Her Name Was Uma Singh

Her Name Was Uma Singh

- February 02, 2009

Former Miss Nepal Malvika Subba Mourns Journalist Uma Singh

Killed January 14th 2009 in Janakpur, Nepal Uma Singh, 26, was a journalist and vocal critic of government corruption. She publicly questioned indigenous traditions such as caste discrimination in Nepal - a country that lies between India and China.

Singh was butchered like an animal by a group of 15 men. These men burst into her apartment and murdered her while her neighbors stood by helplessly. Her neighbors reported hearing the killers say: "This is for writing so much".

This killing follows the three-year disappearance of her father and brother who are long suspected to have been kidnapped and killed by Maoist paramilitaries.

Her death has triggered a series of public protests against the Maoist Government (The Maoist People's Liberation Army or PLA) which, after a decade-long bloody insurgency, now controls Nepal.

The Prime Minister of Nepal, Pushpa Kamal Dahal (aka Prachanda), after taking office warned a large crowd in Kathmandu the nation's capital that "- we will no longer tolerate criticism..." And recently, attacks on journalists in Nepal has become endemic. The federation released a year-end report, recording 284 incidents including three deaths and a kidnapping.

Four unnamed men are currently being held in connection with the brutal execution of Uma Singh. Additionally, on May 4th 2009, totalitarian ruler Prime Minister Prachanda resigned from office.

References:
CNN, Nepalese Journalist Killed
BBC, Thousands mourn Nepal journalist
Democracy for Nepal, Who Killed Journalist Uma Singh?
Myrepublica, The Murder of Uma Singh

Comments

Boiling Point:

This is Mary Ann Meredith in 2001. She is an elderly woman who was in downtown Cincinnati during the worst of the riots. She was shot point blank in the head by a bean bag shot gun that fractured her skull.

This very kind and well-spoken woman was badly injured by riot police for simply standing around. The blood thristy Nazi that pulled the trigger, point blank, on a unarmed mother and grandmother was never identified.

She successfully sued the City of Cincinnati and eventually won a settlement to pay for her medical bills. She has recovered but still has migraines from her injury.

Patron Saints:

Badshah "Ghaffar" Khan, (1890-1988), was a life long proponent of Mohandas Gandhi's non-violent idealism. He spent nearly 52 years of his life in British, Indian and Pakistani prisons.

He was born into an affluent Pashtun family in Central
Afghanistan. As a young man, he developed the ideals that would shape Northern India studying the Qu'ran and becoming involved in soldiery and education. At 20, Ghaffar opened his first school in Utmanzai. It was an instant success and he was soon invited into a larger circle of progressively minded reformers.

On April 23, 1930, Ghaffar Khan was arrested during protests. A crowd of his followers called the Khudai Khidmatgar (Servants of God) gathered in Peshawar's Kissa Khwani (Storytellers) Bazaar. The British ordered troops fired on the unarmed crowd, killing an estimated 200-250 innocent people. There appears to be no record of any British casualties.

The Khudai acted in accord with their training in non-violence under Khan, facing bullets as the troops fired on them.

Bloody repression was standard practice for stifling popular opinion. Peaceful protests, and even prayer gatherings, were called rebellions. When the British "Raj" was challenged by what was commonly viewed as second-class citizens his English forces mercilessly attacked. The Kissa Khwani Massacre and Amritsar Massacre were brutal Tiananmen Square styled butcheries that claimed the lives of hundreds of unarmed civilians who were peacefully protesting the Occupation.

In jail, and in the streets of India, Khan and his colleagues worked tirelessly alongside Gandhi in the campaign's of civil disobedience to overthrow colonial rule of India.

Khan was a champion of women's rights and nonviolence. He became a hero in a society dominated by violence; notwithstanding his liberal views, his unswerving faith and obvious bravery led to immense respect. Throughout his life, he never lost faith in his non-violent methods or in the compatibility of Islam and nonviolence. He viewed his struggle as a jihad with only the enemy holding swords.

Ghaffar Khan strongly opposed the partition of India and spent much of the rest of his life at odds with the Pakistani government after the subcontinent won independence in 1947. He died in 1988 having spent 52 years of his life in prison.

Further Reading:
Khan on Gandhi.com
Badshah Khan and the World’s First Nonviolent Army
Explaining Gandhi to a 5 year old