<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101124/637209769c7e80680e0b5543jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="562" height="497"/><figcaption>Cartoon by Fu Hongge on article titled “Prachanda steps into power after Nepal abolishes 240-year monarchy” on Chongqing Wanbao (重庆晚报 News showing King Gyanendra.</figcaption></figure>In 2017, I had just started my undergraduate studies at Peking University in Beijing. One of my Chinese classmates asked me why the Nepal's communists used Mao in their party's name.She was troubled that China's revered leader had been turned into an icon for armed struggle and violence. My friend’s opinion was valid because even in Nepal, the very word ‘Maoist’ still instills fear in many Nepalis who witnessed the strikes, murders and kidnappings during the conflict decade.In fact, my classmate’s concern was in line with the Chinese government’s initial concern when the Maoist insurrection started. In early 2000s, <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-a-2002-07-11-3-china-66291002/541200.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">China's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Liu Jianchao stated that the rebels had ‘usurped’</a> the name of Mao Zedong.Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/revisiting-maoist-demands,2860">What was it  all for? </a>  Om Aastha RaiMao had led the Communist Party of China to power in 1949 after years of violent struggle, he said, and China had no connection with the rebel group in Nepal. Ironically, the Chinese government labelled the Maoists in Nepal as ‘terrorists’ criticising them for being anti-government and bringing disorder to the country.In 2001, the Contemporary World magazine of the Communist Party of China International Department published a piece titled ‘Increasingly Active: Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)’ which described the leaders as being solipsistic, neither able to create unity within the party nor with allies in other parties.The writer went on to claim that most Nepalis did not support the Maoists because the party was regarded as being ‘grossly out of touch with the reality in Nepal’ and even the international community hesitated to recognise it ‘because of their association with international terrorist organisations’.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101124/637209789c7e80680e0b5544jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="679" height="404"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>However, after 2006 when the Comprehensive Peace Accord was signed, the Chinese stance changed. The initial official reaction to Maoism in Nepal that used to be  fueled with skepticism and disdain, was replaced with a narrative that improved Mao’s own image.Prachanda (Pushpa Kamal Dahal) was suddenly seen as a trail- blazer against feudalism in Nepal. Some unbiased content still lives in academic literature by Chinese scholars, but the citations are not accessible anymore.The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) used Maoism as a suffix, instead of its main guiding principle. In fact, Mao Zedong himself was firmly opposed to using ‘Maoism’ as a political label for his ideology.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101124/637209799c7e80680e0b5545jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1125" height="783">In a conversation with Wang Jiaxiang, a senior leaders of CPC, Mao said: "Maoism cannot be mentioned. I am a student of Marx and Lenin. How can I rank with them? Marx has Marxism, Lenin has Leninism, I cannot be labelled ‘Maoism'. I have no 'ism'. My ‘ism’ is Marxism and Leninism. You must mention Mao Zedong Thought. Everyone has their own thoughts. We can't casually mention 'ism'. I still believe that I haven't matured as a system of thought. It's not modesty, it's true."<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="http://www.gov.cn/jrzg/2012-11/18/content_2269219.%20htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">According to the CPC constitution</a>, Mao Zedong Thought is ‘the application and development of Marxism-Leninism in China and the correct theoretical principles and empirical summary of China's revolution and construction proved by practice’.Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=7642#.Yg20ie5Bz0s">Prachanda's family calls</a>, Nepali TimesIn 2013, a Chinese student published a paper titled ’Maoism in the eyes of Communist Party of Nepal' in Liaocheng University’s Social Science Journal identifying ‘Maoism’ as the suffix of the party's name, and was only a strategic choice under certain circumstances, not all of the party's actions were guided by ‘Maoism’.Nor had ‘Maoism’ proved to be able to guide its actions in parliamentary battles, the paper elaborated, describing the Maoists’ bottomless compromise with other political parties in Nepal as a violation of the basic principles of Marxism, and the party's division had a hand in this.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101124/6372097c9c7e80680e0b5546jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="680" height="478">The paper suggested that if Nepal’s Maoists wanted to adhere to the revolutionary line in future, they must adopt the basic principles of being a proletarian party and have new theoretical guidance to ensure that it will not degenerate into reformism.If there is one person Beijing decided to give attention to among Nepal’s Maoists, it was Prachanda. Although NCP (Maoist) received its fair share of criticism from China initially, the initial interviews with him by Chinese media tell a different story.In a <a href="https://news.ifeng.com/history/4/200703/0319_338_89975.shtml" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">detailed interview</a> with Global Times in 2007 soon after the ceasefire, Prachanda (Pushpa Kamal Dahal) was asked if he would run for president. He modestly replied that he would if the people and the party required him to. But he would do so only once and and after that lay low, be a member of the Party Central Committee and “slowly retire, read, write and do research”.A year later, the Maoists swept the election to the Constituent Assembly, and Dahal was elected prime minister. Ten years later, he became Nepal’s prime minister for the second time.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/nepals-maoist-revolution-from-the-inside/">Nepal’s Maoist revolution from the inside</a>, Sahina Shrestha<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101124/6372097e9c7e80680e0b5547jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="1749">By 2008, there were articles and interviews introducing Dahal and stories of his revolution. In a 2008 <a href="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/hqzx/2008-05/27/content_6714355.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">interview article featured in</a> China Daily, Dahal confessed that he was envious about how China dealt with Pu Yi (China's last emperor).He added: ‘If Gyanendra like Pu Yi becomes a commoner, it will be a blessing for the Nepali people.’The interviewer was impressed by Dahal’s simple lifestyle in Kathmandu, and the devotion of the people for him. He relates how when he arrived for the interview at 6AM there were already people waiting to see him. The interviewer says there was a ‘common phrase in Nepal that anyone can have a handshake with Prachanda’.China seems to tolerate Dahal despite his perceived incompetence because of the attachment of Mao’s name to his party, which carries China’s face. K P Oli, on the other hand, has been criticised in the Chinese media for allowing the split in the NCP and the UML.To be sure, Dahal has not tested the Chinese government’s patience like Oli has, but even the criticism Dahal receives within Nepal does not cross over to China, while Oli’s does. The Chinese government seems to be careful about any negativity towards CPN (Maoist) and manages news on him within China to save its own face.Dahal’s present predicament with the MCC in Nepal could either further improve or completely ruin his stature in China. State media here could have denounced Deuba and Dahal for their recently exposed secret letter to the MCC, but it was largely ignored.Dahal belongs to the Maoist Centre and signed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) – this seems to have made him immune to criticism in China. However, the final decision on MCC is not only going to test Nepal’s ties with China, but also Dahal’s faithfulness to the Mao brand.Aneka Rajbhandari is a Masters student of Chinese politics at the Silk Road School, Renmin University of China.1: Author: Lin ZhiyouTitle: Historical research of Mao Zedong’s objection of changing “Mao Zedong Thought” to “Maoism”Year: 2005Journal of Henan Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences edition)林志友:《毛泽东反对把“毛泽东思想”改为“毛泽东主义”的历史考证》《,河南师范大学学报》(哲学社会科学版)， 2005 年第 4 期，第 102 页。Read more: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=17263#.Yg20ge5Bz0s">I love Prachanda</a>, Rajan Adiga<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19640#.Yg20e-5Bz0s">"If I were to tell you everything I know about Prachanda ..."</a>, Jana Aastha Weekly

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What the Chinese think about Nepal’s Maoists

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101140/636b75e19c7e80680e062410jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1731"/><figcaption>Illustration : DIWAKAR CHHETRI</figcaption></figure>There are signs that the power struggle between Prime Minister K P Oli and co-Chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal is now reaching a climax.After <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-two-year-itch/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">two years of cohabitation</a> with the tussle between them increasingly playing out in public, the two top leaders of the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP), are now on a head-on collision course.The outcome of this final bout will determine whether or not the NCP will split along its UML-Maoist fault line, who will become the next prime minister, and whether the spat will drag in the office of the President.Primarily, it is an ideological struggle between the social-democratic UML and the Maoists — the two parties that had a gunshot wedding for the 2017 election, after which conjugal relations have been rocky.Prime Minister Oli thinks Dahal is in the pockets of big business, is anti-democratic and has ambitions of becoming a strongman. Dahal has publicly declared his support for a directly elected executive presidency, obviously with himself as head of state and government. Hence, Oli wants to prevent Dahal from <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/premier-league/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">succeeding him at all costs</a>.The problem is that Oli is now morally, politically and physically weak. Scandal after scandal involving his coterie have tarnished the prime minister’s image, and undermined his nationalist credentials. Dahal has managed to wean away former UML leaders like Madhav Kumar Nepal, Jhalnath Khanal and Bam Dev Gautam, and left Oli with only two loyalists in the nine-member NCP secretariat.Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-troika/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Troika</a>, Kiran NepalDahal’s strategy is to keep chipping away at the UML citadel because without weakening it he cannot be the supreme leader of the united party. He is <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/in-wait-and-wait-mode/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">exploiting the disaffection towards Oli</a> among the UML rank and file, as well as dangling carrots in front of the prime minister’s erstwhile colleagues to get them to defect.Dahal has used every trick in the book: deploying the media to systematically demonise Oli and isolating him on matters like the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/a-millennium-challenge/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation</a> (MCC), <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/speechless/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the selection of a new speaker</a>, and the nomination of Gautam to the Upper House.The prime minister has not exactly helped his own cause by the lack of transparency of his business dealings, and other scandals involving trusted comrades like Gokul Baskota, who  resigned last week as Information Minister after an incriminating kickback tape was made public.Surprisingly, Pushpa Kamal Dahal has managed all this by staying out of the limelight, lobbying influencers from the shadows, and avoiding blame for his machinations — including getting the secretariat to install Gautam into the Upper House.Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/premier-league/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Premier League</a>, EditorialOli wants to ensure Dahal doesn’t pull a fast one during his kidney transplant hospitalisation, even if it is by giving his ally President Bidya Devi Bhandari emergency powers.Party insiders say Dahal’s strategy is to take full control of the NCP, make Bam Dev Gautam prime minister, replace Bhandari with either Nepal or Khanal as president, and then amend the constitution to declare an executive presidency.Both factions of the NCP now have a few more days before President Bhandari returns from a trip to the far west, after which a final showdown is expected, possibly next week.

Kunda Dixit

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Alpha males

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131156/636a52c79c7e80680e052315jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="1017"/><figcaption>Illustration: DIWAKAR CHETTRI/BHANU BHATTARAI</figcaption></figure>All <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-troika/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">three senior leaders of the Nepal Communist Party</a> have the travel bug. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/olis-1st-year/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Prime Minister KP Oli</a> is off for a health check-up in Singapore after his transplanted kidneys reportedly started over-performing. Although his spokesman announced that Oli was paying his own hospital bills, the presence in Singapore this week of well-known medical industrialists raised questions about <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-business-of-politics-undermines-nepals-democracy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">favours being exchanged</a>.Oli’s party co-chair, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, just returned from the UAE after another of his mysterious visits. And Madhav Kumar Nepal has also been clocking frequent flier miles.Nepal’s cybersphere bristled with irreverent criticism of leaders gallivanting around while citizens back home suffer from the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/monsoon-2019-deluge/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ravages of the monsoon</a>, and contractors with political protection go unpunished for uncompleted infrastructure.Nepalis had expected the NCP, with its two-thirds majority, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/own-worst-enemy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">to deliver stability and better governance</a>, but disillusionment is growing about the paralysing <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/rift-in-nepals-ruling-party/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">factionalism within the ruling party</a>, as well as over provincial and local spheres of government being unable to deliver. An investigative report this week showed provinces spent Rs25 billion buying SUVs to travel on roads and bridges that are falling apart because of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/a-klepto-republic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">corruption</a>.Normally a government that faces such widespread criticism for non-performance would do a cabinet reshuffle to divert attention, but PM Oli is said to want to let the Dasain fever set in.Meanwhile, the three leaders are playing Chinese checkers, wooing each other’s loyalists — blurring the lines between former UML and former Maoists in the party. Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa and Narayan Kaji Shrestha have been neutral, saying party unity is more important than joining any one faction. Even Bam Dev Gautam, who was firmly in the Dahal camp, appears to be wavering, and there is speculation Oli offered rewards.Oli could be waiting for the Dasain hiatus to get down to brass tacks on his reshuffle. The word is that heads will roll after the holidays, and the names Oli wants struck off include Water Minister Bina Magar, Infrastructure Minister Raghubir Mahaseth, Industries Minister Matrika Yadav and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/win-win-migration/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Labour Minister Gokarna Bista</a>. Dahal has his own list of ministers to be sacked, or inducted.By bringing in Madhav Nepal loyalist <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-airlines-has-new-planes-but-no-new-plans/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yogesh Bhattarai as Minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation</a> last week, Oli killed three birds with one stone: added a politician with a reputation of being honest and a do-er, placated Nepal and thumbed his nose at Dahal.Meanwhile, in an effort to address its bipolar character the party finally passed a political document clarifying its ideology. However, the statement does not completely remove the NCP’s conceptual confusion. There is no mention of the UML’s long-held principle of ‘pluralistic open society’. ‘Socialism’ is mentioned, but without the adjective ‘democratic’.In the UML’s sacrosanct principle of ‘multi-party people’s democracy’, the document has tellingly dropped the word ‘multi-party’. And even though the Constitution says Nepal will be ‘socialist oriented’, the document uses the ‘C’ word: communism.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-troika/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Troika</a>, Kiran Nepal<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/rift-in-nepals-ruling-party/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rift in Nepal's ruling party</a>, Kunda Dixit

Dangerous driving

<figure><img width="800" height="878" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811118/636a2a8c9c7e80680e045921jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Bhanu Bhattarai</figcaption></figure><a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/contempt-of-court-threatens-democracy-media-freedom,1483" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Freedom of expression</a> is enshrined in Nepal’s 2015 constitution, and the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/olis-1st-year/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">K P Oli government</a> has repeatedly assured the public that this liberty will not be taken away. But because a sudden clampdown would ignite protests and international condemnation, the tactic seems to be to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/gagging-the-press-in-installments/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">muzzle the media in gradual steps</a>.Since the Nepal Communist Party assumed office last year with a two-thirds majority in Parliament, it has incrementally pushed draft laws designed to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/creeping-control-over-the-press-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dampen the citizens’ right to know</a>. And with the spread of the Internet in Nepal, this also includes curtailing the freedom to express themselves on social media platforms.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/creeping-control-over-the-press-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Creeping control over the press in Nepal</a>, Ajay Pradhan<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/gagging-the-press-in-installments/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gagging the press in installments</a>, Sewa BhattaraiThe Electronic Transactions Act is being superseded by the Information Technology Act, the draft of which has provisions that would directly impact Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube content. In a recent example, a ruling party youth wing forced a singer to remove a satirical song critical of corruption in high places. If the new law was in place then, the singer could have been jailed and/or fined.“The draft Act is a direct threat to the people’s right to free expression and to press freedom,” says <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/press-freedom-must-be-defended-by-its-maximum-application/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Shiva Gaunle</a>, former head of the Federation of Nepalese Journalists, adding that the definition of what is objectionable is deliberately left vague to control content.There is also an Advertising Act in the anvil that lays out vague parameters about what is acceptable in paid notices in the media, with 5 years imprisonment and/or Rs500,000 fine for infringement. Critics say this is another way to pressure the media by threatening advertisers. Indeed, although the target of the new draft seems to be Internet content, the impact will be felt by the legacy media with digital editions as well.    Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/strongman-rule/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Strongman rule</a>, Om Astha Rai<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/suppressed/">Suppressed</a>, Om Astha RaiThe new rules come on top of a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/strongman-rule/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">new Criminal Code</a> that was drafted by a previous government but passed by this one that treats what can be vaguely construed to be objectionable reports and posts in the media as a criminal offence. Previously, violations would be liable for prosecution under other more benign laws.A <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/suppressed/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">new draft Privacy Act</a> that would have allowed officials to refuse to divulge information to the media was watered down earlier this year after public outrage. Says media law expert Baburam Aryal: “There is a clear intention to regulate the Internet platformwise, and thereby control content deemed critical.”

Zip up

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107121144/6368efab9c7e80680e035990jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="667"/><figcaption>Picture: Bikram Rai</figcaption></figure>W hen PM KP Oli assumed office in February, he was blessed with almost everything he would need to deliver on his promise of rapid economic growth: he swiftly cemented his grip on power by unifying his UML party with the Maoists, inducting one of the two Madhesi parties into government, restoring ties with <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/elementor-3766/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">India</a> and winning <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/a-great-march/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chinese support</a> for large infrastructure projects.But the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/let-a-thousand-flowers-bloom/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepal Communist Party</a> (NCP) government now seems to be sinking into a quagmire, like the submerged streets of Bhaktapur on Thursday (pictured, above).Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/bhaktapur-inundated/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bhaktapur inundated</a>, Om Astha Rai and Bikram RaiHis own ministers, especially ex-Maoist ones, are making things worse for the prime minister. PM-in-waiting Pushpa Kamal Dahal keeps a low profile, letting Oli stew in his own gravy as his ex-Maoist ministers mishandle hunger strikes by <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19449#.W0hDxdUzbIV" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Govinda KC</a> and <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/The-deadline/sad-saga-of-adhikari-family,367" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gangamaya Adhikari</a>, whose separate fasts entered the 13th and the 44th days respectively on Thursday.Despite leading Nepal’s strongest government since 1990, Oli doesn’t have the flexibility to address KC’s demand to roll back a regressive medical education bill. Oli ordered police to arrest one of the accused in the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/when-our-son-was-killed/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">murder of Adhikari’s son</a> in 2004, but ex-Maoist ministers are firmly against the extradition of another accused, Rudra Acharya, from Northern Ireland to face trial.Read also : <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/red-rice/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Red Rice</a>, EditorialInterpol has issued a red-corner notice against Acharya, believed to be the shooter. Sources say the UK is ready to extradite Acharya if the government assures in writing that he will not face capital punishment and torture. But ex-Maoists in the government are stalling, and Adhikari doesn’t want to call off her hunger strike.As other political problems fester, hope is fading that Oli can expedite economic growth. The private sector was cautiously optimistic about a Communist government, now it is nervous.Shekhar Golchha of the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI), told us: “The way this government is dealing with the private sector is very frustrating.”Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa is on a selective crackdown. He ordered the arrest of four sugar mill owners for not paying farmers. He detained contractors for not completing construction in time, but NCP co-Chair Dahal’s landlord Sharada Adhikari enjoys impunity even though his firm is reportedly responsible for massive delays in high profile projects.When a delegation of businessmen protested the high-handedness, ex-Maoist Industry Minister Matrika Yadav warned: “Be careful. This is a people’s government, it is not for businessmen.”Finance Minister <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2018/02/26/yuba-raj-khatiwadas-turn/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yuba Raj Khatiwada</a>, the architect of Oli’s economic vision, is raising taxes, but doing little to win the private sector’s confidence on investment.Ex-banker Anal Raj Bhattarai says: “The hope that the investment climate would improve is fading fast, and this government is squandering a golden chance to set things right.”Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/oli-reassures-india-before-china-visit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Oli reassures India before China visit</a><a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/a-modi-fied-oli/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A Modi-fied Oli</a>, Om Astha Rai<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/kundadixit/page/5/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lethal politics of a sick nation</a>, Kunda Dixit

That sinking feeling

In the black and white photograph, General Wangdu smiles broadly in front of the dusty cactus garden in Kathmandu’s Annapurna Hotel. With an ill-fitting jacket and shaggy hair he looks benign enough, but this was the last leader of the Tibetan freedom fighters who led the resistance against the Chinese from their remote mountain hideouts in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/comings-and-goings-in-mustang">Mustang</a>. Five months later, Wangdu was dead. Snapped in March 1974, I had only recently arrived in Nepal. How did I meet this legendary fighter? Possibly with his devoted camp follower, Lynne Klapecki, and probably in the Om Restaurant near Freak Street which was the preferred <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/hippie-trail-nostalgia-in-kathmandu">hippie hang-out</a>. Om Lobsang and his brother Yeshe were <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/earthquake-brings-back-memories-of-camps-for-tibetan-refugees">refugees from East Tibet </a>whose cafe offered a friendly welcome and<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/momo-loco"> the best momos</a> - they became my in-laws after I married their eldest brother Tenzin, but that was a decade later.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_4573b34282b0f5395c007243d6bef12c7ba76bfd520419e994cdcea048d795a1.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="2025052403054_4573b34282b0f5395c007243d6bef12c7ba76bfd520419e994cdcea048d795a1" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1583" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Photo: LISA CHOEGYAL</figcaption> </figure>  Wangdu’s English was enthusiastically rudimentary, but even riding around town with him on the back of an aging <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandu-s-new-motorbike-museum">motorbike</a>, he was a commanding presence. Always flanked by armed outriders, impressive scars marked his forearms and a pistol hung from the cord around his neck. A charismatic guerrilla leader, Wangdu was celebrated by his followers for his tough commitment and respected for his measured pragmatism. He seemed so young to have shouldered such a responsibility of command, leading hundreds of hardened <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/50-years-after-the%20raid-into-Tibet,1012#google_vignette">Khampa combatants </a>through what had been a particularly <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/heavy-snowfall-over-nepal-himalaya">brutal winter in Mustang</a>, the last bastion to hold out against the Chinese invasion of their Tibetan homeland.&nbsp; The freedom fighters of Tibet, known as the Chushi-Gangdruk, had emerged to resist the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/territorialism">Chinese takeover</a> of Tibet during the 1950s. Estimated to be 80,000-strong at the time of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/what-or-who-after-the-dalai-lama">the Dalai Lama</a>’s final escape to India in 1959, the sheer number of Chinese deployed into Tibet eventually forced the Chushi-Gangdruk to retreat to Mustang, From this high Himalayan stronghold, they continued cross-border raids on the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) throughout the 1960s.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_8a4a935ba25ae79dc3a63bb5c14626927020e5ec098093c45ccb9a5982e009fd.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="2025052403054_8a4a935ba25ae79dc3a63bb5c14626927020e5ec098093c45ccb9a5982e009fd" data-rendition-name="original" width="1114" height="676" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Guerrillas known as the Chushi-Gangdruk emerged to resist the Chinese annexation of Tibet during the 1950s. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>  Their Kathmandu base was a small discreet lodge in a back lane near Rani Pokhari. Sipping sweet tea from a blue mug with a chipped lid, I sat bemused in a corner of the Mustang Hotel room whilst Wangdu and his cohorts received a battered brown suitcase from their CIA connection, a tousle-haired American in a leather jacket. Heaved onto the dingy bedspread that covered the thin mattress, it was clicked open to reveal piles of neatly stacked dollar bills.&nbsp; I cannot think why Wangdu allowed me to witness this handover but I was clearly no threat, a newly arrived world traveller with no understanding of the stakes nor any Nepali or <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/tibetan-music-in-nepals-sacred-valley">Tibetan language</a>. Despite armed guards in the corridor,Wangdu radiated confidence and bravado, and there was a practiced familiarity to the tense transaction. This deadly dance for many years had been funded by the Americans, tolerated by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-kingdom-within-a-republic">Mustang’s residents</a>, and permitted by King Mahendra and the Nepali authorities who it suited to turn a blind eye.&nbsp; But Mahendra died in 1972, and times were changing. Richard Nixon’s ping-pong diplomacy thawed the cold war and signalled a fresh entente with China. Nepal’s yet-to-be-crowned <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/if-birendra-was-alive-nepal-could-still-be-a-monarchy">King Birendra </a>was under pressure to curb the irritating incursions against the PLA launched from the Nepali territory of Mustang. Keen to appease his northern neighbour, on several occasions the King summoned Wangdu for peace talks but, despite increasingly overwhelming odds, Wangdu refused to surrender.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_a8efd5cfb92cd997bd7cb74296a936fef46e2f7428f9cd642b03f1ac4ea11ecb.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="2025052403054_a8efd5cfb92cd997bd7cb74296a936fef46e2f7428f9cd642b03f1ac4ea11ecb" data-rendition-name="original" width="1055" height="885" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>General Wangdu flanked by two Tibetan resistance fighters in Mustang in the 1970s. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_75969125a745847a2ef82b6fe8b9106c0b21a116d85b8efdf5d2ee89a347bb31.jpg" data-media-id="editor_15" data-image-id="2025052403054_75969125a745847a2ef82b6fe8b9106c0b21a116d85b8efdf5d2ee89a347bb31" data-rendition-name="original" width="1044" height="792" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>King Birendra with General Wangdu (right in dark glasses) taken in 1974 possibly in Mustang after one of their few attempts at negotiation. Photo courtesy: RAJRNDRA KUNWAR</figcaption> </figure>  While I naively rode pillion around Kathmandu in the spring sunshine, Wangdu was in the midst of what turned out to be his final round of negotiations with the Nepal government. Refusing to cease hostilities with the Chinese, Wangdu must have suspected the cost of his decision, making his cheerful smile in the photograph all the more poignant and brave. It was only much later that I appreciated the significance of the moment. Wangdu had been sent to replace the first resistance leader in Mustang, Baba Gen Yeshe, a much derided corrupt character who stole money meant for his troops and exploited fleeing refugees by seizing their treasures. Baba Gen Yeshe never forgave Wangdu,and sought revenge in May 1974 by betraying him and his commanders to the Nepal authorities. Renewed Chinese incursions from the north, active PLA collusion with the Nepali forces under the new King, and treachery from within the Chushi-Gangdrukranks combined to seal their fate.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_e0987a7c90d76431b0d7d5e6115ebfe3dbda7ab939e5941e079c18d722e884c0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_16" data-image-id="2025052403054_e0987a7c90d76431b0d7d5e6115ebfe3dbda7ab939e5941e079c18d722e884c0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1400" height="769" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>British television journalists George Patterson and Adrian Cowell embedded themselves with Khampa guerrillas and accompanied them from Tsum Valley on a cross border raid on a Chinese Army convoy in 1964. Photo: ESSAYS ON NEPAL / SAM COWAN</figcaption> </figure>  Mikel Dunham, renowned author of Buddha’s Warriors, writes: ‘It is possible that Wangdu was waiting for some cue from the Dalai Lama’s government-in-exile in Dharamsala, India. It is equally possible – during that last, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/the-human-cost-of-nepal-s-yarsa-gold-rush?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR31-Cqw8oyIwMPzf_35e4Skr0ululJvLf3_vDkzHn-AYG2h8uPw2rqqErg_aem_tGVn5coY1-jA7fze_xqhew">desolate winter </a>– that he made the decision to go out in glory rather than admit defeat. Over the last fifteen years, Wangdu had experienced Tibet’s organized resistance being squeezed and shoved around by every conceivable outside force.&nbsp; First they had been pushed out of their own country by the PLA; then they had been refused sanction while on <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/nepal-india-trans-boundary-bonds?fbclid=IwAR0PpJ5zUEbwdug3g_U3ar6FUugngRY0S8Tl2v_7wqzrsHmXWcXsKjvL4t4">Indian soil</a>; then they were abandoned by the Americans because, apparently, Nixon wanted to make friends with Wangdu’s mortal enemies, the communists; then they had been betrayed by the vampiric Baba Gen Yeshe – a Tibetan and, even worse, a fellow Khampa; and now, finally Wangdu’s army was being evicted by the Nepalis. One thing was certain: Wangdu was a warrior. To imagine Wangdu simply giving up and settling down in the pacific squalor of a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/elderly-left-in-bhutan-refugee-camp">refugee camp </a>was unthinkable.’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_8fc1ffef4ae751628b90ae781b66e11e51e4fdde2787207c9042efbee345ce49.jpg" data-media-id="editor_20" data-image-id="2025052403054_8fc1ffef4ae751628b90ae781b66e11e51e4fdde2787207c9042efbee345ce49" data-rendition-name="original" width="500" height="746" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>The much derided Baba Gen Yeshe, the first Tibetan resistance leader in Mustang, who betrayed Wangdu for personal gain. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_b1d833cdb00d3ac4416b844d8730475cd88c238caaaf8da69889a584eea229a3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_21" data-image-id="2025052403054_b1d833cdb00d3ac4416b844d8730475cd88c238caaaf8da69889a584eea229a3" data-rendition-name="original" width="500" height="656" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Aditya SJB Rana of the Royal Nepal Army whose team ambushed Wangdu and his cohorts at the top of Tinker Pass in Darchula, West Nepal. Photo courtesy: GAUTAM SJB RANA</figcaption> </figure>  By August 1974 the game was up. Wangdu and six of his exhausted party were killed on their horses by <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=7270">the Royal Nepal Army</a> on the brink of escape. The officer in charge, Aditya SJB Rana, cleverly predicted their route into India after they failed to silence a police radio in Yari. A carefully laid ambush trapped them near the summit of the Tinker Pass in Darchula,at 5,000 meters the highest military operation of its time. Wangdu’s body was helicoptered to Kathmandu, and a big show made of the royal Nepal victory.&nbsp; The Tibetan armed insurgency against China had reached its end.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250524030520_3ff9c6fc85a65bc9a2c3afe9736d9f5f9413de752e790a5d9dca0981ea94f9b4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_23" data-image-id="20250524030520_3ff9c6fc85a65bc9a2c3afe9736d9f5f9413de752e790a5d9dca0981ea94f9b4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> </figure>

The Last Days of the Khampa

Starting 17 September Turkish Airlines will fly daily to Seville, one of Spain’s major tourist draws. This is Turkish’s sixth destination in Spain after Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga, and Bilbao. Seville is in the Andalusia region on Spain’s south coast with a rich Moor history. There are approximately 30,000 Nepalis living in Spain.&nbsp;

Turkish to Seville

The newly-formed Himalayan Art Council is set to launch Nepal’s National Art Protection Platform that seeks to preserve <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-history-of-heritage">Nepal’s unique cultural heritage </a>using<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/artificial-censorship"> AI-powered tools</a>. The Council seeks to safeguard <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepali-art-going-places">Nepali art works</a> from neglect, theft and counterfeiting as well as preserve existing artwork and celebrate living masters by giving them a cultural space to continue the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/sacred-survival">sacred art traditions</a>. "We are introducing a new digital platform designed to preserve, verify and elevate <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-new-generation-of-alternative-artists">Nepal’s art for generations to come,</a>” says a statement from the Council, adding that the digital platform will use AI told for authentication and blockchain to keep track of works of art. Artists can now be protected by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/ayo-ai?fbclid=IwAR1uwmTVq4gUB70ljfRezjzukD9ArWXPuMnUikopeQ8PoiZMjicToPSwhKE&amp;=1">AI tools</a> that detect forgeries, identify their work even when unsigned, and ensure they receive proper recognition and credit. The archives will be searchable with translated inscription and interactive guides. Says curator Meena Lama: “AI and blockchains are tools that give us the power to detect fakes and identify unsigned paintings and track every piece. With these tools we can restore trust, secure authorship and give artists the dignity they deserve.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250514170544_2ab58f6313c0458f75114a692b0016bd9efb3b59d5f8f07f0da72e1e37b82f53.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250514170544_2ab58f6313c0458f75114a692b0016bd9efb3b59d5f8f07f0da72e1e37b82f53" data-rendition-name="original" width="1300" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Artwork at the Traditional Art Exhibition at Patan Museum."> <figcaption>Artwork at the Traditional Art Exhibition at Patan Museum.</figcaption> </figure>  The Council is also holding an exhibition of Nepali cultural masterpieces with 50 historical <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Buzz-the-art,671">thangka and paubha </a>by past masters and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/between-the-sacred-and-everyday">contemporary works by current artists</a>. This curated collection is a living tribute to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/when-yaks-go-so-does-culture">Himalayan culture</a> with economic depictions of deities, mandala and sacred narratives. The exhibition at <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/a-portal-into-patan-s-past-and-present">Patan Museum</a> also provides an opportunity to meet painters and custodians of art and culture. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/golden-deities">Golden deities</a>, Sewa Bhattarai ‘The exhibition is only the first step in a long journey to ensure that Nepali art is no just seen but fully understood, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Narratives-of-Faith-and-Memory-Remembering-the-Lost-Sculptures-of-Kathmandu-exhibition,987">protected and remembered</a>,’ the Council says. Artist Kailash K Shrestha of Artudio has spent decades promoting thankha and paubha traditions because of their beauty and devotional meaning. But he also says artists are underpaid, exploited and ignored. He adds, “AI and blockchain are not just buzzwords, they are powerful tools that can protect Nepal’s artists from fraud, verify authenticity and build a permanent record of provenance.” Traditional Art Exhibition Till 17 May Patan Museum

Digital protection for Nepal’s art

<a href="https://www.instagram.com/prabalgurung/" target="_blank">Prabal Gurung</a> left Nepal for New York in 1999 to escape years of bullying, sexism and homophobia, and to pursue his dream of becoming a fashion designer. He <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqN0VaoAI5w" target="_blank">realised his dream</a>, but did not escape discrimination and racism in the new world. Propelled by passion for fashion, Gurung overcame everything America threw at him. He has attained <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/style/story/prabal-gurung-recalls-his-first-met-gala-when-zoe-saldana-was-at-his-side?srsltid=AfmBOooy-H0oGgxMit864FnW_Pmw8mUnV8rYrh-co-f6OyYK6m2ip5hP" target="_blank">fame and recognition</a> for his haute couture dress designs while remaining true to his Nepali roots, and is even more resolute in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSmNauyzACk" target="_blank">fighting prejudice</a> in all its forms. Prabal Gurung’s newly-released memoir <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Audible-Walk-Like-Girl-Memoir/dp/B0DG11HCDQ?fbclid=IwY2xjawKZfpxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHuZcIJO2OXyXcRm1oq1iG6wzeoF7VJFrQ7GXOFI0YxuZZ4id_CNvSZSZZIna_aem_pG_mOKG73RTnYvN8JaC4fA">Walk Like a Girl</a> is a saga of harrowing abuse in boarding schools in Nepal and India, only finding himself facing a different kind of bullying in the US. He prevails over it all to be where he is today: an award-winning American fashion designer with his own label. Walk Like a Girl was launched last week in New York at a time when everything Gurung fought for — tolerance, inclusion and diversity — are in retreat in his adopted country because of a president who has espoused a culture of bullying. The book is a searing, raw exposé of how cruel and abusive people can be even at a young age in school. On the other hand, it also shows that there are generous, compassionate and open-minded souls out there. In his book, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4le_uWX7YE">Prabal Gurung</a> calls out those who tormented and tried to hold him back (some of their names have been altered). The moral of his story is: resist, never stop believing in yourself, do not let others define you, never lose sight of your dream, and help those who have been kept out. “Walk like a girl” was a slur used by bullies back in school in Nepal and India for Gurung’s effeminate ways. He fought back then, and he is still resisting by turning those words into something to be proud of.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250519170544_4ffc9c3f565dd2cfa754d10b224816897b82bb31ebaee91b6d79d469fc96f14e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250519170544_4ffc9c3f565dd2cfa754d10b224816897b82bb31ebaee91b6d79d469fc96f14e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1253" loading="lazy" alt="Prabal Gurung NT"> <figcaption>Prabal Gurung at home in Kathmandu in the 1990s.</figcaption> </figure>  “Living through it all was one thing, but writing about it is one of the hardest things I have done in my life,” admitted Gurung during the launch. “I broke down constantly during the six-year writing process.” He continues: “I did not want this to be a victim’s book. I did not want to burden my readers with my emotions. I wanted my struggle to be an inspiration for others facing what I faced. I am grateful to those who bullied me in school, they made me a stronger person ready to face the world.” Indeed, this book is a departure from his earlier one titled simply, Prabal Gurung (Abrams, 2019), which was a lush pictorial autobiography of his career in fashion. Walk Like a Girl is not a typical fashion book, it is an intimate tale of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16997">Gurung’s travails and triumphs</a>, and how he willed himself to succeed. Prabal pays a lavish tribute to his mother Durga Rana. We find out she is a descendant of the first wife of the eldest son of Jang Bahadur Rana who was banished to Palpa in the late 19th century. Prabal’s father served in the Singapore Police and that is where he was born before the family returned to Nepal when he was four. Gurung relates with brutal honesty about the violence his mother endured from his father. Durga raises three children as a single mother in Nepal, and Prabal credits her for his fierce determination to resist patriarchy and injustice, which in time manifests itself in his hyper-feminine and subversive dress designs. Writing the book has been a cathartic experience for Gurung, who says he is now relieved of the burdens of his past. It no longer haunts him, and he does not have to prove anything to anyone anymore. Walk Like a Girl has life lessons not just for the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DJmOcSgxdWz/" target="_blank">fashion industry</a>, but for every other profession. How can my job serve a greater cause? Gurung tells us his work is <a href="https://asiasociety.org/blog/asia/why-designer-prabal-gurung-doesnt-want-just-stick-fashion" target="_blank">bigger than just making clothes</a>, it is about making the world a better place because it could do with a lot of improvement.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250519170544_d75296ad8bfdc00d88935f40d23543c6fea3d4d6a10e61a99d6cfc6127f2ee5b.png" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20250519170544_d75296ad8bfdc00d88935f40d23543c6fea3d4d6a10e61a99d6cfc6127f2ee5b" data-rendition-name="original" width="1516" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Prabal Gurung"> </figure>  This story of chasing the American dream may sound familiar to many immigrants: knocking on doors for jobs, rejections, trying to survive from day to day on expensive rent, and dealing with subtle racism in white America. Gurung finds racism is rife, and he is often mockingly called ‘gaysian’. He writes: ‘There was a strong hypocrisy — this idea of independence felt like a marketting ruse … and for all the talk of feminism in America, these high society women were trapped by the patriarchy just like in Nepal and India.’ After a trek to the Khumbu region in 2013, Gurung is inspired to use the colours, palette and textures of Nepal for his collection exhibited on Manhattan’s 8th Avenue. A major buyer tells him bluntly: “Stick to making pretty dresses … if I need to see a collection like this, I could buy a copy of National Geographic.” The New York Times was equally dismissive: ‘The designer tries to draw connections between blistered techo-fabric used to construct it and the topography of his homeland, Nepal. But, at the moment, he has lost his map.’ One potential investor tells Gurung he cannot design for Americana because “you do not look American”. Gurung wants to use expletives, but restrains himself. After a fundraiser in New York for the Nepal earthquake in 2015, some belittled his effort, saying: “Here comes the saviour."&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/prabal-gurung-by-prabal-gurung">Prabal Gurung by Prabal Gurung</a>, Kunda Dixit The Gurkha DNA must be dominant in Prabal Gurung’s genes because he does not take such mistreatment lying down. When asked by a fashion publicist why he was designing clothes for fat people, he snaps back: “Because of people like you.” He joins the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements, launches the Shikshya Foundation charity in Nepal, and has powerful allies among celebrities who wear clothes he designed: Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Sara Jessica Parker, Kamala Harris, Deepika Padukone … it is a long list.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250519150556_48a5f4211991a23fa85b64bbd5377575ca7081d97309d7542035591dda5180fe.png" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20250519150556_48a5f4211991a23fa85b64bbd5377575ca7081d97309d7542035591dda5180fe" data-rendition-name="original" width="1114" height="1534" loading="lazy" alt="Being Prabal Gurung by design"> <figcaption>Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie wearing Atelier Prabal Gurung’s design for Met Gala 2025 in which the theme was ‘Superfine: Tailoring Black Style’. </figcaption> </figure>  “I don’t dress women to look beautiful, they already are,” Gurung says. “I try to bring out their innate strength and grace.” <a href="https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17908766880140171/" target="_blank">Admirers</a> tell Gurung he makes it all look so easy, but he used to put up a strong facade to not show his own vulnerabilities in public. “I was closed because of my childhood experiences,” he says. “I was always on guard to defend myself because I never knew where the next punch would come from.” But in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPVepzPA210" target="_blank">Walk Like a Girl,</a> Gurung comes to terms with his vulnerability, and bares his soul. It has not been easy, it took sustained will power and support from his mother, sister Kumudini and a circle of close friends. “I made unbelonging my power,” he says. “Nepal is where I still have my heart and soul. Nepal grounds you. It is where people go to find themselves. But I escaped.” Recently appointed vice-chair of the <a href="https://cfda.com/about-cfda" target="_blank">Council of American Fashion Designers</a>, Gurung says: “I can’t believe I am here, it feels like it is happening to someone else. Writing this book, the healing has finally begun.” <h2>‘Everything is better in color’</h2> The Met Gala was two weeks later, and my table was an example of everything I’d been fighting for all these years as my guests represented everything I believed in: dynamic, powerful, influential women who were unapologetically original and unabashedly graceful. I was grateful to Anna for inviting me to host and dress a table that reflected my ethos—and for her guidance in doing so. I was also aware of the privilege as one of the first-­ever Asian fashion designers—not just from Nepal, but from the entire continent— to get the opportunity to do so. That fact was not lost on me. I reached out beyond the expected Hollywood celebrities and well-­known socialites to curate a table of exceptional women who inspired me. I invited Deepika Padukone and Alia Bhatt for their first-­ever Met Galas, as well as Michelle Yeoh, Mindy Kaling, Camila Cabello, Ashley Park, Denée Benton, KiKi Layne, Quannah Chasinghorse, and Grace Elizabeth. Together we checked many boxes: Asian, Black, Latinx, and Indigenous, each woman undeniably chic and powerful, a dazzling array of skin tones and experiences that proved my decades‑in‑the-­making hypothesis: everything is better in color. Excerpt from Walk Like a Girl Viking © 2025 by Prabal Gurung  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250519170520_6b91d560e9f072c37d16876901058c073a51ffa05e7ad1b9461d19e1c9c28215.jpg" data-media-id="editor_16" data-image-id="20250519170520_6b91d560e9f072c37d16876901058c073a51ffa05e7ad1b9461d19e1c9c28215" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="Prabal Gurung book details NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250519170520_345240c21be400e2ce2ec629b52bd82bb53890e5bd86fe95b48340d84b5f1748.jpg" data-media-id="editor_17" data-image-id="20250519170520_345240c21be400e2ce2ec629b52bd82bb53890e5bd86fe95b48340d84b5f1748" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="Prabal Gurung book details NT"> </figure>  &nbsp;

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