel side during the insurgency. Now, his both legs are paralyzed. He was beaten at his home while taking a rest after returning from work.
Peace campaigner Ramesh Adhikari says that there are two kinds of disabled people: one directly involved in conflict and another one who were not directly involved in the fighting, but got injuries during the conflict era in bomb blasts, IED explosions or other incidents. He said the State should recognize one who was injured by unattended bomb explosion.
He argued that there was no accurate statistics of such disabled people across the country.
