4.3 Meghi’s pursuit
The villagers of Phoolbari-4, Dang, were in the mood to celebrate Teej with great enthusiasm. The day before the festival a buffalo was slaughtered for a feast and the villagers were dividing its meat amongst them.

Meanwhile, a hullabaloo was heard in the village. A group of soldiers entered the village in an attack formation. They had received information that some Maoists were in the village. Leaving their share of meat many people fled, but those who remained became victims of the soldier’s bullets. In no time, the festival became the funeral of six villagers. The army presumed that list of those receiving a share of the meat was a list of Maoists: even Radio Nepal broadcast that six Maoists had been killed, but the truth was that they were innocent Dalits.

Meghi BK lost her husband in this incident three years ago. Three daughters and a son lost their father; Meghi was in great pain after the incomparable loss. The anvil next to her home always reminded her of her husband but lamentations and tears would not bring her husband back; therefore, she decided not to cry.

Meghi says, "The dead are gone forever, but my crying would hurt my children, so, I always try to smile and stay happy. I even make my children laugh before they go to bed every night.” Meghi’s son could not continue his father’s business, having no experience of it and was also unable to continue his education. With the support of SEED he was sent to the Technical Training Council, Sanothimi for press composing training. He is now trained, but still unemployed.

Ten kattha of land is not enough to sustain Meghi’s family and so her family must do daily waged labour. Two of her daughters, now in high school, work as labourers in their days off. SEED has supported expenses for their stationery, bags and uniforms and they have received a scholarship from the District Education Office: now Meghi has no worries about their education.

After the death of Meghi’s husband, some organisations approached her and invited her to join a feast with other upper castes - although she had been called untouchable in the past. As a result of the contact she had with organisations like SEED, Meghi has been reborn: “At last someone has tried to understand our plight,” she has said.

Be it a protest against untouchability or a group of single women, Meghi is now seen everywhere. She is a member of a single women’s organisation in Dang. While delivering speeches other women talk about their pains and shed tears, but Meghi is always smiling: her smile never fades even if she is talking about her past. She consoles her female friends saying that women without men in the family should take over male roles and do everything they can. It seems as if a smile and Meghi are synonymous.

She is a source of inspiration for other widows in the village. Some allege that she does it for money, but she ignores all these rumours and replies, “We women are relaxed because we don’t care about getting beyond ourselves.”

Meghi is also involved in the ‘equal work for equal pay’ campaign. Maoists pressurised them to quit the campaign, but Meghi consistently fought for their rights and the Maoists let the programme run. Meghi is fighting with all her spirit to provide women an equal wage for their labour.

SEED has written to the NHRC asking for compensation for the six families who lost their innocent loved ones during the incident, including for Meghi. No investigation of the incident has been made so far.

Another asset of Meghi is she can debate logically with anyone, including Maoists or security personnel. Without reservation she openly expresses her opinions even in public. Meghi, who can at least write her name after participating in a six-month long non-formal education class organised by SEED, says, "I am ecstatic when I sign my name in the register." There are few illiterate Dalit women in the country with so much of passion to transform society. People should learn from her optimism and be inspired by Meghi.