'Where should we live and study now?': Nepali child's letter to PM captures eviction fallout

Kathmandu, May 13 (PTI): "Our family members voted for the Bell symbol, your party in the March 5 electio.

'Where should we live and study now?': Nepali child's letter to PM captures eviction fallout

Kathmandu, May 13 (PTI): "Our family members voted for the Bell symbol, your party in the March 5 election. Why did you demolish our house? Where should we live and study now?" The questions, posed in a letter by 11-year-old Radhika Mahato to Nepal Prime Minister Balendra Shah after authorities bulldozed her family’s makeshift home in Kathmandu, have brought renewed focus on the growing humanitarian crisis surrounding the government's eviction drive against landless squatters across the national capital.

“We don’t have the money to rent a house. You made our condition miserable like this,” the Class 3 student wrote in the emotional appeal, excerpts of which were published by online news portal Ratopati on Wednesday.

Until three weeks ago, Radhika attended classes at Guheshwori Bal Siksha Secondary School near the Thapathali squatter settlement, where her family lived in a makeshift structure.

But after authorities bulldozed hundreds of informal homes in the area and shifted displaced families to a temporary holding centre in Banepa Municipality, around 75 km east of Kathmandu, her education came to an abrupt halt.

"We need a school to study. Give us a place to live and a school to continue our studies," Radhika wrote.

Over the past two weeks, the government has evicted more than 15,000 landless squatters in Kathmandu, dismantling approximately 4,000 structures, saying that these dwellings were illegally constructed on public land and riverside areas.

The demolitions have sparked protests and criticism from rights activists, civil society groups and opposition parties, who accuse the government of carrying out evictions without ensuring rehabilitation and basic safeguards for vulnerable families.

The issue also reached Nepal’s Supreme Court, which on Friday issued an interim order directing the government not to remove squatters without a proper rehabilitation plan in place.

A joint bench of Justices Kumar Regmi and Nityananda Pandey stated that any relocation of squatters or informal settlers must strictly adhere to legal procedures and protect constitutional rights related to housing, education, and health.

The bench also warned that continuing evictions without safeguards could trigger a humanitarian crisis.

The Rastriya Swatantra Party-led government has defended the demolition drive as necessary for restoring public land and improving urban infrastructure.

Meanwhile, anger over the demolitions has spread beyond Kathmandu. According to news portal nepalpress.com, hundreds of landless squatters in Pokhara staged a torch rally demanding Prime Minister Shah’s resignation over the eviction campaign. PTI SBP SCY SCY

(This story is published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. No editing has been done in the headline or the body by ABP Live.)