As an adventure destination, Nepal’s policy has always been to make it as thrilling as possible for tourists who visit the country with attractions like white water rafting, bungee jumping, trekking, and negotiating gridlocks at Nagdhunga.Now that Covid-19 cases are going down, tourism will pick up again and we must re-inject that sense of excitement to the Nepal holiday. The Dept of Tourism &amp; Maoism is on it: together with the Covid-19 Control and Management Center (CCMC) it has a mandatory application form, and you need to fill it and get a QR code before landing at Kathmandu airport.The CCMC has designed the form like an entrance exam to medical college -- just to add to the thrill of visiting Nepal.Here is a sample:<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141156/636d033e9c7e80680e0a36c0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="686" height="784"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

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Filled your CCMC form?

<figure><img width="768" height="513" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131124/636ceda79c7e80680e09addbjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: AMIT MACHAMASI</figcaption></figure>On 12 May, 15 Covid-19 patients died in Rupendehi and Nepalganj after the hospitals there ran out of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/two-nepals-in-the-death-zone/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">oxygen supply</a>. Another 18 patients died the next day in Kathmandu’s Bir Hospital and Trauma Centre because they could not get their oxygen cylinders refilled in time. Private hospitals in Kathmandu Valley including Medicare, MediCiti, Om, Helping Hands, Longevity, Karuna, Voyodha, Madhyapur Thimi, and Star stopped admitting coronavirus patients, saying they had enough <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-life-or-death-o2-quest/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">medical oxygen</a> only for existing patients.Some patients had to quickly find ambulances and move to another hospital with an empty oxygen-equipped bed after the one they were in ran out of oxygen. Those who could not move died in their beds, gasping for air.Murari Prasad Kharel at the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) makes a legal distinction between dying of the coronavirus, and death of a patient due to lack of medical oxygen in a hospital. One is a disease, the other is a violation of human rights, he says. "It was a given that there would be a new outbreak of Covid-19. Yet, many people lost their lives prematurely due to ineffective hospital management. The government completely failed in its main responsibility of protecting its citizens,” he says.All <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kathmandu-valley-lockdown-till-12-may/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">coronavirus deaths</a> in hospitals are lumped together under Covid-19 fatalities, however there needs to be a distinction between whether a patient died despite being given all the care necessary, or because the oxygen supply ran out. These are two completely different conditions and should be treated as such, says a retired chief justice of the Supreme Court. Health is a basic human need and it is the state’s responsibility to ensure it, he says, the patients did not die of Covid, but because of negligence.A bench of Supreme Court Justice Bamkumar Shrestha on 11 May ordered the government to ‘Facilitate the supply of oxygen and medicines required for the treatment of those infected ... and immediately dispense human resources taking into account the increasing number of patients.’Some hospitals in Kathmandu are admitting Covid patients only after families sign an undertaking that the hospital will not be held responsible if the patient dies due to the lack of oxygen. Activists call this ‘a crime against humanity’.On 14 May Lily Thapa of the NHRC called on Deputy Prime Minister Ishwor Pokhrel who also heads the Covid-19 Crisis Management Centre (CCMC) and drew his attention to the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-is-a-priority-for-vaccine-shipments/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">oxygen shortage</a> being a human rights violation. Hospitals in Kathmandu need 22,0000 cylinders of oxygen a day, but presently there are only 12,000 cylinders available per day—both because of the lack of cylinders being sent for refills, as well as insufficient oxygen production. <figure><img width="1500" height="1277" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131124/636cedaa9c7e80680e09addcjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>Till a month ago, Narayan Dutta Timilsina of the Nepal Oxygen Producers Association was confident that there was enough generation capacity to meet demand, but <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/we-knew-the-tsunami-was-approaching/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the number of serious Covid cases rose so steeply</a> that everyone was caught unprepared. For example, on 25 April as the number of infections started rising, there were 252 Covid patients in ICU and 65 were on ventilator. By this week, there were nearly 1,500 patients in ICU and more than 300 needing ventilator support. Grande Hospital, one of Kathmandu’s biggest private centres, has 80 Covid-19 patients, and all of them need oxygen for which it needs at least 200 cylinders a day. It can only get 50.The Lumbini Provincial Hospital in Butwal needs 700 cylinders a day for its Covid patients, and it was assured 300 a day by the local government. It is not even getting 200, and has been turning serious patients away. "Oxygen is not a luxury, but an essential basic need. Hospitals need to ensure adequate supply, and the government must help,” says the former director of Epidemiology and Disease Control Division Baburam Marasini. It may be too early to hope, but there are indications that the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/covid-19-numbers-slightly-down-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">graphs for daily new infections is flattening</a>, and the numbers who have recovered is also rising. On Tuesday, there were a total of 8,203 new cases, 2,635 of them in Kathmandu Valley. There were 196 fatalities in the last 24 hours. While the test positivity rate is still high at 39%, there were 6,891 recoveries.In addition, 3,000 of the 20,000 empty oxygen cylinders gifted by China have been flown in. Another 2,500 cylinders have come overland through Kodari, and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-diaspora-comes-to-the-rescue/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepali workers in the gulf have collected money to send</a> at least 1,000 cylinders. Private groups are also stepping in to fly in oxygen concentrators and generators. On Monday, Indian Ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra assured that India would increase its quota of liquid oxygen for Nepal.

Helping Nepalis breathe again

<figure><img width="768" height="513" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111148/636b85919c7e80680e0677fejpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: AMIT MACHAMASI</figcaption></figure>On 12 May, 15 Covid-19 patients died in Rupendehi and Nepalganj after the hospitals there ran out of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/two-nepals-in-the-death-zone/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">oxygen supply</a>. Another 18 patients died the next day in Kathmandu’s Bir Hospital and Trauma Centre because they could not get their oxygen cylinders refilled in time. Private hospitals in Kathmandu Valley including Medicare, MediCiti, Om, Helping Hands, Longevity, Karuna, Voyodha, Madhyapur Thimi, and Star stopped admitting coronavirus patients, saying they had enough <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-life-or-death-o2-quest/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">medical oxygen</a> only for existing patients.Some patients had to quickly find ambulances and move to another hospital with an empty oxygen-equipped bed after the one they were in ran out of oxygen. Those who could not move died in their beds, gasping for air.Murari Prasad Kharel at the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) makes a legal distinction between dying of the coronavirus, and death of a patient due to lack of medical oxygen in a hospital. One is a disease, the other is a violation of human rights, he says. "It was a given that there would be a new outbreak of Covid-19. Yet, many people lost their lives prematurely due to ineffective hospital management. The government completely failed in its main responsibility of protecting its citizens,” he says.All <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kathmandu-valley-lockdown-till-12-may/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">coronavirus deaths</a> in hospitals are lumped together under Covid-19 fatalities, however there needs to be a distinction between whether a patient died despite being given all the care necessary, or because the oxygen supply ran out. These are two completely different conditions and should be treated as such, says a retired chief justice of the Supreme Court. Health is a basic human need and it is the state’s responsibility to ensure it, he says, the patients did not die of Covid, but because of negligence.A bench of Supreme Court Justice Bamkumar Shrestha on 11 May ordered the government to ‘Facilitate the supply of oxygen and medicines required for the treatment of those infected ... and immediately dispense human resources taking into account the increasing number of patients.’Some hospitals in Kathmandu are admitting Covid patients only after families sign an undertaking that the hospital will not be held responsible if the patient dies due to the lack of oxygen. Activists call this ‘a crime against humanity’.On 14 May Lily Thapa of the NHRC called on Deputy Prime Minister Ishwor Pokhrel who also heads the Covid-19 Crisis Management Centre (CCMC) and drew his attention to the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-is-a-priority-for-vaccine-shipments/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">oxygen shortage</a> being a human rights violation. Hospitals in Kathmandu need 22,0000 cylinders of oxygen a day, but presently there are only 12,000 cylinders available per day—both because of the lack of cylinders being sent for refills, as well as insufficient oxygen production. <figure><img width="1500" height="1277" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111148/636b85949c7e80680e0677ffjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Till a month ago, Narayan Dutta Timilsina of the Nepal Oxygen Producers Association was confident that there was enough generation capacity to meet demand, but <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/we-knew-the-tsunami-was-approaching/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the number of serious Covid cases rose so steeply</a> that everyone was caught unprepared. For example, on 25 April as the number of infections started rising, there were 252 Covid patients in ICU and 65 were on ventilator. By this week, there were nearly 1,500 patients in ICU and more than 300 needing ventilator support. Grande Hospital, one of Kathmandu’s biggest private centres, has 80 Covid-19 patients, and all of them need oxygen for which it needs at least 200 cylinders a day. It can only get 50.The Lumbini Provincial Hospital in Butwal needs 700 cylinders a day for its Covid patients, and it was assured 300 a day by the local government. It is not even getting 200, and has been turning serious patients away. "Oxygen is not a luxury, but an essential basic need. Hospitals need to ensure adequate supply, and the government must help,” says the former director of Epidemiology and Disease Control Division Baburam Marasini. It may be too early to hope, but there are indications that the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/covid-19-numbers-slightly-down-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">graphs for daily new infections is flattening</a>, and the numbers who have recovered is also rising. On Tuesday, there were a total of 8,203 new cases, 2,635 of them in Kathmandu Valley. There were 196 fatalities in the last 24 hours. While the test positivity rate is still high at 39%, there were 6,891 recoveries.In addition, 3,000 of the 20,000 empty oxygen cylinders gifted by China have been flown in. Another 2,500 cylinders have come overland through Kodari, and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-diaspora-comes-to-the-rescue/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepali workers in the gulf have collected money to send</a> at least 1,000 cylinders. Private groups are also stepping in to fly in oxygen concentrators and generators. On Monday, Indian Ambassador Vinay Mohan Kwatra assured that India would increase its quota of liquid oxygen for Nepal.

<img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110111148/636cd7439c7e80680e092dccjpeg.jpg" alt=""/>Supreme Court Judge Sapna Pradhan Malla was coming home from New Delhi on Wednesday afternoon but the details of her flight were publicly available even before she landed at the Kathmandu airport. In fact, her birth date, mobile number, passport number, health details, address, husband's name and his mobile number were all available online. Before flying from Delhi to Kathmandu, Malla had filled in the details related to the flight and other personal information in the form available on <a href="http://www.ccmc.gov.np/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.ccmc.gov.np/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1614922125912000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGNe0Zc2cbf3k2KcLSwKHNlBk62oA">www.ccmc.gov.np</a>, which the Covid-19 Crisis Management Centre (CCMC) had made mandatory for all the passengers flying in and out of the country following the reopening post-coronavirus lockdown. But it is evident that the centre has paid no heed to protect user privacy or keep the personal details confidential.  <img width="640" height="496" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110111148/636cd7469c7e80680e092dcdjpeg.jpg" alt="">The form with full details in the PDF format is available for anyone to download easily as Nepali Times/HimalKhabar was able to do, that of Malla, during an investigation following a lead that the CCMC website has been irresponsible in maintaining confidential details. After filling in the form at <a href="http://www.ccmc.gov.np/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.ccmc.gov.np/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1614922125912000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGNe0Zc2cbf3k2KcLSwKHNlBk62oA">www.ccmc.gov.np</a>, the system will provide passengers with an ID number in the PDF file. The number assigned to each individual is actually the person's identity on the CCMC website, which lasts in the site's 'address bar'. Another person's PDF file can be found by changing the same number in the 'Address Bar'. To explain all this process, watch this short video we prepared by filling a similar form.On Wednesday afternoon, Nepali Times/Himal Khabar created a similar file in its name by filling all the details, posing as a passenger on the Nepal Airlines Doha-Kathmandu flight RA 240. We were assigned the ID number 295916. Now that the PDF file containing the personal details of Nepali Times/Himal Khabar has been created, with the same ID number still mentioned in the address bar, the details of the person who filled the form before and after us could be easily found. The details of Malla was similarly found. We then tried changing the last three digits of our ID number and we found Ajay Nepali's file. He was coming to Kathmandu on Friday on a Himalayan Airlines flight from Kuala Lumpur International Airport. The file contained more of his additional details, which we have not disclosed here. Similarly, we out found Prem Prakash Neupane of Damak, Jhapa is coming to Kathmandu from Doha, Qatar on Thursday. All his details including his reason for coming back and contact numbers of his relatives were all available. In the case of a woman, whether she is pregnant or not and if she is pregnant, how far along she is, are all public. We were unable to contact Malla but another passenger who had recently come to Nepal from London expressed his indignation at the government machinery.  "It could be that the government employees do not know that our personal details should be kept confidential, but it only goes on to show how incompetent they are,” he said. “If this had happened abroad, the developers of the website and the CCMC staff would be been immediately prosecuted." Advocate Baburam Aryal blames the CCMA’s negligence and carelessness for the predicament. “The issue of how the CCMC collects the data and how long it can be kept is controversial in itself. It is only because of the pandemic and possible emergency use we are letting it be. But if confidential information are placed under such weak security, it is gross negligence, a technical and legal failure.” Aryal pointed out the need to investigate the case. “A lot of money was spent on this website but if even people without technical knowhow can access personal information easily, what’s the point of choosing such an incompetent developers? Anyone who feels their privacy has been violated could go to court and seek action.” Nepal's constitution protects the right to privacy as a fundamental right. Article 28 stipulates, "The confidentiality of any person's life, residence, property, written documents, facts, correspondence and character matters shall be inviolable except in accordance with the law." An Act on Personal Privacy was enacted a little over a year ago to implement this provision of the constitution. The act also ensures the confidentiality of written documents in addition to personal details. Section 11 (subsection 2-c) of the Act considers citizenship certificate, passport among other documents as confidential. A provision in the same article states that no one should make such details public. Why has the CCMC so carelessly ignored the issue of personal privacy despite the constitutional guarantee to protect it? We asked Major Saugat Singh Rathore of the Nepal Army, assigned 'Media and Information Technology' cell at the centre. “My main responsibility is to monitor the media. Please let our IT department know how it happened. I can't comment,” he said. When we contacted the Information Technology Department of the Centre, we were suggested to speak with the Member Secretary Khagraj Baral, who then told us that he was unaware of such a loophole. "Once the concerned person fills out the form and submits it, no one else should be able to see it. I’ll see how this has happened and work to improve on it,” he said. "I have just been transferred. I also need to understand this myself." In Nepal, citizenship, passports and mobile numbers are the primary sources of identification and are required in property ownership documents, when registering a company, and while opening a bank account and trading shares. In recent times, email addresses have been used to reveal personal details.  "Even authorities don’t seem concerned about keeping personal details confidential despite examples of how these information have been used to trap innocent individuals in criminal activities," says Aryal. “Citizenship is our primary legal document, one can easily misuse it. Not to mention, it can easily endanger safety of people.” While there are best international practices to follow, they have not been followed mandatorily in Nepal. The Department of IT had sent out a circulation saying that websites need to be audited but this also has not been followed strictly.  "It is good that the government is doing it, and the intention is good. But do they have the length and breadth to keep the information secure?" questions IT researcher, Hempal Shrestha. "The scale by which we are going digital is huge, but the capacity to control and secure is small." In general, what is seen [in case of government websites] is that the data gathering part is abundant, then after it is gathered it is dumped, after that it can go anywhere. There is no system to monitor who has access to the data or how it is used. (With additional reporting from Sahina Shrestha)

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CCMC’s serious infringement of citizen privacy

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181156/636bea279c7e80680e087901jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3000" height="1999"/>2020 began well for me. I had started a new job, got an apartment in Lincoln Park, Chicago and joined a yoga studio. I made plans to come to Nepal in the spring, and I was ready to start a new chapter in life.Then <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/fear-goes-viral/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Covid-19</a> took over the world.My yoga studio shut down. My plans to come home was shelved, and I spent many hours staring at the walls of my apartment, while working from home.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/yoga-in-the-time-of-covid-19/">Yoga in the time of Covid-19</a>, Anjana RajbhandaryEvery state and city in the United States came up with its own set of restrictions regarding Covid-19. Chicago went back and forth between closing and re-opening businesses, depending on the number of people who tested positive. Many establishments had to shut down permanently and millions lost their jobs.Most countries around the world were under lockdown. Nepal had also <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/domestic-flight-resumption-put-off/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">suspended</a> most international flights from March 2020.Fast forward to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-has-decided-to-live-with-covid-19/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">September</a> when flights resumed in Nepal, but with the new protocols in place, I would first need to do my research on the new rules and precautions.When I bought my tickets, only Nepali citizens, ex-pats, and mountaineers were being allowed to fly in. No one else. Everyone had to submit a negative PCR test result, done within the last 72 hours before boarding.I also had to complete the Covid-19 Crisis Management Center (CMCC) form, in which I had to explain who I was visiting and where I was planning on staying during my visit. The form would have to show a 14-day reservation at the hotel if one did not present a negative PCR test. One would not be allowed to meet their family without a negative PCR test.I bought travel insurance for unforeseen emergencies. In life, you never know. I was aware that some people would think me irresponsible for travelling during this time, and that my action would be met with anger and resentment.I was prepared for it mentally because I really wanted to see my family. I took every safety measure, because I did not want to risk infecting anyone, including myself.Due to the increase in people testing positive in the US in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/covid-19-and-the-new-great-game/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">October</a>, results for tests were taking 24 hours to 7 days. I decided to get tested at three different places to make sure that I would have at least one result before my flight. This meant that I got my test results a day before my flight, on the day of my flight, and the last one a week after my arrival in Kathmandu. I tested negative in all three.The Chicago O’Hare International Airport was quieter than I remembered. It took me just 15 minutes to get past security, so I had three hours of wait. Sipping a favourite beverage at the airport lounge, I toyed with countless thoughts that crossed my mind. The next 36 hours of my life was going to be a long stretch.I was ready with multiple little bottles of hand sanitisers and moisturisers as security provisions for three flights and two layovers. The flight from Chicago to Frankfurt was practically empty.Frankfurt airport was busier than O’Hare, and travellers appeared confused. There were lines at almost every information counter. Also, they did not allow any eating or drinking, but it wasn’t like people were going to listen. Fly, eat, failed attempt to sleep, and repeat.On my 29-hour long flight (excluding the layovers), I was asked to keep my mask on always, except during brief meal times. I was nervous and excited. Thanks to wifi at airports and onboard, I was able to keep myself distracted with social media and podcasts. I also discovered that since the start of the pandemic, my usage of social media had gone up by over two hours a day.The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/lockdown-may-be-over-but-pandemic-is-not/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">flight to Istanbul</a> was empty, too, even though Istanbul airport was busy. It was as if the pandemic had never hit. There were so many people there and all the duty-free shops were filled with people buying Turkish delights and souvenirs. I got myself an evil eye pendant.The flight to Kathmandu, in contrast, was packed. It looked like the diaspora was all headed home.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181156/636bea2b9c7e80680e087902jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="916" height="516">Once we landed, the staff from Bir Hospital checked our PCR test reports. At immigration, they collected the CMCC form and revised it with me. They stamped my passport and threw it at me, and I knew I was back in Nepal.Anjana Rajbhandary lives and works in Chicago. She is starting this fortnightly Nepali Times column Life Time about mental health, physical health and socio-cultural issues.

Anjana Rajbhandary

Flying home in a pandemic

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110918110/636bdcac9c7e80680e08032bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1784" height="1260"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>Any other year, up to 1.5 million people leave Kathmandu Valley for their home districts during the Dasain festival. This year, according to police estimates, it was only 200,000. Constant warnings by the Health Ministry and the experts to celebrate <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/this-years-dangerous-dasain/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">this year’s Dasain-Tihar-Chhat</a>in place seems to have worked.However, those who went home left Kathmandu Valley where the pandemic has been raging for the past month, with more than 60% of new daily cases nationwide. The fear is that many took the virus with them and spread it across the country.Now, a new study of the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/pandemic-dasain-swings-to-a-close/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">movement of people during Dasain</a> by tracking mobile telephone geolocation gives precise information where most people from Kathmandu went for the festival, and where the risk of Covid-19 clusters are highest.The Covid-19 Crisis Management Center (CCMC), in collaboration with telecommunication service providers Nepal Telecom and Ncell, have analysed the movement of at least 100,000 people who left for various districts two weeks before the start of Dasain by tracking their cellphone devices.The data shows that the highest number of people left Kathmandu for Dhulikhel and Namobuddha of Kavre, Thaha and Manhari municipalities of Makwanpur, Melamchi and Sunkosi of Sindhupalchok, Parwanipur of Bara, Bharatpur of Chitwan and Lekhnath of Kaski districts.The CCMC now has red flagged these municipalities, and advised local authorities to be vigilant. The committee has also classified parts of the country as 'moderate, low and extremely low risk' in terms of Covid-19 crisis based on human mobility.Likhu in Nuwakot, Belkotgadi, Thakre of Dhading, Panchkhal of Kavre, Lisankhu of Sindhupalchok, Kamalamai of Sindhuli, Janakpur of Dhanusha, Triyuga of Udayapur and Barju in Sunsari are also at high risk of outbreaks because of the volume of people travelling there from Kathmandu in the past weeks.Ncell had previously helped <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Ncell-Flowminder-track-movement-of-nepalis-post-earthquake,2278" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">track the movement of Nepalis post-earthquake in 2015</a>, when it found that more than 400,000 people left Kathmandu in the week following the disaster, while thousands of quake-displaced people temporarily settled in the capital.At that time it was found that the maximum number went to earthquake-affected districts to check-up on families, with the eastern Tarai districts being the destination for others. The numbers going to western Nepal in 2015 was negligible.To understand the movement pattern of people for effective aid distribution, Ncell collaborated at that time with Swedish organisation Flowminder to make use of the cellular network data for earthquake response.In this crisis, areas identified as at ‘very high risk’ and ‘high risk’ of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/window-on-the-future/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Covid-19 infection</a> because of maximum human movement should be prioritised in terms of contact tracing and following stringent safety measures if we are to bring the infection under control, say experts. But the CCMC and Health Ministry seem to be <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/coronavirus-coordination-committee-doesnt-coordinate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">working at cross-purposes and undermining each other</a>.The two agencies responsible for Covid-19 response are at loggerheads, consumed by turf battles, questions of responsibility, and of late have been blaming each other for the dramatic spread of Covid-19 across Nepal, especially in Kathmandu Valley.In fact, in July-August w<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/covid-19-lessons-for-kathmandu-from-the-tarai/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">hen Birganj was reeling under a Covid-19 crisis</a>, the CCMC had identified Kathmandu Valley at high risk of infection based on the number of people entering the capital from the Tarai. Just as projected, the capital is now the hotspot of Covid-19 infection in Nepal.The total number of new Covid-19 cases which dropped this week during Dasain because testing centres were closed for the festival, is steadily picking up. Public health experts predict that the cases will rise as the backlog is tested, as well as because of the rise in infections due to family movement.To prove this point, on Thursday the total numbers testing positive was back to the pre-Dasain 3,517 level, 1,888 of them in Kathmandu Valley. Some 4,096 patients were discharged in the last 24 hours. There were 16 more deaths, taking the total closer to 1,000. The recovery rate is 76.7%.As of 30 October, Nepal has a total of 168,235 confirmed Covid-19 cases with 38,357 of them active infections, Kathmandu Valley accounts for most of them at 19,752. Total fatalities now stand at 920 with 333 of them in Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur districts.There are about 300 people undergoing treatment in ICUs in various hospitals across the country with 71 of them on ventilator support. Bagmati province has the most seriously sick with 191 in ICU and 55 on ventilators.

Sonia Awale

Heat map of Nepal’s Covid-19 hotspots

<img width="1482" height="947" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109171156/636bdc039c7e80680e0802f4jpeg.jpg" alt=""/>At a time when close coordination between government ministries and various agencies under the Health Ministry is of the utmost importance to manage the pandemic, the committee set up to coordinate is itself working at cross-purposes with them. The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/who-is-in-charge-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Covid-19 Crisis Management Committee (CCMC)</a> and the Ministry of Health are at loggerheads, consumed by turf battles, questions of responsibility, and lately blaming each other for the dramatic spread of Covid-19 across Nepal, especially in Kathmandu Valley. On Friday, the country recorded 4,499 new infections, taking the total confirmed cases to 153,008. Of these, 2,720 were in Kathmandu Valley. With 17 more deaths, the total fatalities now stands at 829. There are nearly 50,000 active cases, and the numbers needing ICU treatment and ventilators continue to rise. Patients in ambulances have been turned back because hospitals in Kathmandu have run out of space. Meanwhile, the CCMC is in limbo after its head <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-pm-shuffles-ministers-around/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ishwar Pokhrel was transferred out of the defence ministry</a>. No one is clear about who is in charge.  Pokhrel had a public run-in with the Nepal Army chief Purna Chandra Thapa over the CCMC dragging the military into controversy over questionable contracts for the import of medical equipment and kits. The CCMC’s communication with the Health Ministry is now non-existent, and this is sowing confusion about pandemic response at a time when the country is in a health emergency as medical facilities are overwhelmed.  "The Health Ministry has stopped consulting or taking orders from the CCMC,” said a ministry source.  Nepal’s capital <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/declare-a-health-emergency/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">has now become its coronavirus capital</a> as well, and the ministry has not been doing evidence-based planning to manage hospital facilities to handle the growing number of cases. It ignored data on hotspots within Kathmandu and to order testing and tracing there.  According to the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/hotspots-within-kathmandus-covid-19-hotbed/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">maps released by the CCMC</a> large clusters of cases have been detected in Chabahil, Maitidevi, Bansbari, Sinamangal, New Baneswor, Naya Bazaar, Narayan Toll, Kalanki, Bagbazar and Balaju in Kathmandu.  <figure><img width="1080" height="763" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109171156/636bdc069c7e80680e0802f5jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Map: CCMC</figcaption></figure>Similarly, Sanepa, Lagankhel, Jawalakhel, Khumaltar and Khadkagaun in Lalitpur have been found to be affected by coronavirus, so are Bhaktapur’s Kageswor Manohara, Vyasi, Ghalate, Bungal, Patan and Devdol areas.All the areas reporting high cases of Covid-19 are the Valley’s business centres with high population density and higher movement of people, many of them coming in from the Tarai. Local governments in coordination with the Health Ministry should have sealed those sites, and increased testing. But this has not been the case. In fact, despite the CCMC’s data at its disposal, the Ministry and the Epidemiology and Disease Control Division have not been utilised to better control and prevent the crisis – especially with the risks associated with the festival season. The lack of coordination can also be seen in the contradictory statements issued by the Health Ministry spokesperson Jageswar Gautam in his daily briefing. Last week, his remarks that patients who test positive should not go to hospital unless they are “about to faint” evoked widespread ridicule on social media.Then this week, the government first said people had to pay for their own tests, and that the government could not bear the cost of treatment of Covid-19 treatment anymore. After more media outrage, the government has been backpedalling furiously, claiming that it has been handling the pandemic well. Public health experts say that Nepal’s coronavirus response has actually exposed serious failure of leadership and governance, as a political power struggle in the ruling party distracts everyone.Said the Health Ministry source: “At a time when there should be close coordination between all agencies of the government to reduce the impact of the pandemic, we see no coordination at all.”

Coronavirus coordination committee doesn’t coordinate

[caption id="attachment_55670" align="alignnone" width="1500"]<img class="wp-image-55670 size-full" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109151112/636bb5f39c7e80680e07bc32jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/> Nepal has decided to live with coronavirus adhering to safety measures until the vaccine is developed. Photo: BIKRAM RAINepal confirmed its <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/why-nepal-must-watch-about-coronavirus-but-not-panic/">first Covid-19 case</a> in a student who had returned from Wuhan in January. For two months nothing happened, but after the second case was detected in a student returning from Paris, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-goes-into-lockdown-for-a-week/">the government decided to shut the country down on 24 March</a>. Six months down the line, some experts say the lockdown was started too early and without a strategy for testing, tracing and quarantine. Indeed, the fact that after lying dormant for the first three months, the number of confirmed cases and fatalities have zoomed up.Most of the increase happened after 21 July, when the government made the mistake of declaring “<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-ends-covid-19-lockdown/">lockdown lifted</a>” just as bordering states in India were seeing peaks. Since then, the virus spread like wildfire through the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-tarai-reels-under-covid-19-lockdown/">Tarai town</a>, and engulfed Kathmandu Valley.On Wednesday, there were 1072 cases, of which 637 were in Kathmandu Valley. There were 7 more fatalities on 23 September, 2 of them in Kathmandu, bringing the nationwide total to 436. Unlike the first four months of the lockdown, the number of symptomatic cases and those needing ICU have also gone up, meaning younger people are spreading it to family members and in the community. <iframe src="https://cdn.knightlab.com/libs/timeline3/latest/embed/index.html?source=1I948EK4KuJAZI4tKUFiZM_EKsPyyqGtr2GG7wqNWqlg&amp;font=Default&amp;lang=en&amp;initial_zoom=2&amp;height=650" width="100%" height="650" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>Since the first Nepali Covid-19 case declared in January, followed by the government’s decision to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepalis-from-hubei-quarantined-in-bhaktapur/">repatriate 175 students from Hubei, China on 16 February</a>, it looked like the Nepal government had things under control.Despite the horror stories in February from China and Italy, Nepal was going ahead with its <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/didnt-visit-nepal-year-2020/">Visit Nepal 2020</a> campaign. Tourism Minister Yogesh Bhattarai even went to Australia in the middle of bushfire season there to drum up business, declaring Nepal “<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/lets-call-off-visit-nepal-year-2020/">coronavirus free</a>” country.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/3rd-month-of-lockdown/">3rd month of lockdown</a>, Sonia AwaleHowever, as cases spiraled in China and later India, Nepal closed all mountaineering expeditions and trekking on March 13. Tourists hurried back to Kathmandu to try to get the last flights back. On 22 March, Prime Minister K P Oli declared a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kathmandu-under-semi-lockdown/">semi-lockdown</a>, sealed Nepal’s international borders, and grounded domestic flights. The following day, as the second Nepali tested positive, a complete lockdown was announced initially for a week. It kept being extended multiple times for the next months.  [caption id="attachment_55673" align="alignnone" width="1030"]<img class="wp-image-55673 size-full" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109151112/636bb5f69c7e80680e07bc33jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1030" height="643"> Empty Kathmandu roads during the lockdown. Photo: BIKRAM RAIAs neighbouring India also declared a lockdown, leaving <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepalis-still-stuck-in-no-mans-land/">hundreds of thousands of migrant workers in the lurch</a>, Nepal was ill-prepared for the flood of returnees. At first it did not allow the workers in and tens of thousands were stranded for weeks at the border. Desperate, some even swam across the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/lockdown-limbo-in-no-mans-land/">Mahakali River</a> to get home.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/trumpism-in-nepals-covid-19-response/">Trumpism in Nepal’s Covid-19 response</a>, Sushil Koirala and Ben AyersThere was a surge of cases among returnees, and among men at a mosque in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/the-india-connection-in-nepals-covid-19-status/">Udayapur, Morang and Banke</a> who had returned from a congregation in Delhi. But the government reacted swiftly with sealing off districts and contact tracing. Nepalis at the border were <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepalis-stranded-at-india-border-return/">finally allowed to enter Nepal</a>, but they were kept in poorly equipped quarantine centres, which themselves became incubators for the virus. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/returnees-may-be-taking-coronavirus-to-rural-nepal/">Later, many infected people took the virus to their mountain districts.</a>The government also bungled by first getting <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-relying-on-unreliable-covid-19-kits/">unreliable RDT test kits</a>, which though quick gave a lot of false negative results. After kickbacks and corruption was exposed in the media, the Covid-19 Crisis Management Committee finally switched to RT PCR, but there were not enough reagents and kits for the kind of mass testing that was required.[caption id="attachment_55676" align="alignnone" width="1368"]<img class="wp-image-55676 size-full" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109151112/636bb5f89c7e80680e07bc34jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1368" height="912"> Unreliable RDT test. Photo: BIKRAM RAIThe CCMC is chaired by Defense Minister Ishwar Pokhrel and he was directly implicated in awarding the<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-to-test-covid-19-test-kits-from-china/"> RDT kit import contract to Omni Group </a>at inflated prices. Pokhrel then handed over the business to Nepal Army, but there were reports that Omni simply put up a front company to import from the same Chinese company that Omni dealt with.  <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/who-is-in-charge-in-nepal/">Who’s in charge in Nepal?</a>, Alisha SijapatiAs government revenue from taxes plummeted, Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada announced a relaxation of the first lockdown on 7 May, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-partly-open-for-business/">partly opening businesses.</a> On 28 May, he <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-unveils-covid-19-budget/">unveiled the Covid-19 budget</a> of Rs14.74 trillion, setting aside Rs6 billion to manage the pandemic.While, Prime Minister Oli continued to argue for extending the lockdown, Khatiwada announced on 21 July that the lockdown was “lifted”, although  there were still restrictions. This resulted in tens of thousands of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepali-workers-returning-to-india/">Nepalis and Indians to stream back </a>just as India was seeing a peak.  However, by 18 August as the daily case load started to exceed 1,000, local  governments <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kathmandu-lockdown-2-0/">prohibitory orders on 18 August</a> in Kathmandu and 44 districts as cases spiked. But given that impact on the economy, rise in joblessness and the risk of an <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/survive-2020-revive-in-2021-and-thrive-in-2022/">economic meltdown</a>, the government accepted defeat and decided to open up – telling the people they had to take precautions and learn to live with the virus. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/24-march-24-august-2020/">24 March-24 August</a>, Alisha SijapatiLimited regular <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-allows-limited-international-flights/">international flights were allowed from 1 September</a>, and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-domestic-flights-resume/">domestic flights resumed from 21 September</a>. Businesses, restaurants and public transport were also allowed with some restrictions. All this while the daily number of new cases and deaths in Kathmandu continue to break records every day. [caption id="attachment_55510" align="alignnone" width="960"]<img class="wp-image-55510 size-full" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109151112/636bb5fb9c7e80680e07bc35jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="640"> Domestic terminal reopens for operation after being grounded for six months. Photo: BIKRAM RAIPublic health experts say that the government’s strategy from Day One was that it did not have a strategy. Policies were reactive and ad hoc, locking down and opening up were wrongly timed.  In the end, the government realised that saving the economy was more important because <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/workers-return-to-jobless-nepal/">jobless and hungry people </a>would die in greater number than from the disease.As the northern hemisphere prepares for a second surge with the winter flu season, Nepal is once more ill-prepared. Hospitals in Kathmandu are already full, and there are not enough ICU beds and ventilators.  The only silver lining is that even as the numbers in Kathmandu Valley continue to surge, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/covid-19-lessons-for-kathmandu-from-the-tarai/">the Tarai towns appear to have peaked.</a>Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/youth-led-feeding-campaign-spreads-across-nepal/">Youth-led feeding campaign spreads across Nepal</a>, Nunuta Rai<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepali-workers-stuck-in-no-mans-land/">Nepali workers stuck in no man’s land</a>, Nepali Times

Nepal has decided to live with Covid-19

<figure><img width="1482" height="947" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914118/636ba6af9c7e80680e07373ajpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: RSS</figcaption></figure>The confusion and chaos that followed the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/chaos-as-nepal-bans-repatriation-flights/">sudden cancellation of repatriation flights</a> on 16 August was just the latest proof that the Covid-19 Crisis Management Committee (CCMC) and the government are working at cross-purposes, thus deepening the misery of Nepalis already burdened with the pandemic and its economic fallout.The CCMC had already cleared the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) to issue a schedule of repatriation flights till 31 August. Embassies abroad had drawn up the passenger manifest based on their priority lists. But it abruptly cancelled the permission, giving the lack of quarantine hotels as an excuse.Tens of thousands of Nepali workers who had been waiting for over five months to fly home, and families trying for flights out of Kathmandu were affected. In one glaring case, the ban came into effect while a Nepal Airlines Airbus was en route to Dubai to pick up passengers, and had to return empty on Tuesday. The 266 returnees who had already got expensive PCR negative tests and had been issued boarding passes, had to return to their dorms in the UAE.The CCMC is led by powerful Defence Minister Ishwar Pokhrel, who is a close confidante of Prime Minister Oli. Sources in the CCMC said Pokhrel took the decision to ban flights on his own without discussing it in a Cabinet meeting earlier on Monday. <figure><img width="960" height="452" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914118/636ba6b29c7e80680e07373bjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Yogesh Bhattarai was livid, and there was reportedly a heated exchange at a CCMC meeting on 18 August between Bhattarai and Pokhrel. The lack of coordination between the committee and line ministries has gotten so bad that critics have accused the CCMC of running a parallel government – even though the committee itself is made up of the prime minister, health minister, home minister, defence minister, supplies minister and the Nepal Army.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-grapples-with-bringing-workers-home/">Nepal grapples with bringing workers home</a>, Upasana KhadkaCritics say the CCMC is actually a government within the government that makes ad hoc decisions without consultations with public health and other experts. There have also been questions about transparency even since the committee in its previous avatar in April ordered the wrong test kits at inflated prices from middlemen alleged to be political cronies.As Defence Minister, Pokhrel then ordered the Nepal Army to manage the transport of arriving returnees from Kathmandu airport to holding centres and to their districts.He also got the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/nepals-accidental-leaders/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Army involved in procurement of test kits and medical equipment</a> from China, but forced it to go through the same tainted middlemen. At a meeting last month, Army Chief Purna Chandra Thapa testily accused Pokhrel of tarnishing the military’s image by blaming it for delays.The CCMC has also been accused of bungling on enforcing and lifting lockdowns, not giving clear guidelines about what is allowed and what is not, issuing contradictory protocols for arriving air passengers, and not doing enough to control the movement of people from India.On the other hand, line ministries have gotten used to passing the buck to the CCMC on everything from permissions for international charters, the reopening of domestic flights, allowing long-distance buses, issuing no-objection letters for students going abroad, allowing private PCR tests, or making private hospitals treat Covid-19 patients. The Ministry of Health, which should be making the critical decisions on control measures, has been sidelined.“This is the time when the health ministry should be at the forefront, banging the table by lobbying for their suggestions to be implemented, it is unfortunate to see that it is taking the back seat,” says Gagan Thapa of the opposition Nepali Congress.Thapa puts the blame on the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-virus-vortex/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">spike in Covid-19 cases in the country </a>  squarely on the CCMC because it never had a concrete pro-active plan on solving problems like having better and adequate quarantine facilities, increasing the numbers of tests, and now making sure there are enough isolation and ICU wards for treatment of seriously ill patients.“Who is accountable for these lapses?” asks Thapa, who says that giving so much power without responsibility to the CCMC leaves it open to abuse of authority, and prone to making disastrous mistakes.  <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/nepal-is-too-big-for-ad-hocism/">Nepal is too big for ad hocism</a>, Anil ChitrakarNepal’s social media is also bristling with outrage against the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) for being preoccupied with its <a href="https://www.google.com/url?client=internal-element-cse&amp;cx=011870630917993763279:opm7uqsat-4&amp;q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-ruling-party-pulls-back-from-split-again/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">internal power struggle</a> and not giving enough attention to lessening the impact of the pandemic on the most vulnerable Nepalis like returnees from India and stranded workers overseas.“Our prime minister has all the time in the world for internal politics in Baluwatar, and he cannot even lead an effective Covid-19 response. It proves where his true interest lies, and the result of the negligence is here for all to see,” says Thapa.Anil Pokhrel, CEO of the National Risk Reduction Authority who is also an external adviser at the CCMC agrees that public trust on the agency has eroded largely because of the lack of coordination with implementation agencies. But he adds, “I am not inside in the meetings, but under the circumstances, the government is trying its best to respond to the pandemic the best it can.”  The National Risk Reduction Authority’s predecessor is the National Reconstruction Authority (NRA) which was entrusted with reconstruction and rehabilitation after the 2015 earthquake. The NRA had the same problem of coordination.Because of frequent changes in government after the quake, the head of the NRA was changed three times in one year. There was political interference in its day-to-day operation, and it also functioned as a parallel government. <img width="1050" height="588" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914118/636ba6b39c7e80680e07373cjpeg.jpg" alt="">The only difference between the NRA and the CCMC is that while the NRA was a constitutionally mandated body, the CCMS is an ad hoc committee with unspecified powers. Also, line ministries did not cooperate with the NRA in implementing reconstruction plans because of turf battles, while the CCMC has emerged as an all-power super ministry headed by Ishwar Pokhrel, who it seems is in the habit of taking decisions without consulting experts.After the feud between Pokhrel and the Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Bhattarai spilled out into the open this week, and faced with widespread criticism, the CCMC is said to be reconsidering the resumption of repatriation flights this week.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/at-midpoint-nepal-pm-struggles-to-deliver/">At midpoint, Nepal PM struggles to deliver</a>, Ramesh Kumar

Who is in charge in Nepal?

One smoggy winter morning in February 2019, Ekta regretted coming to her sculpture class. It was the first day of her period, and the 19-year-old wished she was home, curled up in bed with a hot water bag to soothe her cramps.
Her class was at Kalapremi Ceramic Studio, a dark room on the ground floor of a house in Maharajganj, and Ekta’s teacher was the artist Gopal Das Shrestha ‘Kalapremi’, a noted sculptor.
Two other students were already there, using all their muscle strength to knead the sculpting clay. Ekta, now 24, recalls how Kalapremi asked her if she was feeling all right. She avoided him, as she did not want everyone to know she was menstruating.
Kalapremi repeatedly asked Ekta what was wrong. She finally muttered that she was having her period, after which he grabbed her hand and led her to a partitioned corner of the studio and sat her on a chair. Before she could stop him, he slid his hand under her dress, and started massaging her abdomen.
“I was horrified,” Ekta recalls. “I told him to stop, but he didn’t listen, asking me not to be shy, saying he knew how to relieve my pain. He stopped only after I protested furiously.”&nbsp;
The art tutor then said, “You’re like my daughter. I’m doing it out of love to make you feel better, but you’re so stubborn.”&nbsp;
“Instead of saying sorry he acted like I was the one having crazy thoughts,” remembers Ekta, adding that from April 2016 to August 2020 beginning the time she was 16, the artist sexually abused and harassed her on several occasions. &nbsp;
Now, Ekta and the artist’s other former students are finally sharing their experiences and some are pressing legal charges against him, hoping that others do not have to endure what they did.&nbsp;
Award-winning artist and teacher Gopal Das Shrestha ‘Kalapremi’ (the name means ‘Art Lover’) is known for his ceramic art, sculpture, and contemporary pottery. He was <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/the-house-of-kalapremi">profiled in Nepali Times after a collaborative exhibition</a>, ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ at the Siddhartha Art Gallery three years ago.&nbsp;
His pieces, titled Gaalis, featured sculpted female figures with the heads of dogs, sheep, and donkeys (pictured) to depict derogatory terms for women. Some critics said the collection was a satire on feminists.
Kalapremi started his artistic and teaching career in 1983 and over the years taught at Bhanubhakta School, Kathmandu University School of Arts, Lalitkala Campus and at his private Kalapremi Ceramic Studio. He has also lectured at Jeonju University in South Korea and recently at Tabor Academy in the United States.
Seven of Kalapremi’s former students were interviewed for this story. Five female students said he touched them inappropriately in his studio or at Kathmandu University. Two male students said they witnessed him abuse and harass the women. In all cases, the students struggled to recognise the abuse when it occurred, and the lack of reporting systems left them to cope on their own for years.&nbsp;
Earlier this year, students shared a social media post hinting at Kalapremi’s history of abusive behaviour following which more students of the artist reached out sharing similar experiences. Some students spoke of abuse that happened as long as 20 years ago.
Kalapremi, 60, has denied the allegations. He told Nepali Times: “Some years ago, there was a movement encouraging people to hug and kiss. I used to do it purely out of friendship and love. But after seeing posts on social media last year calling out my behaviour, I realised my actions may have hurt some people. I understand now that I should have been more mindful.”
He added: “I am also an auxiliary health worker, so I know the exact points to massage to relieve menstrual pain. It’s not just menstruation, I take anyone who is ill to the hospital.”
Sexual abuse is much more rampant than reported given how difficult it is to prove it in court. The law defines sexual abuse as occuring when someone touches another’s private parts, coerces them into touching theirs, uses vulgar language, shows degrading images, or behaves indecently towards them without consent.&nbsp;
Ekta and her fellow students are consulting lawyer Suneeta Regmi Pokhrel, who says they know that even if the court decides in their favour, it is difficult to survive after speaking up, and influential men defend themselves saying they are being framed.&nbsp;
“They are in a lot of pain and weep when recalling how he abused them,” Regmi Pokhrel told us. “They are angry and have filed a case against him, but they are also terrified. They know he is a powerful man and they have seen how our society treats women who speak up against abusers. Unless people speak up, perpetrators will be emboldened.”
Art and academia in Nepal simply reflect the power imbalances in society where people with intersecting identities experience worse forms of abuse. Theatre actors Raj Kumar Pudasaini, Rajan Khatiwada, and Sunil Pokhrel were called out during the #MeToo movement in the Nepali theatre scene in 2019. Even after the allegations Pokhrel went on to receive national awards, while others continued to work without repercussions.
“If you speak up against abusers, you gradually get sidelined from projects,” explained a theatre artist who wished anonymity fearing professional setbacks. “The theatre scene in Nepal is quite small, you just have to make peace with the perpetrators and work with them if you want to sustain yourself.”&nbsp;
In academia there is a history of faculty members sexually harassing students and getting away with it. After Tribhuvan University (TU) lecturer Krishna Bhattachan was accused of harassing women students, the university said it would follow Nepal’s sexual harassment law and set up a reporting mechanism. But nothing happened to the professor, who had already retired. Instead, he counter-accused the students of 'attacking the indigenous people’s movement with baseless allegations' as <a href="https://kathmandupost.com/letters/2019/01/29/bhattachan-responds">he told the Kathmandu Post in 2019</a>. He continues to be featured as a prominent speaker including at TU.
Other faculty members previously accused of sexual harassment include Jagadish Murti Koirala from TU, Bishnu Prasad Acharya from Ratna Rajya Campus, and Bodha Raj Tripathee from Lalitpur Madhyamik Vidhyalaya. A woman staff member from TU also filed a sexual abuse complaint against Dambar Chemjong from TU.
Prominent figures like <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-rise-and-fall-of-nims-purja">mountaineer Nims Purja</a> have been <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/31/sports/mountaineering-sexual-harassment-abuse-nims-purja.html">accused of sexual assault</a>, and cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane, actor <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/celebrity-rape-case-spotlights-nepal-laws">Paul Shah</a>, and former speaker of Parliament <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/mahara-arrested">Krishna Bahadur Mahara</a> have been accused of rape, but society-at-large has let off the alleged perpetrators amdist a larger debate about justice for survivors and punishment of perpetrators.&nbsp;
‘Gaushala-26’ is the court name given to the 18-year-old who accused Sandeep Lamichhane, former captain of Nepal’s national cricket team and skipper of Biratnagar Kings in the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/here-comes-the-nepal-premier-league">ongoing Nepal Premier League</a>, of rape. She left the country citing society questioning her character affecting her mental health while Lamichhane got an outpouring of support. In May, the Patan High Court overturned a prior verdict that found Lamichhane guilty of rape and had sentenced him to eight years in prison. During the 23-month legal battle to pursue justice, Gaushala-26 faced threats of gang rape and acid attacks.&nbsp;
Exhausted by the struggle, Gaushala-26 sought to “move to a new world” where she could live free without hiding her identity.
Actress Samragyee Rajya Laxmi Shah in an Instagram video now deleted detailed the harassment she faced from a filmmaker during a movie shoot. She did not name any name but veteran actor Bhuwan KC filed a defamation case against Rana, but the court ruled that the charge lacked sufficient evidence.&nbsp;
Former Kathmandu mayor <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/theytoo">Keshav Sthapit also mocked the #MeToo movement</a>, calling accusations against him by journalists Rashmila Prajapati and Ujjwala Maharjan “a rape of men’s rights”.
Serial Abuse
Back at the Kalapremi Ceramics studio, another former student, 24-year-old Rajiv, says he felt the need to speak out after seeing his female classmates being abused.&nbsp;
“He frequently kissed them on their cheeks,” he told Nepali Times. “Whenever they walked into the studio he flailed his arms like a child asking for a hug. They awkwardly hugged him from the side, but he pulled them closer, held their chin, and kissed their cheeks.”&nbsp;
Rajiv says he also saw Kalapremi pull the women’s bra straps, touch their breasts, and slap their buttocks. The young students would freeze, not knowing how to react, and if they protested, he would say it was “normal in art”. Rajiv, 19 at the time like his classmates, remembers thinking perhaps the well-respected artist was right after all.
Another student, Luna, who took lessons at Kalapremi’s studio from 2020 to 2022 did try to confront the tutor after he made an obscene proposal to her. She recalls: “One day when the other students had left the studio and it was just the two of us, he told me that God had given him special artistic talent and he could transfer those powers to me. But to do that both of us will have to be naked, inside a dark room, and have sex.”
Luna, who was 18 then, was livid and told him she did not want any of his powers, but she says he laughed at her as if he was joking. She did not tell her family about the incident because she thought no one would believe her.&nbsp;
“They were all in awe of this famous artist and felt I should be grateful that to be learning sculpting from him,” she says. “I was scared to be alone with him in case he talked about sex again. My coping mechanism was to be rude so he wouldn’t try to come close to me.”
Seeing how some classmates were standing up to Kalapremi, Ekta too tried to push back against his advances, but she said he found ways to coerce her. Since Ekta, Rajiv, and Luna could not afford Kalapremi’s Rs30,000 monthly fee for lessons, he had offered them all a stipend to assist him in the studio.
“He had spondylosis and took me to his therapy sessions to learn massage techniques, then he often made me and other students massage him,” says Ekta. Whenever she refused, he would feign pain to make her feel sorry for him. “He would insist that I put my hands under his shirt so that I could massage him better,” she adds.
The art tutor often tried to “seduce sympathy” from Ekta by sharing how he had never been loved as a child and was “sexually frustrated” as an adult.&nbsp;
“At 7PM, he would pour himself Signature whiskey and immediately go off again about how he was sex-starved. I didn’t know how to respond. It took me time to realise alcohol was just an excuse to talk about sex,” Ekta says.
If convicted, Kalapremi could face financial penalty and/or a prison sentence of up to three years according to Section 224 of National Penal (Code) Act 2017.&nbsp;
Data suggests that victims of child sexual abuse on average take nearly 24 years to tell someone about their trauma, and some may never disclose it at all.&nbsp;
“In our culture, children are rarely taught about boundaries. They often react, show anger when adults pinch their cheeks. But adults insist they did it out of love, and force the children to accept it,” says Sita Lama, a psychotherapist at Manka Kura. “And even when someone touches them inappropriately they struggle to identify and verbalise it.”
When perpetrators claim to be “acting out of love”, Lama says survivors are likely to perceive it as something safe, rather than recognising it as abuse.&nbsp;
“It may take years for them to realise they were abused,” she explains. "And even when they become aware, the power imbalance with the abuser and the associated shame often prevents survivors from speaking up."
Other former students from the School of Art at Kathmandu University have also come forward years later, saying Kalapremi sexually abused them. As young adults, they felt his behaviour was off but were uncertain if it was inappropriate, illegal, or they did not know how to respond. After having understood that it was indeed abuse, they say they are speaking out now to protect others.&nbsp;
Amina Singh, a visiting faculty member at Kathmandu University, says there is no clause against sexual abuse in contracts of teachers, and there is no formal grievance handling mechanism for the students.&nbsp;
“So the only way students can to deal with sexual abuse is approach someone they trust,” she says.
Eight other former art students of Lalit Kala Campus and Srijana College of Fine Arts of Tribhuvan University and other private art studios in Kathmandu say they were also sexually abused by their art teachers. Three faculty members interviewed from these institutions said they saw the abuse, but felt it was futile to report it given how powerful the teachers were.
In the absence of a formal system, some longtime women artists warned each other about “problematic” artists. They shared &nbsp;a “heads-up” to be more cautious when collaborating with them, and avoided responding to their calls and texts after work hours.
To ensure art institutions are safe for all, galleries, museums, artist studios, and smaller art spaces need to develop policies on sexual harassment. This would include a code of conduct or studio policies that hold the leadership accountable and outline the principles of professional ethics.&nbsp;
Students and employees should inquire about accountability mechanisms for raising concerns, both formally and informally, advocates say.
Three years after Ekta left the ceramics studio, she learnt that Kalapremi had harassed many other women. Still trying to get a footing in the art industry, she attended a workshop in Kathmandu where women artists discussed ways to stay safe in the art sector.&nbsp;
Since it was a close-knit group Ekta opened up about how she felt violated and realised she was not alone, he had been abusing underprivileged students for years, and this was common knowledge among artists in Nepal.
Ekta says that even after she quit, Kalapremi continued sending her text messages like ‘I am thinking of you’, ‘Why have you stopped speaking with me’, or ‘I am waiting for your call’.&nbsp;
But what really forced her to act was when Ekta found out that he was sending similar texts to her younger sister.&nbsp;
“I’ve had enough,” she told us. “He abused me all these years but I won’t let him abuse my sister.” &nbsp;
Ekta, Rajiv and Luna are not the real names of the students.&nbsp;

‘Art Lover’ accused of sexual abuse

It was 8:15 in the evening of 25 March 1968 when everyone in the village of Batulechaur near Pokhara heard a deafening sound like thunder as a bright flashing object hurtled down to land in a field.&nbsp; That field belonged to Kul Timilsina, and the next morning he retrieved a sheet of metal about 2m by 1m and carried it home with the help of a few others, thinking it would be useful for his buffalo shed.&nbsp; Before he died at age 83 three years ago, Timilsina had told photo archivist Sunil Ulak that the black metal sheet was not rectangular and had rounded corners. There are a few witnesses still alive who have a clear recollection of the object that fell from the sky that night.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024120707128_75cc85aac56b9cc4a77366471f058d7b3eb6868776811b0923845c2d0a61f014.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2024120707128_75cc85aac56b9cc4a77366471f058d7b3eb6868776811b0923845c2d0a61f014" data-rendition-name="original" width="1170" height="601" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> <figcaption>The field in Batulechaur belonging to Kul Timilsina where fragments of a flying object fell from the sky in 1968.</figcaption> </figure>  One of them is Timilsina’s wife Gyanu, who was 22 at the time. She had been at home, and remembers hearing the big bang and the sky becoming very bright. “We saw the thing in the field in the morning,” she told us. “It looked like a lid, a covering of some sort. The way it was stuck in the ground, it must have fallen from the sky. We thought we could use it to dry clothes on, and took it home.”&nbsp; Another witness is Kul Narayan Paudel. “I was only eight then. We ran to the field to see what had fallen. It was a four-sided metal sheet. The elders took it away, and I don't know what happened to it.” &nbsp; Ram Bahadur Baniya, a teacher at the local school, says he had heard the sheet had been brought to the school, and later handed over to the Zonal Commissioner at the time, Nanda Prasad Malla. “But that is all hearsay,” he says.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024120707128_0bf207a12063fb8155b3c8d9a00a94887b126380c9e0627527c84cf5e1101f54.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2024120707128_0bf207a12063fb8155b3c8d9a00a94887b126380c9e0627527c84cf5e1101f54" data-rendition-name="original" width="1170" height="610" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> <figcaption>Gyanu Timilsina, wife of Kul Timilsina.</figcaption> </figure>  There are two versions of what happened to Kul Timilsina’s metal sheet. One is that an American Peace Corp Volunteer teaching at the nearby Bindyabasini School took it, and another is that it was handed over to the government. Recently declassified Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and US State Department documents from the time say that the US Embassy in Kathmandu tracked down the object two years later and had it shipped back to the US. A telegram from the Department of State and Department of Defense tagged as ‘MOON DUST / Space Fragments’ dated 1 March 1972 stated: ‘1. Restored space fragment will be on board Embassy support flight 115 arriving Kathmandu on or about March 10. Fragment is packed in shipping crate (cargo no. 72-33365) marked in care of DAO.&nbsp; 2. State and Defense representatives examined fragments prior to shipment finding restoration acceptable.’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071212_929d903ee06d41baa4f6040e981cd7c7d7bd75cc9c37c9b617d307fc8538d2df.png" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20241207071212_929d903ee06d41baa4f6040e981cd7c7d7bd75cc9c37c9b617d307fc8538d2df" data-rendition-name="original" width="856" height="568" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> <figcaption>Declassified CIA documents about the investigation into the object sighted in Pokhara. </figcaption> </figure>  The documents show that the US government, military and intelligence agencies investigated this incident thoroughly when it occurred, and have continued to revisit it ever since, as recently as five years ago. What is even more intriguing is that the object that fell in Pokhara was not the only unidentified space object that fell to earth that year. There were similar sightings of objects falling from the sky in Ladakh, Sikkim and Bhutan between 19 February and 25 March 1968.&nbsp; These mysteries were the subject of a CIA investigation in 1968 titled ‘<a href="https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP81R00560R000100070007-8.pdf">Sighting of Unidentified Flying Objects in Ladakh, Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan</a>’, and the report is part of the recent online declassification of 800,000 top-secret documents from the period.&nbsp; &nbsp;Although unidentified flying objects (UFOs) have a connotation now of being alien craft, it could be pieces of satellite, missile, rocket or even aircraft. The CIA report documents six sightings in 1968 and quotes local sources as describing all of them having similar characteristics: bright blue or red streaks in the sky accompanied by loud sounds like lightning and thunder and objects falling to the ground. Aside from the metallic object that was found in Batlechaur, there were other items also found nearby in Tallakot, Tureypasal, Armalakot and Maidan. Whatever the object was, it seems to have disintegrated even before it hit the ground.&nbsp; The CIA report records the first sighting on 19 February 1968 in various parts of Sikkim and Olangchung Gola and Ghunsa in eastern Nepal. The light was said to be ‘long and thin’ and giving out ‘green and red light’. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071212_c3c825027d966a2aedc846970390eebe063957503c7eacc8e01e0517843f9bbb.png" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20241207071212_c3c825027d966a2aedc846970390eebe063957503c7eacc8e01e0517843f9bbb" data-rendition-name="original" width="892" height="596" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara "> </figure>  Two days later on 21 February, a soundless blue object was seen traveling fast across the sky above Thimphu in Bhutan. Then on 4 March there were multiple daytime sightings or white streaks in the sky at Chang La Pass, Fukche and Koyul in Ladakh. There were more sightings in Ladakh on the very day fragments fell near Pokhara on 25 March 1968.&nbsp; After the sightings in Pokhara, rumours started flying in Kathmandu that these were aliens trying to land on Earth, it could be Russian or Chinese spy planes or satellites, and some even say it as a sign from heaven that the end of the world was near. This was at the height of the Cold War. The Russians and Americans were testing their thermonuclear devices as well as intercontinental ballistic missile delivery systems. The Washington-Beijing rapprochement had not yet happened, and China was making quick progress testing atomic bombs. Within two years after its first atomic test, in 1966 China exploded its first hydrogen bomb at the Lop Nur site in Xinjiang, 3,000km to the north from Nepal. After neary six decades, what is still intriguing is that all the sightings within a few months of each other in 1968 were along the Himalayan arc bordering Tibet: from Bhutan, Sikkim Nepal, to Ladakh. The US military intelligence seems to have concluded that this was not a coincidence and there were frequent research trips to the site in Pokhara by American officials in the months after the incident. With the help of the Royal Nepal Army, the region north of Pokhara was thoroughly searched.&nbsp; A confidential memo dated 25 June 1968 by Jerry C Trippy to a ‘Mr Farley’ mentions that the US Air Force’s Foreign Technology Division had decided that the debris could be important because it may be related to a Chinese missile test or a Soviet ‘Vehicle Venik’ rocket.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071216_feb5425692dc36b20187de4e4fcc2ce9fd12b6d9e1b8724398e50bcdbf9032fe.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20241207071216_feb5425692dc36b20187de4e4fcc2ce9fd12b6d9e1b8724398e50bcdbf9032fe" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> </figure>  On 28 August 1968 the US Embassy in Kathmandu sent a letter to Washington DC saying that the object could be of Soviet origin, possibly from when the rocket carrying the ‘Kosmos 208’ satellite re-entered the atmosphere. But why were the fragments falling to earth several weeks apart, and in the same region? No one knows where the metal sheet that Kul Timilsina recovered is now. It was definitely packed in a crate and taken to the US, and although it is rumoured that it was returned that is not very likely. Archivist Sunil Ulak heard from the Timilsina family that CIA officials had returned to the site five years ago. &nbsp; Interest in UFOs peaked in the US in the 1950s, with the Cold War space race and tests of atomic weapons and delivery rockets. CIA and scientists were being sent to investigate sightings, both publicly and privately. Could the Pokhara fragments as well as the sightings in Ladakh and Bhutan actually be alien craft falling to earth? The renewal in interest in space travel in large part due to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, UFOs and sightings are again subjects of public interest.&nbsp; Even 57 years later, even if there was definitive proof about whether the Batlechaur fragment was from a Chinese missile or a soviet rocket, it has not been made public in documents declassified so far. We may never know.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071216_b6938795f40731e7657fd6dcbb3cf460a326186a15eb11d4f832f602201ff598.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20241207071216_b6938795f40731e7657fd6dcbb3cf460a326186a15eb11d4f832f602201ff598" data-rendition-name="original" width="642" height="320" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> </figure>  Sunil Ulak speculates if the debris actually came from an American aircraft, perhaps on an intel mission upon China. “Which could explain why they were so thorough in collecting the fragments in Pokhara,” he says. But that still does not explain the multiple sightings weeks apart in 1968.&nbsp; Indeed, US military aircraft were at that time flying frequent night-time missions from air force bases in India to supply weapons to Khampa guerrilla camps in Nepal located north of Pokhara in Mustang. It could very well be that the Chinese shot down one such aircraft. The other sightings could have been contrails of US spy planes, or Chinese anti-aircraft missiles.&nbsp; There were quite a few developments regarding UFOs in 2024. In a US congressional hearing in July, former intelligence officer David Grusch claimed that the government had long been involved in a program to investigate and retrieve non-human craft crashes, and then try to reverse engineer them. However Grusch did not show any evidence.&nbsp; The UAP Disclosure Act of 2024 was signed into law by Joe Biden in December 2023. It plans to oversee the public disclosure of UFO information. However, there is a clause in it that prevents disclosure if it would cause threats to military defense, intelligence operations or foreign relations.&nbsp; It is unlikely that the declassified documents about sightings in the Himalayan will cause any real surprise about definite evidence of alien life even if it was found. It seems humanity will continue, at least for now, to wonder about curious lights in the sky and whether there is anybody out there.&nbsp;

UFO over Pokhara

Four international names in architecture, Shigeru Ban, Rem Koolhaas, Tadao Ando and Louis Isadore Kahn, all left their mark in Nepal. But despite their best intentions, the ambitious designs fizzled out. Ban, Koolhaas and Ando won Pritzkers, the best known international award for architecture, and Kahn could have won it had the prize been given in his lifetime. But their designs fell short of transforming Nepali architecture and did not help inspire local architects.&nbsp; Why were these four ‘starchitects’ unable to pull off their Nepal projects and enrich the country with exemplary contemporary designs? The failure, especially the violation of Kahn’s design, also raises larger questions about how much contemporary architecture is valued in Nepal.&nbsp; Whereas Sri Lanka had Geoffrey Bawa and Bangladesh had Mazharul Islam, the pioneers of contemporary architecture in Nepal have had far less public appreciation. One wonders if Nepali architecture only refers to the monuments and heritage of the past. Nepal does have examples of outstanding modern architecture such as the &nbsp;पाङ्रे घर ‘Wheel House’ and खुट्टे घर &nbsp;‘House on Legs’ by Shankar Nath Rimal in the 1960s. These are the best examples of how some Nepali designers successfully tailored modern architecture to the Nepali context.&nbsp; Ten years ago, Nepal had three architecture magazines, SPACES, praXis and Business Architecture, but none of these survived. This newspaper has prominently covered contemporary architecture, and the built environment, but these are exceptions in Nepal’s media. There have been a few encouraging signs. The 2024 exhibition Modern Encounters in Architecture in Kathmandu Valley (1945-1985) at the Taragaon Museum had many visitors and its accompanying book is a seminal document.&nbsp; In 2023, the Mountain Architecture Dialogue (MAD) that focused on examples of good-practice sustainable contemporary architecture for the mountainous terrains of Nepal was a packed event with over 300 young architects, engineers, environmentalists and architecture students. <h2>Shigeru Ban</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024122003128_8bb8dde080c5698c2585966bef27ce4c08e4ee488d3432b2caac98b9de762dfe.png" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2024122003128_8bb8dde080c5698c2585966bef27ce4c08e4ee488d3432b2caac98b9de762dfe" data-rendition-name="original" width="990" height="1074" loading="lazy" alt="Forgotten international starchitects in Nepal NT"> </figure>  Shigeru Ban had already built a name for himself in post-disaster construction when he came to Nepal following the 2015 earthquakes in which 500,000 people lost their homes. The basic design and its 3D-rendered images were reviewed in upbeat articles on DOMUS, Architectural Review, Dezeen, and Arch Daily.&nbsp; But his signature cardboard tubes could not handle the monsoon and the roof structure had to be re-designed with timber. Only two shelters were completed in Sindupalchok, and only one of them still stands at the Hyatt Regency grounds today, as Ban’s souvenir to Nepal.&nbsp; <h2>Rem Koolhaas</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024122003128_58afec9b57accfa38327af0936648c6eb2f2e11ff18f1af8ca27383dc57dc222.png" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2024122003128_58afec9b57accfa38327af0936648c6eb2f2e11ff18f1af8ca27383dc57dc222" data-rendition-name="original" width="750" height="722" loading="lazy" alt="Forgotten international starchitects in Nepal NT"> </figure>  The designs of Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas have a specific signature: bold shapes and an intriguing architectural typology that challenges standard building blocks. Some designs even seem to defy gravity, like the CCTV headquarters in Beijing: an angular, continuous geometry of glass and steel.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241220031216_a18dc8a8d6b97bc6fa9d590036cf374f9dc3709c699fe5c5787304bbd05cb17d.png" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20241220031216_a18dc8a8d6b97bc6fa9d590036cf374f9dc3709c699fe5c5787304bbd05cb17d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1812" height="1168" loading="lazy" alt="Forgotten international starchitects in Nepal"> <figcaption>Rem Koolhaas' design for Ullen's School in Khumaltar.</figcaption> </figure>  Koolhaas was commissioned by Belgian billionaire Guy Ullens to design a new building for Ullens School in Khumaltar. The most prominent feature is its vertical glass block staircase. Some interior spaces have lowered windowsills, which provide ample views and daylight. But the school building has gone unremarked in Nepal. <h2>Tadao Ando</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241220031212_cc16bd6feb8be07a7198285b847a45d2126dc3a479e0cc7370331861fc544675.png" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20241220031212_cc16bd6feb8be07a7198285b847a45d2126dc3a479e0cc7370331861fc544675" data-rendition-name="original" width="626" height="628" loading="lazy" alt="Forgotten international starchitects in Nepal"> </figure>  Doctors providing aid to victims of the Great Hanshin earthquake in 1995 in Japan requested Tadao Ando, who had donated his Pritzker money to the victims, to also make a design for a hospital in Butwal.&nbsp; Ando’s contribution would be pro-bono and the construction was funded by the Hanshin Earthquake victims and by the popular Japanese newspaper Mainichi, as a tribute to Nepali doctors. The first block that Ando designed for the Siddhartha Children and Women’s Hospital (SCWH) was the out-patient department. He quickly realised that he would not be able to pull off structures with his typical style of smooth-finished, high-quality concrete.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241220031216_73ec0950d52320277ccc81d4a66fa6aa6acb38141e7b7633683e4cf8179dc579.png" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20241220031216_73ec0950d52320277ccc81d4a66fa6aa6acb38141e7b7633683e4cf8179dc579" data-rendition-name="original" width="1594" height="958" loading="lazy" alt="Forgotten international starchitects in Nepal"> <figcaption>Tadao Ando's Siddhartha Children and Women Hospital in Butwal.</figcaption> </figure>  Ando wrote in the online architectural catalog Architectuul, that the two main problems with the project were costs and the availability of local technology. ‘It became a facility that has a slightly different expression from the buildings I have completed so far,’ he wrote. He designed a colonnade for the west façade that would provide shelter from harsh sunlight, and the exposed brick walls were locally manufactured bricks.&nbsp; The hospital is characterised by modernist cuboidal massing, but the outer brick façades now appear unintentionally badly weathered by monsoons. The interiors lack both sufficient natural light and natural ventilation. <h2>Louis I Kahn</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024122003128_612e199d62fb3e72b6b8f6a936b0fa0451d8c0aa3d831c071320bf423ee3d67f.png" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="2024122003128_612e199d62fb3e72b6b8f6a936b0fa0451d8c0aa3d831c071320bf423ee3d67f" data-rendition-name="original" width="694" height="926" loading="lazy" alt="Forgotten international starchitects in Nepal NT"> </figure>  American architect Louis I Kahn had experience of projects in South Asia, and several were under construction when he died suddenly in 1974. Amongst these were the National Assembly complex in Dhaka, the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad and the Family Planning and Maternal Child Welfare Centre in Kathmandu.&nbsp; Kahn had started the USAID funded project in Nepal by developing a master plan for the government institutional zone in Kathmandu, which included a building for the Health Ministry. The building’s façade in exposed brick has deeply recessed vertical windows for shading.&nbsp; The balancing of accentuated horizontal lines in the brickwork with the verticality of the larger composition is the work of a master. The brick walls rise up into punctured parapet walls at the roof level. These square apertures ‘frame the sky’.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241220031216_69c2e4972dbe38773e0a3a3f1129485c9c87033ee84cd454e24ae0dc772d05cf.png" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20241220031216_69c2e4972dbe38773e0a3a3f1129485c9c87033ee84cd454e24ae0dc772d05cf" data-rendition-name="original" width="1924" height="1242" loading="lazy" alt="Forgotten international starchitects in Nepal"> <figcaption>Louis Kahn's plan for the Ministry of Health.</figcaption> </figure>  When Kahn died, only the eastern half of the building was finished. The Western part was never built and Nepal’s bureaucrats decided that without paint, the exposed brick façade was not finished. Then in 1995, citing roof leakage and a space crunch, the Health Ministry added a floor.&nbsp; The frames-to-the-sky in the roof parapet were converted into windows and topped off with a sloping roof of corrugated steel sheets, whose only virtue was that it was cost-effective.&nbsp; Kahn’s orthogonal composition, which clean horizontal and vertical lines, was desecrated despite a public outcry and legal challenges from architects and cultural organisations. A version of this article was first published in HIMAL Southasian. Illustrations by Varun S Bapu.

Forgotten international starchitects in Nepal

If you were raised in Nepal, you must have picked up its unique set of vocabulary: आन्दोलन, चक्का जाम, बन्द, राँके जुलुस, आफ्नो मान्छे, हाम्रो दल, कर्फु and many more words connoting political protest.
We became familiar with the acrid smell of burning tyres, and eyes smarting from tear gas. And yet, everyone speaks of another revolution in the making. Not by desire, but by suffocation.
We heard speeches about नयाँ नेपाल, but the New Nepal never arrived. The governance system changed, but it did not reflect on people’s lives — except for those close to centres of power. The state is still unreachable and is not bothered about <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/matter-of-life-and-debt">victims of loan sharks</a>, cooperative scams and other injustices.
Politicians continue to speak in sound bites, but fail to deliver. They have mastered the game of pointing fingers towards an external enemy and convincing people that they are never at fault. The political narrative is so disconnected from the actual analysis of the problem that suffocation doesn’t go away after every revolution.
No genuine effort has been made to deliver at all, which is why there is a palpable sense of disillusionment in the air forcing us to seek another revolution, even if Nepal may not be able to afford it.
How has the current system successfully held power, even if the public is deeply frustrated? How is it that for three decades we continue to be led by the same faces, who have time and again, proved to us that they may be great politicians but not national leaders?
<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/improving-internet-governance-in-nepal">My experience at the epicentre of politics</a> has led me to identify three cultures that have enabled political parties to keep a tight hold on power: acceptance, silence and dependency.
We accept things the way they are. We use fatalistic phrases like “नेपालमा यस्तै हो” or “नेपालको कानुन दैब जानुन”. While this resilience enables us to rise back up from devastating calamities, it is also a reason for our compliance with the status quo.
Despite so many ‘revolutions’ that have led to significant reforms, these phrases keep getting reinforced, to the point that the upcoming generations have made it their lingo.&nbsp;
This acceptance is not a symbol of law-abiding citizens, but citizens living in fear of those in power, unable to ask the whys and why-nots.
Innovation suffocates in this culture of acceptance of the status quo. This is manifested in remarks like “but we don’t have any laws for this,” or “we don’t have the capacity to implement this”. An innovator or entrepreneur therefore has to spend that energy to become a political lobbyist, often educating and convincing the bureaucracy.&nbsp;
Remember when locally assembled <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/designed-and-made-in-nepal">Yatri motorbikes</a>, despite having willing customers, had to suffer to secure license numbers because of a lack of regulations? Instead of creating new laws, the government kept chanting the “We will promote Nepal-made goods” mantra, leaving entrepreneurs in a labyrinth of bureaucracy. The weight of acceptance of the law lies heavily on innovators. Fatalism is a tactic used by those in power to generate mass fear in society.
When we accept, we become silent. This is a pervasive phenomenon. We are trained to keep quiet, lest we ruffle feathers, burn bridges, or not get the help we need in future. We know, yet we don’t speak.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/bureaucratic-hurdles-in-researching-nepals-bureaucracy">Bureaucratic hurdles in researching Nepal's bureaucracy</a>, Daniel W Edwards
Here is one example: the 2021 census shows that the number of baby boys born for every 100 baby girls is 112. This is a clear indication of female foeticide because of boy preference in society.
Despite such horrifying realities, there is finger-pointing within the government between the Ministry of Health and Population with the Ministry of Home Affairs. At the citizen level, we know those who are involved in killing girls. Yet, we don’t speak up. The Nepal Medical Council reports state that despite this gender imbalance at birth, there is no indication of any action.
But why would anyone speak against one's own fraternity, no matter how vile the act is?
When we accept and keep quiet, we become dependent on those who yield power. From getting our government procedure completed on time to getting transfers, to accessing any of our legally protected rights as well, we are forced to depend on our networks of चिनेको मान्छे people we know by blood, village, relations, political affiliation.
The culture of dependency has been the established way in Nepal. If you drive a two-wheeler or four-wheeler, and you get into a small accident, you will be asked to sort it yourself, dialing up the most powerful person you know. It becomes a competition of who knows who.
Recently I was told that there were calls from the Ministry of Health and Population and another from the Prime Minister's Office for just one medical position in a private hospital. Each was pushing its own candidate. Guess which candidate got the position.&nbsp;
The dependency of people is not on the laws or the state, it is with people in power, a reliance on the network of somebody who knows somebody, including those not officially in power.
These cultures are deeply ingrained in our heads, and in society. Collectively they form a vicious circle that helps those in power to retain power. This is not the society we want to live in.
Then, what do we do as a collective to break away from this? How do we break away from the cultures of acceptance and silence that have created this dependency? What can we do to ensure that our children do not have to learn the jargon of आन्दोलन before they learn about the state?
These are the cultures political parties need to shed rather than use them to perpetuate their power. This is what <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/an-alternative-to-alternative-politics-in-nepal">alternative politics</a> needs to be about.
Sumana Shrestha is a member of Parliament’s Education, Health and Information Technology parliamentary committee and represents the Rastriya Swatantara Party.

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