Women empowered by Insurgency

Published On: March 8, 2017 04:07 PM NPT By: Devendra Basnet


DANG, March 27: It was unbelievable moment for Naumati Gharti of Madichaur, Rolpa (now Dang) on October 16, 2015; it was a day when her second daughter Onsari Gharti was elected as the Speaker of the country.

She was unaware of the post and role of the Speaker. But she knew that her daughter has become a powerful public figure of the country. That day she was very proud of her daughter. She was satisfied that her daughter’s ‘dream’ came true, for which she was apart from her family for years.

During the insurgency period, she was almost dead for Naumati. It was a dream comes true when she met her daughter after 13 years. "I felt that I had already lost my daughter", Naumati adds, "It was proud moment for me when she assumed one of the highest posts of the country."

"She didn’t care of family. She was only focused with the country and people." Onsari completed her lower secondary level education in the village and for further studies she went to Liwang. One of the brightest students of the school, Onsari used to keep interest in the ‘revolutionary change’ in the country. Whenever she used to talk about political and social changes in the country, Naumati used to scold her.

From the time when she came to Liwang, she was disappeared. Naumati remembers her daughter, who was attracted with the dance and music from childhood; she entered the Maoist party as a ‘revolutionary’ artist. When Naumati came to know about her affiliation with the party, she couldn’t believe. She was unacquainted of her daughter’s condition.

Later days, when she came to know that her daughter was married with Barsha Man Pun from neighboring village, she was happy that she was alive, though she couldn’t see her for years. Onsari was involved in ‘revolutionary movement’ and became one of the ‘prominent’ figures, who ‘fought’ for the change in the country.

According to her mother, she has developed herself to hold the post of Speaker, all because of her commitment for the country and the people. She doesn’t regret being separated from her daughter for more than a decade, which is very painful for a mother. She is happy that her daughter has successfully modified her life from a simple school girl of a village to the first women Speaker of the country.

Jayapuri Gharti is from Rangsi, Rolpa. Another established political women figure of the country. She came into the mainstream politics of the country through the decade-long insurgency and was also identified as the one of the ministers of the country. She acknowledges that her identity was emerged by the decade-long Maoist insurgency.

"Since my teenage, I used to think of eradicating the inequalities between men and women from our society. For which I joined the party," says Gharti.

Though she started her career in politics after 1990, but it took a speed only after 1996 when the Maoist revolution started.  With the guidance of Nanda Kishore Pun, she kept going on her mission to diminish the partiality in the society. Active central committee member of CPN-Maoist Centre, Gharti claims that the level of thinking in Nepalese women has changed due to the decade-long insurgency.   

She, however, is fighting against the inequality in the country. She was appointed as the Minister for Women, Children and Social Welfare during the Jhalanath Khanal cabinet. She challenged her party for the inequality against the women, by not taking the oath of the post. She demanded that there should be 33 percent women in the cabinet from her party. She didn’t assume the office and fought for 8 months. At last, she compelled her party to accept her demand. However, the government was toppled down after a month. But she doesn’t regret for that. ‘At least, I successfully fulfilled my mission to include proportionate number of women in the cabinet.’

Onsari Gharti and Jayapuri Gharti are the exemplary women figure, who established their own identity in the mainstream politics of Nepal. 10 year long insurgency helped them to stand strong in the politics. Kamala Roka, Jun Kumari Budha and Bimala KC of Rukum, Rekha Sharma, Dama Sharma and Narayani Sharma of Dang have also established themselves in the decision making role of the country by their involvement in the Maoist revolution. 

Nepal suffered a lot due to the decade-long insurgency that claimed thousands of lives and many are still suffering. But in the context of the women empowerment, the insurgency made an effective impact. Women like Onsari and Jayapuri, from rural part of the country, are playing their role in the decision making level of the country effectively. They are lobbying for the women liberation and equality in the society, establishing themselves as role model for hundreds and thousands of Nepalese women. 

 


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