2016

In January, the blockade was lifted much to the relief of Nepalis. Pushpa Kamal Dahal, prime minister for the second time, travelled to India to patch up relations with Narendra Modi. 

2016 was also the 20th anniversary of the start of the Maoist conflict in 1996, and it was ten years after the end of the war. Nepali Times marked the anniversaries throughout the year with coverage of those who were caught up in the conflict to find out what had become of them: photographer Dinesh Shrestha published pictures of the Long March of Maoist leaders during the conflict, an editorial looked back at Maoist ideologue Baburam Bhattarai photoshopping his own revolutionary past, how survivors and families of the victims coped with the grief, bereavement and suffering. 

The year was also one in which Nepal took a Great Leap Forward in inclusive leadership: the country’s President, Chief Justice and Speaker of Parliament were all women. We have regressed since then, and former President Bidya Devi Bhandari has ignored critics to rejoin the political fray of the UML party.

The year saw the notorious rise and ignominious fall of Lokman Singh Karki, chieftain of the Commission for the Investigation of the Abuse of Authority (CIAA). Nepal’s most corrupt and ruthless bureaucrat was put in charge of the country’s anti-corruption agency.

Karki went on a full scale witch hunt, extorting and blackmailing businessmen, bureaucrats, civil society, lawyers, and the media. Himalmedia’s own publishers were jailed or left the country to escape arrest on trumped up charges by a man who came to be known as ‘Mr Lockman’.

Nepali Times translated a commentary from Setopati by Ameet Dhakal, which has lessons for today’s politicians: 

‘Historically, whenever Nepal’s political class has failed to defend democracy, it has been the media that has had to come to the rescue. The head of the CIAA has tried with all his might to silence the media. He has overstepped his jurisdiction, and mobilised other agencies of government to gag the press … Why isn’t there a debate in Parliament about Karki’s anti-constitutional activities? Remember, Nepal’s political map will change either through rebellion or widespread hopelessness. Either way, it will sweep you away.’

By October, the very politicians who appointed Karki felt he was getting too big for his boots, and sacked him after threatening impeachment. The legacy of that tyranny can still be felt in Nepal: today we have mini-Lokmans populating all three levels of government.