Years of sweat in the gulf reduced to ashes in moments

By Bomlal Giri,Nawalpur, Sept. 17: The country stands at the edge of sweeping change. A two-day uprising by Generation Z has ousted the government led by KP Sharma Oli. 

Federal Parliament, Singha Durbar, the Supreme Court, the President’s Office, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority, and hundreds of government and private residences were reduced to ashes. These state structures will gradually rise again, but some homes have fallen in ways that will not be easy to rebuild.

Thanks to the current constitution, which for the first time gave representation to previously marginalised communities, women from the Tharu community were elected as deputy mayors. Among them are Phool Kumari Thanet, Deputy Mayor of Kawasoti Municipality, and Poorna Kala Chaudhary, Deputy Mayor of Madhyabindu Municipality in Nawalpur.

Their family homes were reduced to ashes within moments during the Gen Z unrest. Rebuilding will take decades because those houses were not built overnight; they were the product of years of sweat their husbands shed while working in the Gulf.

Deputy Mayor Chaudhary’s husband, Krishna Mahato, has been labouring in Dubai for the past 22 years. He went abroad at the age of 22 and is still there.

“With the money my husband sent, we managed to educate our two daughters, repay loans and only recently built a house in Itoura, Madhyabindu-3. We had not even finished paying the loan taken to build the house,” Chaudhary said tearfully.

According to her, “The house, built with 22 years of my husband’s hard work in the Gulf, was reduced to ashes within minutes. Now, only the brick walls remain. We  had to use three tractors to clear away the ashes.”

She is at least thankful that she and her daughters, studying in grades 8 and 10, were not at home at the time.

“Luckily, my daughters and I were not there, and our lives were spared. For that, I am grateful,” she said. “My husband told me that as long as he is alive, he will work again and somehow build a small house for us.”

 “I have never taken even a single rupee from anyone. Yet today it feels like honesty has brought me this cruel reward. Now my children have no school uniforms, no books, nothing. This has deepened my pain.”

Deputy Mayor Thanet of Kawasoti shares a similar story. Her husband spent 14 years working under the blazing 40-degree heat of Qatar, while she supported the family at home by selling cow and buffalo milk, rearing goats, and sewing and knitting in her spare time. Together, they managed to build a house in Bhabanouli, Kawasoti-17. That home too was reduced to ashes in minutes.

Despite their personal loss, both women say they find solace in the hope that the uprising and the sacrifice of 72 young lives will bring positive change.

“We are still alive. If possible, we will build our house again. If not, we will manage with what we have,” they said. “But let not the sacrifice of those unarmed young people go in vain. May inequality end and prosperity come to the nation. From our side, we are ready to contribute whatever we can.”