Many localities where these internally displaced live in clusters have been renamed after districts they hail from. Saptari-Sirahatole, earlier known as Sainiktole, is now home to people migrating from Saptari and Siraha districts, unable to tolerate atrocities at the hands of armed groups.[break]
“The area was renamed after it became permeated with people from Siraha and Saptari,” said Satrughan Chaudhary, a local, adding, “around 90 percent of the present populace is from those two districts."
Siraha-Saptaritole now covers many localities in Biratnagar-17 that were earlier known as Ashram, Abhibadan, Bhetenari and Thapa Niwas, and as Krishnagar Chwok and Jatuwa in Biratnagar-18. Migrants from the two districts living here total more than 3,000.
Prabhu Narayan Yadav moved to Biratnagar from Bavanagamakatti-4, Saptari in the aftermath of continuous torture by armed groups. He gave his land on lease before leaving his birthplace together with his family.
“We decided to migrate, fearing for our children in the face of repeated incidents of kidnapping,” said Kavita Kumari, wife of Prabhu Narayan. Prabhu Narayan, a resident of Siraha-Saptaritole, is now a teacher at a local school.
The Yadav couple recently shifted to their newly built home with their 10-year-old son and a daughter aged 6, after spending two years in a rented flat. “What else could we do after criminals, encouraged by our own relatives, targeted us?” said Kavita.
Besides the comparative security, Biratnagar has been a choice for internally displaced as is just across from the Indian market of Jogbani. “Security, education and a mixed and harmonized social structure are what make this place a priority,” said Bijaya Mishra, a local who is doing PhD research on armed groups. “People from the inner Tarai tend to shift to the border cities.”
Land prices here have been hitting record highs every year ever since the Tarai Uprising of 2005/006 triggered massive internal displacement. In fiscal year 2009/2010 alone, the volume of land ownership transfer at the District Land Revenues Office (DLRO) stood at over 7,000 bighas. “About 40 percent of land buys were by those from violence-stricken areas,” said Yadav Pokharel, an official at the DLRO.
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