-गिरीश पोखरेल, वासिंङटन डीसी-
प्रचण्ड प्रधानमन्त्री भएको बेलामा नेपाल सरकारले विभिन्न देशका राजदूतहरुका लागि नाम सार्वजनिक गर्यो । सोही अवसरमा अमेरिकाका लागि भनेर अमेरिकामै विगत ४० वर्षदेखि बसोबास गर्दै आउनुभएका सुखदेव साहको नाम सार्वजनिक गरेको थियो । आखिरमा उहाँको नाम राजदूत बनेर पत्रपत्रिकामा छायो अनि संसदीय समितिको सुनवाइ समितिले पनि आफ्नो काम पुरा गर्यो, अन्तमा अमेरिकाबाटै उहाँका लागि समर्थन जानुपर्ने सायद गएन वा गए पनि सो कार्यान्वन हुन पाएन । पत्र-पत्रिकाबाटै उहाँ राजदूतबाट समेत विदा हुनुभयो ।
त्यस्तै फ्रान्सका लागि नेपाली राजदूतमा सिफारिस गरिनुभएका राम कार्कीको एग्रिमो गएको भएपनि सरकार परिवर्तनको चक्करमा परराष्ट्रमन्त्रालयले लुकाएको जानकारी निक्कैपछि सार्वजनिक भयो । अजव देशमा गजव गजब हुन्छ । मित्र राष्ट्रहरुका सरकारले गरेका निर्णयहरु पनि परराष्ट्रमन्त्रालयमै गायव समेत हुने रहेछ ।
यता अमेरिकाका लागि सिफारिस गरिनुभएका राजदूत सुखदेव साह नेपालमा पाँच महिना बसाइ गरेर अमेरिका फर्कदासम्म पनि सायद उहाँको राजदूत हुने आशा तुहिएको थिएन । अन्तमा श्याल कराउनु र बाख्रा हराउनु उस्तै बन्न पुग्यो । सरकार परिवर्तनसँग पहिलेका सरकारले गरेका निर्णय सायद उल्टिएपछि वा अमेरिकाबाटै एग्रिमो नगएपछि नेपाल सरकारले अर्को निर्णय गर्यो, अमेरिकाका लागि राजदूतका लागि डा शंकर शर्माको नाम सिफारिस गर्यो ।
प्रवासको जुन ठाउँमा बस्ने नेपालीहरु हुन् ती प्रत्येक नेपालीहरु नेपालका लागि अवैतानिक राजदूत हुन् भनेर नेपालबाट आउने सबै नेताहरु देखि यहाँ नियुक्त भएर आउने राजदूतहरुले भाषण गरेको यो पंक्तिकारले पनि यो १४ वर्षमा पटक-पटक सुन्-दै आएको छ । तर खै किन हो यसपटक नेपाल सरकारलाई पनि तिनै विदेशमा बस्ने अवैतानिक राजदूतलाई नै साँच्चैकै राजदूत बनाउन मन लागेछ र नेपाल सरकारले सुखदेव साहको नाम सार्वजनिक गरेको थियो । वास्तवमा अवैतानिक राजदूत भएर चालीस चालीस वर्ष अमेरिकामा बिताइसकेको व्यक्तिलाई यसरी राजदूत नै बनाउनु हामी प्रवासमा बसेका नेपालीका लागि गर्वको कुरा थियो । यस अर्थमा पनि कि स्वदेश छाडेर विदेशमै बसेको भए पनि आखिर नेपाल सरकारले चिन्दोरहेछ ।
तर, उहाँलाई आखिर अमेरिकाले पनि चिनेर नै होला वा किन हो एग्रिमो पठाएन । त्यसो त ४० वर्ष यसै भूमीमा बिताएका कुनै पनि व्यक्तिलाई अमेरिकाले नचिन्ने कुरा पनि भएन । तर उहाँले अमेरिकामा आएर एउटा फोरममा बोल्नुभयो वासिंड.टनबासी नेपालीहरुले मेरो समर्थन गरेनन् । वासिंड.टनबासी नेपालीहरुले उहाँको समथर्न नगर्नुपर्ने कारण के थियो,त्यो अरुलाई भन्दा अलिक बढी साहलाई नै थाहा हुने कुरा हो । तर यदि अमेरिकाको लागि नेपालका प्रस्तावित राजदुत साहकी श्रीमती विजया साहलाई सायद राजदूतमा नेपाल सरकारले प्रस्तावित गरेको भए वासिंड.टनबासी लोकतन्त्र पक्षधर नेपालीहरुले भन्ने थिए, उहाँ त त्यही व्यक्ति होइन जो माघ १९ पछि ज्ञानेन्द्रले नेपालको सत्ता शासन आफ्नो हातमा लिएपछि हृवाइटहाउस अगाडि “हाम्रो राजा हाम्रो देश प्राणभन्दा प्यारो छ,” माओवादी मुर्दावाद जस्ता नारासहितको जुलुसको नेतृत्व नै गरेर हिड्नुभएको थियो । तर श्रीमान साह त्यतिखेर सायद फिजीमा हुनुहुन्थ्यो । र, त्यहाँबाट नेपालमा मधेश बलिरहेको बेला मधेश र पहाडीयाबीच विखण्डन हुनैपर्छ पहाडेलाई मधेसवाट लखेट्नै पर्छ भन्ने खालका अभिव्यक्ति गरिएका आफ्ना भनाइहरु विद्वत वर्गबीचको इमेलमा आदान-प्रदान भए गरेको पढ्न पाइन्थ्यो । उहाँका अमुक अमुक तानाशाहहरुको समर्थनमा लेखिएका र बोलिएका पेपर कटिङ्ग वा अन्य रेकर्ड खोज्न अरुलाई केही गाह्रो नै होला तर अमेरिकाको लागि नेपालका प्रस्तावित राजदुत साहलाई कति पनि गाह्रो छैन ।
हामी नेपाल बाहिर छौ, अनि हामी नेपाली मात्र भएर चिनिनुपर्ने हो । त्यसमा पनि आफूलाई पीएचडी गरेको भन्ने व्यक्तिहरुको अभिव्यक्ति मधेशीया, पहाडिया, दलित जस्ता शब्दहरु प्रयोग हुनु दुःखदायी कुरा हो जस्तो लाग्छ मलाई । तर त्यस्ता विद्धत वर्गहरुबाट आजभोलि पनि नेपाल बाहिर चालीसौं वर्ष बसेका व्यक्तिहरु यस्तै विखण्डनकारी कुराहरु गर्न नछाडेको देख्दा यिनको विद्धता के का लागि अनि उनी आफ्नो नामको अगाडि पछाडिकै लागि मात्र हो भने त्यो विद्धताको के अर्थ होला जस्तो लाग्छ ।
अमेरिकाको लागि नेपालका प्रस्तावित राजदुत साहको सम्बन्धमा डीसीबासी नेपालीहरुले त्यो लेखे वा बोले जो देखे । उहाँलाई कसैले भैंसी गोठालो भनेर हेपेको पनि होइन । मधेसी मुलको परेकाले हुँदै नभएका कुनै दन्त्य कथा बनाएर बिरोध गरेको पनि हुँदै होइन ।
अमेरिकाको लागि नेपालका प्रस्तावित राजदुत साहले यो पंक्तिकारको नामै तोकेर वासिंड.टन डीसीको एक स्पस्टिकरण कार्यक्रमा गुनासो पनि गर्नु भएछ, भर्जिनियाबाट एउटा पत्रिका चलाउने गिरीश पोखरेल नामको व्यक्तिले मेरो विरुद्दमा समाचार लेख्यो । यो पंक्तिकारले उहाँको विरुद्द समाचार लेख्नुपर्ने कारण के थियो र ? उहाँ (अमेरिकाको लागि नेपालका प्रस्तावित राजदुत साह) लाई मैले नेपालबाट आएदेखि नै चिन्दै आएको हो । उहाँ र म बीचमा न केही लेना छ न केही देना छ । उहाँको विरोध गर्नुपर्ने कुनै कारण पनि छैन । म हिजो नेपालमा रहुन्जेल पनि नागरिकको सुसुचित हुने अधिकारको लागि पत्रकारिता गर्दै थिएँ र म अमेरिकामा पनि सुसुचित हुने अधिकारको लागि नै पत्रकारिता गरिरहेको छु । यहाँका नेपालीहरुका दुःख सुखका खवरहरु नेपाल र नेपालबाहिर रहेका नेपालीहरुबीच पुर्याउने काम गर्दै आएको छु ।
मैले कसैको बिरोधका लागि बिरोध मात्र गर्ने वा अन्य कुनै पनि नागरिकको सम्मानमा आघात पुर्याउने वा चरित्र हत्या गर्ने दन्त्य कथा लेख्नु हुँदैन भन्ने स्व-बोध मलाई पनि छ भने त्यसरी सम्मानित हुने नागरिक अधिकारलाई चुनौती दिनु प्रचलित बिधि र कानुनको खिलाप पनि हो भन्ने कुरा सबैलाई उतीकै थाहा छ । जुनकुरा यो वा त्यो कुनै पनि फोरमहरुमा गएर स्पस्टिकरण दिनु पर्ने कुरा होइन भन्ने कुरा भैंसी वा गाई गोठाला सबै लाटा-सोझा हुन वा टाठा-बाठा नेपालीलाई घाम जतिकै छर्लंग नै छ ।
यसै शिलशिलामा मैले राजदूतमा साहको नाम सिफारिस भएपछि उहाँले नेपाल जाँदा जाँदै डीसीस्थित नेपाली दूताबास पुगेर उहाँले दूताबासको कार्यालय र निवास दुवै निरीक्षण गर्न भ्याउनु भयो । अनि उहाँ चालीस वर्षदेखि अमेरिकामा बसोबास गर्ने व्यक्तिले दूताबासकै गाडी प्रयोग गरेर एयरपोर्टसम्म पुग्नु भएको कुरालाई सार्वजनिकि गरें यो गर्नु कुनै अनौठो होइन ।
उहाँ राजदूतमा प्रस्तावित भएको कुरा पनि मिडियाले नै दिने हो दियो । उहाँ नेपाल कसरी जानु भयो ? के गर्नु भयो भन्न्ने कुरा पनि संचारमाध्यमहरुले नै दिने हो त्यो पनि दिएको हो । साह अमेरिको लागि नेपालको राजदुत हुनु हुन्न थियो वा राजदुत हुनका लागि यस्ता हेरा-फेरी गर्नु भयो । राजदुत भएपछि फिजीको दुताबास वा बंगलादेशको राजदुत निवास र कार्यालय निरिक्षण गर्नु भयो । राजदुत भएपछि गिरीश पोखरेललाई धम्याकर एयरपोर्ट पुर्याउन लगाउनु भयो भनेर मैले लेख्न पनि हुँदैन र लेखेको पनि छैन । यदि सो गरेको भए यो पङ्तिकारले प्रस्तावित राजदुत साहको बिरोधका लागि बिरोध गरेको, नागरिकको सम्मानित हुने अधिकारको खिलाप धावा बोलेको वा प्रचलित बिधि र कानुन उल्लघंन गरेको ठहर्ने थियो । सही सुचना प्रवाह नगरेको सजायँको भागी हुनबाट डा साहले पनि जोगाउन सक्नु हुने थिएन ।
त्यस्तै साहले नेपालदेखि बालबच्चा हेर्न अमेरिका ल्याउनु भएकी एक महिलालाई गरेको शोषणका गरेको भने बारेमा अमेरिकाबाट नै प्रकाशित अमेरिकी अखवार वासिंड.टन पोष्टमा (नेपाली पोष्ट होइन) प्रकाशित समाचारलाई यस्तो समाचार निस्किएको छ है भनेर सार्वजनिक गरेको हुँ । सार्वजनिक पदमा आसिन हुने व्यक्तिले गरेका यस्ता कुराहरुलाई सुसूचित गराउनु हाम्रो कर्तव्य पनि हो । यस्ता नागरिकलाई सुसुचित गराउने काम न कसैको बिरोध वा चरित्र हत्या हो वा न बिधि र कानुनकै खिलाप हो ।
मलाई के कुरामा दुखः छ भने डा साहको वर्तमान वा भुतपुर्व राजदुत हुने रहर र सपना भने पुरा हुन सकेन । तर अर्को खुसीको कुरा पनि के छ भने वर्तमान वा भुतपुर्व राजदुत पनि हुन नसक्ने धेरै अभागी गोठालाहरुमा कम्तिमा डा साहले प्रस्तावित राजदुत हुने अवसर भने पाउनु भयो, जुन कहिल्यै भूतपूर्व पनि हुन्न । त्यसमा पनि विश्वकै शक्ति सम्पन्न अमेरिकाको लागि प्रस्तावित राजदुत हुन सफल डा साहलाई सदाबाहर सो अवसरका लागि दुखका साथ बधाई पनि। साभारः नेपाली पोस्ट
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Pokharel ji, Thanks for the news. There are many many good and capable Nepalis (Pahade, Madhesi, Dalit or Mahila) for the post. Hope some good person would be US next ambassador.
मन परे हरियो, नपरे रातो
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** Nepotism, Favouritism & only Political slogans ***
It is bad luck for the country that no leader has born who is trustworthy and who has a clear vision for the country’s future. I was hoping that the Maoist leadership will bring the change in the country but it remained in vain.
All I can think of a leader is that he only promotes nepotism and favouritism in Nepal. After all it is becomimg a failed state. Only future any one can dream of is to go abroad by any means and it is happening rapidly. It is indeed a sad story for the country.
मन परे हरियो, नपरे रातो
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नेपाल सतिले सरापेको देश त हो नै त्यसमाथि करोडौं शोसित पीड़ितहरुको आंशुको कारन पनि नेपालमा आशीष छैन
जस्तो लाग्छ मलाई, जातको आधारमा गरिने भेदभाव अर्को मुख्य कारन हो अनी संसारको जुनसुकै देशमा पुगेर पीएचडी गरेपनी ब्याबहारमा कहिले परिबर्तन नचाहने गोरुहरूको कारन हो देश यो अबस्थामा पुगेको. जबसम्म मान्छेलाई मान्छेको स्तरमा राखेर हेरिन्न उशको आत्माले त सरापेकै हुन्छनी त्यसैले जात भात मधेश पहाड़ भन्दा माथि उठेर हामी नेपाली भनेर जब सम्म एक अर्कालाई माया गरिन्दैन तबसम्म नयाँ नेपाल संभव छैन
मन परे हरियो, नपरे रातो
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Pahadi people are ruling nepal forever in the name of rana, shah, brahmins and so on. Only few people from Madesh if wants to come out of ethnic supression, that is not being digested by rulers and their puppets. You people very well understand this is not going to continue for long time any more, no matter what you write and what you do. This is for your kind information only.
मन परे हरियो, नपरे रातो
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यो युएमेल बालाहरु जम्मै यस्तै हुन्छन्. बिचरा साहजी को कुरा झिकेर अब के फाइदा? यी युएमेलबलाहरूले बरु कस्ता कस्ता जन्तुहरुलाई राजदूत बनयेछन त्यसको जाँच गरम न!
मन परे हरियो, नपरे रातो
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It is basically same whether we are in Nepal or in USA, as we have brought the same BRAIN and THOUGHT. WE NEED CHANGE. I am hoping it will be gone when new generation takes over the old brain.
मन परे हरियो, नपरे रातो
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नेपाल सरकारले होइन मधेशीले मात्र चिनेका हुन्, अनी अमेरिकाले त अमेरिकी बन्न लालायित व्यक्तिलाई नचिन्ने कुरै भएन । यस्ता संकिर्ण व्यक्तिलाई जे सुकै कारणले होस राजदूत हुनबाट जोगायो यो नै ठूलो कुरो भयो । अनी, साहको लागि पनि राजदूत हुने झ्याली पटिई हाल्यो जगतले वहाँ बारे थाहापाईहाले (कु)ख्याती कमाईहाले पैसाको दुःख छैन क्यारे के चाहियो र अब ??
हुनपनि हामी सबको सोचाई यति संकिर्ण भईसक्यो कि जुन जाती वा वर्गले कुनै मन्त्रालय सम्हाल्छ उसले आफ्नै जातीको वा वर्गको मात्रै नियुक्ति गर्न खोज्छ । संकिर्णताको दलदलमा भासिँदो छ नेपाल । quality को कुरा रहेन quantity को मात्र बाँकि रह्यो । कतातिर जाँदै छ नेपाल ??
मन परे हरियो, नपरे रातो
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bijaya ji thank yo very much for keeping thie true and fair news betwen us.
I feel good ,which party nominated this person for ambasdor….so same……
if he become ambasdor he might bee like sacked vice president,,,,
good article and good news ..keep it up,.
मन परे हरियो, नपरे रातो
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Copy from http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/display.php?id=6480
In 1991, Sangita Satyal, a Nepalese domestic servant, was awarded $40,000 in wages and legal fees from her Nepalese employers, IMF economist Sukhdev Shah and his wife Vijaya, according to the Washington Post and interviews with Leavy and Mrs. Shah. Before receiving a visa, Satyal signed the usual contract guaranteeing minimum wage, overtime, and time off. But unbeknownst to Satyal and the State Department, Shah executed a secondary contract with the woman’s father in Nepal, in which he agreed to deposit $50 a month into a bank account. Satyal said she received food and lodging, but no salary, and was denied access to her bank account. In addition, Satyal, together with Mrs. Shah, ran a day care center in the Shah’s Alexandria home, even though Mrs. Shah was legally prohibited from working in the U.S. Satyal eventually ran away. A recent visit to the Shah home revealed that Mrs. Shah continues to run the day care center.
मन परे हरियो, नपरे रातो
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गजब छ बा तपाईहरु अमेरिका पुगेर पनि आफु आफूबीच बाझ्न छोड्नुभएको छैन भन्या!!! तपाईहरु कुनकुन दलमा आस्था राख्नुहुन्छ त्यो पनि भंदिनुस बरु झगडा को जड त्यहि त होला.
मन परे हरियो, नपरे रातो
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जानकारी दिनु भएको मा धन्यवाद!-गिरीश पोखरेल जी !वासिंड.टन पोष्टको कपि उपलब्ध गराउन सक्नु हुन्छ ????? plz send to urt.chennai@gmail.com.
“साहले नेपालदेखि बालबच्चा हेर्न अमेरिका ल्याउनु भएकी एक महिलालाई गरेको शोषणका गरेको भने बारेमा अमेरिकाबाट नै प्रकाशित अमेरिकी अखवार वासिंड.टन पोष्टमा (नेपाली पोष्ट होइन)प्रकाशित समाचारलाई यस्तो समाचार निस्किएको छ है भनेर सार्वजनिक गरेको हुँ । सार्वजनिक पदमा आसिन हुने व्यक्तिले गरेका यस्ता कुराहरुलाई सुसूचित गराउनु हाम्रो कर्तव्य पनि हो । यस्ता नागरिकलाई सुसुचित गराउने काम न कसैको बिरोध वा चरित्र हत्या हो वा न बिधि र कानुनकै खिलाफ हो ।”
मन परे हरियो, नपरे रातो
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काली प्रशाद पोखरेल जी तपाई चाही चाकरी जान्नु हुदो रहेछ नेपाल सरकारको गाढीमा एयर पोर्ट पुराउने र पाटी खुवाउने ?
तपाई लाइ त्यों अधिकार कसले दीयो ?
अनि सुनिन्छ छोरीहरुलाई पनी आफीस को गाडी सिकाइन छ रे नि ?
ऐ. मा. ले. ले ? आफनो पाटी को सरकार छ भन्दै जे गरे पनी हुन्छ की क्या हो ?
क
मन परे हरियो, नपरे रातो
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http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/74049138.html?dids=74049138:74049138&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&fmac=&date=Sep+15%2C+1992&author=Kevin+Sullivan&desc=Suit+Gives+Glimpse+of+Exploitation+of+Servants
Suit Gives Glimpse of Exploitation of Servants
Author: Kevin Sullivan
Date: Sep 15, 1992
Start Page: c.01
Section: METRO
ISSN: 01908286
Copyright The Washington Post Company Sep 15, 1992
Suit Gives Glimpse of Exploitation of Servants
Caleb Zintambila came to the United States to work as a housekeeper in 1986. During the next two years at his employers’ Potomac home, Zintambila said, he was forced to work nearly 18 hours a day, seven days a week, and allowed to sleep only after he finished serving the couple their nightly champagne.
Zintambila, from Malawi, said in court documents that he was forced to sleep in the unfinished basement of the four-bedroom house – for a few weeks using a cardboard box as a mattress on the concrete floor. He said his employers paid him $70 a month and forbade him to use their showers, instead giving him a bucket to wash with, in the basement or outside with a hose.
“Even in Africa, I didn’t wash with a bucket,” said Zintambila, 43.
In July, a federal jury in Baltimore ordered Zintambila’s former employers, Leonard and Jane Marte, to pay him $61,500, including $50,000 in punitive damages. The jury found that the employers, who denied Zintambila’s allegations as “blatantly untrue,” had defrauded him and failed to pay him the minimum wage. Jane Marte, an official of the U.S. Information Agency, and her husband have appealed the verdict.
Immigration lawyers and minority community advocates say Zintambila’s allegations illustrate an acute problem in Washington, the nation’s diplomatic nerve center. They say foreign maids and housekeepers brought here to work for embassy officials or employees of international agencies frequently are treated as indentured servants, in violation of U.S. labor laws.
“There is slavery in Washington, D.C.,” said Edward N. Leavy, a Washington immigration lawyer who has represented several domestics who have sued their employers.
“This is really a problem where people are suffering in large numbers and in silence, particularly in the Washington area,” said Washington immigration lawyer Michael Maggio.
“We have seen cases over and over and over again, and most people are afraid to do anything about it,” Maggio said. “Most of these people come from a class background in their home country where it is prohibited to raise your voice about injustices by the powerful . . . . Domestic servants in much of the world are treated as less than human.”
Officials at the Immigration and Naturalization Service say 3,500 visas are issued every year to domestic servants of embassy officers or U.S. or foreign employees of international agencies such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. The heaviest concentrations are in Washington and New York.
No one tracks all the complaints filed by domestic servants, or other abuse complaints filed by undocumented foreigners who work in this country illegally.
The State Department, which issues visas to the domestics and their employers, maintains a hands-off approach to the problem, said protocol officer Louise Eaton. She said the State Department is reluctant to “inject ourselves into the way other people or other countries are going to handle their own affairs and their own situations here.”
“Certainly when something comes to our attention as being wrong, we will look into it and see if we can take a role in taking care of the problem,” Eaton said.
Church and minority community organizations have recorded dozens of cases of alleged abuse. For example, the Spanish Catholic Center of Washington has received 32 such complaints in the last 18 months, spokeswoman Celia Rivas said.
Rivas said most of the complaints are the same: A servant, sometimes as young as 16, is forced to work as long as 18 hours a day, seven days a week for as little as $50 a month. The servant’s passport is confiscated by the employer, and the servant is seldom allowed to leave the house or use the phone. In the most severe cases, Rivas said, the servants complain that they have been beaten.
“They still believe the domestic is a slave,” Rivas said of the employers. “They feel like they own the person and the person should do whatever they ask them to do. They think, `If I ask you to kiss the floor, you have to do it.’ ”
Maria was 21 when she answered an ad in a newspaper in her native Mexico that sought a $200-a-month domestic servant for a couple in Rockville. Maria arrived here in November 1990 and began working for the couple, foreigners who worked in Washington for an international agency and had four children.
Maria, who asked that her last name not be used, said she worked from 6 a.m. to midnight and was allowed to leave the house only once, for a Mass. She said she slept in a basement bedroom and her employers locked the basement door behind her each night. Her passport was seized and hidden from her, she said, and she was never paid.
“It was horrible,” Maria said. “I cried too much.”
Distraught, Maria called the Rockville church where she had attended Mass, using the telephone number on a church bulletin she had brought home. The priest there referred her to the Rev. William Ryan, a Spanish-speaking priest in Washington, who said he has seen “many, many” similar cases.
Then one morning, two months after Maria started the job, Ryan drove to the house when the employers were out with the children, and he stole Maria away to the Spanish Catholic Center.
“I was crying because I was so happy; I was free,” said Maria, who was given a room in a house owned by the Catholic Center.
More than a year later, Maria works as a live-in domestic for a family in Bowie at a salary of $240 a week, with weekends off. “I thought this country was terrible,” Maria said. “Now it is beautiful.”
Many more domestics have brought their complaints to Sister Manuela Vencela, assistant pastor at Our Lady Queen of the Americas church in Washington, who keeps a drawer filled with files on young Hispanic women who have come to her with complaints of abuse since the 1970s.
The employers “have enough to go on vacation around the world, they have enough for their children to go to the best universities. But they don’t have money to pay the housekeeper,” Sister Manuela said. “I think it’s a lack of understanding that all are equal.”
A U.S. Labor Department spokesman said domestic servants are subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act and must be paid the minimum wage, now $4.25 an hour. The department has had no recent complaints of wage violations involving domestics, the spokesman said. And Eaton, of the State Department, said she is aware of only two complaints involving domestics in the last three years.
Rivas, of the Spanish Catholic Center, said she has called the State Department repeatedly to complain about various cases, “but I haven’t heard anything back from them.”
A small number of the servants take their complaints to court.
In June 1991, a U.S. district judge in Virginia awarded more than $40,000 in wages and legal fees to a Nepalese domestic servant who said in court documents that her employers forced her to work more than 13 hours a day for 17 months, giving her room and board but no salary.
Sangita Satyal said that her employers, International Monetary Fund employee Sukhdev Shah and his wife, Vijaya Shah, of Alexandria, deposited her pay into a bank account from November 1988 to April 1989, but never offered her access to that account until she sued.
Sukhdev Shah said the terms of the verdict in his case forbid him to discuss it. But in court documents, the Shahs denied Satyal’s allegations and said she had worked fewer than 40 hours a week. And they said Satyal’s salary was deposited in a joint account to which she had access.
Zintambila has not yet received any of his $61,500 jury award because his employers, Jane Marte and her husband, Leonard, a freelance writer from Suriname, have appealed the jury’s verdict.
Jane Marte said in an interview that she believes the jury accepted Zintambila’s allegations because his attorneys portrayed him as “a poor, innocent person who was completely fooled and misled.”
Marte, who employed Zintambila when she was posted in Malawi and then brought him here, said Zintambila lied simply to win money from a jury and to enhance his chances of staying in the United States. She said Zintambila never worked more than 30 hours a week and was always paid minimum wage.
The trial largely boiled down to Zintambila’s word against that of the Martes, said Zintambila’s attorney, Thomas J. Mack, of Washington.
At the trial, jurors heard the testimony of another domestic servant from the neighborhood who said Zintambila had described to her his alleged mistreatment by the Martes.
Another witness said he could corroborate Jane Marte’s allegation that Zintambila once threatened her with a knife, but the jury, in its official verdict statement, said there was no proof of that allegation.
“At least in our opinion, we treated him quite well and with respect,” Jane Marte said. “And he’s turned around and told phenomenal stories about it, and some lawyers have chosen to run with it.”
Zintambila has started a cleaning business, and he makes enough to share a Takoma Park apartment with a roommate.
“Great, wonderful,” Zintambila said of his new life. “I feel at home.”
[Illustration]
PHOTO,,Fred Sweets CAPTION: Caleb Zintambila, who now cleans offices, says he used to work 18 hours a day.
Indexing (document details)
Author(s): Kevin Sullivan
Section: METRO
Publication title: The Washington Post (pre-1997 Fulltext). Washington, D.C.: Sep 15, 1992. pg. c.01
Source type: Newspaper
ISSN: 01908286
ProQuest document ID: 74049138
Text Word Count 1559
मन परे हरियो, नपरे रातो
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“कोही १०० त कोही ९९….!”
राजनितिक नियुक्तिको आधारमा बन्ने नैतिकबान राजदूतहरुको संख्या डुन्डोले मत्त्रै आफ्नो औंलामा गन्न सक्छ !
मन परे हरियो, नपरे रातो
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First of all, needed to be political stability then everything will be ok. And, we can go to step by step as like Vietnam, Malayasia, Singapore & Thailand etc. We don’t need as like Bihar style politics. Present situation
cause of politics. We hpoe, “Naya Nepal Sundar Shanta Bishal Hosh.”
मन परे हरियो, नपरे रातो
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नेपाली कांग्रेस को पाला मा सब भन्दा स्तरहीन राजदूत भनेका चक्र बांस्तोला र बल बहादुर कुंवर थिय, तर कम्युनिष्ट हरु को पाला मा त राजदूत छनौट र राष्ट्रिय योजना आयोग का सदस्य छनौट मा त स्तर भन्ने नै थियन।
धन्यवाद
जय नेपाल
कृष्ण गोपाल श्रेष्ठ
मन परे हरियो, नपरे रातो
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narmaro lekhne nai ho bhane ni GIRISH ji hamro desh ko politics ko barema GENEZ BOOK ma WORLD*S LARGEST BOOK ma listed hunchha.
RAJA lai Dam chadhaune PM hunuhunchha GIRISH jyu,
RAJA sanga barta garna kassine maobadi ta ho ni.
tyasaile shah lai manonayan garya hola.
MAOBADI le sochera nai garya ho GIRISH jyu sikaunu pardaina.
sabai chor haru hun hajur.
aba bhannus tapain lai kati le ramro bhanchhan ra kina bhanchhan?? kati satru holan tapainka??
next time lekhnu hola na nnnnn
मन परे हरियो, नपरे रातो
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बिदेशमा बसेर पनि यस्तो हिलो छेपाछेप गर्ने? लेखबाट थाहा भए अनुसार गिरिश र सुखदेव दुवै एउटै ड्याँगका मुला रहेछन् भन्ने थाहा पाईन्छ।
मन परे हरियो, नपरे रातो
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UML le Madhuban paudel jasto kuraute ra chhulyaha bhanera pararastra mantralaya ma chinine manchhe lai pani niyukta gare chha. Nij UAE ma chhada corruption ko aarop lageka manchhe hun. rishiram aryal bhanne karmachari marfat kusta ghus khayaeko yaha ka sabai nepali lai thaha chha. tara madhav nepal ko hanuman bhayekai le pararastra ko bhutpurba karmachari bhyera pani chance paye. dhanya nepal.
bikas shrestha, dubai
मन परे हरियो, नपरे रातो
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