Kali Bahadur´s son Dilip and daughter-in-law Nirmala were abused and manhandled by local Maoist cadres. [break]
They did not even spare Kali Bahadur´s aged and frail father Naya Ram Sahakari. Eye glasses of Naya Ram, 78, were broken when they roughly shoved him to the ground.
“My father also sustained eye injury,” Kali Bahadur told Republica over phone from Manma, the district headquarters of Kalikot.
Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal recently visited the district to persuade his cadres into returning the seized properties to the rightful owners, but local Maoist cadres continue to defy the orders.
Although District Administration Office (DAO), Kalikot claimed that the land owned by three persons has already been returned, there are still others who are struggling to regain ownership of their land.
A 3,000 sq meters plot owned by Kali Bahadur, who is Kalikot district president of the Nepali Congress (NC), was seized by Maoist cadres in 2056 B.S. They divided his land into four pieces and sold them to Bharat Sahakari, Dhan Bahadur Sahakari, Ratna Sahakari and Durga Bahadur Sahakari for a total sum of Rs 45,000 as per the decision of the “people´s government”.
“I still possess land ownership certificate of my land,” Kali Bahadur said. “I wonder on what basis they (Maoist cadres) sold my land.” Kali Bahadur´s land was initially given to some local villagers. But, Maoist cadres sold it to four different persons just before the signing of the Comprehensive Peach Agreement (CPA) in 2006.
Of those who bought Kali Bahadur´s land from the Maoist cadres, Bharat and Dhan Bahadur have agreed to return the plots. However, Ratna and Durga have refused to return the seized land.
“We have spent our money,” Ratna said, echoing Durga. “Who will give us back our money? It should be made clear right away.”
Kali Bahadur is disappointed as Chairman Dahal´s recent district visit meant nothing to his own cadres. “He (Dahal) signed a deal to return the seized property in the capital but we have yet not regained our land,” said a despondent Kali Bahadur.
Dhruba Bogati, who led the seizure of Kali Bahadur´s land, is now district office secretary of the UCPN (Maoist). He says he sold the seized land to collect funds for the party during the insurgency.
“We have given rights of tilling the seized land to peasants after taking money from them,” Bogati said. “The seized land can not be returned unless the government provides money.”
Related story
Commuters face hardship as Kalikot-Jumla road remains blocked f...
