If democracy had its own doomsday clock, it would be at two minutes to midnight. According to the most recent analysis by Varieties of Democracy (known as V-Dem), <a href="https://www.v-dem.net/publications/democracy-reports/" target="_blank">72% of the world’s population</a> lived in autocracies last year, compared to 50% a decade ago. For the first time in more than two decades, there are more authoritarian regimes than liberal democracies – and we are not doing enough to address this threat.
The reversal has been stunning. In the Philippines, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr., won last year’s <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/05/10/philippines-presidential-election-result-ferdinand-bongbong-marcos/" target="_blank">presidential election</a>, 36 years after a popular revolt overthrew his father’s dictatorship. In Brazil, millions still <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/he-cannot-take-power-bolsonaros-seething-supporters-refuse-to-accept-brazils-election-result-12736758" target="_blank">refuse to accept</a> former president Jair Bolsonaro’s defeat to <a href="https://www.project-syndicate.org/columnist/luiz-inacio-lula-da-silva">Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva</a>. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has forced its citizens to rise up against a genocidal occupier. And in Egypt, the last vestiges of resistance to autocracy have been <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/01/13/egypt-no-end-systematic-repression" target="_blank">forced into the shadows</a>. On every continent, illiberal politicians are portraying democracy as an impractical historical relic. 
We must do more to stop this rapid democratic backsliding. During World War II, when democracy was similarly threatened, the free world came together to bring about a more peaceful international order. The multilateral system that was established in 1944 at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, and by the creation of the United Nations the following year, led to decades of relative stability and international cooperation on human rights. 
We are at a similar moment today – with an important twist. The current conflict between autocracy and democracy is fought not only on the battlefield and in the political arena but also on social media and broadcast TV. If democracy is to prevail, credible, independent news media will be essential. 
Without trusted, impartial media, we cannot have shared facts; without shared facts, we cannot have political accountability or fair elections; and without fair elections, democracy cannot survive. And yet, just when we need it most, fact-based, public-interest journalism is dying out. The ongoing demise of advertising revenue has severely limited news outlets’ ability to inform citizens, hold the powerful to account, and tell important stories. 
The <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2021/08/20/newspapers-have-been-struggling-and-then-came-the-pandemic/?sh=39b1da1c12e6" target="_blank">failure</a> of journalism’s business model has led to two decades of collapsing revenues, cost-cutting, and layoffs. Thousands of news organizations across the world have shut down, while political actors have acquired others as a vehicle for spreading propaganda. China alone has spent an estimated <a href="https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/news/how-china-uses-news-media-weapon-its-propaganda-war-against-west" target="_blank">$6.6 billion since 2009 </a>on strengthening its international media influence, and Russia spent at least <a href="https://www.debunkeu.org/coining-lies-state-budget-financing-of-russian-propaganda" target="_blank">$1.5 billion last year</a> on similar efforts.
International efforts to support independent journalism have been paltry in comparison. According to a 2022 report by the Center for International Media Assistance, such funding amounted to $385 million in 2019 – roughly 0.3% of overseas development assistance – and has not grown since then. This is woefully insufficient. Public and private funders must increase support for media organizations to at least 1% of global development assistance, thereby providing an additional $1 billion a year to support public-interest journalism. 
The defining challenge of our time, saving democracy, must be a collective effort. Today, US President Joe Biden’s administration will hold its second Summit for Democracy, which aims to make democracies “<a href="https://www.state.gov/summit-for-democracy/" target="_blank">more responsive and resilient</a>.” The first summit took place (virtually) in December 2021 and ended with several heads of state – including Biden, then-New Zealand Prime Minister <a href="https://www.project-syndicate.org/columnist/jacinda-ardern">Jacinda Ardern</a>, and French President <a href="https://www.project-syndicate.org/columnist/emmanuel-macron">Emmanuel Macron</a> – committing to provide support to the International Fund for Public Interest Media (IFPIM).
IFPIM is a first-of-its-kind multilateral institution seeking to boost the economic resilience of news outlets and usher in a new paradigm for public-interest journalism within the next decade. Today, we will announce that IFPIM has received financial contributions of almost $50 million from 16 donors, including seven governments and nine firms and philanthropies. Many of these funders are contributing meaningfully to global media support for the first time. We will also announce our first cohort of grantees: since the last summit, IFPIM has funded 11 news outlets in ten countries, including Brazil, Ukraine, Niger, Tunisia, and Colombia. 
And yet our funds are still only a fraction of the billions autocrats spend on strengthening their networks for disseminating disinformation. At today’s summit, and throughout this year, democratic states must step up and commit significant funds to scale up the fight for independent media. Wealthy democracies that have long understood the importance of a free press, including the G7 countries, must mobilize their vast resources to support the creation of a global information ecosystem that is more resilient to disinformation. Private firms, which rely on accurate information to thrive, must take a prominent role in this effort by committing capital to fix the market failure that has weakened public-interest journalism. 
Support for public-interest media is not nostalgia for some halcyon era. The ability to access real-time, accurate information is essential to a well-functioning democracy. To defend against the rising tide of authoritarianism, fact-based news must be readily accessible to all. Liberal democracy’s doomsday clock is edging closer to midnight. We must act now – or regret our indecision during the long tyrannical darkness that follows.
© Project Syndicate
Maria Ressa, Co-Founder and Co-Chair of the International Fund for Public Interest Media, received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for her work as an investigative journalist in the Philippines. Nishant Lalwani is CEO of the International Fund for Public Interest Media.

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Tyranny’s Propagandists Are Winning

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110813114/636a464f9c7e80680e04d3cfjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="886"/><figcaption>Illustration: DIWAKAR CHETTRI</figcaption></figure>The people must take leadership in a democracy… and elected leaders should listen to them,” Prime Minister Oli said in a speech at Oxford University  last week.But back home, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/culture-revolution/">protests over the controversial Guthi Bill</a> had snowballed precisely because his government had ignored the will of the people in trying to ram that and other legislation through Parliament.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/own-worst-enemy/">Own worst enemy</a>, EditorialCombined with the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/ifj-asks-nepal-to-revoke-media-gag/">Media Council Bill</a>, which would have <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/long-shadows/">dampened freedom of expression</a>, the National Human Rights Commission Bill, which could undermine the constitutional body’s independence, an attempt to interfere with academic appointments, and other decisions, Oli showed an inclination to centralise power and go it alone.The charitable explanation for these missteps is that the Oli administration is receiving bad advice that is landing the Prime Minister in trouble. However, there is also the strong possibility that the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) is <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/towards-a-police-state/">not really committed to upholding democratic values</a>.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/culture-revolution/">Culture revolution</a>, Sewa Bhattarai<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/street-vs-guthi-bill/">Street vs Guthi Bill</a>, Min Ratna Bajracharya and Bikram RaiAlthough he tried in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/to-davos-with-hammer-and-sickle/">Davos earlier this year</a>, and during last week’s visit to the UK, France and Switzerland, to play down his government’s ‘communist’ image by speaking about his adherence to an open society, Oli’s actions at home speak louder than words.While the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/street-vs-guthi-bill/">Guthi Bill</a> was supposedly intended to regulate the opaqueness in the management of some trusts, there it was a blatant attempt to grab valuable urban real estate.That bill stirred a hornet’s nest, especially among the Valley’s Newa community. And despite the government shelving it, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/own-worst-enemy/">tens of thousands of people poured into Mandala Square</a> on Wednesday in an unprecedented show of force. They wanted the Guthi Bill to be scrapped and ministers who have made disparaging remarks to be sacked.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/towards-a-police-state/">Towards a police state</a>, Editorial<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/rift-in-nepals-ruling-party/">Rift in Nepal's ruling party</a>, Kunda DixitConspicuous by his silence in all this is NCP co-chair and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/rift-in-nepals-ruling-party/">impatient prime minister-in-waiting</a> Pushpa Kamal Dahal. He seems to be <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-ship-of-state/">letting Oli stew in his own juice</a>. The government tried earlier to squeeze the press with the Media Council Bill, but that too backfired badly. Indeed, Oli has centralised so much power in himself that when things go wrong, like now, he has to take the flak.It is not just the new laws that have badly exposed the government’s intent. Nearly two years into its tenure, the ruling party made up of former UML and Maoists has little to show for itself. Laws concerning local governments are in limbo, creating uncertainty over jurisdiction and decision-making.Says advocate Radheshyam Adhikari: “We see the government go from one blunder to the next, and it begs the question of whether the Prime Minister is in charge.”It is hard to see what Oli can do now except take recourse in a cabinet reshuffle. A cabinet face change is a time-honoured, time-buying tactic of Nepal’s rulers, and that could be his next move.

Kunda Dixit

Nepal PM stirs hornet’s nest

<img width="640" height="590" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107121140/6368ef549c7e80680e035973jpeg.jpg" alt=""/>During most of the decade after <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=12736#.Wz3419UzbIU">the conflict ended in 2006</a>, Nepal was ruled by a three-party cartel which took turns running the country. It was euphemistically called the High-Level Political Mechanism, and its top-down structure ensured that the triad controlled all decision-making at the national, zonal, district, village and even ward level. The composition and relative strength of each party in the Mechanism reflected the results of the CA elections of 2008 and 2013, and also depended on which coalition was in power in Kathmandu at the time. Nepal was a three-party dictatorship, and <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/politicians-not-worried-about-elections,3490">the rulers divided up the spoils</a>.The euphoria of peace soon evaporated, and with it the dream of the country reaping a development dividend. This perpetuated a leadership accountable to none, which squandered the opportunity provided by the peace process.  With added distractions like <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/Comment/the-madhesh-message,766">the Madhes Movement</a>, the earthquake and the Indian Blockade, the leaders had easy excuses about not focusing on the urgent problems of the Nepali people. Whatever progress was made in the reduction of poverty in that period was not due to any government action to create jobs, but because of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/Nepal-economy-supported-by-remittance-money,2874">remittances from hard-working Nepalis abroad</a>. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/from-nowhere-to-nowhere/">From nowhere to nowhere</a>, Basanta Pratap Singh in BajhangThe lingering legacy of that lost decade was the sudden unleashing of ‘development’ on the land. The violence of the war was replaced by ‘bulldozer terrorism’. Mountains were ravaged by heavy earthmovers, carving out roads where no roads were needed, building tracks that led from nowhere to nowhere. Meanwhile, contracts for existing bridges and highways that needed urgent maintenance or upgrading were allowed to languish because of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/bulldozing-democracy-in-nepal,4184">collusion between contractors and their political protectors.</a>The futile road-building was so rampant excavators were sometimes at work opening parallel tracks on the same slopes, to and from the same two villages. This absurdity was the result of a pandemic of nationwide corruption for which the almighty Mechanism was responsible, and could not be held to account. Local officials were on the take from contractors and renters of heavy equipment to sanction pointless and wasteful road-building. And because it was so pervasive, media exposes of the practice, while they raised eyebrows, did not lead to any action. Impunity emboldened the kleptocracy, and the contagion spread.The Decade of Destruction left mountains scarred by landslides, rivers ravaged by sand and boulder mining, forests denuded by encroachment and illegal logging. Meanwhile, essential infrastructure like arterial highways and bridges languished, national pride projects were never completed because of greedy plutocrats.Despite a constant barrage of exposes in the media and public outrage, Nepalis pinned their hopes on long-awaited elections. For the first time in 20 years last year we elected mayors and village council heads hoping that local elections would usher in a new era of accountability and uprightness in public life. Finally, we would have elected local governments responsive to the real needs of the people. The 70-85% voter turnout proved that despite past corruption, there was optimism and confidence that devolution of power to local governments would improve delivery. It has now been more than a year since those elections. Aside from a few notable exceptions, we have seen local governments have behaved in much the same irresponsible and non-transparent manner as before. In some cases, honest and motivated leaders have been strait-jacketed by the power elite in Kathmandu refusing to let go purse-strings. Nepal is actually more centralised than ever before.In many cities, towns and villages, newly-elected leaders have been busy feathering their own nests: self-sanctioning allowances and facilities, buying SUVs, requisitioning buildings, erecting useless gates and statues. Worse, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/from-nepali-press/Elected-contractors,4182">a recent investigation</a> in this paper showed that a third of the elected mayors and village heads were contractors — the same ones who had been bulldozing the mountains.Contractors found it to be a much sounder business  proposition to invest money in getting themselves elected, rather than bribe officials to get road contracts. Instead of removing the malignant development of the past 11 years, elections made municipalities even less accountable.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/from-nowhere-to-nowhere/">An investigative report by Basanta Pratap Singh from Bajhang in this edition</a> shows how one district has been devastated by rampant and random roadbuilding sanctioned by kickback-driven planning. Farmers have lost crops and terraces to landslides and rockfalls from poorly-designed roads. Rivers are in danger of being blocked, irrigation channels have been destroyed, water supply systems have gone dry. Haphazard feeder roads have triggered landslides that have blocked important inter-district highways. In Kathmandu, the federal budget set aside Rs6 billion for a Chure Highway we don’t need because it duplicates other east-west roads. This government came to power promising stability and prosperity. It has forgotten an important lesson that in a democracy legitimacy comes not just from winning a two-thirds majority in parliament, but in performance that fulfil promises.

Bulldozing democracy

<img width="640" height="465" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107121140/6368ef579c7e80680e035974jpeg.jpg" alt=""/>Editorial in Kantipur, 1 JulyThe government’s move to curtail civil rights by banning protests in public places is condemnable. This is against our constitutional right to peaceful assembly and protest. It is unfortunate that this democratically-elected government is showing such an undemocratic character. It also indicates that the government is indeed morphing into a totalitarian regime.In April, the government had declared some areas ‘restricted zones’ in Kathmandu. Now, it has declared such zones in all 77 districts. When a demonstration was held in Maitighar Mandala to oppose the government’s move aimed at silencing civil society, police detained protesters. In Jumla, police arrested crusader Govinda KC when he was preparing for a hunger strike against the Education Ministry’s proposal to dilute the Medical Education Bill, which was drafted following past deals between the doctor and the government. KC was about to start his fast-onto-death at Jumla Hosptial, when the local government suddenly declared it a no-protest zone. This was a move to foil KC’s protest.The constitution, promulgated by an elected assembly, not only guarantees freedom of expression but also our right to peaceful assembly. To be sure, the constitution allows the government to ban activities against our sovereignty, territorial integrity, and malicious efforts to stoke ethno-religious strife or perpetuate caste-based discrimination. But this government is being increasingly intolerant of dissenting views, and is crushing opposition voices. This is certainly not how a democratic government functions, or should function. Instead, it is a stark reminder of a familiar time in the past when people did not have freedom of expression. It is a flashback to the days of the absolute monarchy.People participate in a democracy by communicating with elected rulers. The public’s views, whether it is opposing, supporting or neutral, should be heard, and their demands taken into consideration. The government should be held accountable for all its actions, and that is the only way democracy is strengthened. This is what makes a genuine democracy possible. It was for these rights and an open society that the Nepali people united to overthrow the monarchy and establish democracy. Unfortunately, the democratic state which the people sacrificed a lot to establish is not following its core values.In most cases, demonstrations are held not for any other reason but to expose neglect and indifference of the government. It is frustrating when a government elected by the people does not take into consideration the needs of those very people. It is therefore only natural that the people should take peacefully to the streets to express their grievances. The government is adding more fuel to the fire by its irrational prohibitory orders.Last month, an NTV talk show was forced off the air after its host grilled the Information and Communications Minister, who happens to be the government’s spokesperson. Such an undemocratic attitude by a supposedly democratic government has angered the people. The government needs to immediately stop cracking down on democratic freedoms, because these actions will weaken the system and limit people’s hard-won freedoms.

An intolerant state

Recent outrage in Sikkim over an Indian Army expedition climbing <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/saving-kangchenjunga">Kangchenjunga</a>, the world’s third-highest peak, has spiked attention to the need to balance mountaineering jobs with indigenous reverence for sacred landmarks. Kangchenjunga (8,586m) is not a peak as much as it is a mountain range with 16 peaks above 7,000m on the border between India and Nepal -- the word itself means ‘five treasures of the snows’ in Tibetan. Some of the highest prominences like Kangchenjunga West and Kangbachen are in Nepal, while the Main, Central and South Peaks are on the border. Climbing the peak from the Indian side has been banned since 2001 because the indigenous Lepcha community there regard the mountain as the abode of Dzoe-nga, the patron deity of Sikkim, which was an independent Himalayan Kingdom until it was annexed by India in 1975.&nbsp; Buddhists in Sikkim say their saint, Padmasambhava, recognised the mountain as a protective spirit. The state has declared the base of the mountain Kangchenjunga National Park, which covers an area one-third of Sikkim. ‘The act of scaling this sacred peak is not only a matter of serious concern but also a violation of both the prevailing legal provisions and the deeply held religious beliefs of the people of Sikkim,’ read a letter from Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang (Golay) to Amit Shah, India’s Minister of Home Affairs and Cooperation.&nbsp; Tamang continued: ‘We further request Your Honour to take up the issue with the Government of Nepal to ensure that no future expeditions are permitted on the sacred mountain, in deference to the deeply held beliefs and cultural values of the people of Sikkim.’ Kangchenjunga was climbed for the first time exactly 70 years ago by a British team who told King Tashi Namgyal, the Choegyal of Sikkim, that they would not set foot on the summit. Since then, there have been about 532 successful climbs of the peaks and 52 have died while trying.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250628060616_5c268e08cf49f36b79ef9b31933fc2d9bf9a6f65414e7ca06dd028bf04e7ccc1.png" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250628060616_5c268e08cf49f36b79ef9b31933fc2d9bf9a6f65414e7ca06dd028bf04e7ccc1" data-rendition-name="original" width="1782" height="1178" loading="lazy" alt="Kangchenjunga: too sacred to climb NT"> <figcaption>Indigenous communities in Sikkim held purification ceremonies following the Indian expedition to Kangchenjunga. Photo: THE VOICE OF SIKKIM / FACEBOOK</figcaption> </figure>  <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/peak-climbing-season-2025-s4abrxny">This spring climbing season</a> alone, there were 70 climbing permits for foreigners issued for Kangchenjunga by the Nepal government, and made it to the top while one French climber died.&nbsp; One of the expeditions this year was an Indian Army team led by Col Ranveer Jamwal, who has summited the highest peaks on all seven continents, and Mt Everest thrice. Jamwal’s team was on the final leg of a ‘<a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/india/nimas-summits-mt-kangchenjunga-concludes-historic-har-shikhar-tiranga-mission-successfully/articleshow/121341315.cms?from=mdr">Har Shikhar Tiranga</a>’ (The Tricolour on Every Peak) mission to plant the Indian flag at the highest points of each of India’s 28 states. Kanchenjunga was the last peak they had left, and the hardest, but the expedition put five climbers on the summit. What seems to have incensed the Sikkimese is that while it has banned climbing the mountain from its side, it was an Indian military expedition that went to Nepal to climb the mountain. After news broke of the climb in May, the Sikkim Indigenous Lepcha Tribal Association asked people to observe purification ceremonies in temples across the state. Mayalmit Lepcha of the association acknowledged that the Sikkim government was also partly at fault: “I don’t think such an expedition could have gone forward without the state government being informed, so it could have done something to intervene. It shows weakness. What’s done is done, all we can do is carry out these sanctification ceremonies.”&nbsp; In 2000, one year before Sikkim’s ban, the state allowed an Austrian team to attempt Kanchenjunga’s northeast face for a fee of $20,000, on agreement that they would stop 10m before the summit. Despite this, there was outrage over the expedition on the grounds that it violated Indian laws regarding the defiling of religious sites and Sikkim’s rights to maintain its culture after merging with India. The Indian Army expedition was also seen to have circumvented Sikkim’s law and violated religious sensibilities by going through Nepal. While the team may have thought they were respecting Sikkim’s beliefs by finding a way to complete the mission, the people of Sikkim saw it as defilement.&nbsp; The somber mood of the Sikkim people at the ritual contrasts sharply with Jamwal’s sense of accomplishment. “Without a doubt, the most difficult summit of my life,” he told reporters after the climb. “It tested every ounce of our will.”&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250628060616_ccfe079c78dab788d19fe2080ee8a5d5dcb11de4157316f6d94e5964da097157.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20250628060616_ccfe079c78dab788d19fe2080ee8a5d5dcb11de4157316f6d94e5964da097157" data-rendition-name="original" width="787" height="377" loading="lazy" alt="Kangchenjunga: too sacred to climb NT"> <figcaption>Prayer flags along the Sikkim-Kangchenjunga trekking route. Photo: TREKKINGININDIA.COM</figcaption> </figure>  The <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-rise-and-fall-of-nims-purja">controversial Nepali-British mountaineer Nirmal Purja</a> was also on Kangchenjunga this spring the mountain, on a mission to summit all 14 8,000m peaks for a third time. He echoed Jamwal about the tough conditions: “The conditions above camp were extremely tough, with deep snow and challenging terrain—more crevasses than usual.” Nepal’s government has not said anything publicly, but it is unlikely that it will ban climbing on Kangchenjunga, since it is becoming popular with expeditions because of its technical challenges, and overcrowding on Mt Everest. Nepal does have bans in place for some of its mountains out of respect for local beliefs. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/to-open-machapuchre-for-mountaineering-or-not">Mt Machapuchre</a> (6,990m) the imposing pyramid that looms over Pokhara, for example, is seen as an icon of purity by the Gurung people and a symbol of Vishnu by the Hindu communities who live at its base. A strict climbing ban has been in place since 1957, when a British expedition led by Col Jimmy Roberts stopped 45m short of the summit – either because the last bit was too difficult or out of deference to local sentiments.&nbsp; Khumbila that stands above Namche Bazar is only 5,761m high, but like Kanchenjunga is considered the protector deity of the Sherpa people. Gauri Shankar on the Nepal-China border, called Chomo Tseringma by the local community, was off-limits between 1965 and 1979 due to its association with Lord Shiva and Gauri, his consort. Although expeditions are now allowed, there are not too many takers. In Tibet, climbing Mount Kailash is prohibited by the Chinese government because it revered by the Hindus, Buddhists and followers of the Bon faith. Even Mt Everest is regarded as sacred, and its Sherpa name is Chomolungma, Goddess Mother of the Earth.&nbsp; Economically, climbs on Kanchenjunga bring in decent revenue. This climbing season, the 41 permits, at $1,800 each, brought in $73,800. This is somewhat comparable to Makalu, Lhotse, and Annapurna I, but these numbers are dwarfed by the $4 million in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-everest-industry">Everest permits</a>. Revenue from Kanchenjunga climbing permits is something Nepal could potentially forgo if necessary, but the expeditions also provide jobs to hundreds of high altitude guides, porters, base camp support staff and other logistical costs.&nbsp; As the third highest mountain in the world and the tallest in India, there will always be significant motivation to climb it from the Nepal side, especially as climbers are drawn by the technical climbing at high altitude.

Kangchenjunga: too sacred to climb?

The debate about who is less accountable to the public: politicians or bureaucrats is as old as Nepal’s democracy itself.
Some blame politicians for being beholden to the businessmen who finance their electoral campaigns, and are forced to return the favour with contracts and kickbacks when in power.&nbsp;
Others say it is civil servants who are neither civil nor servants, and know the inner workings of the system to exploit loopholes – they then teach ministers, MPs, mayors, or ward chairs which juicy projects can be squeezed. And everyone gets their share.
In reality, it is probably not a case of either, or. Both have their hands deep in the honey pot. Corruption is now such a given that yet another exposé in the mainstream press, like the latest visit-visa scam, does not raise eyebrows anymore.
We may have to edit Lord Acton’s famous quote to say that in Nepal we do not even need absolute power to corrupt absolutely. The ruling cartel has divvied up the spoils, so that no one ever faces charges. The three parties all know about the skeletons rattling in each other’s closets, and they cancel each other out.
Politicians and bureaucrats get all the blame for taking bribes, but what of the givers of bribes? In this crony capitalism, businesses invariably need political patrons in an elaborate <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-only-growth-industry-private-sector-corruption" target="_blank">national network of give-and-take</a>.
<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-only-growth-industry-private-sector-corruption" target="_blank">Politicians and businesses work hand-in-glove</a> so that conflict of interest in contracts, insider trading, cartelling, and non-performing assets of banks become the norm. Our survey after the 2017 local election showed that out of the 753 newly-elected local government chairs, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/elected-contractors" target="_blank">nearly 300 were contractors</a> involved in sand-mining, quarrying, or transportation syndicates.
Nepal’s tycoons have discovered that instead of donating to election war chests of politicians, it is a much surer return on investment to spend the money to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-business-of-politics-in-nepal" target="_blank">become legislators and politicians themselves</a>.
In democracies, there are checks and balances to control corruption when it becomes endemic. The Nepal Police and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are supposed to do the detective work without political interference. The courts are required to be independent in dispensing justice and punishing crooks.
But the less said about the judiciary the better. A writ petition in the Supreme Court last week accused our sister magazine <a href="https://www.himalkhabar.com/" target="_blank">HimalKhabar</a> of contempt of court for two stories: one about how high courts have been overturning a majority of verdicts of district courts in cases of rape, and another about the Biratnagar High Court clearing a self-proclaimed holy man, Krishna Bahadur Giri, of rape despite police presenting physical evidence.
The doctrine of the separation of powers stipulates that it is when the other three pillars in a democracy are compromised that the role of the free press becomes even more vital. The world over, as soon as populist autocrats are elected to the executive, their first order of business is to co-opt the legislature and the judiciary. Then they buy off, intimidate, or neutralise the media with Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP).
Nepal’s officialdom seems to be taking midnight Zoom lessons from other despots on how to gag the media. Last month, popular talk show host Dil Bhushan Pathak was served an arrest warrant by the Kathmandu District Court for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CntsnTrtG8" target="_blank">a YouTube explainer</a> about the alleged involvement of the son of Foreign Minister Arzu Deuba Rana in a reported purchase of Kathmandu’s Hilton Hotel.
The Lalitpur District Court ruled that Pathak could not be arrested without fair trial, but this week the Kathmandu District Court filed another case against the journalist based on a complaint by the Cyber Bureau, and put him on a fugitive list.&nbsp;
Without going into the veracity of Pathak’s explainer, it is deeply problematic that the Electronic Transaction Act has been invoked – proof that politicians are getting the courts and investigating agencies to make an example of a high profile journalist.&nbsp;
The intention is to silence media investigations into the fake refugee scandal in which the main partner in the ruling coalition is implicated, and in which one of its former home ministers was jailed last year.
The Kathmandu High Court has been mysteriously active in targeting journalists these days. <a href="https://bizmandu.com/" target="_blank">Bizmandu</a> and <a href="https://nepalkhabar.com/" target="_blank">Nepalkhabar</a> were served a notice last month <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/no-freedom-after-expression-y4inku06" target="_blank">to withdraw a story they did</a> on the Chair of the <a href="https://www.sebon.gov.np/" target="_blank">Security and Exchange Board of Nepal (SEBON</a>) Santosh Narayan Shrestha allegedly demanding kickbacks from hydropower investors.&nbsp;
Incredibly, the court even asked the two portals not to report on the subject anymore – a ruling so absurd that the Patan High Court overturned it a week later.&nbsp;
The allegations against Shrestha were made in a public meeting of the <a href="https://www.ippan.org.np/members/3060/bungal-hydro-ltd" target="_blank">Independent Power Producers Association of Nepal (IPPAN)</a>, and MPs demanded a <a href="https://myrepublica.nagariknetwork.com/news/parliament-demands-probe-into-sebon-chairman-over-alleged-commission-demand-40-32.html" target="_blank">Parliament inquiry</a> into the regulator. <a href="https://www.himalkhabar.com/144523/santosh-narayan-shrestha" target="_blank">HimalKhabar</a> reported this week that while Shrestha was reportedly demanding commissions from private investors for IPOs, he cleared primary share sales in Bajhang’s 10.75MW <a href="https://www.ippan.org.np/members/3060/bungal-hydro-ltd" target="_blank">Bungal Hydro</a> in which his family members have investments, company records show.
And then just on Monday, bureaucrats hoodwinked MPs by deleting references in a bill requiring a two-year ‘cooling off’ period under which retiring civil servants could be barred from holding constitutional positions for two years.
The contest for who is more corrupt: bureauacrats, politicians, or the private sector is on.
Kunda Dixit

SLAPPing Democracy

The monsoon this year arrived on time, and brought life-giving rain — irrigating paddy terraces, recharging groundwater, reviving springs, and increasing electricity generation.
But Nepal has to deal with either too much water or too little. On a clear April day before the monsoon, the hills of Sindhuli district were parched, and there were wildfires burning out of control. There had been no rain for the past six months.
And that has been the perennial crisis for Nepal’s farmers: that 85% of the rainfall occurs during just four months of the monsoon with little rain for the other eight months.&nbsp;
The water crisis is related to the powerful changes sweeping the mid-hill region of Nepal. With better roads, higher incomes and more exposure, many residents now aspire to have the kind of water supply seen in urban homes. They want hot or cold water at the turn of a tap, showers and flush tank toilets.&nbsp;
To meet this rising demand, many local and provincial governments are investing in large water supply projects often by lifting water from rivers hundreds of metres down the mountain. But these new systems may not be sustainable in the long run.
Many villages in Sindhuli are switching from local springs to piped systems, and even in rural homes, overhead tanks are becoming common.
But this new convenience comes with big challenges. Lifting water from rivers far below requires long pipes, electric pumps, and constant maintenance. These systems are costly, and the streams themselves often shrink to a trickle in the dry months. Big water-lifting schemes look impressive, but there is doubt if they can meet growing water demand.
A much more sustainable solution would be what some communities are doing: restoring old ponds or build new recharge systems. But those villages are exceptions, in most places traditional ponds and wallows are being filled up to be turned into sports fields, or make way for buildings.
Where there are new ponds, they are sometimes in the wrong places or without proper design. Roads and drains are not engineered properly and have increased landslides and erosion. Water management in hilly areas is not just about building things, it is about building in the right way, in the right place.
Traditional water systems were based on nature. They were not perfect, but they used the land wisely. Ponds used to hold rainwater and slowly refill springs which supported families, farms, and forests.&nbsp;
Not everything worked well in the past, but we can learn from traditional water management practices. Across Nepal, some rural municipalities have launched campaigns to store monsoon runoff — either in tanks, ponds or by recharging the aquifers.
But not all efforts have been successful. Some ponds are built without any hydrological study. Some are rushed to meet deadlines rather than real needs.&nbsp;
Now, the Muhan initiative hopes to revive springs to make households more resilient and help farmings. With the financial support of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, research is being done to understand how springs work and how they are affected by changes in rainfall, land use, and development.&nbsp;
Instead of just building pipes and tanks, the project maps the entire springshed so we can understand the root cause of water shortage. In Sindhuli, the problem is not the amount of rain, but the loss of natural systems that store it and the social systems that manage water.&nbsp;
Nepal’s towns and villages now face a major challenge: how to manage water all year round as demand rises with people’s living standards. Depending only on river-lift systems is not a sustainable solution.&nbsp;
We need a mix of approaches that help store water from the rainy season to make it available for the rest of the year, whether by directly harvesting rainwater, restoring ponds, managing springsheds, or smart management of demand.
Rural Nepal is also seeing dramatic depopulation. Much of the outmigration can be stemmed if there is easier water supply for agriculture and household use. Across the mid hills, villages are emptying because springs are going dry. Government policy needs to catch up with the reality on the ground, and support solutions that work for people and nature. Every water supply plan should include recharge structures. Every road or building project should consider water flow and erosion. Local governments need more than budgets: they need training, tools, and data.
Ngamindra Dahal is with the Nepal Water Conservation Foundation, Kathmandu. Hemant Ojha collaborated in this piece and is associated with the Australian National University.

Water for Life

<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/the-last-of-the-kusunda">The Kusunda</a> are among the last remaining hunter-gatherer communities left in Nepal, and it has only one fluent speaker left of a language that is not related to any other language group in South Asia.&nbsp; The Kusunda call themselves the King of the Forests ((गेम्येहाक़ in Kusunda,वन राजा in Nepali) and used to have a nomadic lifestyle till recently. But decades of exclusion from mainstream society and modernity have forced the Kusunda to assimilate. &nbsp; Today, most Kusunda live across Nepal’s mid-hills and western plains, choosing to identify themselves as Thakuri and adopting names like Sen, Shahi, and Khan to avoid ostracisation. Over time, inter-ethnic marriages between the Kusunda and other communities became increasingly common.&nbsp; However, the assimilation with other communities also meant that almost no one from the Kusunda community can speak their mother tongue – considered by linguists to be a ‘language isolate’ not related to any other language group in the world, and lacking set rules of grammar that are foundational to other languages. There are no words for ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ in Kusunda, nor are there words to signify direction. There are 23 languages with less than 1,000 speakers listed in Nepal's 2021 census, with Kusunda being the language with the least number of speakers. The number of people who identified as Kusunda has decreased with each subsequent census. Only 253 individuals identified themselves as Kusunda in the last National Census of 2021, down from 273 in 2011.&nbsp; <div class="embed-block"><iframe src="https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/raithane-bhakha/embed/episodes/Kusundas---the-last-of-the-forest-kings-e23ge6p/a-a9peei1" height="102px" width="400px" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe></div> The government’s decision to provide a social security stipend to the community for the past few years has prompted many from the Kusunda community to reclaim their identity and in the process, explore their culture and language. Kamala Sen Kusunda, who lives in Dang, is the only fluent native Kusunda speaker alive, although there are now other Kusunda and non-Kusunda people learning how to speak the language. By the time Kamala Sen Kusunda was born in 1975, her family had settled in a village in Rolpa. Although she did not experience the nomadic life of her forebears, she still roamed the forests freely as a child and many of the values and socio-cultural practices of her community were instilled in her and her siblings.&nbsp; This meant that Kamala grew up speaking Kusunda with her family. But by then, the Kusunda had increasingly begun to interact with people beyond their community, and inter-ethnic marriages had become a norm.&nbsp; Kamala herself married at 18 to a 52-year-old man from the Chhetri community. She would go on to have four children, but they were brought up with her husband’s culture and community rather than her own, and teaching them her mother tongue seemed impractical.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250628030648_afaa298bf8ea3b7086e2ed086b11eab463ef2b20a82a4aad74df3dd2e922a4c3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20250628030648_afaa298bf8ea3b7086e2ed086b11eab463ef2b20a82a4aad74df3dd2e922a4c3" data-rendition-name="original" width="855" height="641" loading="lazy" alt="Kusunda NT"> <figcaption>Gyani Maiya Kusunda with Kusunda youth in 2015.</figcaption> </figure>  “If I had spoken my language to them when they were children, they would have learned,” she tells us ruefully. “But they were growing up in a different community, so I never pushed, and they never expressed interest.” At the time, she had other things to worry about, such as earning a livelihood and sustaining her family. To find work, Kamala and her family moved to Shimla in India, where she worked at an apple orchard for six years.&nbsp; Over the next years, Kamala and her family moved back and forth between India and Nepal for work, and Kamala was not actively conversing in the language of her people or being able to connect with members of her community now scattered across Nepal.&nbsp; Had she not forgotten her language after all those years? “How could I forget the language of my ancestors?” she replies. “Not speaking it did not mean that it ceased to be a part of me.”&nbsp; Kamala had been working at a brick kiln in Thimi seven years ago when the National Language Commission tracked her down, offered her a paid position as a Kusunda language consultant and source person for basic language training in Dang.&nbsp; It was there that Kamala met her cousin Gyani Maiya Sen Kusunda, the only other person able to speak Kusunda fluently, who had been working with the Commission to conserve Kusunda language and culture. It was also where Kamala met language researcher and lexicographer Uday Raj Ale. Ale had been in the middle of his research into the Tharu language and community 15 years ago when he met Gyani Maiya Kusunda’s son, who told him that his mother was one of the few people who spoke Kusunda, but that no one had shown an interest in studying and preserving the language and culture. Ale met Gyani Maiya, spending time with her learning and researching Kusunda. By 2017, Ale had collected enough words to put together a Kusunda dictionary. The Kusunda vocabulary currently comprises 2,000 words. His research into the Kusunda language and culture has taken him to every known Kusunda household in Nepal. Although the census puts the number of Kusunda at 253, Ale reckons there are only 158.&nbsp; “Kusunda language is endangered due to its lack of use in everyday life, literature, and religious and socio-cultural practices, as well as the prevalence of inter-ethnic marriages,” explains Ale. In 2019 the Language Commission began its language transfer programs for youth from indigenous communities. Since then, the Commission has completed multiple phases of Kusunda language classes in Dang facilitated by Uday Raj Ale. The classes have 20 students, not just from the Kusunda community, but also interested non-native students.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250626120632_c6c378bc00af450f2b7f0cf17af1c3b2b6f7b7226927c458c3e01ec389869d33.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20250626120632_c6c378bc00af450f2b7f0cf17af1c3b2b6f7b7226927c458c3e01ec389869d33" data-rendition-name="original" width="1485" height="1535" loading="lazy" alt="Kusunda NT"> <figcaption>Students learning Kusunda with instructor Uday Raj Ale (second row, left)</figcaption> </figure>  Khamba Rokaya, who worked as a caretaker for young Kusunda children in Dang, became interested in learning the language as she sat in with the children during their lessons, and for the last few years has been among the few non-native Kusunda language learners in Dang. “I am not from the Kusunda community, but now that I have learned the language, I hope to do my part to carry on the work and share my knowledge with as many people as possible,” she says. “One way to ensure that we preserve this language is to extend its speaker base, both within the Kusunda and non-native communities.” Ale and Kamala have continued to work together since Gyani Maya’s passing in 2020, expanding the Kusunda vocabulary and creating appropriate curricula to fit the needs of the students as their knowledge of Kusunda expands.&nbsp; But without any documentation of Kusunda history, the community’s traditions, stories, values and language were at risk of being lost to time. “The loss of an ethnicity, language or culture in a country is akin to losing a vital organ, and a unique perspective of looking at the world,” says Ale. Which is why Archive Nepal in collaboration with the British Council’s Cultural Protection Fund and the UK’s Department of Culture, Media, and Sport in February launched a book of creative writings in the Kusunda language titled पिन्डा (meaning ‘The First’ in Kusunda): A Compilation of Kusunda Literature. The book is a collection of informative essays about the Kusunda language and culture, short stories that explore themes from nomadic life to universal Nepali experiences of poverty and migration, letters to loved ones, as well as conversational pieces by five Kusunda students ranging from ages 16 to 30. The works in the Kusunda language are also translated into Nepali and English.&nbsp; “Language is an important part of ethnic identity, and our indigenous languages cannot evolve or be conserved unless they are spoken or taught,” said Ale during the launch of the book earlier this year. “But most importantly, language exists as long as there exists literature in that language.” Kamala was in Kathmandu for the launch of the book, and smiled proudly as she looked at the young writers who had contributed to the collection. She said: “I’m glad the young people have chosen to learn and preserve Kusunda. Otherwise, our language would have died with me.” &nbsp;

autocracy