In October 2021, 14 people, including 11 women, arrived in Kathmandu from Nepalgunj, covering over 500 kilometres on foot in the quest for justice for two women—victims of murder and disappearances. They had to march to Kathmandu after the local administration paid no attention to their protest.

After 12 days of sit-ins and a hunger strike, the government had agreed to investigate the murder of Nakunni Dhobi and Nirmala Kurmi, who disappeared mysteriously in 2010. Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba was the prime minister then.

Badshah Kurmi, a Congress leader and Provincial Assembly member in Lumbini, is the prime accused in Nirmala’s disappearance and capture of her property. Ignoring the agreement his party had signed with Ruby Khan, who is in charge of Mahila Adhikar Manch, Banke that staged the protest, the Congress fielded Badshah in the provincial assembly elections in November 2023. He won.

One and a half years later, the country’s largest party made him a minister in the province. Badshah is the second in rank after the chief minister.

The Congress has rewarded him, while it is the government’s responsibility to implement the past agreement. The Ministry of Home Affairs, which is led by Ramesh Lekhak of the party, has sealed two agreements with Khan: the first in January 2022 and the next on June 25.

“Badhsah Kurmi has been made minister exactly a month after the government agreed to expedite the investigation into Nirmala Kurmi’s case,” Khan told the Post. “This shows a lack of accountability in the government and the Congress party.”

After around three weeks of protest, the Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led government last month had reached a five-point agreement with Khan. This included completing the investigation of Nirmala’s disappearance without delay.

“This is one more piece of evidence to show how insensitive the government and the political parties are to women’s issues,” said Khan. The Mahila Adhikar Manch has warned of stern protests if Badshah is not removed from his position by Tuesday.

“The minister must be sacked immediately, and a case must be filed in the court in Nirmala Kurmi’s case,” said Man Kumari Gurtal, chairperson of the Manch. “The government cannot walk away from past agreements.”

Based on the agreement in October 2021, the government had formed a committee led by Hira Lal Regmi, then a joint-secretary at the home ministry.

The committee, in its report submitted to former minister for home affairs Bal Krishna Khand, had recommended the arrest of, and investigation into, eight people for their alleged involvement in disappearing Nirmala.

The police arrested seven, who were later released, but they never arrested Badshah Kurmi. Badshah was also a Constituent Assembly member and an influential Congress leader in Banke.

With the government’s reluctance to implement the Regmi panel’s recommendation, Khan, accompanied by 15 others, walked to Kathmandu on foot from Banke and started a sit-in in the Capital on November 25, 2021. They withdrew their protest on the 42nd day, after the government agreed to get the Central Investigation Bureau of Nepal Police to investigate Kurmi's disappearance, implement the home ministry’s probe report and provide security to the protesters.

On July 20, Nankunni Dhobi, 38, was found dead under suspicious circumstances at her home in ward 2 of Janaki Rural Municipality in Banke. Nirmala, 52, had gone missing in January 2010 from the same rural municipality. Her disappearance came two years after her two teenage sons were murdered in the span of a week. Khan has been demanding Badshah’s arrest.

“Badshah might have chosen to become a minister as that would supposedly shield him from prosecution. We will not let that happen. We can make any sacrifice for a fair trial,” said Khan.

Following the government’s reluctance to abide by its deals, the National Human Rights Commission instructed it last month to present a progress report on the agreements.

“It has come to light that the investigation committee under the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2021 recommended probing the cases after arresting the accused. However, the past agreements between the government and the protesters have not been implemented. The home ministry is asked to report within seven days explaining the progress in implementing the agreements,” the commission had said.

The government seems to have ignored the directive.