On September 9, when arson and vandalism were rampant at the homes of top leaders, protestors also went to set fire to the house of CPN-UML Deputy General Secretary Pradeep Gyawali.
However, his wife Saraswati Gyawali's quick thinking saved their house.
Saraswati prevented the house from being set ablaze by showing the protestors her 37-and-a-half-year-old daughter with disabilities. The Gyawali couple's house is in Buddhanagar, Kathmandu. Their eldest daughter was born with disabilities.
Gyawali, whose ancestral home is in Gulmi, had gone underground in his adolescence. The couple says that while he was underground, the administration surrounded their house, and Saraswati met with an accident while trying to escape, which affected the unborn child in her womb.
Gyawali said that he was not at home during the vandalism on September 9.
He had left home fearing that the situation would escalate after the previous day’s Gen Z protest turned violent and people became enraged. Only his sons, wife, and daughter with disabilities were at home.
The ground floor of their two-story house has been rented out. Students from the western region had been living in that flat.
On September 9, the first group broke into Gyawali's house around 11 a.m. with the intent to vandalize it. That group was not very agitated or aggressive. Judging by the facial expressions of those in the group, they did not appear destructive or violent.
"At first, I asked them what they had come to do. They were not very agitated," said Saraswati Gyawali. "They started venting their anger, saying that there were fires burning outside and that so many people had been killed."
She reasoned with that group, and it left.
After a while, another group of 20-25 people entered the house. They broke the windows of the house. She claims that they also engaged in looting.
She reasoned with this group just like she did with the previous one. She explained that she was taking care of her daughter with disabilities and that they had built the house with great hardship.
She said that group also left after causing some damage.
According to Saraswati, a third group of 50-60 people arrived in the afternoon. She was frightened, bolted the door, and sat holding her daughter with disabilities tightly. Some protestors were continuously throwing stones from the road.
"I was wondering if I could save my daughter with disabilities or not. I was holding my daughter," she said. "The windows didn't have iron bars. All the glass had already been broken by stones. The protestors came upstairs with the intention of setting fire."
She said that at that time, she asked them, "Have you come to kill me?"
"When I said, 'If you have come to kill us, kill my daughter with disabilities first,' they hesitated," said Saraswati. "They were saying that so many people had been killed and that there were fires burning everywhere. They didn’t appear to be Gen Z either. There were robust and older people in the group. I don't know what kinds of people they were; I don’t even remember their faces."
She recalled that her neighbors also helped a lot at that time.
When the house was being vandalized, some neighbors came and pleaded with the protestors. Some even reasoned with the protestors. Some also tried to take photos of those engaging in vandalism.
"They were extremely violent protestors. They were not restrained. They weren't political either. We have also been in movements since the Panchayat era. Our generation fought against the Panchayat, but we never saw such a movement," she said. “They were telling us not to take photos, intimidating us, and damaging private property. When the neighbors started showing up, the vandals hesitated.”
Saraswati said that she and her husband had built the two-story house through years of hard work and since the neighbors were witnesses to the fact, their presence made a difference.
“If they think we’ve engaged in corruption, it would have been better if they had investigated and nationalized the property. Vandalism and arson didn’t benefit anyone,” she said.
According to her, the Gyawali family took shelter at a neighbor's place that night.
Saraswati said that although the house was not set on fire, nothing was left intact by the vandalism. She also claims that household items were looted.
"Students used to live in the flat downstairs. They broke into their room and took away four or five thousand in cash, gold jewelry, and clothes as well. There was a hoe kept outside, which they used to break the windows and doors. I haven’t even had the courage to look at it," said Saraswati.
She also said that if the investigation into all these incidents is not conducted and action is not taken against the guilty, it will set a wrong precedent.
