Doti, March 19
After declaring the anniversary of the Maoist war as the National Day of the People’s War the government headed by former rebel leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal has recently declared people killed in the war as national martyrs.
In the district list, there are 63 people from Sudurpaschim Doti district, 42 is Chakra Bahadur Mateli.
But you will be surprised to know that Mateli is still alive!
a resident of Badikedar Rural Township-2 from the district, Mateli, 59, says sarcastically: “I have no complaints that I am a living martyr… After all, I am living like a dead person, hit by three bullets, my hands and legs do not work; I’m just breathing.”
Mateli was attacked by a Nepalese army troop on May 2, 2002. “They left me thinking that I died, but I was alive.”
He says he repeatedly urged the Maoist party to secure his livelihood, but the party did not listen.
Kamal Bahadur Gadsila, the party’s district coordinator, says Mateli’s name was included in error, adding that the party would take the initiative to make a correction.
