Nepal’s uprising took their loved ones. Now they hope for change

KATHMANDU, March 3 (Reuters) – On the afternoon of September 8 last year, Rashik Khatiwada stood near Nepal’s parliament building, surrounded by hundreds of others rallying against corruption and unemployment, holding up a piece of paper that read: “FUCK THE SYSTEM!”.

Within two hours, the 23-year-old student had been shot dead.

He was among the 77 people killed in two days of protests that later forced the resignation of then Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli and shook up Nepal’s political system, setting the stage for Thursday’s general election.

The seminal youth-led uprising also reinforced a deep-seated desire for change among many Nepalis – including those who lost family members in the violence – that has dominated the election campaign.

“What have past leaders done for this country over the last three decades? They accumulated wealth for themselves and placed their own people in positions of power to benefit from it,” said Rachana Khatiwada, Rashik’s mother.

“What did they truly do for the nation?”

This disenchantment with Nepal’s political establishment has created an opening for the likes of 35-year-old rapper-turned-political Balendra Shah to emerge as the leading prime ministerial candidate – a campaign that Khatiwada has joined.

Although she not directly contesting for a seat, the 46-year-old homemaker is a proportional representation candidate for the Rastriya Swatantra Party, which Shah joined in January.

After years of being largely indifferent to politics, Khatiwada said her decision to join the RSP was driven by a motivation to seek justice for her son and families of others killed in the protests.

“We demanded accountability for those responsible for the deaths of so many children, and the interim government failed to deliver,” she said.

A state-appointed commission charged with conducting an investigation into the protests, including the use of live ammunition against young demonstrators, has received three extensions to complete the probe. Its final findings are expected to be released after the general election.

ARTIST WHO NEVER RETURNED

After feeding pigeons on the terrace, like he did most mornings, 34-year-old Binod Maharjan abruptly left home on September 8, leaving his breakfast of rice and lentils.

“My son said he would return home and eat the meal he had left behind,” said Lata Maya Maharjan, 75. “He never came back.”

The family only discovered he had joined the swelling protests after Binod’s elder brother received a phone call from one of his sibling’s childhood friends and rushed to Kathmandu’s Everest Hospital.

“My mind went completely silent,” said Kaji Ratna Maharjan, recalling he saw an bullet entry wound near his brother’s mouth and an exit wound at the back of the head. “I still cannot put into words what I felt when I saw his lifeless body.”

Binod had dropped out of school early but pursued art with a passion. Murals that he painted cover nearly every surface of his family’s three-storied brick house.

Inside, he slept on a yak hide, with horns on the edge of his pillow. The walls of his room feature a hand-drawn map of Nepal and a depiction of Shiva, the Hindu deity he worshipped.

In his mother’s room, Binod painted a self-portrait with his signature long dreadlocks and a cigarette, surrounded by his nieces and nephews.

“We do not understand politics, but those who do and are actively involved in it must focus on ending corruption and creating jobs in this country,” said Kaji Ratna Maharjan, who like his mother plans to vote on Thursday.

“Only then can we prevent another protest like the September uprising in Nepal.”

WIDOW CAMPAIGNS FOR CHANGE

Parbati Subedi rises before dawn to work as a domestic helper before starting her day job in the cleaning department at one of Nepal’s largest corporates.

The schedule is gruelling but it earns the 28-year-old 30,000 Nepalese rupees ($206) a month to help sustain herself and her daughter after the death of her husband in the September uprising.

Security guard Dev Kumar Subedi, 29, took a bullet to the stomach on September 9, after he joined protests against the Oli government that raged for a second day.

“I believe this protest happened because people wanted change in Nepal and change in our leaders,” Subedi said. “Those in power forgot about families like ours, for whom putting two meals on the table is a daily struggle.”

Subedi has received the 1.5 million rupees compensation that an interim government, which took over after Oli’s exit, has provided to the families of 42 of the 77 killed that it declared martyrs.

But other promises, including employment opportunities for family members, long-term medical support and pension provisions, are yet to be fulfilled, according to several family members of those killed, including Subedi.

Like her late husband, Subedi said she is a supporter of the RSP and Shah because of his work as the mayor of Kathmandu, even producing social media content herself asking voters to back the campaign.

“I believe they will genuinely work towards improving the country,” she said. “But if it’s any of the other parties, I have little hope that things will change.”

($1 = 145.5 Nepalese rupees)

(Writing by Devjyot Ghoshal; Editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)