नगरकोटबाट भगिरथ योगि लेख्छन्: Local fair turns into nightmare (Nepalnews special) By Bhagirath Yogi in Nagarkot It was supposed to be a fun-filled night for local people of Chihandada of Nagarkot—some 28 km east of Kathmandu-- who have been deprived of any major opportunity for entertainment for the last several years. Unfortunately, it turned out into a nightmare. Shobha Tamang, 17, a resident of Nagarkot VDC, ward no. 6, had persuaded her parents that she would spend sometime at the local fair along with her friends and will return home before mid-night on Wednesday (Dec. 13). But little did she know that she would be witness to what she hopes to be her last encounter with death. “Our friends had managed to bring a tape recorder and were playing popular folk songs right from the evening. There had been a scuffle between a soldier, who used to visit the village in the past, and local youths while taking part in the dance as the fair progressed. But little did we notice that it would result into a massacre,” Tamang told Nepalnews on Thursday. According to local people, Basudev Thapa—a soldier stationed at the Nagarkot barrack of the Royal Nepalese Army-- attacked a youth with a knife during the scuffle. When local youths threatened to retaliate, he fled from the scene. Thapa, who was allegedly drunk, returned to the premises of the one storey-temple of Goddess Kali after around half an hour, according to eye-witnesses. It was around 11:30 p. m. Thapa, in civil dress, first fired shots in the air, then started firing at the crowd indiscriminately. People had nowhere to go to protect themselves. Most of the devotees rushed inside the temple thinking that they would be safe in the vicinity of Goddess Kali—known for killing demons, according to Hindu mythology. But Thapa approached the people who were trying to save themselves from the gunman and continued his shooting spree. According to latest count, a dozen civilians lost their lives in the incident while over one and half dozen were injured with bullet wounds. Some of them broke their legs while trying to jump to safety. Thapa allegedly killed himself after the shooting spree. A group of human rights activists, who visited the site of incident early Thursday, however, suspected the government account that Thapa committed suicide after killing innocent villagers. They alleged that over half a dozen security personnel in plain clothes had also accompanied Thapa when he returned to the fair with an automatic gun. Local villagers managed to send the injured people to military hospital at Chhauni in Kathmandu with the help of security personnel who had arrived on the scene around midnight upon hearing about the incident. The dead bodies were taken to a local hospital in Bhaktapur. The beautiful village, located on a hill just five minutes walk from the black-topped road leading to Nagarkot bore a solemn look on Thursday. Villagers were too shocked to provide details to visiting journalists and rights activists. Achyut Rana, a youth from Kathmandu, had also gone to see his relatives and take part in the fair. “ I don’t know how I managed to survive. We were all taking shelter inside the temple when the soldier started targeting common people around midnight. People in front of me fell down after they were hit with stray bullets. But I was fortunate enough not to be hit,” he said. Those who were killed in the incident include a father and his daughter. Five year old Dipak Tamang was among those killed. Three women died in the shooting incident. Human rights activists and opposition parties denounced the incident and have demanded impartial investigation into it. They have also blamed the government for what they called the ‘shooting spree mentality’ of the security personnel. The seven-party opposition alliance has announced nationwide protests on Friday against the Nagarkot incident. Tension loomed large as dead bodies were brought to the Bhaktapur hospital for postmortem. Local youths took out rallies immediately and burnt tyres to obstruct traffic. But there were no reports of any major clashes till late Thursday. The government was quick to respond. In a public notice, the Home Ministry said the government had formed a three-member judicial commission to probe into the incident. It said the government would provide families of victims Rs 150,000 each as compensation and will bear all costs of treatment to those injured. The Royal Nepalese Army also constituted a probe committee to probe into the incident. “The RNA is quite sad to learn about this unfortunate incident. We have also recommended the government to provide adequate compensation to the families of the victims,” said a statement issued by the RNA. The RNA also escorted journalists to the military hospital at Chhauni where the injured are undergoing treatment. Analysts say the incident is likely to turn out into a major political issue as the opposition parties have already taken it up to denounce the government and further alienate it from the masses. For Sita Thapa, a resident of Nagarkot VDC-6, just at the foothill of Kali temple, the nightmare will continue. “We will no more be able to enjoy the fair in coming years as we used to in the past,” she told us. nepalnews.com Dec 15 05