A typical day in Birgunj begins with the spectacle of people swarming the main junctions. No one feels safe strolling alone through the alleys, and therefore crowded, open areas are preferred. [break]
Those who feel less threatened even go out for a morning stroll, but never alone. Most people belonging to the upper middle class and almost all businessmen stick to treadmills or Ram Dev´s yoga sessions at home.
Birgunj has also learnt to avoid the dreaded phone calls. Most residents have diverted their mobile phones, whereas some leave them switched off almost round the clock.
“A single ring sends a chill down the spine,” said Mohan Pradhan, the owner of Makalu Hotel.
For the well-heeled, receiving calls on the cell phone is a nightmare. An unsaved number will not be answered. If you want your call to be answered, you have to first send a text message, and hope for a response.
The city has become a hub of terror where being a successful entrepreneur or having a well-paying job can be a bane. Life has changed drastically for those under direct threat. Parents do not stroll in the evening in marketplaces with their children. Children do not hangout after school. Hardly anyone invites anyone else for dinner.
Wedding ceremonies witness a good number of security personnel. Invited guests appear just to show their faces. However, it is not just the well-heeled who are feeling the heat.
“I only talk to myself. No use sharing my woes with others,” grumbled a painter at Alikhiya Chowk, where a vendor, who claims to be a Nepali Congress worker, could not complete his answer for fear of being overheard.
“Life is very hard here,” said the latter. “Many of my clients have left the city. These days, I shut down my store two hours earlier than before,” he said.
Such fears are not unfounded. Last year, an assailant who posed as a customers bombed a fruit store.
On Monday, there was another explosion at Adarshanagar Chowk, just hours after myrepublica.com reached there for vox-pop. A police officer was injured in the explosion.
The spell of terror that originated during the insurgency is now being perpetuated now by manifold groups.
Murder Just a Tool
The sense of insecurity loomed especially after Ananta Ram Khadka, the bodyguard of then Assistant Chief District Officer of Parsa, Bal Bahadur Malla, was gunned down on January 11.
According to locals, the incident occurred soon after the arrival of a new district police chief and that the motive behind the murder was to demoralize the administration.
The murder was preceded by that of Rameshwar Dube, the manager of Pashupati Transport Company. Dube´s murder sounded alarms in the industrial sector. Also, the kidnapping and subsequent murder of medicine trader Uddhav Aryal in the first week of February terrorized middle-class businessmen.
Criminal gangs have not left the political class untouched.
The murder of local Maoist leader Rajesh Mandal in Lal-Parsa VDC on January 12 and the killing of four Maoists in Ganj Bhanipur VDC in Bara district on January 6 are the cases in point.
“They kill one political cadre and keep cashing on it for months,” said a prominent local journalist. The climate of terror has displaced businesses, set off a widespread trend of moving property to India and elsewhere, and accelerated brain-drain.
“It has not spared any race or caste,” said Deepak Shakya, an educationist. “People are increasingly disenchanted with the state and social establishments,” he said, adding, “In search of security, villagers are heading to the city and the city-dwellers to the capital and abroad,” he added.
According to Pradhan of Makalu Hotel, having a house somewhere else is not a luxury but a necessity.
“Imagine, a phone call is enough to terrorize people,” lamented Bijay Sarawagi, a young entrepreneur and immediate president of FNCCI Birgunj.
Police claim that the last two months have seen a significant improvement in law and order as no major incident has occurred during the period. The arrest of a few underground criminals, including belonging to the group allegedly involved in the murder of bodyguard Khadka has discouraged cross-border crime, the police claims.
“Calls from Indian mobile numbers have almost ceased,” said Superintendent of Police Rajendra Man Shrestha, chief of District Police Office, Parsa.
But people complain that they have been receiving threats from Nepali numbers and the extortion has not stopped. “We know that a lot of criminals reside in Raxaul and they threaten us over phone,” said an entrepreneur. “Many businessmen have no option but to pay them the negotiated amount.”
According to Nepal Telecom Birgunj branch, 200 costumers changed their postpaid numbers in the last six months.
SP Shrestha says call details provided by Nepal Telecom cannot be relied upon for tracking criminals. “SIM cards are distributed negligently and owing to lack of phone interception system, we have hard time locating the criminals,” he said.
Shrestha claims that despite technical weaknesses, the police have been trying to track down the criminals by collaborating with the Indian police.
Docs in Terror
Doctors, who have long been threatened and reportedly extorted by underground groups, have been badly terrorized after a bomb was found at the house of Dr Rajendra Prasad two weeks ago.
“I know that we would knowingly or unknowingly rush one day to save the lives of those who have been threatening to shoot us,” says a senior doctor at Narayani Sub-regional Hospital on condition of anonymity. “We are needed by everyone, good or evil. Saving lives is our religion.”
These doctors have had to go through a total alteration in their personal and professional routine.
“We used to reach the hospital minutes after receiving emergency calls. But now, we wait for the official vehicles, no matter how urgent the case is,” says the doctor.
A minute can be crucial when it comes to saving a life of a patient. “But how can we treat others well when we have to worry about our own lives?” he questions.
Only 40 percent of the doctors´ quota allocated by the government at the hospital is filled. Many left, while others shifted base to safer cities.
“We cannot answer phone calls. There is no mobility, no mixing with society. We are doomed. Here is our prescription to cure this malady: kill the virus. The government should do it. Finish up the criminals,” says a doctor emotionally.
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