A New Life, or …?
Ex-combatants’ rehabilitation stories show that the process remains unfinished for many After spending years as fighters and further years in cantonments, some former combatants are picking up the pieces and rebuilding their lives but others have yet to make peace with their fate and complete the transition into productive civilian lives, writes JOHN NARAYAN PARAJULI.
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hobha Raymajhi, a former soldier in the Maoist PLA, sits listlessly on a cloudy Thursday morning staring out with both hands pressed against her cheeks as she waits for customers to arrive at her small spice shop on the outskirts of Kathmandu. Her husband, also a former combatant, went overseas to work four months ago, leaving Raymajhi to take care of the shop and their five-year-old son.
Kavre based Raymajhi left home at the age of 13 when she and another friend joined the PLA to “establish peace in the country”. Her older sister had also run away from home to join the armed group while studying in the seventh grade.
Former Maoist Combatants who were integrated into the Nepal Army take part in a military parade at Kharipati, Bhaktapur. µ Chandra Shekhar Karki
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A year after joining the Maoist Army, Raymajhi and her team were to be inducted into the army with a small ceremony at Thokarpa, Kavre. However, “the ceremony was cancelled when a ‘surveillance drone’ flew overhead. Half an hour later Nepali Army helicopters started firing on our group, and our commander