Nepali Mahila : Kabita Bantar Sardar

Member of the Constituent Assembly, Nepali Congress (NC)

Born in 1965, in Jhorahat VDC, Morang district



Coming from an uneducated, low-income group, and a culturally and socially downtrodden community herself, Kabita Bantar Sardar's mission is to make space for women in politics who come without family or other support.

Sardar was born in a low-caste fisherman's family on 16 January, 1965. Her family belongs to a community of fisherman of the southern plains who never imagined a better life. Sardar's father, Padam Kumar Sardar, was literate and became a government officer during the Panchayat period, but resigned from his post to enter politics. He later became a member of the Panchayat district but died in 1989, a year before the Panchayat system collapsed.

In Sardar's society, education was not considered a priority, particularly for girls. Yet it was her grandfather, Dhaniram Sardar Jahawar, who personally decided to educate her and her sister four decades ago, and enrolled both in a nearby school. At the same time, her father was transferred to Terhathum district.

The economic condition of Sardar's family was good in comparison with most in her village, the family owning 12 bighas of land. But when her father plunged into politics, he gave up all their parental property.

Sardar began her schooling at Jhorahat village's Saraswati High School, passing her School Leaving Certificate examinations in 1990. But as there was no higher education facility nearby she started teaching in a local school in Motipur from 1993 as a primary level teacher to help her family make ends meet. She was later transferred to Sunder Lower Secondary School Bhaudaha.

The total population of Bantars is said to be around 225,000 nationwide. Sardar belonged to a community so backward there must be less than a dozen Bantar women who have passed the SLC examination in Morang. It was relatively easy for men to go to the bazaar and school, but women had little chance. Sardar was one of few women teachers from her community and proudly stands as a role model for all.

Two years later, following her teacher's guidance she went to Birpur in India to complete her intermediate level studies as a private student. She stayed for one month, had tuition, sat the examination and returned. She wished to do her bachelor's degree as well, but it was not possible for her to leave her family and career as a teacher. Sardar still dreams of getting her bachelor's degree and recently asked her family to register her name at a new college in her village as she is currently in the capital.

Sardar married Keshar Kumar Sardar in 1983. Her husband was from a neighboring village and they had known each other as classmates but not developed a deep relationship until after their union. Their families arranged the marriage after his husband's family approached hers. Sardar's father did not even ask her how she felt about marrying Keshar. "Actually, my father loved to drink. One day, he was invited to my husband's house. He, all of a sudden, made a decision to make me marry and I came to know about it when I heard my parent's conversation. It was the tradition of my village," she said.

Both were students when they married. Keshar is now headmaster of a local primary school in their village. Sardar's married life has been relatively easy and she is happy to have an educated and intelligent husband. "I would not have been in this position without my husband's help and support," she said, adding that he neither expected to take her earnings, nor stopped her from doing anything she wanted to do. Thankfully her mother-in-law, Jhaulidevi Sardar, was aware of women's rights as she was a member of the women's organization during the Panchayat period.

The People's Movement of 1990 drew Sardar into politics. Earlier, in 1979, when the country was in the grips of referendum fever, she would stand among rows of people supporting a multi-party democracy. Sardar's grandfather was a devotee of Mahatma Gandhi and supported Nepali Congress (NC) leader B.P. Koirala, so she naturally chose to join the NC, believing only democracy could save the country.

After 1990, the NC distributed ordinary membership to those in Sardar's village. In 1991, she was appointed chairperson of the women organization in Jhoharat. Her efforts lead to her being granted active party membership in 1994. Several years later she was elected an NC district committee member. She continued her work for women's rights and is now an 'invited member' of the Nepal Women's Organization.

She says finding a proper seat in the party for women is hard, and even more difficult for those belonging to an oppressed caste. All major leaders are male and belong to upper castes which give no importance to women. "And they cannot even hear when we, the downtrodden ones, shout in their ears."

Sardar was engaged in teaching and never asked her party for a ticket for the parliamentary election, remaining a grass-roots activist for almost two decades. When preparations for the election of the Constituent Assembly (CA) were taking place, she, along with other women activists, demanded tickets for 33 percent of women in the party elections. She actively participated in programs when party president Girija Prasad Koirala came to Biratnagar. They proposed to allocate six tickets to men and three to women in Morang district. Koirala verbally consented, but when tickets were distributed none went to women. "I felt very bad. I was not asking for myself but wanted to set a rule for women. The party did not give tickets to any women from the whole district," she said.

The Election Commission had asked parties to bring members of all ethnic group, sex, caste and region in the lists for Proportional Representation candidates. She recalled, "I was dying for a seat in the CA, to represent my sex, my caste, and my community there, but all leaders left me disheartened. I knew that all top leaders were from high caste Bahun-Chettri communities. I would not have won this seat if the Election Commission had not had the provision of including women and other oppressed groups. I strongly put my voice in my party. During the CA elections we worked hard to make our candidate Mahesh Acharya win from our constituency, but the storm could not save him despite the fact that our area had the stronghold of the NC."

Sardar's biggest struggle was to secure her seat in the CA as a Proportional Representation candidate. Leaving her job and her family, she came to the dazzling capital. However, much to her surprise and disappointment, none of the big leaders were available to see her, and it was as if all had refused to recognize her. She failed to enter the prime minister's official residence in Baluwatar to approach Girija Prasad Koirala, even after all her hard work. She managed to get some time with Mahesh Acharya and Shekhar Koirala, advising them of her resignation from her profession as a teacher and that there was no other way for her but to join the CA. They assured her she would get a seat, but she had grave doubts and had many sleepless nights. Villagers passed comments that this was a good lesson for her that leaving a good job in search for a better position had left her empty-handed. But finally she found her name in the list of CA members for PR.

Sardar was a victim of social exclusion, demoralized by members of her own party. There was no visible discrimination, but she remembers many experiences of misbehavior by fellow party members which indicate their beliefs she does not belong to society. "We have to fight against this discrimination and raise our voices for equal rights. First, the fight should start from the family and it should be expanded to locality, region and then to the party, and ultimately the nation," she said.

In the party, her 20-year career as an activist was somehow not supportive enough to grant her central committee membership. Party statute has it that one has to be in the Mahasamiti to contest a central committee member. She has never been included in the Mahasamiti. "How can we go? There is a big tug-of-war in the constituency to become a member of the Mahasamiti. There was no quota for women and only those who had reserved their seats in the Mahasamiti could fight there. I have nothing to do but watch all those things," she said.

Is it because she belongs to a low caste? "I cannot tell you what the actual problem is. I was stopped from contesting in even the Village Unit elections. Everybody used to pass comment - 'Why should you move ahead? You have a good job at the school and you had better concentrate on your job.' Nobody wanted me to make progress in the party."

Now Sardar is busy realizing her dream of making an egalitarian constitution for Nepal. She says the rights of all communities, groups, castes and races should be guaranteed in the new constitution, and that there must be a provision of 50 percent compulsory inclusion of women in all government and other sectors.

She believes Nepal should be a federal state, as it is only with federalism that people from all sectors and regions have a space to claim their rights. But she is not convinced ethnicity should provide the basis for making a federal state.

Sardar concludes, "The most important facility the downtrodden groups need is education. There should be free education up to the 12th grade and the state should guarantee employment for all. There should be health and sanitation services as well."

Written by Razen Manandhar
http://web.archive.org/web/20141011002305/http://www.wwj.org.np:80/mahila/profile_kabita_bantar.html

Nepali Mahila : हिसिला यमी

केन्द्रीय सदस्य, एकीकृत नेकपा (माओवादी)
सदस्य, संविधानसभा
पूवमन्त्री, पर्यटन तथा नागरिक उड्डयन र भौतिक योजना तथा निर्माण मन्त्रालय
जन्मः सन् १९५९, काठमाडौं ।

परम्परागत नेवारी समुदायमा जन्मनु भएकी हिसिला यमीले नेपाली महिलाबीच धेरै किसिमबाट रोल मोडेलको रुपमा परिचित गराउनुभएको छ । यसको श्रेय उहाँका 'व्रि्रोही' पिता र माओवादी दलसँगको आबद्धतालाई जान्छ ।

उहाँको जन्म २५ जुन १९५९ मा काठमाडौंको नरदेवीस्थित धर्मरत्न यमीको उच्च मध्यम परिवारमा सातजना बालबालिकामध्ये कान्छो सन्तानको रुपमा भएको थियो । ठूलो परिवारको अन्तिम सन्तान भएका कारण उहाँको बाल्यकाल उन्मुक्त वातावरणमा भएको थियो ।

यमीका बुबा धर्मरत्न राजनीतिक व्यक्तित्व हुनुहुन्थ्यो र उहाँको घरमा पार्टीका बैठकहरु नियमितरुपमा हुने गर्दथे । बैठकमा हुने कुराकानीबाट उहाँले धेरै कुरा सुन्नुका साथै राजनीतिक परिस्थिति र बुबाको व्यक्तिगत धारणा समेत बुझ्न पाउनुभयो । तर रत्नले आफ्ना केटाकेटीलाई राजनीतिकरण हुन कहिल्यै दिन मान्नुभएन र सबै केटाकेटी विज्ञान विषयको पृष्ठभूमीका हुन् भनेर ठट्यौली गर्नुहुन्थ्यो तर राजनीतिकर्मीको रुपमा उहाँमा धेरै ज्ञान थियो । यथार्थमा, उहाँले दुईदर्जन भन्दा बढी पुस्तक लेखिसक्नुभएको थियो ।

रत्न धेरै नै उदार विचारका हुनुहुन्थ्यो र आफ्ना केटाकेटीलाई जानीबुझी धर्मबाट टाढा राख्नुभएको थियो । उहाँले आफ्ना केटाकेटीलाई नेवारी समुदायमा गर्नैपर्ने परम्परागत "इही" र "बर्रइ" गर्न महत्व दिनुभएन । यो नेवारी समुदायको पुरातनवादी साँस्कृतिक परिस्थित्रि्रति एकप्रकारको व्रि्रोह थियो । उहाँकी आमाले यसको निम्ति आलोचना खेप्नु परेको थियो र कुनैपनि नेवार परिवारले उनीहरुका छोरीलाई विवाह गरेर बुहारीको रुपमा भित्र्याउन नसक्ने भनेर चेतावनी समेत थिएका थिए । "म बाजी लगाउन तयार छु कि मेरो बुबा त्यसबखतका वामपन्थीहरुभन्दा धेरै रुपमा क्रान्तीकारी हुनुहुन्थ्यो," यमीले भन्नुभयो ।

तर रत्नले वामपन्थी वा प्रजातान्त्रिक भनेर आफूलाई चिनाउन रुचाउनु भएन । वास्तवमा उहाँ "सबैको तर कुनै एक पक्षको" हुनु हुन्थेन । सबैले उहाँलाई सम्मान गर्दथे तर कसैले पनि उहाँलाई कुनै पद दिएका थिएनन् । त्यर्सथ, उहाँलाई राजाले प्रयोग गरेका थिए । "उहाँ राणाविरोधी क्रान्तीकारी व्यक्तित्व हुनुहुन्थ्यो तर राजा त्रिभुवनको आग्रहका अघिल्तिर उहाँको सामर्थ्य प्रभावित भएको थियो ।"

यमीे आफ्नै टोलमा रहेको कन्या मन्दिर माध्यमिक विद्यालयमा भर्ना हुनुभयो । उहाँ दशवर्षो हुँदा आमाको निधन भयो र दिदीले उहाँको स्याहार गर्नुभयो, खासगरी उहाँकी दिदी टिमिलाले आमाकै रुपमा हेरचाह गर्नुभयो । यमी भारतको उत्तर प्रदेशस्थित कानपुरको केन्द्रीय विद्यालयमा सन् १९७१ मा भर्ना हुनुभयो । विद्यालयले उहाँलाई फूर्तिलो, निडर, खुला, क्रान्तीकारी र संस्कृत्रि्रेमी हुन सिकाएको थियो । "मलाई खेलकूद र जीवन्त संस्कृति मन पर्दथ्यो । मलाई गीत गाउन धेरै मन लाग्थ्यो । मैले डा. बाबुराम भट्टर्राईसँग विवाह नगरेको भए म कलाकार बन्ने थिएँ," रसिक मुद्रामा उहाँले बताउनुभयो ।

त्यसबखत धेरै नेपाली कानपुरमा बस्दथे तर सबैजसो धेरै गरिब थिए र भरिया वा चौकीदारीको काम गर्दथे । नेपालीले मात्र किन सम्मानजनक जीवन विताउन नसक्ने होला भनेर यमीको संवेदनशील हृदयमा प्रश्न उब्जियो । वर्गीय भिन्नताको तीतो यथार्थले उहाँको धारणालाई गहिरोसँग छोयो र यसैका कारण उहाँ मार्क्सवादतर्फढल्कनु भयो ।

यमी सामान्य विद्यार्थी हुनुहुन्थ्यो तर उहाँमा साँस्कृतिक र अन्य अतिरिक्त कृयाकलापकका क्षेत्रमा प्रतिभा थियो । सिर्जनशीलता बढी देखिएको भन्दै उहाँकी दिदीले आर्किटेक्चर अध्ययनका निम्ति हिसिलालाई उत्साहित गर्नुभएको थियो ।

उहाँले विद्यालयको पढाइ सन् १९७५ मा पूरा गर्नुभयो र आर्किटेक्चरको स्नातक अध्ययनका निम्ति दिल्लीस्थित स्कूल अफ प्लानिङ एण्ड आर्किटेक्चरमा भर्ना हुनुभयो । कलेजको वातावरणले उहाँलाई सामाजिक परिस्थिति बुझ्न र धनी एवँ गरिबबीचको विभेदमा कमी ल्याउन केही गर्न उत्प्रेरित गर्‍यो ।
डा. बाबुराम भट्टर्राईसँग उहाँको पहिलो भेट सन् १९७७ मा स्नातकोत्तर अध्ययनका निम्ति सोही कलेजमा रहेको समयमा भएको थियो । उहाँ दिल्लीका सडकमा नेपालीले भोग्नु परेको कठिनाइका बारेमा राम्रोसँग बुझेका र आफ्ना बुबाको योगदानका बारेमा धेरै जानकारी राख्ने भट्टर्राईको धारणाबाट प्रभावित हुनुभएको थियो । "बाबुरामसँगको भेटघाट मेरो जीवनमा गुणात्मक फड्को मार्न सहयोगी भयो," यमीले भन्नुभयो ।
उहाँहरु दुवै चाँडै नै असल मित्र बन्नुभयो । भट्टर्राईले नयाँ कुरा सिक्ने अभिरुची यमीमा रहेको र उहाँको राजनीतिक झुकावबाट प्रभावित हुनुभएको थियो । उहाँहरु दुवैले भारतका विभिन्न भागमा निकृष्ट श्रम गर्ने नेपालीका निम्ति खोलिएको नेपाली एकता समाज नामको संस्थाका निम्ति काम गर्नुभयो । उहाँहरुको मित्रता सन् १९८१ मा वैवाहिक जीवनमा परिणत भयो । बधुवा श्रमिक अभियानका निम्ति संर्घषरत नेता स्वामी अग्नीवेशले उहाँहरुको विवाहका निम्ति सहयोग गर्नुभएको थियो ।

विवाहपश्चात यमीको जिम्मेवारी नै भारतमा रहेका नेपाली विद्यार्थीलाई अखिल भारतीय नेपाली विद्यार्थी संघमार्फ संगठित गर्नेजस्ता संगठनात्मक काममा व्यस्त राख्नुथियो । यमी सन् १९८१ र ८२ मा संघको महासचिवमा निर्वाचित हुनुभएको थियो । उहाँले त्यसैबखत नेपाल कम्युनिष्ट पार्टीको सदस्यता समेत लिनुभयो ।

उहाँ आफ्नो संगठनलाई विस्तार गर्ने उद्देश्यका साथ नेपाल र्फकनुभयो । यस कामका निम्ति उहाँले पेशागत माध्यमलाई छनौट गर्नुभयो । उहाँले पुल्चोक क्याम्पसको इन्जिनियरिङ अध्ययन संस्थानमा सन् १९८३ र १९९६ बीच लेक्चररको रुपमा अध्यापन गर्नुभयो । सहकर्मी वामपन्थी धारका मानिसलाई एकताबद्ध गर्ने शिक्षण पेशा एउटा मञ्च मात्र थियो ।

यमी प्रारम्भिक चरणमा पार्टीको जिल्ला कमिटि सदस्य हुनुहुन्थ्यो र जनयुद्ध आरम्भ हुनुभन्दा अघिसम्म अखिल नेपाल महिला संघ (क्रान्तिकारी) को केन्द्रीय अध्यक्षको रुपमा काम गर्नुभयो ।

बेलायतस्थित न्युक्यासल विश्वविद्यालयबाट यमीले सन् १९९५ मा आर्किटेक्चर विषयमा स्नातकोत्तरको अध्ययन पूरा गर्नुभयो । "आन्दोलनका निम्ति अध्ययन र काम यी दुवै निक्कै कठिन थियो तर मेरो जीवनमा यी दुवै कुरा सँगसँगै छन्," उहाँले बताउनुभयो ।

पार्टीका जनयुद्ध थालनी गर्ने निर्णय गरेको समयमा यमी पार्टीको पुर्ण सदस्य बनिसक्नु भएको थियो । उहाँ अन्तर्रराट्रिय अध्यागमन विभागमा काम गरिरहनु भएको थियो र उहाँ पार्टीका क्षेत्रीय ब्यूरो सदस्य हुनुहुन्थ्यो । उहाँले कम्पोसाको प्रकाशनको सम्पादन समेत गरिरहनुभएको थियो । उहाँलाई सन् २००० मा सम्पन्न पार्टीको राष्ट्रिय कांग्रेसमा केन्द्रीय सदस्य बनाइएको थियो । पार्टीका कार्यकर्ताबीच कमरेड पार्वती भनेर उहाँ चिनिनुहुन्थ्यो । युद्ध वा सैनिक अपरेशनमा शारीरिकरुपमा सहभागी नभए पनि उहाँले यसअवधिमा सक्रियरुपमा काम गर्नुभयो र क्रान्तीको सफलतामा उहाँको योगदानलाई पनि श्रेय दिनुपर्दछ ।

"पार्टीका निम्ति श्रीमान् र श्रीमती दुवैले सँगै काम गर्न केही समस्या पनि हुन्छ । हामीहरु संवेदनशीलताभन्दा विचारले निर्देशित थियौं र विवादहरु पटकपटक उत्पन्न पनि भएका थिए," उहाँले भन्नुभयो, "यस्तो भए पनि पार्टीका नेपालका निम्ति कठिनाईका बाबजूद थप प्रतिबद्धताका साथ काम गर्न उत्प्रेरित गरेको थियो ।"

पहिलोपटक यमीलाई भूमिगत हुनका निम्ति बाध्य हुनुपर्दा दिक्दारीको अनुभव गर्नुपरेको थियो किनभने सडक आन्दोलनमा उहाँको प्रभाव ज्यादा थियो । पार्टीको काम खुम्चिएकोले आफ्नो पहिचान नै गुमेको अनुभव उहाँमा भयो । उहाँले बाहिरको घुमघाममा प्रतिबन्ध लागेको अनुभव गरेपछि उहाँ पोखरा जानुभयो र त्यसपछि भारत छिर्नुभयो । उहाँ मनमा कुरा राखेर बस्न नसक्ने भएकोले उहाँलाई आफ्नो बोली बन्द गरेर बस्न मुश्किल भयो ।

समाजको तल्लो वर्गका मानिसहरु सामान्यतः वामपन्थी आन्दोलनमा सहभागी हुन्छन् र उनीहरुले माथिल्लो वर्गको आलोचना गर्दछन् । यो प्रचलन पार्टी भीत्र र बाहिर दुवै तहमा हुने गर्दछ । त्यसैले उहाँको पार्टीपीतिको प्रतिबद्धता र आस्थाप्रति पटकपटक प्रश्न उठाउने गरिएको छ, त्यसैका कारण उहाँमाथि सन् २००५ मा पार्टीले कारवाही समेत गरेको थियो । पार्टीबीपरीतको धारणा र्सार्वजनिक गर्नुको सट्टा उहाँले पार्टी साहित्यतर्फध्यान दिनुभयो र न्यायका निम्ति कुर्नुभयो । पार्टीको चुनवाङ बैठकले अन्ततः सबै सिद्धान्त र शक्तिलाई एकत्रित गरेको थियो । "प्रश्न उठाउनु ठिकै हो । तर परिवारको पृष्ठभूमीका कारण कसैले पनि मलाई लखेट्न सक्दैन । मलाई स्वीकार नगर्नु पर्ने कुनै सम्भावना नै छैन," उहाँले भन्नुभयो ।

महिलालाई राजनीतिमा सहजै स्वीकार गरिन्न । पुरुषहरुले महिला र उनीहरुको योगदानलाई कमजोर ठान्ने गर्दछन् र यस्तो परिस्थिति सामन्ती वा पितृसत्तात्मक धारणाबाट ग्रस्त समाज भएको मुलुकमा स्वाभाविक हो । अन्यको तुलनामा एकीकृत नेकपा (माओवादी) पार्टी महिलाप्रति बढी उदार रहेको ठानिन्छ । "महिलालाई विशेषाधिकार दिइएको हुन्छ र धेरै महिलाहरु माथिल्लो नेतृत्वमा आउनु भएको छ । हामी महिला लडाकुहरुलाई सम्मान गर्दछौं । तर, पार्टीभीत्र अझै पनि महिलालाई समानरुपमा व्यवहार गरिएको छैन भन्नेमा म स्वीकार गर्दछु । सामन्ती सोचाइको प्रतिबिम्ब अझै पनि कतैकतै रहेको देखिन्छ," उहाँ बताउनुहुन्छ ।

जनयुद्धले राजतन्त्रलाई उखेलेर फाल्यो । माओवादीहरु व्यवस्थापिका संसदमा प्रवेश गरे र त्यसपछि सरकारमा समेत सामेल भयो । तर तिनीहरुले अवरोधको सामना गर्नुपरेको छ । अन्य राजनीतिक दल र केही मानिसहरु माओवादीलाई राजनीतिक शक्तिको रुपमा रुपान्तरण भएको स्वीकार गर्न तयार थिएनन् ।
झण्डै एक दशकको भूमिगत जीवनबाट १८ जुन २००३ मा सरकार र माओवादीबीच औपचारिकरुपमा वार्ता प्रारम्भ हुँदा मध्यस्थको रुपमा यमी र्सार्वजनिकरुपमा देखा पर्नु भएको हो । अधिकाँश माओवादी नेताहरुमा अन्य राजनीतिक शक्ति, अन्तर्रराट्रियसमुदाय र प्रेससँग सामना गर्ने आवश्यक दक्षता र सीप थिएन । तैपनि, यमीमा विभिन्न राजनीतिक विचारको सुझबुझ थियो र पार्टी गठनपूव अन्तर्रराट्रियपरिस्थितिबारे जानकारी थियो । उहाँले विभिन्न तह र तप्काका मानिससँग भेट गर्दा त्यसलाई स्वाभाविक रुपमा लिनुभयो र उनीहरुका आलोचना र आकाँक्षालाई ध्यानपूवक सुन्नुभयो ।

आफ्नो राजनीतिक जीवनको प्रारम्भदेखि नै यमीले महिला अधिकारको आन्दोलनमा समर्पित गर्नुभएको थियो । अखिल नेपाल महिला संघ (क्रान्तिकारी) मार्फ उहाँले महिलाको अधिकार र लैंगिक समानताको सन्देश प्रवाह गर्नुका साथै शदियौं पुरानो पितृसत्तात्मक विचारधाराका बिरुद्धमा संर्घष गर्ने आवश्यकताप्रति आम जनताको धारणा निर्माण गर्नुभएको थियो । यमीले आफ्नै पार्टीभीत्र समेत आलोचनाको सामना गर्नुपरेको थियो किनभने उहाँका धारणाहरु अन्यका भन्दा पृथक हुनेगर्दथे । उहाँ भन्नुहुन्छ, "महिलाको हिजोको विचार र आजका विचारका बीचमा फरक हुन्छ भन्ने धारणा मेरो थियो । आजभोलि हामीले विषयलाई सम्पूणतामा हेर्नुपर्दछ । हामीहरु २१ औं शताब्दीमा अतिवादी भएर बाँच्न सक्दैनौं । त्यर्सथ, हामीले पुरातन विचारधारालाई त्याग्नु पर्दछ र समग्र महिलाको स्वतन्त्रताका निम्ति पुरुषसँग सहकार्य गर्नुपर्दछ ।"
समाजका निम्ति केही गरौं भन्ने धारणा र क्षमता भएका महिलाहरु पनि आफ्ना घरबाट बाहिर निस्कन नसक्ने उहाँले बताउनुभयो । "मेरो सर्न्दर्भमा, मेरो श्रीमान् धेरै नै उदार र सहयोगी हुनुहुन्छ ।"
यमी सन् २००७ को अप्रिल १ मा अन्तरिम सरकारमा भौतिक योजना तथा निर्माण मन्त्री बन्नुभयो । आफ्नो कार्यकालका धेरैवटा काममध्ये मेलम्ची खानेपानी योजनाको विवादलाई टुङ्ग्याउन गरेको राजनीतिक र कुटनीतिक निर्णयलाई अझै उहाँ सम्झनुहुन्छ । परिस्थितिलाई नियन्त्रणमा लिने सिलसिलामा उहाँले नेपाली जनताको हितमा प्रयोग गर्न चातुयतापूवक एसियाली विकास बैंकलाई नेपालमा ल्याउनुभएको थियो र यसबाट दाताहरु समेत खुशी भएका थिए ।

काठमाडौं निर्वाचन क्षेत्र ७ बाट अप्रिल २००८ मा विजयी भएपश्चात उहाँ अहिले संविधानसभाको सदस्य हुनुहुन्छ । माओवादी अध्यक्ष प्रचण्डले नेतृत्व गर्नुभएको मन्त्रीमण्डलमा सन् २००८ को अगष्ट १८ मा उहाँ पर्यटन तथा नागरिक उड्डयन मन्त्रीको रुपमा सहभागी हुनुभयो । पर्यटन क्षेत्रलाई आमुल सुधार गर्ने उहाँको कार्यशैलीको सबैले प्रशँसा गरेका छन् । उहाँले ५० वर्षो उमेरमा बन्जी जम्प गरेर निडर राजनीतिकर्मीको रुपमा आफूलाई स्थापित गर्नुभएको छ ।

अहिले यमी नेवा स्वायत्त राज्यको पक्षमा पैरवी गरिरहनु भएको छ । मुलुकलाई पुनःसंचरना गर्ने क्रममा हामीले हाम्रो जातीय पहिचानलाई विर्सनु हुँदैन भन्ने धारणा उहाँको छ । "काठमाडौं उपत्यका र यसको वरिपरिको क्षेत्र नेवारहरुको सभ्यताको धरोहर हो । र, नयाँ राज्य निर्माण गर्नेक्रममा यस सत्यतालाई विर्सन सकिन्न ।" तर उहाँ चेतावनी दिँदै भन्नुहुन्छ, "आजको वास्तविकतालाई पनि हामीले विर्सन भने हुँदैन । उपत्यकाको वर्षौं पुरानो सभ्यतालाई सम्मान प्रदान गर्दा उपत्यकामा बसोबास गर्ने अन्य सबै जातजातिको सामाजिक, धार्मिक, साँस्कृतिक र जातीय सहिष्णुतालाई कायम राख्नुपर्दछ ।" उहाँ काठमाडौं उपत्यका केन्द्रीकृत विकासबाट थलिएकोले विकेन्द्रित प्रशासकीय ढाँचाको आरम्भ गर्नुपर्नेमा विश्वास राख्नुहुन्छ र यसका निम्ति राजधानीलाई अन्यत्र र्सार्न पनि सकिन्छ ।

उहाँले धेरैवटा पुस्तक आफैंले र सहलेखकको रुपमा लेखिसक्नु भएको छ । जस्तै, आधा आकाश आधा धर्ती (१९९१), अधिकारः नेपाली महिलासम्बन्धी कानुनको विश्लेषण (१९९३), मार्क्सवाद र महिला मुक्ति तथा जनयुद्ध र नेपालमा महिला स्वतन्त्रता (दुवै २००६) ।

उहाँ समाज र पार्टी आफूलाई धेरै सुम्पेको विश्वास गर्नुहुन्छ । "मैले फिर्ता गर्न सकेकी छैन । अब मैले सबै कुरा दिनुपर्दछ - मेरो अध्ययन, मेरो संर्घष र मेरो उपलब्धी । मैले सबै पक्षबाट पार्टीलाई योगदान गर्नुपर्दछ ।"

सरकारबाट अलग्गिए पनि यमी पार्टीकोगठनमा व्यापकरुपमा सहभागी हुनु भएको छ । तैपनि, उहाँ आफ्नो संर्घष र उपलब्धीको समिक्षा गर्नुपर्ने उपयुक्त समय आएको विश्वास गर्नुहुन्छ । "मैले एकपटक आफ्नो जीवनी लेख्ने सोचाइ बनाएकी थिएँ तर यसमा केन्द्रित गर्न सकिन । अब, उपयुक्त समय आएको मलाई लागेको छ," उहाँ भन्नुहुन्छ ।

http://web.archive.org/web/20141011000859/http://www.wwj.org.np:80/mahila/nep/nep_hisila_yami.html

Nepali Mahila : Hisila Yami

Central Committee Member, Unified Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)
Member, Constituent Assembly
Former Minister for Culture and Tourism
Born in 1959, in Kathmandu
Hailing from a traditional Newar society, Hisila Yami has become an off-the-beaten-track role model for Nepali women in many ways. Credit goes to her 'rebellious' father and her affiliation with the Maoist party.
She was born on 25 June, 1959, the last of seven children in the upper middle class family of Dharma Ratna Yami in Naradevi of Kathmandu. She grew up in a lavish environment as the last daughter of a large family.
Yami's father, Dharma Ratna, was a political figure and party meetings were frequently held in her home. She overheard a lot from their talks and understood the political situation as well as her father's personal views. But Ratna never tried to politicize his children and instead used to joke that all his siblings were from a Science background, but that he, as a politician, had better knowledge. Indeed, he had written over two-dozen books by that time.
Ratna was very liberal-minded and deliberately kept his children away from religion. He did not bother taking all his daughters through the "Ihi" and "Baray" (religious rites of marrying a girl to a wood apple and closing a girl child to a room to teach her about her body changes), traditions considered a must in Newar society. This was a kind of eye-popping revolution in the conservative cultural setting of the Newar community. Her mother bore the brunt of much criticism and was warned no Newar families would be ready to accept her girls as daughters-in-law as a result. "I can bet my father was more revolutionary in many ways than the Communists of those days," Yami said.
But Ratna preferred not to be labelled a Communist or a Democrat. Instead he was a person who "belonged to everyone, belonged to none". All honoured him, but nobody gave him any position of authority, so, as a result, he was used by the king. "He was a die-hard anti-Rana revolutionist, but his strength fell apart after King Tribhuwan drew his attention."
Yami joined Kanya Mandir High School in her neighbourhood. Her mother passed away when she was only ten years old and her sisters took care of her, especially her youngest sister Timila who was like a mother for her. Yami joined Kendriya Vidhyalaya of Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India, in 1971. The school taught her the qualities of being dashing, sporty, extroverted and revolutionary, as well as being a lover of culture. "I love sports and live culture. I used to sing a lot. I would have become an artist if I were not married to Dr Baburam," she said in a jolly mood.
A good number of Nepalese lived in Kanpur, but all were very poor and working there as porters or gatekeepers. Yami's sensitive heart lead her to ask herself why it happened only in Nepal that people were not allowed to live a dignified life. The bitter reality of class difference deeply touched her conscience and she was thus drawn to Marxism.
Yami was an average student but possessed talent in cultural and other extracurricular activities. Her sister suggested she study Architecture in order to tap in to her creativity.
She completed her schooling in 1975 and joined the School of Planning and Architecture in Delhi to obtain her Bachelor of Architecture. The atmosphere in the college gave her insight into societal hierarchy and inspired a devotion to bridging the gap between the rich and poor.
It was at college in 1977 when she first came into contact with Baburam Bhattarai, who was there to complete his master's degree. She was impressed with Bhattarai as he knew of the pathetic state in which Nepalese were living in the streets and he possessed a great deal of knowledge about her father and his contributions. "Meeting with Baburam was a qualitative leap in my life," Yami said.
They soon became good friends. He saw in her an interest in learning new things and was impressed by her political orientation. They worked together for the Nepali Ekata Samaj, an organization for low-class Nepali people working in different parts of India. Their friendship eventually turned into a marriage in 1981. Local Swami Agnivesh, a leader for the bonded labours movement, helped them marry.
Yami was busy in organizational tasks after the marriage, such as organizing Nepali students in India, mainly through Akhil Bharatiya Nepali Bidhyarthi Sangh, of which, she was general secretary between 1981 and 1982. She had obtained membership of the Nepal Communist Party by that time.
She returned to Nepal with the purpose of expanding the organization. To do this she had to take a professional track. She began teaching at the Institute of Engineering, Pulchowk Campus, as a lecturer between 1983 and 1996. Teaching was only a platform to unite fellow left-wing people.
Yami was initially a district committee member of the party and worked as the central chairperson of the All Nepal Women's Association (Revolutionary) up until the People's War was finally waged.
Yami completed her Masters in Architecture from the United Kingdom's University of Newcastle in 1995. "It was a bit difficult but study and work for the movement, but both went side-by-side in my life," she said.
When the party decided to launch the People's War, Yami became a full-time member. She was working for the International and Immigration Department and was a member of the regional bureau in the party. She was also editing the publication of the Camposa. She was made a central committee member in the national congress in 2000. She gained popularity among cadres as Comrade Parvati, a sportive leader who could adjust to any kind of person or situation. Although Yami was not physically involved in the war or military operations, she worked actively during this period and, in such, due credit of the movement's result must go to her.
"It was quite difficult for a husband and a wife to work together for the party. We were more guided by thoughts than sentiments and, obviously, contradictions erupted now and then," she said, adding that despite this, the contradictions lead to a greater commitment to work hard for the party and Nepal.
Yami suffered serious depression when she was first forced to go underground, as she was doing her best in the streets and was a young and energetic activist. She felt party work was shrinking and that she had lost her identity. When mobility was restricted she went first to Pokhara and then India. She was an extrovert and keeping her mouth shut was difficult.
People from society's low class generally join Communist movements and criticize higher classes, both within the party and outside. This may explain why her commitment and loyalty to the party came under question several times, so much so the party took action against her in 2005. Instead of generating prejudice against the party, she concentrated on party literature and waited for justice. The party's Chunwang Meeting finally unified all doctrines and forces. "Question marks are okay. But nobody could chase me out because of my family background. There was no chance of being not accepted," she said.
Women are not easily accepted in politics. Men tend to underestimate women and their contributions, a natural reaction in a country in which a feudal or patriarchal setting governs society. In comparison with others, the CPN (Communist Party of Nepal) - Maoist is considered a party which is liberal to women. "Women are given special rights and more women have come to upper levels of leadership. We honour women militants. But, still, I have to admit that women are not all equally treated in the party. The reflection of feudal thinking is still there somewhere," she said.
The People's War overthrew the monarchy. The Maoists entered legislative parliament and then the government. But they were faced with much opposition. Parties and people were not ready to accept transformation of the Maoists into a political force.
After a decade working underground Yami appeared in public on 18 June, 2003, as negotiations between the government and Maoists formally took shape. Understandably, most Maoist leaders did not possess the skills necessary to face other political forces, international institutions, and the press. Yami, however, had an understanding of different ideologies and an exposure to the international scene prior to the party's formation, which is why she did not have to 'come out of the den'. She felt very comfortable when she met different people and listened to their criticism and expectations.
Yami had been attached to the women's rights movement from the beginning of her political life. Through the All Nepal Women's Association (Revolutionary) she spread messages of women's rights and gender equality, and generated the masses' opinions on the need to fight against the century-old patriarchal ideology. Yami faced criticism from within her party as her way of thinking differed from most. She said, "I have conceived a difference between women's thoughts of yesterday and those held today. These days we have to go to totality. We cannot survive as extremists in the 21st century. So, we need to leave outdated ideology behind and collaborate with men for overall women's emancipation."
She added that many women cannot come out of their homes even though they have the zeal and capacity to do something for society. "In my case, my husband has been very accommodative and supportive to me".
Yami became Minister of Physical Planning and Works in the interim government on 1 April, 2007. Along with her many other achievements, she is often remembered for her political and diplomatic decision to end the deadlock preventing the Melamchi Drinking Water Project to go ahead. Taking control of the situation she tactfully brought the Asian Development Bank to Nepali people's interest and made the donors happy.
After winning the election from Kathmandu Constituency No. 7 in April 2008, she is now a member of the Constituent Assembly. She again joined the government led by Maoist chairman Prachanda on 18 August, 2008 as the Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation. Her radical approach to reform the tourism sector was well recognized. She has also proved herself to be a role model as a well-rounded and fearless politician by bungee jumping at the age of 50.
Yami has now become an advocate of Newa Autonomous Region. She believes we cannot forget our ethnic identity when we restructure the country. "The Kathmandu Valley and surrounding area is undoubtedly the civilization of the Newars. And the new state formation must not overlook this truth. But, she warned, "This does not mean that we can forget the reality today. By giving honor to the age-old civilization of the valley, all should live in this valley in social, religious, cultural and ethnic harmony". She also believes Kathmandu has been overloaded with centralized development and the concept of decentralization of the administrative hub should be introduced, perhaps by relocating the capital.
She has authored and co-authored several books, such as Adha Akash Adha Dharti (1991), Adhikar: Demystification of Law for Nepali Women (1993), Marxbad ra mahila mukti in and People's War and Women's Liberation in Nepal (both 2006).
Yami believes society and the party have given her a lot. "I have not been able to return. Now I should give all (back) - my studies, my struggles and my achievements. I should contribute from all aspects."
Even though she has now left the government, Yami has become more involved in party organization. Still, she believes now is the time for her to review her struggles and achievements. "I once made up my mind to write an autobiography but I could not concentrate. Now, I believe that the right time has come," she said.

Written by Razen Manandhar.
http://web.archive.org/web/20141011002255/http://www.wwj.org.np:80/mahila/profile_hishila_yami.html

Nepali Mahila : Bindra Hada Bhattarai

Secretary at the Ministry for Women, Children and Social Welfare

Born in 1965, Kathmandu



Bindra Hada Bhattarai underwent all sorts of hardships in Nepali bureaucracy, something women in general in Nepal choose to stay away from. Now, she is regarded as an energetic woman secretary in the history of Nepal's civil service.

Bhattarai was born on June 23, 1965 in an extended joint family of typical Newars of Bhotahity in the center of Kathmandu, where any change in the traditional system was always restricted. Being the first child of the eldest son in the family, she enjoyed immense love, both from her father's relatives as well as her mother's home.

Her father, Bishnu Hada, a retired government officer, did everything to educate his children. She joined local Balkumari High School, but changed schools quite frequently as she had to travel along with her father to Nepalgunj, Bhairahawa, Ilam and other districts. Bhattari finally returned to Kathmandu and joined Nepal Adarsha High School, from where she completed her exams for the School Leaving Certificate in 1982. She later joined Tri-Chandra Campus where she did her master's degree in Organic Chemistry in 1991.

Bhattari's childhood dream was to become a teacher. After doing her master's degree, she started working as a part-time teacher in Tri-Chandra Campus. There was discrimination against part-time teachers, who were scantily paid and had little chance of promotion. She, along with a group of other teachers, demanded a secure position in campus administration. A teacher challenged and mocked her to pass the examination of Public Service Commission (PSC) in order to join the campus.

She may have forgotten this teacher's name now, but Bhattari thanks him for the success she has achieved today. The teacher may have wanted to remind her that not everyone who passes the university exam could be fit for a teacher's job. On the other hand he may have intended to teach her that getting a job is not easy. But Bhattari chose to take what he said as a challenge and immediately applied for the examination of PSC. She attended the examination without much interest and hard work, but passed regardless. She still wanted to become a teacher and went to the campus again; just to advise the teacher she had passed the examination and was now eligible to hold the teacher's position. The teacher was shocked and advised her to take advantage of her hard-earned qualification by joining a government office.

Bhattari was the daughter of a government officer and therefore understood how things work in government offices. It was not that she hated government jobs, but she wanted to do something else. However, after talking with several people in the campus as well as her family, in 1992 she finally received her appointment letter to work as a chemist in the Department of Mines.

She had an inter-caste marriage in 1992 with Nagendra Prasad Bhattarai, who is affiliated with the Department of English at Tribhuvan University. The couple now has two daughters. Bhattari is one of very few women in Kathmandu not to face any consequences following her inter-caste marriage. Both families are traditional, but have accepted their decision and are now living as part of a joint family. She added, "Had my husband and my in-laws not helped me, I could not have continued my professional life or career."

Bhattari believes her husband has been very cooperative and a great help in her social and professional life. Still, traditional male-domination is there. Even in today's urban family, in which both husband and wife work, husbands generally seek respect from their wives. "When we meet somebody, we have to think from which cultural background they have come, and this helps us a lot to compromise and take things ahead," she said.

Working in the office was fine and she performed in her role well, however working for over seven years Bhattari came to find her job quite monotonous. She told her seniors she wanted to be transferred to other office. She was sent to the Ministry of Finance and started working at the Department of 'Value Added Tax' in 1999 as a chemist.

Nepal's bureaucracy means people are seldom promoted within the technical field so there is often little chance of progress. Bhattari realized technical persons and their expertise are undermined. Thus she tried several times to escape and create a career in other fields such as teaching and banking. One day, she found herself applying for a job working for someone she had taught long time back.

"It was a time of unfathomable humiliation. Almost everybody in the office was against me. I cannot say if it was because I was a woman or not, but they just did not let me work. Then I remembered that life is a struggle. You need both hard work and destiny. I found ways to survive in those circumstances."

In 2002, she sat an examination for the post of joint-secretary, which, to her surprise, she passed. It was a two-step promotion and people in her office naturally envied her. Some of her co-workers did their best to convey the message to seniors that Bhattari could not handle the post. Nevertheless, thanks to her performance in previous offices, she was posted as a joint-secretary at the Ministry of Public Administration in the same year.

Bhattari has been observing Nepal's government employment and administration through her father since childhood. Handling administrative hassles was not difficult for her and she came up with an idea to do something for women bureaucrats. She, among others, successfully arranged a provision for a man to receive paid leave at the time of his wife's delivery. Similarly, she also worked to bring change within the conventional system of promoting government staff, arguing that using the mark-sheet method should not be the only guide while promoting hard-working staff. The next year she was responsible for promoting 75 section officers to the post of under-secretary. She had staff complete a form to determine where they wanted to be posted. Of them, 70 received their post of choice and were happy. "I believe that we can get the maximum from staff if we know their orientation, and this will ultimately be beneficial to the state," she said.

Later, she went to the Department of Commerce as the Director General. It was around this time she came down hard on corrupt businessmen and launched a campaign for consumers' rights. Market inspections became regular and black-marketers were put behind bars. However, many businessmen still managed to escape. She used all her tactics to bring the market under control. She admitted that although the period was thrilling, she did make mistakes and came into controversy. "It was the time when I could do something I wanted. I proved that bringing the market under government control is possible. Still, I could not do all because of a flaw in our laws," she said.

www.nepalimahila.comBhattari was later promoted as a secretary at the Cabinet Office from 1 October 2007, where she stayed for 13 months. It was a place where competitive people were appointed as secretaries, though they could not prove their expertise. It was an even more difficult place to work.

Still, she introduced a provision to make separate desks for social, economic and other issues. She handled the desk for infrastructure and the social sector. That is, she collected information on agriculture, economics, industries, women, children, education, land management and physical planning. A database was prepared, and all information from the respective Ministries was compiled for the Cabinet office so information regarding all Ministries could be held in the one place. The system showed promise and progress; however was put on hold amid the hectic time of the Constituent Assembly election. When the election results came through, more time was taken from Bhattari's project as resources were spent on the forming of the new government. She said she had the opportunity to learn many cross-cutting issues, but could not perform well in that environment.

She was transferred to the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare in November 2008, a Ministry considered to be small, manageable and without much hassle. In Bhattari's words, it is a Ministry in which "responsibility is big, but is opened out of small concept".

Bhattari took the responsibility of secretary of the Ministry as a challenge as well as an opportunity. She said, "Now, I feel that I am in the right place. I see so many things around me which must be done for women, children, disabled people and elder citizens as well as society. But I see the constraints as well. We are covering over 80 percent of the total population, but the budget the government has provided is only nominal. For the current fiscal year, the Ministry only has an Rs 805,500,000 budget. It is smaller than that of one big project and there are hundreds of big projects to be implemented."

She added that women members of the Constituent Assembly often visit her and suggest launching programs in their respective districts. "Their ideas are good, but we cannot do what we plan because of lack of financial resources."

Bhattari is now focusing on adolescent girls' education. It is a 10-day training for drop-out girl students with the purpose of either sending them back to schools, or arranging for them to complete simple vocational training. By the end of this fiscal year the Ministry will reach 2,342 Village Development Committees (VDCs) and plan to add 600 more in the year ahead. "If we have enough money, we can develop our country with our ideas alone. We Nepalis do not lack good ideas. I believe that this Ministry can bring a change in Nepali society."

Meanwhile, the Ministry will establish a complaint desk for victims of domestic violence in all VDCs.

Written by Razen Manandhar
http://web.archive.org/web/20141011003537/http://www.wwj.org.np:80/mahila/profile_bindra_hada_bhattrai.html

Nepali Mahila : Bidhya Bhandari

Vice chairperson of the Nepal Communist Party (Unified Marxist-Leninist)
Chairperson of All Nepal Women's Association

Minister of Defense

Born in 1961 in Bhojpur district



A few people had heard of Bidhya Bhandari before she married Madan Bhandari, a prominent leader of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) who died in a car accident in 1993. Some people criticized her for being a 'widow politician', common in South Asian countries, when she contested in the parliamentary election of 1994 by succeeding her husband and won. She proved herself to be a 'real successful politician' in the eighth general convention of the CPN (UML), held in March 2009, by being elected vice president of her party.

She was born in June 1961 in Ambote village of Bhojpur district in eastern Nepal to a well-to-do farmer's family of Brahmins. She was a lucky girl in Nepali society who had seldom experienced gender discrimination in her childhood. Her father Ram Bahadur Pandey was headmaster at a local high school. Her grandfather Tilak Bahadur Pandey was a social worker as well as a Pradhan Pancha, a powerful post in the village during the Panchayati period.

She first joined Behereshwar Primary School and later shifted to Bidhyodaya Vocational High School in the district headquarters, from where she completed her SLC (School Leaving Certificate) in 1979. Bhandari was the first person to complete matriculation in her family. In her generation girls seldom had a chance to go to school, but her grandfather insisted she attend . "I happened to be a role model for the women in my village and it prom pted other parents to send their daughters to school," she said.

Bhand ari learned about politics w hen she was in seventh grade. She listened to regular discussions on politics in her family between her grandfather and uncles who had worked as student activists in the Nepal Student's Union and the ANNFSU. Nepal was then under the party-less Panchayat system and in Jhapa district a radical communist group raised weapons against landlords under the influence of the Naxallites of Eastern India. In the village she was told this Jhapa movement was launched by 'beheaders' who took away all unmarried girls. In such, g irls were allowed to go to the jungle to collect fodder only after wearing 'pote and chura', traditional ornaments worn by married wom en. But at home she heard that communists had raised arms in Jhapa to fight against all sorts of inequality .

Her family had no real financial problems but Bhand ari was sensitive enough to worry about the poor people in her villages. "I felt very bad when I saw some people begging for money, medicine or some old dresses to wear. I wondered why they we re so poor and what was the cause of this inequality," she said.

Bhandari heard her relative Khagendra Pandey praising China's Cultural Revolution . He said that every person would have food to eat, places to shelter and jobs for wage in communist society. The communis t philosophy attracted her.

When she was in eighth grade Bhand ari learned about the Coordination Committee, the communist organization that was founded in 1975 by those activists who participated in the Jhapa movement and later turned into the Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist-Leninist) in 1978. She began to participate in activities distributing pamphlets in villages to warn the local landlords. "My grandfather was known as a feudal lord in the village. And I was on the frontline to distribute pamphlets against the feudalists. But he had never scolded me for my activities. He was radical enough to support me," she said, adding that her grandfather rather inspired her to move ahead with her political slogans.

"My grandfather used to say that all his grandsons were following the old track, but that I would do something for the country as I was taking a new track. It became a great inspiration for me throughout my life."

In 1978 Bhandari joined Bhojpur Campus and took a course in humanities. In the same year, the student movement erupted in Kathmandu and spread all over the country. She and her colleagues collected money to send several students to the capital to show solidarity in the movement as members of the All Nepal National Free Student Union (ANNFSU). That was the beginning of her involvement in politics.

Bhand ari was very active as a student leader in her campus during the Panchayat period. Her group would go to remote villages to hold meetings with local activists. While she was doing her B achelor's degree in Mahendra Morang Campus in Biratnagar she was elected treasurer of the ANNFSU. Bhandari slowly became involved in party politics through its women's wing, the All Nepal Women's Association (ANWA), and developed associations  with the Biratnagar City Committee of the CPN (ML).

In 1982 Bhandari married Madan Bhandari through the intermediacy of her party. Before marriage the pair had met twice, once in 1979 and again in 1980 in Bhojpur, during party programs. She was among the participants Madan Bhandari gave political training to. She was very impressed with his personality, his political ideology and his leadership ability.

"It was not a love-at-first-sight kind of thing. I was nervous to be in front of him. His sharpness and his ability to present various issues with depth touched me. I was sure that he was a man with a difference but I did not know that he would one day acquire the position of general secretary of the CPN (UML)," she said.

Their marriage was inter-caste as Bidhaya belong ed to a Brahmin family and Madan to a Chhetri . Every arrangement of their marriage which took a year to finalize was handled by the party, without family support. When she told her mother about their marriage she neither took the news positively nor opposed it.

After their marriage, the two were both busy with their own party work and neither had time to take care of their family. They didn't even have time to think about whether their marriage was the right decision or not. "Even now I feel that it was an extremely difficult time and I wonder how we came to this stage," she said.

www.nepalimahila.com
Bhandari kept a low profile after her marriage while her husband made many landmark contributions for his party as well as the country. She said she kept a low profile by choice . She explain ed, "I saw a kind of unexpressed agony in many wives of political leaders. They feel that they had to sacrifice their abilities and possibilities for their husband's sake, which I don't like. Instead of working neck and neck with my husband, I preferred to let him move ahead by himself. I never took advantage of his personality and his position in the party, neither had I ever thought of competing with him. I was free from these two extremes. But I was careful of not putting him in any controversy because of me."

Bhand ari became more active in politics after Madan Bhadari died in a controversial car accident in 1993. In the mid-term election of 1994, her party gave her a ticket to contest in a constituency in Kathmandu where her husband was elected as an MP, by defeating veteran politician of the Nepali Congress, Krishna Prasad Bhattarai. She won and became M ember of Parliament.

She has been engaged with AWNA since its establishment in 1980. She became a president of chapters in Biratnagar, Morang district, and Koshi zone before she was elected a central president in 1998. She did not have the feeling that women were discriminated against before she was engaged in activities with ANWA. After becoming a member of ANWA, she went among women in search of more information on women's issues. She came to see that women are deprived of the same rights men enjoy , and that women face various other problems within their family and also society.

Bhandari finds a difference between the modality of women's movements before 1990's political change compared with the way it has been since . ANWA's  main political target before 1990 was to organize women to end the party-less Panchayat system. In those days, their movement was more political and they expected nothing but liberation for women while o n the streets.

However, after politics opened up in 1990 new kinds of women activists wearing clean dresses from middle-class or rich families came to the stage and tried to raise women's issues under the guidance of donors. Bhand ari is quite critical of those 'new-comers' in the fields of women's issues. She said, "We political activists spent our life for women's issues on dusty roads, with children on our backs, but activists of mushrooming NGOs took benefit from our issues." She is proud to admit she has never run after donors nor compromised  with them.

In 1997 she was appointed Minister for Population and Environment for seven months in the coalition government. "I was happy with my portfolio but I found very difficult to work in the environment where I could hardly find anybody to support me in the Ministry. I have to say, I faced lots of problem being a woman minister," she said.

Bhandari tabled the controversial 'property bill' in Parliament in 2006 with the support of several women MPs if the Nepali Congress after a long wait . It was easily approved. "Through this bill, women for the first time in the Nepali history got a right to succeed their parental property and a right to issue a child's citizenship with the name of a mother," she said.

After working as a central committee member of the CPN (UML) since 1998, she was elected one of three party vice presidents. "In fact, during the convention many male leaders tried to prevent me from contesting for a seat of vice president but there was some dramatic change and I was elected unexpectedly. I was glad to win but feel I have more responsibility now."  Bhand ari sometimes becomes sentimental when she look s at the chaotic situation of her party over the past few years , but she is willing to lead the party by herself should the time come .

Written by Razen Manandhar and Subhechha Bindu Tuladhar
http://web.archive.org/web/20141010125333/http://www.wwj.org.np:80/mahila/profile_bidhya_bhandari.html

Air is gong to cost more than water

Air is gong to cost more than water
Razen Manandhar
The price the residents of the Katmandu Valley have been paying for the air that comes from the dry pipelines (except for an hour or two in a week when water really appears to drip) is going to be more expensive than ever, thanks to the pressure of foreign investors of ambitious water projects and slave-like mentality of government officials. Despite protests from various consumers' organizations and civil society networks, the Kathmandu Upatyaka Khanepani Limited (KUKL)has decided to hike water tariff very soon. The brazen decision of the so-called public-private partnership institution is now guided by foreign managers. While, the two other institutions Water Management Board and Water Tariff Fixation Commission have turned out to be puppet bodies of KUKL.

Following high-scale meetings, delegations and telephone conversations - going on in various hot-spots of the capital from Friday to Tuesday, the KUKL has recently received green signal to hike the water tariff. If it goes as KUKL has dreamed a few months ago, the water tariff will rise from 11 per cent to 150 per cent. And once the flood gate is open, KUKL will think that it has right to raise tariff every year.

The KUKL, which have came into shape after disintegrating the state-owned Nepal Water Supply Corporation and taking out the most profit-making part of it, that is, the Kathmandu Valley, literally failed to do "anything" to provide service to the thirsty denizens of the capital city. Neither they could make good relation with the public, nor they could do better homework to increase supply side. From the very beginning they were doing their best to hike the price, for, it was the mission of KUKL to do so, to let ADB release loan money for the tunnel construction of the Melamchi Water Supply Project.

In fact the KUKL was born not out of necessity, but to please the foreign investors. The concept of "privatization" was conceived in Nepal and was forcefully introduced the hybrid kind of privatization by the government not because the service of former Kathmandu section of NWSC was hopeless and this KUKL will come up with a magic stick. But there was a clause in the contract between the government and the ADB that the there must be some foreign kind of management of the water distribution body before it will release the loan money for construction of the Melamchi tunnel.

Melamchi has been a boring story for past several years. Even the promoters of this ambiguous "almost half a billion dollar" project are not sure when the water will really be flown in the valley's surface from this project. Even if the things go as smoothly as the politicians often speak, it is going to take at least half a decade from today's date. And the government does not have a single concrete plan how to supply water to the 4 million people of this centralized city in the years to come. Still, the government officials as well as political leaders from "revolutionary" parties cannot find time to think of some alternative solutions to the ever rising water crisis. The bankruptcy of intellectuality only drives them to go to the foreign investors and plead for some unfathomable amount of loan for some hazy kind of project. And, the investors, taking full advantage of the present situation, tie the almost impossible service to indispensable need and make the naive citizens slave of the bureaucracy and technocracy.

In one way, we may also try to be rational and think that why cannot we let KUKL do something if it wants to, after hiking the price.
Having assumed that the tariff hike is the need of the time, there is no guarantee that the situation of water scarcity will ever improve after the tariff hike. It is as clear as the day what the KUKL has done for the consumers of the three major districts of the country. Neither quality not quantity of water has shown any visible improvement in past 11 months. Both in the Monsoon as well as the dry season, the KUKL was just passing excuses. This shows that there is no relation between the proposed price hike and improved future. The situation was only dilapidating. What might have improved is just the pay scale of some selected employees of the Limited, into which we many not have to poke our noses.

Next, we may also tend to become more wise and say that why we cannot let the KUKL hike the price if it will open the gate of Melamchi tunnel construction? If the tunnel has to be there, there should not be any "if's" and "but's" to stop it from being there. And there is no reason why those "businessmen" who want to invest millions of dollars in a least developed country, cannot invest some more money by letting the consumers drink water (I mean dry air through water pipes) for some more years if they are sure that there will be tunnel soon and there will be expensive water at every doorsteps soon. This shows that the situation is not going to improve even if the tariff is hiked and the tunnel construction is started. Then why the consumers of the Kathmandu Valley are being made escape goats of some unseen forces?

It is shame that in the whole business, the consumers the the least addressed people. When the water is being sold to the consumers, why the multi-millionires do not find time to listen to them? The locals from here and there go to the KUKL office almost everyday and try to meet the officers who think that Nepali is their colony state and they are here to serve their country. Hardly any of the consumers have chance to see the "god-like" figures of the KUKL management. What we know is that they are impotent and they are reluctant to say sorry. And, we all know, the media persons have always been a no-no for them. When they want to do business with the local people, and when they are introducing a new commodity, which has been regarded as things to donate for past thousand years, they should at least have some sense of salesmanship, which is totally lacking. This only ignites aggressiveness of the consumers' organizations.

Possibilities are there: It is also possible that some underground forces are trying to project the present management of KUKL as failure and to let a new foreign management company take the whole of KUKL. But this does not mean that we play the role of slave and always be exploited by the "service provider" institutions.

Personally speaking, I was born in Khichapokhari, once a populated area of the core city. But I was displaced from my birthplace because of water scarcity. I will be positive to any institution, taking responsibility of water distribution, only when I will be assured that the desired amount of water will be available there and a situation will be made for my rehabilitation.

Even though, naturally, the consumers are still not united to fight against the bureaucracy and technocracy. Politics divide them more harshly than any issue can bind them together. Still, this is the high time for the consumers to let those feudalistic institutions understand the depth of the problems we have been undergoing and ask them the rationality behind raising water tariff. No doubt, the consumers would pay money if the Limited is ready to provide us water with better service. But there is no chance for any businessmen to rise price of the commodity and do not give us even what we deserve. When it has been established that water is people's basic human rights, no state should turn its back to the responsibility of providing every citizen with his or her basic needs.

Jen la fino de la laboro!

Hodiaŭ estas speciala tago. Ni sukcesis deklari ke ni finis la laoron sur la Nepali-Esperanto-Vortaro. Hieraŭ vespere mi, Narendra kaj Poshraj diksutis pri la restintaj vortoj, pri la ordo de nomoj kaj vortoj de redaktintoj. Mi verkis longan artikolon nome de la redaktintoj kaj petis sugeston de la du. Ili konsentis kaj donis kelke da sugestoj al mi pri ĝi. Kaj, ni ankaŭ diskutis kia maniere ni helpu al NEspA peti financan subetenon de KAEM. Poste ni telefonis al Jacob por hodiaŭa renkontiĝo.

Matene mi kaj Poshraj iris kune al MS Nepalo oficejo kie Jacob atendis nin. Poste venis Narendra. Ni diskutis pri la rolo de NEspA je peto de mono al KAEM. Ni ankaŭ diskutis kiel ni povas meti malfermecon de alveno de la mono kaj ĝia travidebla uzo.

Ni unue verkis leteron al NEspA, informante al ĝi ke la vortaro estas preta nun. Kaj petis ke ĝi skribu al KAEM por la financa helpo. Ni kvin membroj de la vortaro-komitato -- mi, Narendra, Poshraj, Jacob kaj Philip -- subskribis sub ĝi. Ĉar Philip ne povis ĉeesti en la kunveno, mi iris al lia oficejo kun la letero kaj li volonte donis lian subskribon. Ni sendis la kopion de la letero al KAEM, por ke ĝi traktu la leteron iom pli haste.

Ni volis ĝin fari iom urge, ĉar eble KAEM bezonos pli da diskuto por aprobi la subtenon de ĉiuj anoj. Kaj daŭras longa tempo por veni la mono al ni (mi ne sicas en kiu konto la mono venos ĉar la konto de la ascio jam ne funkcias ĉar la ekseksa prezidanto ankoraŭ ne transdonis la rajton uzi la konton al nova kaj denove nova prezidanto). Super tio, nun mankas elektro en Katmando, la presmaŝino povas labori nun kelkaj homoj en tago kaj la laboro en ĉiuj presejoj abundas.

Ni ĉiuj deziras le la voratro estos en manoj nia dum la Internacia Himalaja Renkontiĥo! Kia bela sonĝo!!

Estis planita ke ni sidu kune kaj festu vespere, sed tio ne povis okazi. Moragaŭ tagmeze Jacob vojaĝos al Thailando kaj mi tre esperas ke tiam ni havos la monan subtenon preta.

Vesprere, Jacob, Narendra kaj mi diskutis kiom da mono ni petus. Mi proponis ke la sumo estu 1400 dolaroj kiom mi antaŭe proponis laŭ la antaŭa kalkulado, kvankam nun la prezo multe altiĝis intertempe. Ni vidu kiel la plej bone ni povos utiligu la financan subtenon kaj ĝi daŭre helpu nin eldoni aliajn Esperanto-librojn. Aŭ ni sukcesos resendi almenaŭ duonon da la subtenon al KAEM post disvendado de la vortaro.

Nun mi volas verki longan artikolon pri mia rilato kun la vortaro, eble por mia blogo.