Any politician or person who has made widows, violated virgins, extorted money beware! Dahal, Bhattarai, Ananta, Pasang, and other YCL riff-raff can expect similar treatment from Maoist-created widows. Pyar Jung Thapa and Rukmangad Katuwal could find chappals, belonging to women who lost husbands to "security" forces, slapping them. Sher Bahadur Deuba can anticipate the same when he goes to Dandeldhura next. Had he kept his word, a Dalit, and not his wife, should have entered the CA.

The first CA should have taken place at 11 AM. Thanks to Nepali time, it started ten hours later. Not finding our politicians worth my loss of sleep, I went to bed at 10 PM. Having watched TV till midnight, my wife related the chappal-incident the first thing in the morning. Two days later, I saw (in a daily) the picture of a blue-sari clad Kamala, waving menacingly her chappal at Khadka. In between were three other people. This must have been her second try. 

I felt sorry that Kamala Sharma had to resort to such an action. However, public sympathy, including mine, was on her side. The event reminded me of a film, "Provoked", based on a true story of an UK-based Indian wife battered regularly by her man, often in front of her children. In frustration, the woman killed her husband by setting alight the bed he was sleeping on. Though sent to prison initially, the wife found freedom when the judge declared she was guilty of manslaughter (impulsive killing) and not premeditated murder. The continual harassment by her husband incited her to the action which the judge interpreted as self-defence.

Losing her husband when she least expected it, Kamala was showing her frustration at the inept, biased Nepali law, which, instead of seriously questioning Khadka under custody, seemed satisfied at the superficial answer that the driver’s gun went off accidentally to kill Rishi Prasad Sharma. Obviously, neither Kamala nor the general public accepts the story.

Is Khadka guilty? The court should decide that. However, there is plenty to indicate that the former home minister with the help of his present NC counterpart Sitaula escaped lightly. After the incident, Himal Khabarpatrika featured a long article on the Surkhet and Dang incidents. In both places, NC candidates had a role. In Dang, the Maoists kept quiet in spite of the fact that seven of their cadres lost their lives. After becoming the largest party in the CA, the Maoists decided to conveniently forget their dead. In Surkhet, the UML kept its mouth shut after fielding Kamala as a candidate in place of her husband. Both parties didn’t do enough. Not Kamala!

Common sense dictates that Purna Bahadur Khadka should not have appeared at the CA in the first place. Having lost the election through the first-past-the-post system, Khadka should have disappeared from the political scene. Sadly, NC got in the loser through the back door to the CA. On such shady practices, human-rights activist Krishna Pahadi rightly comments, "We cannot accommodate our kith and kin at the cost of universal values and principles...The politicians defeated in CA polls do not qualify for CA members" (TKP interview, June 2). It’s possible Kamala didn’t expect to see Khadka. His unethical presence could have suddenly infuriated her.

Kamala’s chappal reminds us that the usually docile Nepali women have now learnt to fight back. Even in our predominantly patriarchal society, they will not tolerated male impunity any more. In Kamala’s hand, the footwear has suddenly become a weapon, more powerful that the Maoist bullet. The gun kills once. The memory of the chappal-beating murders Khadka every time he enters the CA hall, each moment he remembers. He has turned into a walking corpse. The public which recognises him will point and say, "A lady beat this 'honourable' MP with her chappal!"

Kamala’s chappal also warns that more than Khadka will need to be wary in the future. Any politician or person who has made widows, violated virgins, extorted money beware! Dahal, Bhattarai, Ananta, Pasang, and other YCL riff-raff can expect similar treatment from Maoist-created widows. Pyar Jung Thapa and Rukmangad Katuwal could find chappals, belonging to women who lost husbands to "security" forces, slapping them. Sher Bahadur Deuba can anticipate the same when he goes to Dandeldhura next. Had he kept his word, a Dalit, and not his wife, should have entered the CA. (All who heard Dr Arzoo Deuba’s defence of this nepotism with BBC’s Sajha Sawal on June 1 night cannot but deplore her pride. As a PhD, she is certainly capable; but sadly, not ethical. She could have taught her husband not to lie but keep his promise to the Dalits.)

Kamala’s chappal is almost non-violent. It compares with a mother spanking her naughty daughter. Still, 33.2 percent strong CA ladies better use other means. Widows there should certainly campaign for justice, whether their husbands died to Maoists or the "security" forces. Losers of relatives to the insurgency should follow suit. Those who have family members disappeared should raise their voices for the truth and have the matter rested forever. Besides, they should advocate tirelessly compulsory education for girls, same salary for women doing similar work with men, tougher sentences for husbands who burn their wives for not giving birth to sons or set their brides on fire for dowry, and other issues known best only to the fairer sex.    

Kamala’s chappal will make all women bolder. Raising the voice is better. Still, as a symbol of protest against Nepali male’s impunity, chappal zindabad (live long)!

This article was first publsihes in TKP on 4th June 2008

• Another backdoor bonus? (2008/07/19)
• No CA? No pay! (2008/07/10)
• NC president essential for now (2008/07/08)
• The pot and the kettle (2008/06/29)
• New Nepal needs new minds (2008/06/29)

• Can an ass become a cow? (2008/06/02)
• Causes for Concern (2008/05/21)
• Wanted: permanent Gandhis (2008/05/04)
• Morality matters (2008/04/15)

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