With the cycle of death and destruction spreading from villages to urban and semi-urban areas, an increasing number of children are compelled to grow up in the midst of bullets, explosives, uncertainty and anarchy. As violence and its troubling aftermath continue to pervade the media, children are gripped in deepening fear. With the sanctity of schools violated, young and impressionable minds are being hardened by unhealthy thoughts. While everyone is talking about the need to uphold the rights of the youngest members of society, Nepalese children are finding it difficult to distinguish between right and wrong.
By KESHAB POUDEL
Rajan Subedi (name changed upon request), 12, a resident of Baltaksar village of Gulmi district, 400 kilometers west of Kathmandu, has not met his parents since he arrived at the house of relatives in the capital a year ago. Rajan’s parents sent him to Kathmandu to avoid the terror and conflict that have become part of life in a large portion of rural Nepal. Like all parents, the Subedis could not see their child growing up in the midst of stress and fear.
Young children : Upbringing marred by violence
Young children : Upbringing marred by violence
But Rajan remains worried about the father, mother and two sisters he left behind, and cannot concentrate. “Rajan, who used to be humble and gentle, is now erratic and aggressive,” says uncle Bishnu Subedi. “Although his parents are safe and phone him once a week, his behavior has been deteriorating.”
With the escalation of murders, bombings of school buildings, strikes and other forms of violence and disruptions, thousands of children like Rajan are pouring into urban and semi-urban areas like Kathmandu, Biratnagar, Nepalgunj, Bhairahawa, Pokhara, Kailali and Surkhet in search of a better future. Rajan is among the lucky few who have relatives with moderate income to support his education. A large number of displaced children are compelled to live in unhygienic and hostile places, including the street.
All the children, whether on the streets, in sheds or houses, are suffering from deep psychological trauma. Many have developed erratic behavior and neurotic problems. As the conflict continues to grow, countless other children may have to pass through such anguish and pain.
While economically well off children of the capital are going abroad, those from rural and semi-urban areas who can afford are coming to Kathmandu. Those belonging to the poorest strata of the population are facing the greatest difficulty.
As children are the weakest section of society, they are easily victimized and traumatized in conflict. According to Child Workers in Nepal Concerned Centre (CWIN), the first victim of the Maoists’ “People’s War” was an 11-year-old boy, Dil Bahadur Ramtel. He was killed by the police in 1996 while protesting against the arrest of his teacher.
“At time when the country has been passing through a bloody and inhuman conflict, the psychology of the common people has been severely shocked. Children, in particular, are becoming negative, erratic and more inhuman. They seem to be losing their capacity to judge between right and wrong,” says Gauri Pradhan, president of CWIN. (See box)
Violent Behavior
Bhumika Ghartimagar, 14, of Rolpa district in western Nepal, and Yagya Raj Dhungana, 14, of Sindhupalchowk district adjacent to the capital, are among the more severely traumatized children. Ghartimagar saw the brutal killing of her father, a sergeant with Nepal Police, by the Maoists. Dhungana’s father was killed by security forces on misidentification. Both incessantly talk of revenge.
According to a recent report by the Informal Sector Service Center (INSEC), a non-government organization working in the areas of human rights and social justice, more than 109 children have lost their lives in the seven-year-old Maoist insurgency. Security forces killed 62, while 47 died at the hands of the rebels. Over 1,500 children have lost family members, according to the report.
Because of the killing of teachers, destruction of school buildings, drinking water taps and health posts, many children have been deprived their basic rights. For many rural children, going to school again remains a distant dream even if peace were to be restored. Villages have to wait years for the rehabilitation of school buildings and replacement of teachers.
As a large number of schools have closed down, rural children are confronted with harrowing choices: do household work or join the conflict as child soldiers, messengers or porters. If they are unfit to go to war, the are forced to witness violence. The London-based human rights watchdog Amnesty International has called for the warring sides to protect the rights of the children.
“We are collecting exact data on the number of children involved in the conflict. However, our estimate shows that more than 100,000 have been affected,” says Subodh Raj Pyakurel, general secretary of INSEC. (See box). “In a country where more than 60 percent of the population lives below the poverty line, a large number of children are in a very vulnerable condition. As the conflict zone expands, more than 500,000-600,000 children are living in stress,” he says.
Children playing in ground : Shadow of violence
Children playing in ground : Shadow of violence
“With the destruction of school buildings, health posts, drinking water taps and frequent strikes, the children are badly affected. Human rights activist must work together to protect the rights of children, urging warring factions not to disturb schools and children.”
There are growing reports of an increase in the number of child soldiers, with up to 1,000 reported in an active role. But Maoist leaders deny recruiting children. “We have seen children used as soldiers, informers, porters and employed to work in hazardous work, including fetching landmines and other explosives,” says Pyakurel. “We urge the Maoist leadership not to harass children and not to destroy school buildings.”
Nepalese children are facing the most difficult time for survival in the country’s history. In the early days, Nepal’s children had to struggle with a multiplicity of diseases to survive. Today they have to struggle against an insurgency that is turning bloodier. A large number of children come to urban areas as household workers and nurture dreams of a secure future. Some abandoned children are trapped in criminal acts. According to INSEC, more than 86 percent of the children who live in the rural areas are facing difficulties and waiting to escape from the conflict.
What kind of society are we are producing when children are being socialized in a hostile and violent situation? Children need a tranquil environment to shape their behavior, but the violence they confront teaches them the way of brutality. Children learn behavior patterns through language and other forms of symbolic interactions and justify good and bad. Will the children who are supposed to carry books and go to school but now see people with guns be obedient again?
“You cannot expect children to grow up normally amid guns and explosives. Studies on the behavioral pattern of children growing up in conflict areas have shown the emergence of a generation that is hostile and violent,” says a social psychologist.
Human rights activists confirm such behavioral changes. “The behavior of children is changing in the rural areas, as many are exhibiting unusual conduct. When we met children in the rural areas, some demanded guns,” says Pyakurel, who has regularly visited Maoist-affected districts.
The socialization process has changed amid violence and anarchy. Children require the affection of the mother, psychologists say, since it will help to stabilize their mental constitution and will make a great difference in behavior. Children who grow up in a cruel environment will become violent and abnormal.
In recent years, psychiatrists and mental hospitals have seen an increase in the number of patients. Although there is no study establishing a conclusive link, the increase in such cases with violence and conflict deepening in the background has prompted a fresh debate.
The rights of children are protected by a plethora of international conventions. Many clauses guarantee the specific rights of the youngest members of society. The UN convention has banned the use of children as soldiers or in other roles in conflict, but no one seems to be taking the matter seriously.
“The amount and type of criminal behavior is closely connected with other characteristics of society. If the present trend of crime is any indication, it shows that society is moving toward greater criminality,” says sociologist Dr. Padma Lal Devkota. “This will increase the possibility of deviant behavior in children.”
Despite continuing atrocities against children, few political parties or non-government organizations are speaking out, says Sarad Sharma, president of Children’s Society of Nepal. “Because of the silence of concerned organizations, many innocent children are being killed,” he says.
Rehabilitation Centers
Although there are more than half a dozen rehabilitation centers for children in Kathmandu, only a few are concentrating on those caught in conflict. Most of the centers cater to victims of disasters.
Maiti Nepal, CWIN, Nepal Children Organization, SOS Children Village and many other organizations are working to provide shelter and education for neglected, ignored and abandoned children.
Based in Kathmandu, Children’s Food Program-Nepal and Village School-College has unique features. “One of the aims of my organization is to feed the street children and make them self-reliant,” says Shuddh S. Rauniyar, president of the group. “We are running the organization with support from Nepalese funds.”
As the number of orphans in the ongoing conflict continues to grow, some NGOs have taken the initiative to open shelters. Sahara Group, an NGO based in Nepalgunj, has opened a center providing free education and shelter for child victims of conflict. According to Bal Krishna Joshi, general secretary of the group, the center has the capacity to place 50 children. Of the eight children currently in the center, the parents of six were killed by the Maoists and two by the police.
“As the problem is still in the early stage, this is the right time to take initiatives to open rehabilitation centers for the children. The time has come now to do something to stop the encroachment of the rights of the children,” says CWIN’s Pradhan.
Psychological Pressure
A large number of children find themselves mired in fear. As families move to new areas, the habitual behavior of the children becomes different. This motivates children to do all kinds of harmful work. According to psychologists, the greater the fear, the greater the disturbance of attention, comprehension and retention and, therefore, the less the persuasive impact.
“I find the children of displaced parents in Surkhet district having deviant behavior. Most of the children are shy and psychologically shocked,” says Devkota. According to recent reports, large numbers of displaced people are living now in Kathmandu, Nepalgunj, Surkhet, Dang, Dhangadi, and Rajapur of Bardiya.
The future would be more dangerous if the concerned authorities fail to take necessary steps in a timely fashion. “The experiences Sri Lanka, Sierra Leone and other countries have shown that the rehabilitation of such children will cost more human and other resources, which would be difficult for a country like Nepal to afford,” says Pradhan.
According to scientists, there is a behavioral procedure that can exert powerful control over the people’s thoughts and actions. “This technique of control can cause you to do things you would never think of doing otherwise. It can change opinions and beliefs. It can be used to deceive you. It can make you happy and or sad. It can put new ideas into your head,” says Professor George A. Miller of Rockefeller University.
The behavior of children is determined by the kind of social surroundings they have. “The children are psychologically suppressed and even after migration to other places, the overall process of growth will different. These children will be more erratic and the people are not in a position to judge between good and bad and just and unjust,” says Dr. Devkota.
As displaced children find themselves in unfamiliar places with different surrounding, they grow up in completely different setting. “Majority of the children in Nepal do believe in religion, which is due to the impact of their parents and guardians,” says Dr. Niranjan Prasad Upadhyay, a consultant psychologist.
“Religion plays a very important role in the inculcation of good values among children. The displaced children miss this core value while in the process of socialization. The children growing up in conflict and displacement areas will have very unpredictable behavior,” he says. “Children growing up in conflict situations justify any kind of risk for inhuman activities.”
“Children have been killed by landmines on the way to schools and some have been abducted. Many school buildings have been destroyed,” said Devika Timisina of INSEC, in a paper to mark the 14th International Day of Child Rights. “Unfortunately, the children are denied their basic right to beeducated.”
“A human being is a very flexible psychological machine: he is capable of being either a very simple machine or a very complex one. I assume that a person learns a great deal bout the world and the demands that it makes in particular situations. He then sets himself to act as a machine of appropriate nature for each situation, as he sees it. What he remembers depends on what kind of machine he is at the time,” says James Jenkins, a professor of psychology at the University of Minnesota.
If violence continues to be directed toward schools and children, it will give birth to a generation of deviant youth, which would ultimately be harmful for the future. Political parties and civil society can avert such a dreadful future if they unite for swift action.
State of Children
— 86 percent of children live in rural areas.
— There is only one national children hospital in Kathmandu.
— 55,000 children are compelled to work as bonded laborers.
— 4,000 children are living on the streets.
— At least 107 children have been killed in the Maoist “People’s War”.
— About 3,000 children have been compelled to migrate from their villages.
— Around 1,500 children are homeless and orphans.
(Sources INSEC annual book, CWIN, Soldier News Letter)