KATHMANDU DIARIES
News from the Landlocked Insurgency-Wracked Isolated

Perched-Precariously-Between-Two-Superpowers

Middle Mountain Kingdom

Displaced not returning home for Dasain
DIPAYAL, Nepal, Oct 8: Displaced people living in the district HQ here have decided not to return to their villages for Dasain festival. They say that the villages are no longer safe even after the unilateral declaration of cease-fire by Maoists.
...They fear that the ceasefire may break down any time. However, they say that they would return to their villages if the government reciprocates the cease-fire.

"Maoist activities continue unabated in the villages. The government has not reciprocated their ceasefire declaration. We don't believe that we will be able to live safely in the villages, " said Khadga Bohara, one of the displaced.

Many of the displaced came to the district headquarters after Maoists beat them, looted their property and set fire to their houses.

Acording to district police office, 53 displaced families are living in the HQ. Many youth who left for India, fearing Maoist abuse, have also not returned to the villages. In previous years, the bus stand here used to bustle with youngsters returning home at this time of year. (Kathmandu Post)

And in a somewhat related story to the South:
PATNA, Bihar, Oct 8: Suspected Maoist rebels set off a land mine in eastern India on Saturday, klling seven policemen, a police official said.
(Kathmandu Post)

Women become judges in Kaski
KASKI, Oct 8: Women of Pumdibumdhi VDC have become judges of their own village, deciding all cases pertaining to domestic violence. Today all cases relating to domestic violence must first pass through the Women Judiciary Forum (WJF). It requires the forum's approval if the cases are to be referred to a higher court of appeal, or the police.

Baral (of WJF) said that after the women started vetting the cases, male members have become wary of females in the villages.... According to a study commissioned by the Habitat Research, Pumdibhumdi was notorious for th largest number of domestic violence cases in Kaski, followed by Sarangkot and Rupakot in the district. After the campaign by women, the situation has reversed.

full stories: http://www.kantipuronline.com/paper.php?id=2