Niraj Aryal: In an incident last week that did not draw much media attention, Janaki Chaudhary (55) of Chitwan district who was seriously injured after being attacked by a Rhino got killed.
The poor Tharu woman who lived by cutting grass at the Chitwan National Park and selling it in the market could not get immediate medical attention. She was rushed to the Chitwan Medical College hospital, but it was already too late.
Doctors pronounced her dead while she was undergoing a treatment.
Another incident involving a wife of a top political leader not only drew local media attention, but international media also took keen interest in covering it.
More importantly, a mighty government on the other side of the globe was eagerly waiting for the event to take place.
The event was the medical trip of the wife of a ferocious communist leader who had waged a bloody uprising against capitalist bourgeois promising economic and political supremacy of the proletariat.
The ill-trained Nepali doctors equipped with seriously lacking medical facilities were not able to diagnose her medical condition and thus her family decided to fly her to the United States of America.
The government of the United States on humanitarian ground had reportedly granted visa to the family of the communist leader.
The illustrious lady was recently taken to a hospital in Singapore, and with her entire medical bills paid by Nepal government. Unfortunately for her, doctors in Singapore could not find a cure to her ailments.
Unlike Janakai Chaudhary who is not related to any of the ruling communist party leaders, Sita Devi Dahal who is suffering from mysterious medical condition is the wife of Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal of the Nepal Communist Party.
Interestingly, Janaki and Sita as per Hindu epic Ramayan are the same individual. Sita who is the consort of Hindu God Ram is also called as Janaki as she is the daughter of King of Mithila, Janak.
In the real-world however, Sita Devi, wife of a proletarian leader, is presently receiving treatment from world acclaimed medical doctors at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, USA. Whereas Sita is the nouveau riche in the new political setup, Janaki Devi, whose only possession of material value was her labor power, had to die of an unnatural death only last week.
There is another remarked commonality between the two Nepali women and that is Janaki belonged to the district of Chitwan, which Sita’s family calls their political constituency.
According to reports, Sita’s illustrious husband Chairman Dahal aka Prachanda spent his childhood in the district of Chitwan. Prachanda also received his diploma of science in agriculture from Rampur Campus in Chitwan. He was also elected member of the parliament by voters in Chitwan. His daughter, Renu Dahal is currently the mayor of Bharatpur Metropolis of Chitwan District.
Understandably, Janaki’s family details and their whereabouts are immensely difficult to uncover. This is still not possible in the new political setup.
Before her death, Janaki Devi, whose lifestyle resembled majority of Nepali women, had been promised of fairy-tale like change in her lifestyle once the country transitions into the new political setup by the communist leader in her constituency but instead she was killed while trying to make sure her kids/grand kids do not have to go to their beds without their stomach filled.
Ironically, in Dahalcracy whereas the nouveau riche are guaranteed world-class medical facilities, Janaki, her kids and her grand kids must die without getting immediate medical attention.
It would not be out of context to refer to the news that the former ailing queen mother Ratna was recently treated at a local hospital in Kathmandu. While she was receiving treatment at the hospital her son, the former king paid a visit and also brought home cooked food for his mother.
Perhaps this best describes what means to be a communist in Nepal.