Sandhikharka
Encyclopedia
Sandhikharka is the headquarters of Arghakhanchi District
in the Lumbini Zone
of Nepal
. It is located in a remote area of central Nepal, 380 km southwest of Nepal's capital of Kathmandu. Due to a high literacy rate, Sandhikharka once attracted people from outside Arghakhanchi District to Sandhikharka for its good schools. The town had been the subject of several attacks between the Nepali government and Maoist rebels during the civil war.
Sandhikharka located around 960 meter above from mean sea level. Climatic condition of the Sandhikharka is normal type. During the summer season, maximum temperature reaches about 37 degree while in the winter season it goes in between 1-10 degree Celsius. The number of rainy days in summer are higher. Winter season normally dry and cold and sometimes, snow covers in the surrounding mountains of Sandhikharka.
and Khanchi
during Chaubisi rajya
(24 principalities) or before uniting Nepal
. Peoples of the two kingdom used to do fight each other for their interest. Finally, they decided to make peace and made a kind of hidden treaty at that Ghost place and converted that area into Sandhikharka i.e.( Sandhi=treaty and Kharka = Bare and farm land).
During new government system of Nepal
(2024B.S.),Khanchi village, next to Sandhikharka VDC was the headquarter of the Arghakhanchi district at the first time so that Sandhikharka was not so popular to peoples of the district. Due to effort of some local peoples of Sandhikharka area, Nepal
government decided to shift headquarters in Sandhikharka after 2030B.S. Since, then, It has becoming popular not only to district but also in Lumbini Zone
.
all government buildings except the hospital, most never being rebuilt. About 50 policemen and 70 rebels were killed in the night-long battle, with almost 36 police injured. However, doubts remain over how many of the dead were actually Maoists. A second attack was launched on September 10, 2002, in which guerillas killed at least 65 security personnel, including soldiers, through 12 hours of fighting. Forty-one personnel were reported as injured in this attack. A telecommunication tower was destroyed as a result of the second attack, and reinforcements were rushed in by helicopter as well as a government-sponsored effort to hold the town. Unnamed leaders said lack of communication and a failed response from authorities led to the government's defeats. CNN
speculated that these attacks were aimed at disrupting the upcoming election by forcing the Nepali government to impose a state of emergency.
visited the town on September 11, who expressed his surprise to see this level of damage and destruction. The rebels freed 60 people abducted after the attack that day. Attempting to flee, government troops blocked an exit route from Arghakhanchi district, killing 13 guerillas.
called "one of the bloodiest clashes since the royal coup." There were no casualties of troops. After forcing rebels into retreat, the military recovered "some crude bombs, terrorist documents and equipment used to operate mines". Despite his military's success, King Gyanendra of Nepal
imposed a state of emergency, detained political party leaders and imposed censorship of the press. Nepal's military released a statement on the fighting:
it had a population of 8921. It had 6703 married people, with 185 having more than one spouse as of that census. Sandhikharka had 7706 literate people, and 2272 were attending school as of that census. This high literacy rate once drew people from outside Arghakhanchi District to Sandhikharka for its good schools.
. This posed two problems. For one thing, Nepali, though widely spoken and understood, is not invariably the mother tongue of all students in multilingual, multi-ethnic Nepal. In addition, private school students are accustomed to English as the primary medium of instruction.
In VDCs there is one elected chief, usually elected with over an 80% majority. From each ward, there is also a chief that is elected along with these there are also four members elected or nominated.
Arghakhanchi District
Arghakhanchi is one of the districts of Lumbini Zone in Nepal's Western Development Region. The district headquarters are Sandhikharka.-Etymology:...
in the Lumbini Zone
Lumbini Zone
Lumbini Zone, is one of the 14 zones of Nepal and is home to Lumbini site, the birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama, who later became the historical Buddha and founder of the Buddhist philosophy...
of Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
. It is located in a remote area of central Nepal, 380 km southwest of Nepal's capital of Kathmandu. Due to a high literacy rate, Sandhikharka once attracted people from outside Arghakhanchi District to Sandhikharka for its good schools. The town had been the subject of several attacks between the Nepali government and Maoist rebels during the civil war.
Geography
Sandhikharka is small valley and head quarter of Arghakhanchi district, Lumbini zone, Nepal, surrounded by pine forests. It is located 380 kilometres (236 mi) southwest of Nepal's capital of Kathmandu.Three small rivers; Bangi river, Ghoche river and Bhadri river are merging at Chutrabeshi, a next part of Snadhikharka. Therefore peoples sometimes use to say Tribeni of Arghakhanchi district. However, only one pitched road that connect to national highway at Gorusinghe. There are many gravel roads constructed from Sandhikharka to many villages of the Arghakhanchi district.Sandhikharka located around 960 meter above from mean sea level. Climatic condition of the Sandhikharka is normal type. During the summer season, maximum temperature reaches about 37 degree while in the winter season it goes in between 1-10 degree Celsius. The number of rainy days in summer are higher. Winter season normally dry and cold and sometimes, snow covers in the surrounding mountains of Sandhikharka.
Background
More than 300 years ago, this place was not a good place for peoples of surrounding village. Peoples used to say it "Kharka" and come only for farming purpose due to large numbers of farming fields and good water supply. Nobody wanted to stay in the night there because peoples of the district believed that this area is the homeland of Ghost. Another interesting thing is that this area was a broader of two small kingdom i.e. ArghaArgha
Argha is a town in Arghakhanchi District in the Lumbini Zone of southern Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census it had a population of 8,248 and had 1712 houses in the village....
and Khanchi
Khanchi
Before the Unification of Nepal, Khanchi, was one of the 24 principalities in the Gandaki River Basin. Khanchi was annexed by Gorkha in the year 1786 AD . The last Raja of Khanchi was Raja Durga Bhajan Shah. Khanchi was one of the three Meghasi Kingdoms and was established by Raja Hang Vir Singh in...
during Chaubisi rajya
Chaubisi rajya
Chaubisi rajya -- literally "24 principalities" -- were sovereign and intermittently allied petty kingdoms in the Gandaki River Basin, a major Himalayan tributary of the Ganges....
(24 principalities) or before uniting Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
. Peoples of the two kingdom used to do fight each other for their interest. Finally, they decided to make peace and made a kind of hidden treaty at that Ghost place and converted that area into Sandhikharka i.e.( Sandhi=treaty and Kharka = Bare and farm land).
During new government system of Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
(2024B.S.),Khanchi village, next to Sandhikharka VDC was the headquarter of the Arghakhanchi district at the first time so that Sandhikharka was not so popular to peoples of the district. Due to effort of some local peoples of Sandhikharka area, Nepal
Nepal
Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...
government decided to shift headquarters in Sandhikharka after 2030B.S. Since, then, It has becoming popular not only to district but also in Lumbini Zone
Lumbini Zone
Lumbini Zone, is one of the 14 zones of Nepal and is home to Lumbini site, the birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama, who later became the historical Buddha and founder of the Buddhist philosophy...
.
2002 Maoist attacks
On September 8, 2002, the town was involved in a massive battle between the government forces and "thousands" of Maoists, reportedly led by Top Bahadur Rayamajhi and Pampha Bhusal who come from the district. Heavily armed rebels engaged the bases of civilian police, armed police and the Royal Nepalese Army and overpowered them following a few hours of gunbattle. They tourchedall government buildings except the hospital, most never being rebuilt. About 50 policemen and 70 rebels were killed in the night-long battle, with almost 36 police injured. However, doubts remain over how many of the dead were actually Maoists. A second attack was launched on September 10, 2002, in which guerillas killed at least 65 security personnel, including soldiers, through 12 hours of fighting. Forty-one personnel were reported as injured in this attack. A telecommunication tower was destroyed as a result of the second attack, and reinforcements were rushed in by helicopter as well as a government-sponsored effort to hold the town. Unnamed leaders said lack of communication and a failed response from authorities led to the government's defeats. CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
speculated that these attacks were aimed at disrupting the upcoming election by forcing the Nepali government to impose a state of emergency.
Aftermath and government attack
Following the attacks, all the political parties were hounded out, and the Nepali government left Sandhikharka other than operating security forces and the post office. However, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur DeubaSher Bahadur Deuba
Sher Bahadur Deuba is a Nepalese politician and former Prime Minister. He is the second senior most leader of the Nepali Congress. He has twice been elected as the leader of parliamentary party of the Nepali Congress, thus enabling him to be elected twice as the Prime Minister of Nepal.He has...
visited the town on September 11, who expressed his surprise to see this level of damage and destruction. The rebels freed 60 people abducted after the attack that day. Attempting to flee, government troops blocked an exit route from Arghakhanchi district, killing 13 guerillas.
2005 Maoist attack
Maoists launched a third attack on March 4, 2005. This operation backfired, and the Nepali military killed 30 Maoists in what BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
called "one of the bloodiest clashes since the royal coup." There were no casualties of troops. After forcing rebels into retreat, the military recovered "some crude bombs, terrorist documents and equipment used to operate mines". Despite his military's success, King Gyanendra of Nepal
Gyanendra of Nepal
Gyanendra Shah was the last King of Nepal. During his life, he has held the title of the King twice: first between 1950 and 1951 as a child when his grandfather Tribhuvan was forced into exile in India with the rest of his family; and from 2001 to 2008, following the Nepalese royal massacre.King...
imposed a state of emergency, detained political party leaders and imposed censorship of the press. Nepal's military released a statement on the fighting:
Demographics
At the time of the 1991 Nepal census1991 Nepal census
The 1991 Nepal census was a widespread national census conducted by the Nepal Central Bureau of Statistics.Working with Nepal's Village Development Committees at a district level,...
it had a population of 8921. It had 6703 married people, with 185 having more than one spouse as of that census. Sandhikharka had 7706 literate people, and 2272 were attending school as of that census. This high literacy rate once drew people from outside Arghakhanchi District to Sandhikharka for its good schools.
Education
The Shree Janajyoti Higher Secondary School in Sandhikharka was established in 1963, one of the oldest school in the District. It is the only school, providing high-level science in Arghakhanchi district. Mr. Janga Bahadur P.C. is the principal of the school since 2007. In this periods, two new buildings have constructed to create more classrooms and practical lab rooms for science and other programs. Financial support was partially funded by the government of India for one building. Currently, Plus two programs including science, commerce and education are running at the school. Due to high level education system in this school, students from neighbouring districts are coming to study every year. Nevertheless, the number of students in the school is always within the range of 1000 every year. The first English boarding school was Sandhikharkha English Boarding School. It was established in 2004. Mr.Buddhi Ram Bhusal is the founder of this school. Later on the school changed its name and now is known as Arghakhanchi Higher Secondary Boarding school. It is the first private school with undergraduate level in this district.Panini Multiple College is the first and oldest college affiliated by Tribhuvan university in this district the founder principal of this college was Mr. Gyan Hari Acharya and current principal is Mr. Gyan Bahadur Chhetri since 2009. Many graduate and undergraduate courses are running in the college. Therefore, number of students always higher. Broad of the college is planning to run master course in coming days.Closure of schools
In October 2004, the Maoists ordered the closure of all private schools in Sandhikharka, as well as the rest of Arghakhanchi District. This came a year after they promised to keep the schools open if the cut their tuition costs by at least 20 percent, which was what occurred. According to schoolchild Pratiba Acharya, "Maoists thought that only rich people study in boarding schools like mine, so they want to close them." Further, they destroyed schools who were operated by their enemies and those they disagreed with, after trying to change their curricula was to no avail. Many students were sent to public schools, which teach in NepaliNepali language
Nepali or Nepalese is a language in the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European language family.It is the official language and de facto lingua franca of Nepal and is also spoken in Bhutan, parts of India and parts of Myanmar...
. This posed two problems. For one thing, Nepali, though widely spoken and understood, is not invariably the mother tongue of all students in multilingual, multi-ethnic Nepal. In addition, private school students are accustomed to English as the primary medium of instruction.
Government
The purpose of Village Development Committees is to organise village people structurally at a local level and creating a partnership between the community and the public sector for improved service delivery system. A VDC has a status as an autonomous institution and authority for interacting with the more centralised institutions of governance in Nepal. In doing so, the VDC gives village people an element of control and responsibility in development, and also ensures proper utilization and distribution of state funds and a greater interaction between government officials, NGOs and agencies. The village development committees within a given area will discuss education, water supply, basic health, sanitation and income and will also monitor and record progress which is displayed in census data.In VDCs there is one elected chief, usually elected with over an 80% majority. From each ward, there is also a chief that is elected along with these there are also four members elected or nominated.