As a former company commander of the Maoist militia, Niraka Gharti Magar used to raid banks and government offices. But 18 years after the end of the conflict, she now has to work regularly with bankers and bureaucrats to expand her handicraft business. Despite being good in studies, Niraka dropped out of school and joined the Maoists to undergo guerrilla training, and soon saw action attacking police posts, army bases and government installations across Nepal. She firmly believed in the cause, and the Maoist goal of establishing a ‘New Nepal’. &nbsp; The supreme commander of Maoist guerrillas Pushpa Kamal Dahal is now prime minister for the third time in Kathmandu, and three decades after the start of the conflict, much has remained the same here in the rugged mountains of central Nepal.&nbsp; Niraka has found that perhaps peacetime struggles are more difficult than waging revolution. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/multimedia/weaving-the-fabric-of-a-new-life">Weaving the fabric of a new life</a>, Sahina Shrestha  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230808040856_b3109170f5cb7c1f4928ec8fc0ce7925a993a589dade44e8bbf38315bcd3b8a6.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20230808040856_b3109170f5cb7c1f4928ec8fc0ce7925a993a589dade44e8bbf38315bcd3b8a6" data-rendition-name="original" width="900" height="509" loading="lazy" alt="Ex-guerrilla’s revolution in rural Nepal NT"> </figure>  After the ceasefire in 2006, Niraka joined nearly 20,000 former guerrillas in UN-supervised demobilisation camps. The Maoists came down from the mountains to win elections. She could have been inducted into the national army, but stayed home to take care of her daughter and husband, also a former guerrilla who was wounded in battle. It was too late to resume where she had left off with her education, and returning to her husband’s ancestral village in Rukum she got involved with a community forest users group. But she found it difficult to get a job because of the stigma of her Maoist past. The family moved to Musikot of Rukum district for a fresh start in 2016, and Niraka enrolled to be trained as a weaver. Business grew, and soon she could not keep up with demand for handcrafted woollen mats and blankets, cloth bags and garments, some of which are exported to Singapore and elsewhere.&nbsp; Today, her Prem Dhaka Udyog in Musikot is not just a successful business but also provides income to hundreds of women in the district which in turn empowers them with financial independence. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/guerrilla-turned-member-of-parliament">Guerrilla-turned-Member of Parliament</a>, Anita Bhetwal  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230808040856_9978eb1552ea07cf96ea19383b0e172431ba01280c7c76f2ab6da42da3ffb5af.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20230808040856_9978eb1552ea07cf96ea19383b0e172431ba01280c7c76f2ab6da42da3ffb5af" data-rendition-name="original" width="900" height="509" loading="lazy" alt="Ex-guerrilla’s revolution in rural Nepal NT"> </figure>  “It was just one training to be a weaver that opened the door for me,” Niraka says. “It changed my life, and look at where I am today.”&nbsp; Niraka is not reluctant to share what she has learnt, and constantly trains and supports women who wish to learn handicraft skills. She often travels to surrounding districts to work with trainee weavers through her own cooperative. Women previously confined to domestic chores are now more self-reliant, many of them joined the trade and are supporting each other by sharing resources and collaborating on products. Weaving is a labour-intensive craft that demands patience and perseverance, a perfect fit for Niraka who has honed those qualities through war and peace. She sees a weaver’s job as not just a means of livelihood for herself and others, but as an effective way to challenge societal norms and provide freedom to fellow-women. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/from-heads-to-toes">From heads to toes</a>, Sanghamitra Subba  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230808040856_52bbe153535049bfc304ec8b98d5dd8f3d4932edc2801451236de879f451e33c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20230808040856_52bbe153535049bfc304ec8b98d5dd8f3d4932edc2801451236de879f451e33c" data-rendition-name="original" width="900" height="509" loading="lazy" alt="Ex-guerrilla’s revolution in rural Nepal NT"> <figcaption>Woven handicrafts made by Niraka Gharti Magar’s Prem Dhaka Udyog.</figcaption> </figure>  Niraka herself is modest about her achievements, crediting the resilience and inner strength of Nepali women: “In rural areas, women are often confined to cooking and household chores. They have proved that they can achieve much more.”&nbsp; Niraka’s transformation from fighter to educator is a tale for the ages. Despite her tumultuous journey, it is a story that change is possible when determination meets opportunity and proof that empowerment does not always have to come out of a barrel of a gun. Niraka has carved a niche for herself in the handicraft industry while also paving the way for other women to become self-reliant, and has become a respected member of her community. She says: “Self-awareness is the first step, and with the government as &nbsp;guardian, we have shown we can provide confidence and support to Nepali women.” Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/feminising-farm-based-firms">Feminising farm-based firms</a>, Shristi Karki Translated from the <a href="https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/137325?fbclid=IwAR0jk-2oKL9OEbDMkjTgTofrLUbc5aliFl4yUvXGwtT7UklmMcCOQjBI9uQ">Nepali original</a> by Aayusha Pokharel.

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“How can we argue that those victims whose loved ones disappeared should simply forget?”

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150232/63fe11459c7e80680e0da4d1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1066" height="640"/><figcaption>Gaura Rokaya mourns eight family members killed by soldiers in Pandusen of Bajura in 2002 on suspicion of being maoists. Photo: MOHAN MAINALI/ A PEOPLE WAR</figcaption></figure>Mimamsha Dhungel was barely eight when Nepal’s decade-long armed conflict ended, and she has vague memories of clutching a packet of cheese balls in her hands on 24 April 2006 and being part of a victory rally from Thankot to Kalanki to celebrate the restoration of Parliament and the end of the war.“My grandfather was martyred in the war,” Dhungel, now a 22-year-old student, says. “The struggle is a part of history that we cannot forget.”Monday, 13 February marks 27 years since the Maoists took up arms against the state, and almost 17 years since Nepal’s current Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal of the Maoist and then Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala of the Nepali Congress (NC) signed the Comprehensive Peace Accord that marked the end of the conflict that left 17,000 Nepalis dead.Yet, even as relatives of victims demand justice Nepal’s political mechanism and leadership, which is made up of former enemies, has ensured that no side is held accountable for the atrocities committed during the conflict.Suman Adhikari’s father Muktinath Adhikari was a teacher at a school in Duradanda of Lamjung. In January 2002, he was taken away by Maoists while in class and later executed because he refused to donate a share of his salary to fund their cause.“To be reminded that it has been 27 years since the war began, and almost 17 years since the peace accord was signed is painful, but at the same time it is also worrying that the society at large has stopped talking about it,” says Suman Adhikari. “Whichever government it is, the strategy has been to delay, dilute, and deny victims truth and justice.”https://youtu.be/Rfj5t6dIiKcNot only have Nepalis begun to forget, but there is also now an entire generation of young people who were either not born or were too young to remember what it was like to live in fear of the soldiers, police or guerrillas.And just like the political leadership and governments have refused to ensure that Nepalis learn our history, they have also kept the conflict years out of the school textbooks.The Grade 10 textbook published by the Curriculum Development Centre (CDC) reduces the decade-long war into just a mention in a historical timeline. Textbooks put out by private publishers are better, but still offer few details: reducing the war to brief sentences that mention the start of the war, the massacre of King Birendra’s family, and the 12-point peace agreement.The Grade 12 textbook published by the CDC has dedicated just three sentences to the start of the war, and three sentences to the peace accord in its section about Nepal’s history.The textbooks make no mention of the cost and achievements of the conflict.Bhuwan Raj Shrestha, who teaches higher-secondary level Social Studies in Kathmandu says he tried to bridge the gap. “I try to provide context when I teach my students that particular chapter, and a few students who tend to rank higher in class show an interest and ask for details, but that’s about it,” he says.Shrestha himself used to be headmaster at a school in Nawalparasi during the conflict, and came to Kathmandu for safety after running afoul of the Maoists.Pranjal Pokharel grew up with a father who is a police officer. So he has some experience of the war, but he has little information.“Our political stability and impunity now is rooted in whatever happened back then, so it is important for us to learn about what happened,” says the 22-year-old student. “Whatever we have in the curriculum is just the tip of the iceberg, and doesn’t go in-depth at all.”Aarati Ray, 19, also admits she does not know much about the conflict because it is not taught very well in high school. “There was so much about World War I and World War II in our school textbooks, but there was nothing in-depth about the Maoist war,” says Ray.But veteran journalist Rajendra Dahal, editor of Sikshak monthly magazine for teachers, notes that the absence of information about the war is part of a larger problem with Nepal’s learning system and education sector.“Young people’s lack of knowledge is not limited to the armed conflict, most Nepali students are literate but do not have any real understanding that is applicable in the real world,” says Dahal. “As we have become modern and educated, we have also become ignorant and intolerant.”Journalist Mohan Mainali reported from across Nepal about the human cost of the war and is concerned that almost three decades later, the lack of awareness about Nepal’s recent history and how it could pose a great threat to the nation.“ A society that doesn’t know its history risks repeating it,” he says. “We are again seeing an obsession for newer parties because of disillusionment with the establishment. It could once more take a violent turn, it is a vicious cycle.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150232/63fe11489c7e80680e0da4d2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="579" height="711"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>While the younger generation must be aware of recent history it is not enough to rely solely on textbooks, he says. Indeed, students actually needed to answer questions about the conflict during exams before the peace accord was signed, but the curriculum changed over the decade, and even the exam paper doesn’t have questions specific to the armed conflict anymore.Conflict victim organisations have repeatedly submitted guidelines to political leaders pushing for the war to be included in the school curriculum. But those in power are reluctant because then they  will have to answer to the people about why they were made to suffer.Says Suman Adhikari: “The reality of the conflict is our history, and it must not be hidden. We as a nation need to acknowledge the mistakes of our past so that we might move on, and also so that Nepalis do not ever have to go through something like this ever again.”With additional reporting by Swapnil KC.

Shristi Karki

Delay, dilute, deny

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150236/63fe11629c7e80680e0da4d9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="480"/><figcaption>Folk-rock singer Amrit Gurung presenting a copy of A People War in 2007 to Hemanta Bista at the same spot where the photo was taken five years previously.</figcaption></figure>During the Maoist conflict, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/a-battered-future,3218">Hemanta Bista was an 8-year-old student</a> at a school in Motipur in Kailali District by the East-West Highway. A police station next to the school had been attacked by Maoist guerrillas in 2002, killing most of its 10 personnel.The building was in ruins, and the children never ventured close because they were told it was haunted. One afternoon, they saw a man with a ponytail and moustache, camera slung around his shoulder, taking pictures of the building.Read on: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/ghosts-of-war/">Ghosts of war</a>, Sonia AwaleHe was none other than Amrit Gurung, Nepal’s popular folk-rock singer who was on a peace concert tour of western Nepal.Gurung is also an avid photographer, and specialises in portraits. He remembers: “I was taking some slides with an old-fashioned analog camera when I saw two boys peer out of a hole in the wall made by a mortar shell.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150236/63fe11659c7e80680e0da4dajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="1138"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The colour slides had to be sent to a studio in Kathmandu to be processed, and when he got them back Gurung found one of them to be a striking image.“That photograph of Hemanta and Aman really touched me, the hole in the wall looked like an outline of Nepal, and it was symbolic of the kind of Nepal we are leaving for the next generation. A land in ruins.”In 2006, after the ceasefire, the photograph was chosen as the cover image for the first volume, A People War लडाईमा जनता , of Kunda Dixit’s trilogy of photo books on the conflict published by nepa~laya.When Amrit Gurung passed Motipur again in 2007 on another concert tour, he invited Hemanta, who was now 13, to present the boy with a copy of the book posing in front of the same hole in the wall of the police station.Hemanta now has an MBA and works as a customer relations officer in an automobile dealership in Kathmandu. Hemanta remembers the night of the raid on the police station, and helicopters arriving the next morning to take the bodies away.The war was always close during his childhood because his father was in the Nepal Police and several uncles and an aunt were Maoist guerrillas.Hemanta remembers his mother being worried all the time and fainting whenever she heard of a police station being attacked. Hemanta’s father rarely came home for holidays for fear of being found out, but when he did he used to sleep in the paddy fields nearby in case the Maoists targeted him.“We saw so much violence and death during our childhood, but today we see no big change for the better in Nepal, all those lives were lost in vain,” says Hemanta, now 28. “It is because of our parents that we got a good education, so now we can take care of them.”

Kunda Dixit

Photographic memory of war

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150232/63fe11359c7e80680e0da4cdjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="654"/><figcaption>The Maoist conflict began 27 years ago this week. The former Maoist commander is Nepal's prime minister for the third time, and politics has been in disarray ever since the war ended 17 years ago. Photo: KIRAN PANDEY/NEPALI TIMES ARCHIVE</figcaption></figure>This week marks 27 years since the start of the Maoist conflict that claimed the lives of 17,000 Nepalis. A whole new generation has grown up without any memory or knowledge of the insurgency, and how it has shaped Nepali society and politics, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/armed-conflict-and-conflict-of-interest/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">for better or worse (mostly the latter)</a>.The fact that Chairman Prachanda who admitted to being responsible for “only” 5,000 of the deaths during his insurgency is now Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal for the third time has left many<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/guerrilla-turned-member-of-parliament/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> (including his own former guerrillas and comrades)</a> wondering what it was all for.When heinous war crimes including summary executions, torture, disappearances and war rape by both sides go <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-unpunished-war-crimes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">unaddressed and unpunished</a>, the sense of impunity makes Rabi Lamichhane’s citizenship debacle just a procedural lapse.“A society that doesn’t know its history or doesn’t learn from it is bound to repeat the same mistakes,” warns Mohan Mainali, a film-maker who documented the conflict. “As it is, we are already seeing public disenchantment with the established parties turning into support for newer parties and their populist leaders.”The question now is: are the new parties that emerged from the November federal elections really that different? The way Lamichhane got himself appointed Home Minister in the 7-party coalition showed a clear <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/conflicting-interests/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">conflict of interest</a>, where power trumped ethics. And the prolonged tirade against the media during his press conference was seen by many as a blatant attempt to divert attention from his transgressions by blaming the messenger.In a way, Lamichhane is latching on to a mass yearning for change, much in the same way that the Maoist parties swept the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=14730#.Y-XHay8w1KM" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">2008 Constituent Assembly</a> elections by promising societal transformation through the democratic process. Overwhelming numbers of Nepalis voted for the Maoists then, not necessarily because they supported them, but because they did not want them to go back into the jungle.The peace process that followed the conflict may not have made Nepali society more egalitarian, but there is now <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-local-election-gives-power-back-to-people/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">more inclusion in politics</a>, the job market, education, women, and excluded groups having found space they previously lacked.  Nepal went from a Hindu monarchy to being a secular federal republic, and the Madhes movement would likely not have happened without the insurgency making people aware of their rights.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/armed-conflict-and-conflict-of-interest/">Armed Conflict and Conflict of Interest</a>, Editorial<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150232/63fe113a9c7e80680e0da4cejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="640"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“But the question is, did we need to kill a whole lot of people to achieve that?” asks Rajendra Dahal, editor of Shikshak monthly. “Sure, we have matured as a society, but just about everything else is worse than before the insurgency: development, economy, education, and most of all, our politics.”Even so, Nepal is considered a model for post-conflict reconciliation with the former rebels transitioning into mainstream politics in the past 17 years. Dahal is prime minister for the third time <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/oli-dahal-political-deja-vu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">with the UML in the coalition</a>, and Sher Bahadur Deuba of the Nepali Congress a close ally despite being in the opposition. The former enemies are no longer in government together, but Dahal incongruously heads a coalition made up of anti-secular, anti-federal and pro-monarchy forces.“Sure, the war led to notable political and social reforms but unfortunately the very political decline that led to the conflict is more evident, the fact that the behaviour and mentality of our leaders haven’t changed makes all other achievements of the revolution meaningless,” says Mainali.The former enemies do not want to rake up war crimes and want the atrocities their forces committed to be forgotten. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and the Commission on the Investigation of Enforced Disappearances (CIED) have<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/transitional-injustice-in-nepal/"> turned transitional justice into a farce</a>.“There is not much hope for transitional justice given the very perpetrators are now the state, but we as a society must remember to remember the insurgency and people who have blood on their hands, at the very least to prevent another war,” adds Mainali.The families of the victims or those who disappeared during the war continue to wait for the truth. On the 21th anniversary last week of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=6369#.Y-XIii8w1KM" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the execution by the Maoists of Muktinath Adhikari</a>, a teacher in Lamjung, his daughter Sabita Adhikari pleaded for justice.She wrote: “We lost our father. Nothing will bring him back. If his murderers are not caught and punished, there is a danger of another conflict that will make more orphans like us.”Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-unpunished-war-crimes/"> Nepal's unpunished war crimes</a>, Sabita Adhikari

Sonia Awale

Ghosts of war

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150232/63fe10e59c7e80680e0da4b6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1364"/><figcaption>Photo: RSP</figcaption></figure>This week marks 27 years since the Maoists launched their armed struggle. Three decades later, and <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/20-years-wasted-in-war,2850">17 years after the war ended</a>, the leader of the revolution is prime minister of Nepal for the third time.The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/from-the-frontlines-of-nepals-war/">Maoists waged war</a> to end the monarchy, and turn Nepal into a federal, secular republic. But Prime Minister <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/pushpa-kamal-dahal-is-still-prachanda/">Pushpa Kamal Dahal</a> (aka Prachanda) shares power in a coalition with openly anti-secular, royalist and anti-federal parties.Former enemies are now the state. And while this may be a model for post-conflict reconciliation, it also means that neither the security forces and their civilian leaders, nor the Maoist leadership and their guerrilla commanders, have had to answer for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-unpunished-war-crimes/">heinous crimes</a> committed during the insurgency.The former antagonists have made sure that the two commissions mandated to deliver transitional justice remain toothless. Social science and history text books make no mention of the violent conflict that left 17,000 Nepalis dead. A whole generation of Nepalis has grown up with no knowledge of what happened between 1996 and 2006.Many of the survivors and families of victims have lost faith in ever getting justice, and have moved on because of the pressures of day-to-day survival. Time is erasing memories, and that suits the perpetrators of war crimes fine, since they want us to forget what happened.As they watch at the way the country has been run, however, the hundreds of thousands of Nepali civilians and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/ex-guerrillas-regret-the-war/">fighters who suffered</a>, were tortured, wounded, displaced or bereaved, are thinking: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/revisiting-maoist-demands,2860">what was it all for</a>?On 4 February 1996 at Singha Darbar, Maoist ideologue <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/nepals-maoist-revolution-from-the-inside/">Baburam Bhattarai</a> presented to Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba (yes, his first of five tenures in office) 40 demands. His party did not even wait for the government’s response, and on <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/13-february/">13 Feburary 1996</a> launched simultaneous attacks on police stations across the country.The conflict was never about a ‘revolution’. The war was just politics by other (violent) means. The behaviour of their leaders in government today probably <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/the-spark-that-lit-the-Maoist-revolution,2870">gives little comfort</a> to former guerrillas and comrades. In fact, like in any other party, Pushpa Kamal Dahal has purged all potential rivals from the Maoist Centre.Just like K P Oli of the UML, and to a certain extent the NC’s Sher Bahadur Deuba, Dahal’s conduct is based on the principle of ‘I am the party, the party is me.’The tragedy is that the leader of the brand new alternative party professing integrity and good governance which came out of nowhere to be the fourth largest entity in Parliament after the November election, showed himself this week to be of the same ilk.Having the coalition appoint himself Home Minister, in charge of the very Police that was investigating his citizenship, showed poor judgement and elastic ethics. Lamichhane was behaving like the very politicians he was rebelling against.His RSP won 20 seats in the House because of protest votes – a rejection by many young Nepalis of same old politics by same old politicians. But Rabi Lamichhane’s stream of consciousness rant the other day after he was refused to be reinstated as Home Minister was reminiscent of Trumpian populism – the same ‘drain the swamp’ and anti-media whataboutery.Lamichhane served as tv anchor in the established media after returning from the United States and later renouncing his citizenship, but understood the true power of social media after tens of thousands of followers showed up at a support rally in Chitwan when he was arrested after being accused to abetting the suicide of someone investigated by his tv program.His press conference on 5 February, therefore, was a demonstration of the clash between new and old media, between new and old politics.Of course, Nepal’s media is not spotless. It would be surprising if it was an island of uprightness when there is rot all around. Most tycoons who also own media are in cahoots with politicians and contractors. If we are honest with ourselves, some of Lamichhane’s supporters have a valid reason for calling journalists पत्रुकार, loosely translated as ‘presstitutes’.But it is easy to see why Lamichhane came out with all guns blazing against the media, and not the prime minister who had just refused to hand him back the home ministership. It was to divert attention from the investigation into his dual citizenship that is like a sword hanging over his head.But let who is without sin cast the first stone. Most leaders in the established parties either have dirt, or blood in their hands for which they have never faced justice. Lamichhane’s citizenship transgression was procedural – not murder or corruption which is what many in power have gotten away with.Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/rsp-quits-nepal-coalition/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">RSP quits Nepal coalition</a>, Nepali Times

Armed Conflict and Conflict of Interest

<img width="800" height="451" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131132/637235539c7e80680e0c497djpeg.jpg" alt=""/>Nepali human rights activists and survivors of the 1996-2006 Maoist insurgency have written to United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres alerting him to ‘multiple flaws’ in a transitional justice amendment bill before Nepal’s Parliament.The letter was handed over to the UN Resident Coordinator in Nepal Richard Howard on Monday in Kathmandu, one day before the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances on 30 August. A copy of the letter was also given to Michelle Bachelet Jeria, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.The Comprehensive Peace Accord of 2006 envisaged setting up a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/no-closure-after-nepals-insurgency/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/no-closure-after-nepals-insurgency/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1661934213834000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0gT_QRHglKZGU7wjxZeoZm">transitional justice mechanism</a> with the formation of a Commission for the Investigation of Enforced Disappeared Persons and a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The commissions were finally formed in 2014, but have <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/stop-stalling-transitional-justice-global-human-rights-bodies/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/stop-stalling-transitional-justice-global-human-rights-bodies/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1661934213834000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3BQNmw2JY2EtTKZ9hfL2bK">lacked teeth</a> because former enemies have served together in coalition governments that have tried to brush war-time atrocities under the carpet. Read  also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/dead-and-dying,3955">The dead, and the dying</a>, Om Astha RaiThe Commission on Enforced Disappearances did draw up a list of 1,334 people who have been missing since the conflict ended in 2006. Less than half of the families of those disappeared by both sides have received compensation.But, more importantly, most have not been told the truth about whether their relatives are dead or alive, why they were taken away, or where their bodies are. Most families have been living for the past 16 years without closure.The government had been stalling on implementing a Supreme Court ruling to amend the 2014 transitional justice law, but got the human rights activist turned Minister for Law and Constitutional Affairs Govinda Sharma Bandi last month to present an amendment bill in Parliament.Human rights activists and conflict groups have held street demonstrations against the proposed bill, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/transitional-injustice-in-nepal/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/transitional-injustice-in-nepal/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1661934213834000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3yY1dq5VJPT-IyGX1Pigr2">which they say is perpetrator-friendly</a>, and would grant amnesty to those responsible for war crimes by both sides during the conflict. Minister Bandi serves in a government led by the Nepali Congress which was in power for most of the conflict years, their coalition partners from the Maoist party which was waging an armed struggle. <img width="1554" height="1468" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131132/637235559c7e80680e0c497ejpeg.jpg" alt="">Both parties now find themselves on the same side, and appear to have colluded to ensure that the draft bill will allow state security forces and guerrilla commanders who are now in government to not be answerable for torture and disappearances, summary executions, rape and other heinous crimes.The letter to the UN Secretary-General seeks his good offices to ensure that changes be made to the draft bill so that families and victims receive truth and justice. It reminds the Secretary-General that the United Nations has been a meaningful partner in Nepal’s peace process, which makes it surprising that the respective Special Rapporteurs, the OHCHR and other UN entities have not publicly reacted to the transitional justice bill.The letter states that the transitional justice bill does not follow the ruling of Nepal’s Supreme Court and goes against international law. It draws attention to the re-definition and distinction between ‘murder’ and ‘cruelly conducted murder’ in the bill, as well as the issues of child soldiers, torture and wartime rape.‘The amendment bill is designed to provide de facto immunity to perpetrators of both sides,’ the letter states, adding, “we hope that the United Nations will remain engaged on the matter.’UN Resident Coordinator Richard Howard assured the meeting of human rights conflict victims’ groups (pictured) that the United Nations remained committed to values inherent in the transitional justice process.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/forgetting-to-remember/">Forgetting to remember</a>, Sahina ShresthaThe letter was signed by Gauri Sankhar Lal Das and Sushil Pyakurel (former commissioners of National Human Rights Commission), Kul Chandra Gautam (Former Assistant Secretary General of the United Nations, Min Bahadur Shahi (Human Rights Alliance), Nani Maya Thapa (NGO Federation of Nepal), Suman Adhikari (Conflict Victim Orphan Society Nepal) and Maina Karki (Conflict Victims’ Common Platform), among others.It also included victims’ groups, including the Army Single Women and Injured Families Group, Conflict Victims’ Society for Justice, Amar Prahari Pariwar, Conflict Victims’ National Alliance, Discharged People’s Liberation Army Nepal.Read more: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/transitional-injustice-in-nepal/">Transitional injustice in Nepal</a>, Kanak Mani Dixit

Nepali activists write to UN Secretary-General

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131124/637233819c7e80680e0c48e6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>Illustration: SUBHASH RAI/NEPALI TIMES</figcaption></figure>Eighteen years after the end of Nepal's Maoist conflict, and eight years after the Supreme Court ruled that a law on transitional justice was inadequate, the coalition government last month finally registered a bill to amend it.But human rights experts say the draft fulfilled neither the aspirations of victims, nor international law. The proposed amendment to the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, Truth and Reconciliation Commission Act 2014 still provides amnesty to perpetrators.“Starting the amendment process after so long, and consultations held in the seven provinces were positive steps that gave victims and their families a ray of hope,” says Raju Prasad Chapagai, a constitutional and human rights lawyer. “But the draft bill fails to address their demands for truth and justice.”In its 2015 ruling, the Supreme Court ordered a revision of the Act to ensure that heinous crimes like rape, extrajudicial killings, torture and enforced disappearances could not be pardoned. Since then, successive governments have challenged that ruling and stalled the transitional justice process.The draft bill does include the right to reparation and interim relief for victims, and gives the two commissions truth-seeking mandates. But activists say it makes an absurd distinction between murder and brutal murder, and stipulates that the verdict of the Special Court cannot be appealed.Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-unpunished-war-crimes/">Nepal’s unpunished war crimes</a>, Sabita Adhikari“War crimes cannot be selectively categorised to bypass criminal accountability,” states Chapagai. “Also, the right to appeal is one of the minimum standards of human rights norms. The clause is arbitrary as accused from both sides may need to appeal their cases.”As per the draft bill, the transitional justice commissions will have to make recommendations to the Attorney General’s office to start prosecution, which will then forward the cases to a Special Court, which in turn is supposed to come to a decision within six months.Legal experts say that the six month interval is not enough for proper investigation. Apart from letting down families of victims and survivors, what surprised activists was the way the amendment bill was registered on 15 July.“It was wrong of Minister for Law and Constitutional Affairs to hurriedly register the bill in the middle of the night,” says Lily Thapa of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).“Violations should not have been categorised, and heinous crimes must be investigated and tried,” she adds.Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/no-closure-after-nepals-insurgency/">No closure after Nepal’s insurgency</a>, Mandira Sharma and Mohna AnsariFamilies also worry that with the Maoists now in the governing coalition with their erstwhile enemies the Nepali Congress, justice may never be served. They are also surprised that the bill was registered by Minister Bandi, who was once a transitional justice activist and supported their cause.“What is the point of registering an amendment bill if the grievances and demands of the victims are not addressed?” asks Thapa.Former NHRC head Sushil Pyakurel says one has to take into account the intentions of the coalition leadership to understand the timing of the draft bill.“Even since entering politics in 2006, the Maoists have never had to admit to any wrongdoing or express remorse for their crimes. They have always thought of themselves as the victors,” Pyakurel says.In 2001, it was Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba’s government that declared a nation-wide emergency and mobilised the Royal Nepal Army to fight the Maoists led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/impunity-through-immunity/">Impunity through immunity</a>, Raju Prasad ChapagainToday, Deuba is prime minister again and his close coalition ally is Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal, a former nemesis. The Army and two police forces are also accused of numerous wartime atrocities.“Both Dahal and Deuba are trying to brush war crimes under the carpet, and that is what brings the two former enemies together,” explains Pyakurel. "Neither wants to express remorse and admit that atrocities were committed."Nepal’s transitional justice process was supported by the Europeans and Americans, but with the weakening of the West and the rise of next door India and China there is less pressure to follow through on transitional justice.Says Pyakurel, “Having two powerful countries as neighbours is both a blessing and a curse for Nepal. Neither are strong proponents of human rights, but Nepali victims of conflict need justice and closure.”Go <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/transitional-injustice-in-nepal/">online</a> for Kanak Mani Dixit's detailed analysis of the draft amendment, Transitional Injustice in Nepal.

Sahina Shrestha

Forgetting to remember

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111413114/63722f1d9c7e80680e0c24fcjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1001"/>Sixteen years after the war everyone in Nepal still needs Transitional Justice.In November October 2006, the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) promised us truth and justice about what had gone on in the previous decade. But nothing has happened.Perhaps most shocking, the promise that the whereabouts of the disappeared would be revealed within 60 days has been completely ignored, and their families have been badly betrayed.The only real outcome of the CPA has been the creation of myths and false promises around transitional justice for survivors.Certainly, the victims, survivors, families, and friends all are central to the process and they must be the first to be consulted. Their priorities and demands fit neatly into what is now an established international tradition of transitional justice after conflict. Four main elements are key: truth, justice, reparations and non-recurrence.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-runs-out-of-excuses-to-address-war-crimes/">Nepal runs out of excuses to address war crimes</a>,Tufan NeupaneBut we must be clear that while reparations and memorialisation are primarily for victims, truth, justice and non-repetition affect every Nepali— all the people who lived through the conflict had their lives changed, mostly in a negative way, even if only at the basic economic level. Some lost land, others were badly treated, many lived in fear, were displaced, lost jobs, income and opportunities. Everyone has the right to know the truth, to know what happened, and why.As a society, we also need to know what it is to be like to wait for your loved one for years not knowing their fate. What is to suffer in silence following a gang rape? How does it feel to live without a limb and with the trauma of witnessing the beheading of your near and dear people? What is it like to not have closure?As a nation, we all need to know what led to the war that cost so many lives to prevent a similar situation in future.All of those old enough to remember the period before conflict will recall how badly the state served them. How awful the police and army were, how hopeless, expensive and slow the justice system was, how the political patronage destroyed the public institution. Finding the truth of the conflict, unpacking the basis of such conflicts, and the experiences of survivors will help us understand how it affects our daily life today and what needs to be done.Not many people feel that the police force protects and serves us all as it claims. Not many understand why the army is still so big, and why it is such an important economic actor.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/toothless-commissions/">Toothless Commissions</a>, EditorialNot many people realise why law does not treat everyone equally, why they still have very limited access to justice unless they are rich or have good connections. A truth process about the conflict will shed a lot of light on these issues and our system which is often difficult to understand and analyse.Sexual violence against women is among the biggest societal issues today, as it was during the conflict. If we understand sexual violence in the conflict, we will be better informed about its nature. This in turn will provide us with a much clearer picture of how we must deal with them at present time.Many of the young women protesting against recent rape cases including that of Nirmala and Sushmita were not even of school age when the conflict ended. They need to know the history to better campaign today.It is clear that young people are not satisfied with the political set up today, 16 years after the CPA. And they have a right to know the history of their country, the events that made it what it is.This is not really surprising. We are living in a post-conflict period. Those who make decisions for us in 2022 are the same people who did so during the conflict years, whose decisions cost lives of many people and forced many more to suffer silently, including women raped and tortured. These women are not recognised as conflict victims. They are deprived of interim relief offered to other conflict victims.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/rocky-transition-to-justice/">Rocky transition to justice</a>, EditorialIt's tragic we have learnt very little from the conflict which could have taught us so much.  Some of us remember the excitement and promise of Republic Day in May 2008, nearly 14 years ago.No one told us then that there would be no reformation of the police, why we still need the APF, a counterinsurgency force set up in the conflict which no longer has an insurgency to fight. No one told us that our taxes would be used up paying for an army of nearly 100,000, with no enemy to fight unless we decide to invade India or China. No one told us that the new Nepal would remain a place where the lives of women would continue to be hidden and misreported.Yes, we demand reparations and memorialisation for victims. But we also want truth and justice because this is the society we decided we wanted when the war started and when it ended.This week, around 30 women who suffered sexual violence and rape during conflict are coming to Kathmandu from different parts of country once again to demand what they want from the TJ process. Their demand for truth, justice and reparation is to help build a new Nepal, to unearth the past and learn from it.Let us hope the people who have previously claimed to campaign for human rights provide safe space for those open to sharing their pain and anguish, and deliver their promise to establish a credible TJ process in Nepal.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-struggle-for-transitional-justice/">The struggle for Transitional Justice</a>, Hari PhuyalMohna Ansari is Commissioner, National Human Rights Commission of Nepal. Mandira Sharma is a lawyer and human rights defender who co-founded Advocacy Forum in 2001.

No closure after Nepal’s insurgency

<figure><img width="800" height="533" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101124/637209649c7e80680e0b553cjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Nagma Mali holding a picture of her father Nandagopal Mali. Photo: BIKKIL STHAPIT/ VOICES OF WOMEN MEDIA</figcaption></figure>On 22 June 2004, Nandagopal Mali left home in Thecho, Lalitpur as usual for his workshop where he was casting a bronze statue for a customer. He hasn’t been seen since.His daughter Nagma, who was eight at the time, kept waiting for her dad. Seventeen years later, she is still waiting.Having already lost her mother three years previously, while giving birth to her younger sister, Nagma could never accept that her father was gone and with no official proof of his demise, held on to the hope that he would come back one day.Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/issue/351/Nation/13585#.Ygs50u5Bz0s">Disappeared, dead or alive</a>, Anagha NeelakantanSoon after Nandagopal went missing, Nagma’s grandfather Sanu Mali took charge of searching for his son but he passed away soon after.It was then Nagma’s grandmother who stepped up, relentlessly questioning Royal Nepal Army officials and holding protests every day in Maitighar.One day, after returning from daily protests, Nagma’s grandmother told her about two children who were also searching for their missing parents.Nagma was a quiet girl whose first instinct was to hide when someone visited her home, but she decided to join her grandmother on the streets. <figure><img width="585" height="444" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101124/637209679c7e80680e0b553djpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“It was my grandmother who made me the strong, independent person that I am today, fighting for justice,” says Nagma. “She also involved me in all important decision making, installing self-confidence in me.”She followed her grandmother to the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons and participated in every program advocating justice for crimes committed during the Maoist conflict. She met others like her with missing parents, but had not given up the search.By then Nagma had completed her secondary education and was trying to decide on her career. One day, Nagma’s grandmother was stopped at the Chauni army barrack and was not allowed in.This was when Nagma realised that you either had to be someone with influence or a journalist to gain access to important places and people.Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16267#.Ygs5zu5Bz0s">Vanishing Hope</a>, Ram Kumar BhandariNagma enrolled at Ratna Rajya Campus for a degree in journalism. But before long her only remaining support, her grandmother, died leaving her in charge of raising younger sister Swastika. But Nagma persisted and kept looking for her father on her own.She tried to visit top-ranking officials, joined the ‘Martyrs and Disappeared Warrior Children’ foundation and submitted a memorandum to the government to reveal the whereabouts of her missing father. But as her questions went unanswered and the state failed to investigate the case, her faith in the Disparaged Persons Committee started to erode. <figure><img width="1050" height="735" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101124/637209699c7e80680e0b553ejpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>She then turned to the Central Bureau of Investigation and studied for the Civil Service Commission exam with the hopes of joining the police force and finding her father herself. But as the sole earner of the family paying for both her and Swastika’s studies, she wasn’t able to keep up and did not sit for the paper.“Over the years I have often questioned myself if he was still alive. More than 15 years have passed, it has been a painful wait,” says Nagma, who strengthened her resolve once again and demanded that the government disclose information on the disappeared persons regardless of their state.After the peace talks in 2006, the Maoists became part of the government. The country went from the war to peace but the families of the disappeared continued to wait. None of the agencies set up to investigate war crimes are working on the whereabouts of nearly 1,500 still missing. <figure><img width="1050" height="662" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101124/6372096c9c7e80680e0b553fjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>“If we don’t fight, the disappeared will also be forgotten,” adds Nagma, who is now with the organisation Voices of Women Media and is also affiliated with the Conflict Victim Women National Network. “The truth is missing just like those who were made to disappear.” What worries Nagma most is the fate of children affected by the disappearances during the conflict and says the Maoist-led government has treated them unfairly. Children of those declared martyrs get free of cost education up to any level but for the children of the disappeared, it stops at 18 years of age. Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=17395#.Ygs53e5Bz0s">The disappeared and disquiet of those left behind</a>, Robert Godden “Pushpa Kamal Dahal looked after only his people after his purpose was served. What about us, the children of the disappeared? When will the consequences of your action be addressed?” Nagma questions the top Maoist leadership. How long should one wait for the disappeared person to come back? A month? A year? A decade? For Nagma, the answer is as long as she lives. She says: “As long as there is a hope of my father’s return, my search will continue. I won’t ever give up.” Adapted from the <a href="https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/128303?fbclid=IwAR3c3furHehsMy3HMd7Yv8VVJ9Iuq_rCUTCYEW_0xNErEsmBc_e9Lb0DLv0">Nepali original</a> in <a href="http://himalkhabar.com/">himalkhabar.com</a>Read more:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/disappearance-of-justice/">Disappearance of Justice</a>, Sabrina Dangol<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-scars-of-war/">The scars of War</a>, Sahina Shrestha

Still looking for Dad missing in Nepal

Nepal’s only international aviation gateway, at Kathmandu airport, will cut night-time operation hours to allow construction of taxiways, and airlines have been told to curtail flights. This is expected to lead to more than normal chaos during the height of peak autumn and spring tourist seasons at an airport that is congested even at the best of times. The airport will close from 10PM to 8AM from 8 November-31 March 2025. The taxiways will now connect to the thresholds at both ends of the runway, making the airport more efficient in handling higher frequencies of landings and takeoffs. The parallel taxiway extension will allow international flights to land every 4 minutes instead of the current every 7 minutes. At present planes have to wait to land until a plane taking off backtracks along the runway.&nbsp; Kathmandu is Nepal’s only airport with international operations, and it has only one runway that is only one way in from the south over the mountains. With the taxiway improvement, the airport will be able to handle 42 aircraft landings and takeoffs per hour — double the current capacity.&nbsp; The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) has been trying to entice international airlines to also start flying to and from the other two international airports at Pokhara and Bhairawa (Lumbini) by slashing landing and handling charges. But so far only Nepal Airlines operates a weekly flight to Bhairawa from Kuala Lumpur.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241018161016_046569e53d1d66cd445cc66c697c0ef724810aec9f54bdf827481e3cd6b80c32.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20241018161016_046569e53d1d66cd445cc66c697c0ef724810aec9f54bdf827481e3cd6b80c32" data-rendition-name="original" width="2356" height="1134" loading="lazy" alt="Kathmandu airport expansion"> <figcaption>Kathmandu Airport Expansion plan with extension of taxiways to the thresholds of runways 02 and 20 that will limit airport operations from 8 November 2024 - 31 March 2025. Areas in blue are existing structures, including the international terminal which in future will be the domestic airport, and the new international terminal near the north end of the runway,</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241018121028_6e17cc2ee87c1b02d78cb54905825b7aa15299b7a00f5eddb01a59579ab85c1a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20241018121028_6e17cc2ee87c1b02d78cb54905825b7aa15299b7a00f5eddb01a59579ab85c1a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1353" height="1328" loading="lazy" alt="Kathmandu airport NT"> </figure>  CAAN has reportedly told international airlines to cut their flight frequency to Kathmandu citing the shorter operation hours and has told budget airlines to shift some of their flights to Pokhara or Bhairawa, or face cuts. Many airlines currently operate regular flights to and from Kathmandu between 10PM and 8AM: Air Arabia to Sharjah, Fly Dubai to Dubai, Jazeera Airways to Kuwait, Cathay Pacific to Hong Kong, Singapore Airlines, several Nepal Airlines flights, and one of four daily flights by Qatar Airways to Doha. Jazeera Airways, FlyDubai, and Thai AirAsia have applied and got permission from CAAN to begin regular flights to Bhairawa’s Gautam Buddha International Airport. Starting 9 November, FlyDubai will start making a stopover in Bhairawa before flying on to Kathmandu. Immigration, customs and security are all fully functional in Bhairawa. In Kathmandu, the next phase of the airport upgrade includes converting the current international terminal for domestic operations, the construction of a new international terminal where the domestic departure area is now, as well as moving the hangars and the Nepal Army Air Wing to the eastern side of the runway. The apron area will also double its parking space for widebody jets. This is part of a Airport Capacity Enhancement Project that was initially funded through a $80 million loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the entire masterplan is expected to cost $800 million. This project is the latest upgrade to Nepal’s only international airport since it saw its first flight in 1949. The current international and domestic terminals are too small to handle the current annual traffic volume of 8.5 million passengers a year that is growing at 20% a year.

Kathmandu airport to cut flight hours

As Kathmandu becomes more congested and polluted, and with remote online work becoming the norm, many professional Nepalis are planning to retire in Pokhara, or move there.&nbsp; With its stunning mountain panorama, balmy winters and proximity to a profusion of wilderness areas, builders are responding to this demand with new townhouses, housing development and apartments. One such block of flats is the 10-storey <a href="https://sungavaapartment.com/">Sungava Apartment</a> located at Phulbari above the Seti River, near the point where it flows into and under Pokhara. The imposing structure near Manipal Hospital is almost complete, and on a recent visit the site was strewn with huge boulders unearthed while digging the foundation.&nbsp; The Seti brought down these boulders during a gigantic flood that geologists estimate happened 800 years ago when a chunk of Annapurna IV broke off and ploughed into the glacier below. Today, Sungava (means ‘orchid’) sits safely on a high terrace, 100m above the blue-green Seti and commands a view of Dhaulagiri, Annapurna South, Machapuchre, Annapurna III and IV.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024102411104_5f8fc736c86ea3c08d7bef43bb727081d3cc1a2caa55ae2b441717e6044de7e9.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2024102411104_5f8fc736c86ea3c08d7bef43bb727081d3cc1a2caa55ae2b441717e6044de7e9" data-rendition-name="original" width="2016" height="1512" loading="lazy" alt="High living below the Himalaya NT"> </figure>  The soil here is conglomerate that has solidified like concrete, and the boulders were extracted by heavy earthmovers. It is intriguing to think that these metamorphic rocks as big as cars, rounded by glacial grinding, were once a part of a much higher Annapurna IV. Even for those with little interest in geology, Sungava is an ideal place to contemplate the tectonic forces that pushed these peaks into the sky to be sculpted into delicate shapes by wind, snow, earthquake and avalanche over millions of years. The view of the Himalayan panorama from Sungava’s many balconies are breathtaking when not obscured by clouds, or the haze that drifts in from across the southern border. On most days, just watching the towering pyramid of Machapuchre (Tamu name: कतासुँ क्लिको) play hide and seek with the clouds is mesmerising. There are rocks aplenty at Phulbari, and it is probably the flowers that grew along the flat terraces e that gave the place its flowery name. The boulders will hopefully be turned into a rock garden while landscaping. An nearby restaurant complex is making the best use of the stones in its design, using flat rocks as outdoor benches and tables. Sungava was designed by the husband-wife architect team of Deepak Sherchan and Jyoti Joshi of <a href="https://thedarkmermaidamarbshrestha.blogspot.com/2013/12/creative-builders-collaborative-cbc.html">Creative Builders Collaborative (CBC)</a>, which also built Heritage Plaza, Indreni Apartment and numerous other projects in Nepal. Sadbhavana retains CBC’s trademark Newari-style masonry and here it borrows from the orange brickwork of the old town of Pokhara, integrating it with modern design elements. A few of those heritage houses are still standing in Ganesh Tole and Ram Krishna Tole in Pokhara’s old quarter.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024102411108_5eb64a4885961b6d30781cefeb1e8a313da313ac5227c7a66b60f0c7d48d6fab.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2024102411108_5eb64a4885961b6d30781cefeb1e8a313da313ac5227c7a66b60f0c7d48d6fab" data-rendition-name="original" width="1362" height="595" loading="lazy" alt="High living below the Himalaya NT"> </figure>  About 400m from the apartment past a bend on the river, and down below three tiers of terraces in the canyon is a suspension bridge. Below it, the Seti is still swollen with post-monsoon flow as it tumbles away in a hurry to head down south.&nbsp; Back at the apartment, it is quiet, far away from the hubbub of Lakeside a 15 minute drive away, and in the lap of greenery. There are 52 units at Sungava and it already has a close-knit prospective community of professionals, including doctors, publishers, engineers, and businesspeople from the renewable energy and IT sectors.&nbsp; Some residents say they opted for a second home in Pokhara to make it a ‘base camp’ to explore the Annapurnas with its many hiking trails made newly accessible with new roads. With the NRN citizenship law, overseas Nepalis can now also buy the flats. &nbsp; The floor plans include options for north and south-facing 3-bedroom apartments with verandas, and the facility has underground parking has EV charging, heated pool, sauna and gym. There are still some unsold apartments with panoramic views of the mountains and one can imagine oneself at the kitchen with its huge window, humming a ditty while preparing breakfast: “खाना पकाउँ हिमाल हेरेर...”

High living below the Himalaya

When the United Nations held its Summit of the Future at its headquarters in New York in September, many world leaders, including Nepal’s Prime Minister K P Oli, highlighted the effect of climate breakdown in increasing the frequency and intensity of natural disasters. What did not get as much attention was the long term impact of the climate crisis on food production. In fact, heat stress, weather extremes and the consequences on rain-fed agriculture is already being felt worldwide, undermining the chances of the <a href="https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/">UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)</a> being met by 2030.&nbsp; The SDG’s 17 targets commit countries like Nepal to reduce poverty and inequality, end malnutrition, protect the natural environment, and ensure that citizens all enjoy health, justice and prosperity without leaving anyone behind.&nbsp; However, besides the impact of climate breakdown on agricultural production, in Nepal the area under cultivation is impacted by urban expansion, falling productivity and the need for expensive inputs like fertiliser and pesticides.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241019041052_626413c5baf4dae407ac9579231b41daeb51510aa636b75aeb7489d94cca6a62.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20241019041052_626413c5baf4dae407ac9579231b41daeb51510aa636b75aeb7489d94cca6a62" data-rendition-name="original" width="999" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="urban agriculture in Kathmandu"> <figcaption>Kathmandu's urban sprawl is eating into its fertile cultivable lands. Photo: TAYLOR MASON</figcaption> </figure>  Now, a new study led by Nepali researcher Prajal Pradhan at the University of Groningen in The Netherlands looks at how urban agriculture may offer a solution to falling food production and meeting SDG targets. The researchers evaluated 1,450 publications exploring the contributions of urban agriculture with both positive and negative effects, and published their findings in the journal Cells Report Sustainability. Urban agriculture can help achieve 17 SDGs, positively influencing 81 targets. However, it could also undermine 51 goals.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-vanishing-land">The vanishing land</a>, Taylor Mason “Urban agriculture offers immense potential for sustainable development, but realising this potential depends crucially on adopting practices that minimise its adverse effects while maximising its benefits,” Pradhan explains. Urban agriculture can substantially enhance urban food security, provide employment to the urban poor, serve as ground water recharge in built-up areas, and preserve open spaces that can serve as safe havens during disasters like earthquakes. However, it also presents problems like the potential health risks from contamination and the need for expensive inputs. &nbsp; “Urban agriculture plays a definitive role in advancing the SDGs, but achieving this requires tailored, context-specific solutions that address the unique challenges of different regions,” says Yuanchao Hu of Wuhan University in China and who is a researcher at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. “But it needs equitable access and rigorous management of environmental risks.”&nbsp; Rapid urbanisation is eating into Nepal’s most fertile agricultural land, which means farming in remaining open spaces inside cities can be a viable alternative, especially as food prices rise.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241019041052_7b7c9413086226fbdc630d45acf772cfa1ced77a8970b9056ec5ec7e5226fdf8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20241019041052_7b7c9413086226fbdc630d45acf772cfa1ced77a8970b9056ec5ec7e5226fdf8" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="999" loading="lazy" alt="urban agriculture in Kathmandu"> <figcaption>A vegetable patch in between new houses in Thimi. Photo: TAYLOR MASON</figcaption> </figure>  “The conversion of Nepal’s most fertile land into cities is a severe problem,” Pradhan told Nepali Times. “Crop cultivation, horticulture, agroforestry, beekeeping, livestock rearing, or aquaculture can all be farming activities within and around cities.”&nbsp; The study makes recommendations for sustainable practices that build on the positive aspects of urban agriculture while mitigating the downsides, thereby promoting more resilient cities in future. Research shows that urban agriculture has been helping many countries attain SDG targets by enhancing food security and biodiversity while helping education and preservation of open spaces.&nbsp; Indeed, many farmers from the hinterland who have settled in Kathmandu Valley or other urban areas of the country have been practicing urban agriculture, leasing neighbourhood patches or cultivating roof gardens both out of necessity because of inflation and falling income to grow their own food, and also as a fulfilling hobby. Saurav Dhakal, a sustainability advocate with Story Cycle and now research fellow at the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand, says there are socio-economic and environmental benefits of urban agriculture. “It provides benefits to all urban dwellers, regardless of their income status,” says Dhakal, “families get fresh food, and there are many other benefits like water retention, heat regulation and biodiversity. These are all public goods, so special government incentives may be needed.” It is not unusual to see vegetable patches and even paddy fields within inner city Kathmandu where an older generation of farmers are using available fertile land and <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/rooftop-gardens-kathmandu,1415">roof gardens to produce fresh, nutritious food </a>to reduce their dependence on food items that have to be bought after being trucked in from large distances.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024101905100_1291ce98dbbb8caed8702ac4b1d469b3e13016d7ecaaf3bfd5f91c974d3c0c77.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="2024101905100_1291ce98dbbb8caed8702ac4b1d469b3e13016d7ecaaf3bfd5f91c974d3c0c77" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="999" loading="lazy" alt="urban agriculture in Kathmandu"> <figcaption>An older generation of farmers are using any available fertile land to continue farming but it is getting more and more difficult. Photo: TAYLOR MASON </figcaption> </figure>  Nepal’s urban population grew rapidly from only 3.6% in 1991 to 25% today. There is large outmigration from the mountains to peri-urban areas of the Tarai, to Kathmandu Valley and Pokhara, with many young men then moving abroad for work. Kathmandu Valley’s population has swelled to nearly 3 million, and is growing at 6.5% a year. Dilip Shrestha, 71, used to work for Nepal Food Corporation, so he knew firsthand about inflation, shortages and vegetables with pesticide residue. So, when he designed his new house in Kathmandu, he built a spacious roof where he grows cucumber, ginger, garlic, coriander, onions, tomatoes, chili, beans, okra, pumpkin and lettuce. His family eats healthier, and he has reduced dependence on the market.&nbsp; The co-author of the Cell Reports Sustainability journal article, Daya Raj Subedi who is a PhD candidate at Beijing Forestry University, says urban agriculture also promotes inclusion and psycho-social wellbeing.&nbsp; He says, “A crucial finding of the study is the identification of opportunities and challenges associated with urban agriculture, it can promote sustainable transformation of society.” In Banepa, 55-year-old Bijaya Manandhar in her lifetime has watched the fertile farms of her neighbourhood that used to supply vegetables to Kathmandu, now completely built up with no open space left. The pandemic lockdown prompted her to turn to the family’s <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/rooftop-agriculture-on-the-roof-of-the-world">ancestral livelihood by growing food</a> not on terrace farms, but on the roof terrace. Manandhar is now a part of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/rooftop-agriculture-on-the-roof-of-the-world%5C%5C">कौसी खेती र करेसाबारी क्रान्ती</a> (Rooftop Farming and Garden Revolution) which has an online membership of 52,000, and awards annual prizes to women who excel in urban agriculture.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241019041052_7257f5def8f823f35a799fa6f6825e153f2ffa406ac11325d4fe74049b79e96d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20241019041052_7257f5def8f823f35a799fa6f6825e153f2ffa406ac11325d4fe74049b79e96d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="736" loading="lazy" alt="urban agriculture in Kathmandu"> <figcaption>Rooftop farming is gaining popularity as a form of urban agriculture. </figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241019041052_beff1a4494ce896dd8fd383ee1f518e5448bcf7ea8bb138255391c7bcb9769ed.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20241019041052_beff1a4494ce896dd8fd383ee1f518e5448bcf7ea8bb138255391c7bcb9769ed" data-rendition-name="original" width="4000" height="3000" loading="lazy" alt="urban agriculture in Kathmandu"> </figure>  Pradhan says the challenge now is to upscale such examples of successful urban agricultural practices so they support Neal’s efforts to meet SDG targets. He adds, “Crop cultivation around cities can be protected by land use plans and regulations. Promoting community-based agriculture, including rooftop gardens, requires community engagement and public-private partnerships across the food value chain.”&nbsp; Such support would accelerate the popularity of existing rooftop farming and community gardens in Kathmandu Valley, or kitchen garden initiatives in Pokhara, and building on traditional farming practices that are preserved and integrated into urban settings like in Bhaktapur and Banepa. In Lalitpur, the Women Entrepreneurship Facilitation Center promotes urban farming enhancing both sustainability and empowerment.&nbsp; Another co-author of the report, Yuanchao Hu from China says followup research of the team will aim to identify good practices in local urban agriculture practices. He adds, “There are examples of urban agriculture that optimise sustainability, ensuring that it remains a viable solution for cities globally while countries try to meet SDG targets.” Prajal Pradhan, Daya Raj Subedi, Kshitij Dahal, Yuanchao Hu, Prakriti Gurung, Sijal Pokharel, Sagar Kafle, Biplav Khatri, Sudeeksha Basyal, Monika Gurung, and Aruna Joshi. Urban Agriculture matters for sustainable development. Cell Reports Sustainability, 1:100217, 2024. [DOI: 10.1016/j.crsus.2024.100217] Prajal Pradhan (<a href="mailto:p.pradhan@rug.nl">p.pradhan@rug.nl</a>) This article is brought to you by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/" target="_blank">Nepali Times</a>, in collaboration with <a href="https://inpsjapan.com/en/" target="_blank">INPS Japan</a> and <a href="https://sgi-peace.org/" target="_blank">Soka Gakkai International</a>, in consultative status with UN ECOSOC.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240630110640_30c3782f9c09219bf1c249b51483a3cfb7a53a06d117d2aebd23ca7080d12758.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="20240630110640_30c3782f9c09219bf1c249b51483a3cfb7a53a06d117d2aebd23ca7080d12758" data-rendition-name="original" width="680" height="103" loading="lazy" alt="SDG logo"> </figure>

Back to the land in the cities

The 700-year-old Lakshmi Narasingha temple in Bhaktapur houses a rare half-lion and half-human incarnation of Lord Vishnu carrying the Goddess Lakshmi. The temple was destroyed in the 1934 mega earthquake that killed 10,000 people and destroyed many monuments in Kathmandu Valley. It was rebuilt by a German project in the 1980s, but as a single-storey structure instead of its original two-tier pagoda design.&nbsp; With new findings from in-depth research, Bhaktapur municipality began re-restoring the temple in 2021, preserving its original architecture.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241017131016_2fae38cce543ad7b1f6de632feb3e212e08ed1acedd747830e949d7b8e878f18.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20241017131016_2fae38cce543ad7b1f6de632feb3e212e08ed1acedd747830e949d7b8e878f18" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="In with the old in Nepal NT"> </figure>  “Our temples and heritage sites hold deep meaning. It is disheartening to witness how often they lose their original elements, whether by design or accident,” explains Kumar Chawal of the Consumer Committee of Bhaktapur. “There is a need to preserve our architecture and protect its historical value for future generations. Otherwise, we risk losing a vital part of our identity.” The Laksmi Narsingha restoration is similar to the Bhai Dega temple in Patan Darbar Square which also collapsed in 1934, but was rebuilt with a Moghul-style dome by the Rana government at the time. Only two months before the 2015 earthquake, heritage conservationists had started to rebuild Bhai Dega as the original three-tier based on early photographs. But priorities shifted when four other temples in the square were brought down by the 7.8M earthquake on 25 April 2015.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241017131016_697ea707d9ad163be5de5f2efbf5b70d3cab771adcc22f0fae6bf937c6cb0130.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20241017131016_697ea707d9ad163be5de5f2efbf5b70d3cab771adcc22f0fae6bf937c6cb0130" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="In with the old in Nepal NT"> </figure>  This showed how damage to monuments in Kathmandu Valley spanned from one earthquake to the next. Bhai Dega restoration remains half-complete to this day because money for its restoration ran out.&nbsp; Whereas Bhai Dega restoration was done by the Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust with grants from western embassies and international foundations, in Bhaktapur it is the municipality itself that allocated the Rs30.7 million needed to restore the Lakshmi Narasingha temple. The expected date of completion is early 2025. The municipality and local communities are focusing on two main aspects: preserving the past and promoting localisation. The restoration team has designed a blueprint for the temple by using historical photographs and insights from older generations.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241017131016_182882fdc393c99e70d1d0490319e415229563666c4934e3a582426ebf00ca30.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20241017131016_182882fdc393c99e70d1d0490319e415229563666c4934e3a582426ebf00ca30" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="560" loading="lazy" alt="In with the old in Nepal NT"> </figure>  “At first, the Lakshmi Narasingha temple had only one entrance, but during the demolition process, we uncovered the foundations of four doors. Now, we are restoring all of them. This is an example of how our ancient structures have changed over time, often without our knowledge,” says Chawal. “Constructing temples is not like building houses. They carry historical and spiritual values, which is why they hold a special place in our hearts,” he adds. By replicating ancient design elements and rebuilding the temple as accurately as possible to its original form, the team has stayed true to Bhaktapur’s soul. But the restoration also revived ancient techniques that were in danger of being forgotten, generating employment for woodcarvers, masons, and contractors. The community of Bhaktapur’s Gahiti neighbourhood near the famous Nyatapola Temple has also set aside specific days for locals to volunteer in the reconstruction work. This has encouraged young people to take pride in ownership of their heritage. Families have also supported the effort by donating funds for bells, the temple pinnacle, and other structural features to the temple.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241017131016_db850ec0c084cdbe54f65bee92dad2ad8122d20fd60ec87ec086fbb9d2f72bd6.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20241017131016_db850ec0c084cdbe54f65bee92dad2ad8122d20fd60ec87ec086fbb9d2f72bd6" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="In with the old in Nepal NT"> </figure>  “I feel at peace knowing I have contributed my sweat to restoring this temple,” said one volunteer. “It is our duty to preserve our temples and heritage. The Nyatapola area will look magical once this temple is completed.” Community mobilisation is a long-standing tradition in Bhaktapur. In the past, locals have actively participated in the restoration of other temples in the city, such as Bhairav and Nyatapola fostering a strong sense of ownership. This collective engagement has not only been crucial in preserving the city's historical monuments but also in strengthening the bond between local communities and their heritage, says officials at the municipality. While securing funding is essential, and the municipality showed it values heritage conservation, the Lakshmi Narasingha restoration is proof that active involvement and sense of responsibility of the local community is as important, if not more. Local involvement also means that the monuments will be cared for into the future, When locals take ownership of these efforts, the restored monuments are not only protected in the present but are also cared for in the future.