At a time when incidents of rapes have been so pervasive throughout the country, shocking details of the murder of journalist Dekendra Thapa have come out in the media. There is a saying in Nepali, 'Paap dhuri bata Karauncha.’ Thapa, the journalist who worked for Radio Nepal and Nepal Samacharpatra, was abducted by the Maoists in June, 2004.
‘Transitional justice’ is the name applied to schemes in post-conflict societies that aim to address issues arising from violations of human rights committed during the conflict. Prosecutions and institutional reforms may often attract greater attention, but reparations play a critical role in ensuring a smooth transition to a peace that respects human rights.
Changing Deep-rooted Culture of Violence against Women
By Raj Maharjan
Wednesday, 05 June 2013 13:01
The recent public rage in response to the aftermath of the tragic cases of violence against women in both Nepal and India has thrust in light the issue that has for a long time buried under the cloaks of religious, socio-cultural and customary practices of the Indo-Nepali contemporary society. This article discusses some aspects of this problem in the Nepali context.
When Nepal is forced to undergo the unending pain of not having a consensus government despite seven rounds of presidential calls under, the apparent tug of war between the governments of Nepal and the United Kingdom could not have occurred at a worse time.
What happened in New Delhi last month was a horrendous act of violence. A young Indian woman was raped and battered. The perpetrators not only raped her, but also damaged her entrails and organs. After stripping her naked, they threw her out of the moving bus, along with her male friend, who was also brutally beaten. Even if they both were not already dead, they definitely were left to die on the road.
The debate over the territory of Jammu and Kashmir has strained relations between India and Pakistan for more than sixty years. The continued hostility between these two countries over the territory is a real threat to peace and security in the South Asian region and even further afield. The debate has already resulted in several wars with heavy loss of human life. It is still not clear whether Kashmir should be a part of India, or Pakistan, or both, or whether it should be an independent territory.
Nepali youth have migrated for work to the Gulf countries and Malaysia at an unprecedented level. Over 1000 Nepali workers leave the country for foreign employment every day. For many, labour migration is not just a means to overcome economic hardships and accumulate wealth, it has increasingly been pursued rather as a way of life and livelihood.
Dreaming of a better future a girl in her teens from the eastern Nepal decides to venture into a foreign land in search of a job that finally lands her in a destination that in itself has a history of victimized maids. She does not even know how necessary is her identity card i. e. a citizenship certificate, which is issued to any bonafide children of Nepali citizens, who have attained the age of 16 or above. Had she been aware of this, she would not have been lured so easily to make a foreign travel using someone else’s passport.
