After the relative serenity of the Dasain break, Nepali politics is in turmoil once more with the detention of the leader of the fourth largest party in Parliament. The RSP fashioned itself as an alternative to the three main parties that have taken turns to rule Nepal for the past 18 years, the NC, UML and the Maoists.&nbsp; It was going to show integrity, a vision for the future and do things differently. But RSP supporters took the streets of Pokhara and elsewhere on Monday to protest their leader’s arrest by the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) in Kathmandu last week. On Sunday, the RSP leader and former home minister <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepals-home-minister-vs-the-media">Rabi Lamichhane</a> was remanded in custody for six days while investigations continue into charges of involvement in organised crime and siphoning off the savings of depositors in several cooperatives. A multi-partisan Parliamentary investigation committee last week found evidence linking the transfer of nearly Rs650 million from two cooperatives in Butwal and Pokhara to Lamichhane’s Gorkha Media Network where he was managing director and a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/after-balen-the-rabi-phenomenon">populist talk show hos</a>t before he launched the RSP.&nbsp; Lamichhane’s supporters are convinced that the current NC UML coalition is framing him for investigations into two scandals in which the top leaders of both parties were implicated. In fact, Lamichhane himself has said the Maoist-NC coalition in which RSP was a member was dismantled in June because his investigation was getting close to leaders in the NC and UML. After his arrest in Kathmandu on orders from the Kaski District Court, Lamichhane was taken to Pokhara overnight. Senior leaders of the RSP followed the convoy, and Lamichhane’s supporters greeted him along the highway.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241021141036_2aa9325ed227be9bfc18b42079bf42392dd286f049d7ba351afb64da82e2dc8b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20241021141036_2aa9325ed227be9bfc18b42079bf42392dd286f049d7ba351afb64da82e2dc8b" data-rendition-name="original" width="3600" height="2295" loading="lazy" alt="Rabi Lamichhane arrest NT"> <figcaption>RSP members gathered at party headquarters in Banasthali as party chair Rabi Lamichhane was arrested by CIB on Friday. Photo: HARI RAM BHETUWAL / RSS</figcaption> </figure>  There were parallel protests in Pokhara against Lamichhane by depositors of Suryadarshan Cooperative who lost their savings to the scam.&nbsp; If found guilty, Lamichhane will not just face a jail term of up to ten years, but also be suspended from his Parliament seat and will be unable to contest the next election. Lamichhane has not presented any facts to defend himself, and has denied involvement in the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/heads-roll">cooperatives scam</a> accusing political rivals of feeling threatened by an emergent alternative party. “Rabi Lamichhane cashed in on populism, and public frustration with establishment parties to become politically successful,” explains political commentator Indra Adhikari. “But he has never been a particularly moral politician.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241021141036_ef0ffab776ff38897c3977b7ee25cea471faaf0ebf7649c4e6cfa5ea9c19a9d9.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20241021141036_ef0ffab776ff38897c3977b7ee25cea471faaf0ebf7649c4e6cfa5ea9c19a9d9" data-rendition-name="original" width="3600" height="2021" loading="lazy" alt="Rabi Lamichhane arrest NT"> <figcaption>Rabi Lamichhane addresses party members at RSP headquarters in Banasthali before being taken into police custody on Friday evening. Photo: HARI RAM BHETUWAL / RSS</figcaption> </figure>  Lamichhane is <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-rise-and-fall-of-rabi-lamichhane">not a stranger to controversy</a>. Besides his citizenship caper, even before he joined politics in 2020 he was charged with abetting the suicide of a journalist by hounding him on his tv channel. He was acquitted. In early 2023, Nepal’s Supreme Court ruled that Rabi Lamichhane, who was Home Minister in the NC-Maoist coalition at the time, was <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/rabi-lamichhane-is-home-less">not eligible to hold political position</a> because he had failed to reacquire his Nepali citizenship after renouncing his American one.&nbsp; Lamichhane subsequently got a new Nepali citizenship and contested the by-elections, which he won by an even bigger margin than his first time at the polls. Later that year, the Office of the Attorney General exonerated him in the case of possession of an active US passport. If found guilty in the cooperatives scam, it will be the second time that he will have to renounce his Parliament seat. Earlier, Lamichhane used his party’s strength in the House to be a kingmaker and bargained for a powerful role in coalition governments. This time, such tactics will not work since the current governing alliance is made up of the two largest parties which do not see any political advantage to supporting him. Indeed, they do not seem interested in rescuing him this time around.&nbsp; Says Adhikari: “The RSP is a personality cut around Rabi Lamichhane. It is not a political party, it functions more like a private company. Without Lamichhane, the party could just wither.” The Kaski District Administration Office has issued a prohibitory order in parts of Pokhara on Sunday. Riot police used water cannons and tear gas during protests by Lamichhane’s supporters.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241021141028_daaf97ea6434b9799a78c0b1925c3f5429184da069bd5936afea1a8dd9d1df66.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20241021141028_daaf97ea6434b9799a78c0b1925c3f5429184da069bd5936afea1a8dd9d1df66" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Rabi Lamichhane arrest NT"> <figcaption>Security forces use water cannons and tear gas in a confrontation with protestors at Pokhara's Shahid Chok. Photo: KRISHNA DAWADI / RSS</figcaption> </figure>  Even though many in Nepal's cybersphere question Lamichhane’s integrity, they see leaders of the three main parties as <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/nepal-s-corruption-carousel">being as corrupt</a>, if not more. They cite Prime Minister K P Oli accepting the donation of land and building from supermarket tycoon Min Bahadur Gurung to house the headquarters of the UML in Kathmandu. Even as the police investigate Lamichhane and former associates police DIG Chabilal Joshi, Gorkha Media Network chair G B Rai, and others, critics have pointed out that NC and UML leaders also involved in scamming depositors of cooperatives have got away scot free.&nbsp; The NC’s Dhanaraj Gurung and UML’s Rishikesh Pokharel, have also been implicated in the cooperatives scam, but have not been investigated even while their wives are at large.&nbsp; “We are only just beginning the process of investigating the individuals mentioned by the report of the all-party inquiry committee,” said Communication Minister Prithivi Subba Gurung on Sunday. “There is no need to create confusion by singling out names of the other people involved.” Popular RSP technocrats like economist Swarnim Wagle and IT expert Sumana Shrestha have <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/rsp-s-rsvp">taken a risk by backing Lamichhane to the hilt</a>. Analysts say there is a danger that their image could also be tarred.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241021141024_5c141b2d25cf6ce3bada82b0bdef0012b844334d992cd4203cec0ed2e6782ed3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20241021141024_5c141b2d25cf6ce3bada82b0bdef0012b844334d992cd4203cec0ed2e6782ed3" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Rabi Lamichhane arrest NT"> <figcaption>RSP vice chairman Swarnim Wagle addresses a crowd of demonstrators in Pokhara on Sunday. Photo: Krishna Dawadi / RSS</figcaption> </figure>  RSP leaders have resorted to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/democracy-s-discontents">inflammatory and populist rhetoric</a> to rile up supporters in the wake of Lamichhane’s arrest. MP Manish Jha said Monday he was ready to “spill his own blood and become a martyr in the fight against the country’s corrupt”.&nbsp; Those with inside knowledge, however, say that for all this bluster, it has no solid plans to maintain its leadership in the event of Lamichhane’s long absence from political activities.&nbsp; Indeed, the party has yet to appoint an acting chair in the aftermath of Lamichhane’s arrest. Senior RSP leaders and lawmakers Dol Prasad Aryal and Swarnim Wagle are the vice-chairs of the party. &nbsp;&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241021141032_70338ba3551acd1152aec265e6e27e88b5c591ef2ac7f7417a2ddde040f3d45e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20241021141032_70338ba3551acd1152aec265e6e27e88b5c591ef2ac7f7417a2ddde040f3d45e" data-rendition-name="original" width="2700" height="1552" loading="lazy" alt="Rabi Lamichhane arrest NT"> <figcaption>RSP vice chair Dol Prasad Aryal addresses supporters during a demonstration on Saturday. Photo: KRISHNA DAWADI / RSS</figcaption> </figure>  There is also question as to the future of RSP’s leadership and the party as a whole if Lamichhane is found guilty of his charges by the court, which will cut his political career short.&nbsp; Says Adhikari: “It is useless to hope that the RSP will be any kind of an alternative party and work for good governance. A political party that is relying on incendiary rhetoric to rile up crowds to impede investigation into their leader cannot be considered democratic."

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Rabi’s detention churns Nepali politics

For months now, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepals-home-minister-vs-the-media">Nepal’s media has been reporting</a> on depositors defrauded of their savings by crooked cooperatives. The spotlight got brighter after<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/heads-roll"> Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane was accused </a>of siphoning off savings from two cooperatives and investing it in his television company.
Given a chance to defend his case in Parliament, he resorted to whataboutery and accused the opposition Nepali Congress (NC) of even greater plunder. After the row brought the House to a standstill for over a month, a cross-party probe committee has finally been formed, but without naming Lamichhane personally.
Nearly 30 crisis-ridden cooperatives across the country which have more than Rs60 billion in depositors’ savings at risk will be probed by the committee. Another 500 cooperatives are said to be dodgy, and the government says it will be compensating depositors who had up to Rs500,000 in savings in cooperatives that have gone belly-up.
Economist Pushkar Bajracharya says that <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/cooperatives-leave-nepalis-high-and-dry">Nepal’s cooperatives have had problems </a>from their earliest years because of lack of regulation and monitoring which allowed unscrupulous shareholders to invest the savings in questionable real estate deals (best case scenario) or fraudsters to decamp with depositors' savings (worst case).&nbsp;
“The lawlessness in the cooperatives sector meant that the hard-earned savings of depositors were misused or stolen,” Bajracharya says.
At the root of this <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/institutionalised-inequality">pandemic of plunder</a> in cooperatives is the culture of impunity where trusting Nepalis are cheated out of hard-earned savings with the promise of high interest rates. Like pyramid schemes, these are ways for deceitful individuals to cheat gullible depositors because they know they can get away with it.
This is similar to the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/nepal-s-corruption-carousel">rampant corruption at all layers of government</a> and across the country where the might of those who hold power seem to have the right to extort and defraud the powerless. In many cases shareholders in local cooperatives are even elected local officials.&nbsp;
There is even a sitting MP, Gita Basnet, who is accused of pocketing Rs165.8 million from her cooperative depositors, and she has been on the run. A mayor and his wife in Baglung siphoned off Rs3 billion from 1,500 depositors. Criminal cases have been filed against all of them in the courts.
Ironically, the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/till-debt-do-us-part">crisis in Nepal’s banks and financial institutions</a> has turned out to be a bonanza for financially fragile daily newspapers which these days are filled with pages and pages of paid property auction notices by banks. These advertisements are from Class A, B, C or D financial institutions and point to an upsurge in loan defaults.&nbsp;
The Credit Information Bureau (CIB) Nepal monitors 129 financial institutions, and says the number of blacklisted borrowers has grown from 3,609 to 96,331 in the past ten years — nearly half of them made it to the list just this year. Bijay Kunwar of the CIB says the numbers shot up after despositers failed to pay back loans from microfinance institutions.&nbsp;
The real estate slump is at the bottom of this crisis. Those who had borrowed from cooperatives or banks to invest in property speculating, hoping for fast returns, were trapped with huge loans they could not pay back. The crisis began during the Covid crisis and continued with the economic slump in Nepal caused by the Russia-Ukraine war.
Many defaulters have rallied around businessman Durga Prasai, himself a wilful defaulter who failed to pay back bank loans for a hospital in Jhapa, and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/street-politics">held nationwide demonstrations</a> earlier this year. Prasai urged his supporters to stop servicing their loans and to force banks to cancel their debt.
“Prasai’s debt cancellation campaign sowed confusion,” senior economist Keshav Acharya explains. “Some borrowers of cooperatives who wanted to pay back loans were stopped from doing so by activists. And bank borrowers covertly hoped for their loans to be waived.”
Nine months of data from Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) for the past year shows that the wholesale and retail sectors had the highest proportion of credit (19.9%) and loans to real estate developers made up just 4.92%.
“Many borrowers took loans for business purposes but used a portion to buy property, but since there is a real estate slump it has led to banking defaults,” says Bhuvan Dahal, former president of Nepal Bankers’ Association.&nbsp;
The default crisis in turn has been a factor in record outmigration in the past year as Nepalis leave to earn money overseas to pay loans back home. If there is a way out of this crisis, it will be to henceforth provide loans for projects that create jobs and not in unproductive sectors.
Pinki Sris Rana

Giving credit where it’s due

<h2>Gold Smuggling</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024032205038_6ff436f3ca5399751402ff6a360edee752b303b526320ae6e8b248f109194db2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2024032205038_6ff436f3ca5399751402ff6a360edee752b303b526320ae6e8b248f109194db2" data-rendition-name="original" width="700" height="600" loading="lazy" alt="Gold smuggling NT"> </figure>  On orders of Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane, police on Monday <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/nepal-s-corruption-carousel">arrested Maoist vice-chair and former House Speaker Krishna Bahadur Mahara</a> in Bhairawa while he was trying to escape to India. He is accused of involvement in smuggling 60kg of gold concealed in motorcycle brake parts from Hong Kong last year, as well as 9kg of gold concealed inside vape devices in December 2022. Mahara’s son Rahul has been in custody since last August.&nbsp; Police arrested customs officials, Chinese and Indian nationals, and middlemen involved in smuggling the 60kg, while a Chinese trader was detained for gold hidden in e-cigarettes. Police uncovered phone records of Mahara and his son apparently pressuring customs officials to release the seized gold. Other Maoists, including Finance Minister Barsaman Pun, former Speaker Onsari Gharti Magar, son of former vice-president Nanda Bahadur Pun Dipesh Pun, are also implicated in the investigation report. &nbsp; Dipesh Pun was found to be directly linked to Dawa Tsering, the Belgian national thought to be the mastermind behind gold smuggling, who was arrested again last week after being released earlier. &nbsp; Finance Minister Barsaman Pun and his brother are alleged to have been in touch with one of the people said to be directly involved in the smuggling. They are so far not under investigation.&nbsp; <h2>Baluwatar Land Grab</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240322050312_a71c350eed753b8a19aec2925a051ed256b766167eabf6a9e7c13ecc93f289ea.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20240322050312_a71c350eed753b8a19aec2925a051ed256b766167eabf6a9e7c13ecc93f289ea" data-rendition-name="original" width="1300" height="800" loading="lazy" alt="Lalita Niwas NT"> </figure>  Almost 14.45 hectares of real estate in Baluwatar nationalised by the government was <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/crime-and-or-punishment-in-nepal">parcelled out to private owners by brokers</a> since the 1990s under the guise of returning it to Subarna Sumsher’s family. Former prime ministers, ministers, party leaders, bureaucrats, and land revenue officials are all said to have their hands in the honey pot. &nbsp;&nbsp; In 2023, the CIB recommended that the government prosecute those implicated, including former prime ministers Babauram Bhattarai and Madhav Kumar Nepal whose Cabinets allowed ownership of the land to be transferred to private entities. Senior UML leader Bijay Gachhadar was named, as was Bishnu Poudel of the UML who later returned a part of the property.&nbsp; Middlemen Ramkumar Subedi and Shobhakant Dhakal, Bhatbhateni Supermarket owner Min Bahadur Gurung, as well as officials of the Land Revenue Office were arrested for alleged involvement last year. Baburam Bhattarai and Madhav Kumar Nepal have been spared, and Bishnu Paudel cleared. <h2>Fake Refugee scandal</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240322050312_aca19c77e73d7dc603a1bccad13565768e5facd09d2e53c1d17ede36ddb7ae57.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20240322050312_aca19c77e73d7dc603a1bccad13565768e5facd09d2e53c1d17ede36ddb7ae57" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="600" loading="lazy" alt="Fake Bhutanese refugee NT"> </figure>  Reporter Devendra Bhattarai for the Centre for Investigative Journalism Nepal <a href="https://ekantipur.com/news/2023/03/27/167988439341418193.html">broke the story in Kantipur </a>in March 2023 about top politicians and bureaucrats in cahoots with human traffickers to provide Nepalis with fake refugee papers so they could emigrate to the United States pretending to be from Bhutan. &nbsp; The masterminds were said to be Keshav Dulal, adviser to former Foreign Minister Sujata Koirala, and Sanu Bhandari who worked with former Home Minister Bal Krishna Khand with then home secretary Tek Narayan Pandey.&nbsp; <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/rot-at-the-top">In May</a>, police arrested Khand as well as UML leaders Top Bahadur Rayamajhi and his son, as well as the son of UML vice chair Ram Bahadur Thapa. Those arrested implicated Arzu Rana Deuba, wife of former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, and Manju Khand, wife of Bal Krishna Khand. Both have denied the accusations and the CIB did not investigate them despite leaked tapes purporting to prove they were paid millions. Bal Krishna Khand was released on bail in December, while Top Bahadur Rayamajhi remains in custody.&nbsp; <h2>Cooperatives fraud</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024032205030_e6ad30233ba5e8c2b399e069a927cd29e34843c363272424b25700af8fa9f69c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="2024032205030_e6ad30233ba5e8c2b399e069a927cd29e34843c363272424b25700af8fa9f69c" data-rendition-name="original" width="800" height="800" loading="lazy" alt="Cooperatives NT"> </figure>  Last year arrest warrants were issued for Galaxy TV co-founder and former chair of Suryadarshan Cooperative G B Rai for embezzling deposits to fund business ventures. Rai is also alleged to have misappropriated more than Rs1 billion from Supreme Cooperative in Butwal and other microfinance institutions in Chitwan, Birganj and Kathmandu. Rai is on the run.&nbsp; Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane was co-founder of Galaxy TV, and was also <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/skeletons-in-the-cabinet-k5x6py1v">accused of cheating cooperatives </a>to bankroll the media company he co-owned. Lamichhane has refuted all allegations and since becoming Home Minister again transferred Kiran Bajracharya, the CIB chief investigating the cooperative fraud case. Instead, he jailed Maoist vice-chair Krishna Bahadur Mahara for his reported involvement in multiple gold smuggling scams and appears to be going after big fish in the NC next.&nbsp; Dipesh Pun, son of former vice-president Nanda Bahadur Pun was arrested last week for his involvement in gold smuggling is also one of those named in the Supreme Cooperative fraud case. <h2>Bansbari Land Scam</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024032205034_887d724962f9e585ff9bec4cabf5c5b444a9f42d9723c8d95d7c2d8b4f03bac9.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="2024032205034_887d724962f9e585ff9bec4cabf5c5b444a9f42d9723c8d95d7c2d8b4f03bac9" data-rendition-name="original" width="500" height="500" loading="lazy" alt="Land scam Bansbari NT"> </figure>  In February, the CIB arrested Arun Chaudhary of CG Holdings over alleged involvement in the illegal acquisition of 0.51 hectare of the government-owned Bansbari shoe factory. His brother, Nepal’s richest man and NC MP Binod Chaudhary, was also questioned on Thursday. The land was transferred without government approval in 1986 to the Chaudharys' Champion Footwear which is defunct, but the assets are owned by CG Chandbagh Residency, which also runs a school on the land. The CIAA was investigating, but the CIB took over after an <a href="https://www.ukaalo.com/ukaalo-vishesh/221022-cg-possession-in-bansbari/360">investigative report by Deepa Dahal in Ukaalo</a>. &nbsp;

Heads Roll

<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/waiting-for-bipin-joshi" target="_blank">Nepali student Bipin Joshi</a>, who was taken captive by Hamas on 7 October 2023, was not on the list of those freed following the end of the bombardment and fighting in Gaza.&nbsp; On Monday morning, the Israeli military notified Bipin's family and Nepal’s ambassador to Israel Dhan Prasad Pandit, that there is no evidence of him still being alive. However, Nepal's Foreign Ministry is yet to be notified by Israel's government of Bipin's status. The news came three days after a US-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Hamas came into effect, and hostage and prisoner exchanges by the two sides started Monday morning.&nbsp; Almost 2,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisions are expected to be released by Israel in exchange for the hostages during the next phase of the peace deal between the two parties, and the bodies of deceased hostages remaining in Gaza are also expected to be returned.&nbsp; Bipin Joshi was among a group of Nepalis who had arrived in Israel in 2023 just weeks before 7 October 2023 as part of a ‘learn and earn’ program to work and earn in kibbutz farms there.&nbsp; Along with other students Joshi had been working on a farm in Kibbutz Alumim in southern Israel near Gaza. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/war-in-israel-earthquake-and-grief-in-nepal">Ten Nepali students were killed </a>while taking cover in shelters near their farms in two separate attacks by Hamas fighters.&nbsp; Joshi’s colleagues, fellow Nepalis who survived the attack, recall gunmen lobbing two grenades into the bunker that they had taken cover in. Bipin hurled one of the grenades out, they say, but the other one exploded, killing and injuring Nepalis inside. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Shortly after, Bipin was captured by Hamas along with a Thai national and led away into Gaza. CCTV footage showed Bipin alive and at a hospital in Gaza on the day of the attack itself after he was taken hostage.&nbsp; Thirty-one Thai citizens, who like Nepalis worked in farms in Israel, were taken hostage during the Hamas attack, the highest number of foreign captives in October 2023.&nbsp; <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/deft-diplomacy-freed-thai-hostages">Deft Thai diplomatic engagement</a> with officials from Iran, Egypt, and Qatar brought about the release of 23 of its nationals in 2023. Five more Thai nationals were released earlier this year.&nbsp; In August, Joshi’s family visited Israel at the invitation of the government and urged the international community to push for his return. Bipin’s mother Padma and sister Pushpa have been at the United Nations to lobby for his release.&nbsp; His family last week also released a video clip of Bipin briefly speaking on camera, reportedly obtained by Israel and said to be filmed in November 2023, around a month after he was taken captive. Joshi looks healthy in that video.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251013091028_d551c7f88204c52217152fb5db655bb5a5f8bf2cff1e6a055326ebf64453ff9f.png" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20251013091028_d551c7f88204c52217152fb5db655bb5a5f8bf2cff1e6a055326ebf64453ff9f" data-rendition-name="original" width="2848" height="1528" loading="lazy" alt="Bipin Joshi NT"> </figure>  More than 67,000 Palestinians have been killed during the last two years of the genocide in Gaza. About 1,200 people were killed during the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023, while more than 251, including Bipin Joshi, were taken as captives.&nbsp; This is the third ceasefire implemented in Gaza since 7 October 2023 after previous ones in November 2023 and January 2025. This 20-point deal facilitated by intermediaries US, Qatar, Turkey, and Egypt included terms for Hamas to give up its arms, and for a devastated Gaza to be governed by a Palestinian body of independent technocrats, while Israeli troops will withdraw in stages from Gaza.&nbsp; Hamas has agreed to relinquish control of Gaza, but has rejected the demand for disarmament, saying the group will demobilise but is prepared to resume fighting if Israel breaches the ceasefire.&nbsp; Following the ceasefire, Palestinians in Gaza have begun long journeys back to homes reduced to rubble by Israel’s two-year assault on the strip. The flow of humanitarian aid in the city has also increased following the peace deal.&nbsp; Israel's closure of humanitarian corridors in the past months had blocked the entry of food and medicine into Gaza, causing widespread famine. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has said that the restriction of aid into the beseiged city has left as many as <a href="https://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/news-releases/gaza-unrwa%E2%80%99s-lancet-study-reveals-alarming-surge-child-malnutrition">54,600 children acutely malnourished</a>.&nbsp; Meanwhile, US president Donald Trump landed in Israel on Monday as hostages were being released, and world leaders are expected to head to Egypt for an international summit to discuss the next steps in Gaza, Israel, and West Asia.&nbsp;

Nepali hostage in Gaza not alive: Israel

Already trying to balance youth demands with legal provisions in the Constitution, Prime Minister Sushila Karki’s interim government faced yet another challenge over Dasain: a receding monsoon dumped unseasonal rain unleashing floods and landslides that killed at least 60, mostly in eastern Nepal.&nbsp; The government was rated positively for its early warning and the ‘visibility’ of its disaster response, with many comparing it to the inaction of the NC-UML coalition during last year’s floods.&nbsp; Government agencies and police proactively closed off hazardous sections of highways as Kathmandu was marooned from the rest of the country in the peak holiday season. Stranded passengers were taken care of, with police, army and local governments in Ilam coordinating rescue and relief efforts. Many of the problems were structural and inherited from decades of neglect and corruption in highway contracts. Shoddy bridges and encroachment of settlements along river banks have increased risk from more frequent extreme weather caused by climate breakdown. With Dasain over Tihar around the corner and the worst of the disaster behind, the Karki administration is trying to balance the separate demands of GenZ movers and shakers who installed her in office with constitutional provisions. It has not helped that the badly-mauled political parties are spoiling for a fight, and the three top leaders show little signs of stepping down. “Nepal’s movement did not happen in a democratic vacuum, so this government walks a very fine line in political legitimacy," says Bidushi Dhungel of the National Democratic Institute in Nepal. "In this fragile space, whatever the work done — or not done— by the interim government within its limited mandate, it may open up avenues for further dissent from old and new actors. They are &nbsp;caught between a rock and a hard place.” Civil society activists issued a statement on Wednesday calling on the main political parties to heed the writing on the wall and reform themselves. Signed by professor Krishna Khanal and former ambassador Keshab Mathema, the statement said: 'The main leaders of the main parties should say sorry, and voluntarily resign ... they must respect public sentiments and work to reform and transform their parties to be more accountable to the public, or risk being irrelevant.'&nbsp; Complicating matters further are the sometimes contradictory demands of various GenZ factions on punishing those responsible for the carnage and rampage of 8-9 September, Constitution and elections. Karki faces calls to immediately detain former PM KP Oli and Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak for their involvement in the massacre outside Parliament. Under pressure from GenZ delegates, Home Minister Om Aryal fired off a letter to the police to arrest Oli and Lekhak. But later at a confrontational midnight meeting at the prime minister’s residence in Baluwatar, all four security chiefs advised Karki that arresting the UML and NC ex-ministers could unleash violent confrontation on the streets. The interim government is in a bind. It has formed a committee headed by Gauri Bahadur Karki to investigate the killings last month as well as the arson and vandalism that followed. The question is: should it wait for the committee to submit its report before punishing perpetrators, or let police arrest those who can easily be identified in social media posts setting fire to Singha Darbar, the Supreme Court and other sites.&nbsp; GenZ’s Sudan Gurung faction has gone beyond its original demand to submit an 8-point ultimatum that includes the sacking of the Chief Justice and officials of the anti-corruption bureau.&nbsp; The Prime Minister is caught in the crossfire between managing the expectations of a movement that appointed her, and working within the framework of her interim government’s mandate and Constitution. But it is not just the government that faces challenges. The lack of clear consensus among youth factions and their outspoken collectives is surfacing.&nbsp; &nbsp;“This has been a leaderless and decentralised movement, and the traditional variables typically seen in a political revolt seem missing here," notes political scientist Sucheta Pyakuryal. “There is no organised structure, nor any ideological pull factor, therefore a big question is how much bargaining power does a movement like this have, and how sustainable will it be.” GenZ leaders seem to be in two main camps. Demands like the one for a directly elected prime minister, and the constitutional processes that can make for such an outcome, have emerged as a major point dividing the movement.&nbsp; Nepalis both within and outside the youth movement are watching Hami Nepal’s Sudan Gurung closely — especially after his recent interview with Al-Jazeera during which he expressed his interest to run for Prime Minister and seemed to not accept a win by political parties in the March elections.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251009201044_fcba7e92bb9a8812fd0ad4e9770d6f4d4189972de5229f91e9a832a26e388901.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20251009201044_fcba7e92bb9a8812fd0ad4e9770d6f4d4189972de5229f91e9a832a26e388901" data-rendition-name="original" width="2916" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="One month on NT"> <figcaption>GROUND ZERO: The destroyed centre of Nepal's government with Singha Darbar (in green scaffolding), the Attorney General's Office, Supreme Court, and in the distance, Parliament building. Also seen are the nearly finished new Parliament Complex and the new Supreme Court buildings. Drone shot taken on Thursday morning. Photo: SUMAN NEPALI</figcaption> </figure>  Gurung’s participation in the NDRRMA’s disaster management meeting and manner of his interaction with officials at the event was met with both bouquets and brickbats. Interestingly, some of the criticism was youth activists themselves. &nbsp;“There's a lot of self-involvement and self-importance that seems to be guiding a fragmented young leadership, as opposed to constructively engaging in how to concretise reforms,” says Dhungel. “There seems to be very little stocktaking of what's happened in the past, and what's happened in other countries to try identify where lapses could be before they occur."&nbsp; In the absence of unified positions and level-headed leadership, the youth who spearheaded post-protest negotiations, as well as the GenZ movement in general, risk losing public goodwill already dented by the destruction of state property on 9 September. This also leaves an opening for political parties which are on the defensive and licking their wounds to capitalise on youth discord.&nbsp; Says Pyakuryal: “Post revolution, the political landscape becomes extremely unpredictable and therefore there is a risk of co-optation from several Machiavellian political actors including political parties, monarchists, as well as other forces, and that is concerning.” The immediate and visible transformation that Nepal’s youth expect will not manifest right away, and while there is a need for long-term political planning, the caretaker government must also undertake measures that have a palpable impact on the daily life of citizens. &nbsp;&nbsp; “While youth frustrations must be addressed urgently, statecraft isn’t just about fulfilling short-term goals,”says Pyakuryal. &nbsp; Many, including the youth themselves, now see the need for GenZ to have a more united stance and to move beyond making demands that the interim government cannot fulfil and start mobilising for elections — even by forming its own party.&nbsp; A strong showing in elections can enable them to enact the changes they want to strengthen Nepal’s democracy, and make future governments more accountable.&nbsp; This week, the Election Commission announced 16 November as the deadline to register new parties for the 5 March polls.&nbsp; Youth representatives have said that they want to be active participants in the political process, particularly in national-level politics. The Constitution defines ‘youth’ as being between the ages of 16-40. In the 2022 elections, the Election Commission stated that over 41% of locally-elected representatives were from ages 21-40 years.&nbsp; If young Nepalis are to contest the election outside the banner of mainstream parties, this leaves electoral aspirants little more than a month to decide whether to form a loose coalition with existing parties, a separate political party, or to contest elections independently. “This is first of a kind movement, where political language is digital, not ideological, where organising is done through online platforms and where there is no one leader spearheading the movement,”says Pyakuryal. “I don’t know if ‘anti-corruption’ or ‘political reform’ have a strong enough ideological pull to band people together in the long run.” Indeed, the RSP was formed only four months before the 2022 elections and cashed in on anti-incumbent and anti-corruption sentiments of voters — mainly driven by social media. But controversy and strife within their party means it has largely lost its public trust.&nbsp; Nepal’s September Uprising and its aftermath have shown that a majority of young people are entirely disillusioned with establishment parties and politicians, even using ‘ex-political parties’ as a phrase of reference. Any new young political figures that emerge from this movement and this election will have to work with mainstream parties in a multiparty democracy.&nbsp; &nbsp;“The reality of politics is that change is not possible without engaging with existing political institutions and actors,” says Dhungel. “To say that they do not want to engage, negotiate, or identify allies or proactively seek out input from at least the reform-minded individuals within each of those outfits is political naivety, and may lead to a lack of institutionalised reform.” However, Dhungel notes that the youth leadership would have more agency if they are clear not just on what they want to change, but about whether they are interested in active politics or civic engagement. “The window of opportunity that is fast closing is to really negotiate hard and push for internal reforms within political parties and across the electoral system,” she adds. Pyakurel also adds: “GenZ are smart and politically mature, I hope they see these loopholes. I am optimistic about the direction they take.”

One month on

Scenic Phortse in the lap of Mt Everest is called ‘the village of mountaineers’ because just about every household has someone who has summited the world’s highest mountain multiple times. However, while the international mountaineers they assist to make it to the top go on to fame and glory, their Sherpa guides from Phortse <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/without-sherpas-there-is-no-mountaineering" target="_blank">barely get a mention</a>. It is a risky occupation for Nepal’s high altitude guides, and every other family in this village has lost a member in Himalayan expeditions. Sherpa guides are <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/on-mt-everest-s-70th-records-and-fatalities" target="_blank">disproportionately more at risk </a>on Mt Everest because they have to traverse the Khumbu Icefall many times during an expedition. One third of the over 300 climbers who have died climbing Mt Everest are Nepali high altitude guides and porters. In 2014, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/everest-dangerous-place-to-work,1316" target="_blank">16 guides were killed</a> when an avalanche fell on them while going up the treacherous Icefall carrying expedition gear. Then in 2015, the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/big-drops-in-Everest-bookings-affect-livelihoods-of-Nepali-high-altitude-guides,2048" target="_blank">earthquake triggered a massive avalanche</a> that killed 22 climbers at Base Camp. Many of the fatalities in both years were Sherpa guides from Phortse. Despite the danger, Phortse honours and celebrates its climbers like heroes. One such is the late &nbsp;Nima Tshiring Sherpa, who was a porter and guide in the 1953 John Hunt expedition in which Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first to set foot on the world’s highest summit.&nbsp; Nima Tshiring and his eldest son Pasang Gyalzen both reached 8,000m carrying expedition gear for the Hunt expedition in 1953. Nima Tshiring had eight sons and a daughter and although he never submitted himself, most of them have climbed Mt Everest at least once. In fact, his children and grandchildren have been to the top of Mt Everest a total of 81 times — a record for any family in Nepal.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251011171048_a55e45bee2b5bbf38e4ee5bcea101edcc3041f40e331b8fee44e473457f42553.png" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20251011171048_a55e45bee2b5bbf38e4ee5bcea101edcc3041f40e331b8fee44e473457f42553" data-rendition-name="original" width="2144" height="1436" loading="lazy" alt="Sherpa climbers"> <figcaption>Nima Tshiring Sherpa with wife and children in Phortse. An unanmed Everest climber on right.</figcaption> </figure>  “We were born in Phortse which is in the lap of Everest, our identity is Chomolungma,” says one of his sons, Panuru, using the Sherpa name for the mountain. “In fact, I feel our entire family was born to climb Everest.”&nbsp; Phortse has a population of 350 people living in 95 households. Besides Nima Tshiring’s clan, more than 75 of the inhabitants have climbed Everest, many of them multiple times.&nbsp; Another one of Nima Tshiring’s sons, Ngawang climbed Everest 11 times, his brother Mingma Dorje has summited 14 times, and another brother Ngati not only got to the top seven times, but was the first climber to reach the peak from the Chinese side and descend down the Nepal part of Mt Everest. Ngati was killed in an avalanche on Annapurna while climbing with an American expedition in 1993.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251011171044_60693527b31aba22fe6f6c233cf367a3683b88be8dc2a53bfb5c2c02b2db1e5b.png" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20251011171044_60693527b31aba22fe6f6c233cf367a3683b88be8dc2a53bfb5c2c02b2db1e5b" data-rendition-name="original" width="2242" height="1660" loading="lazy" alt="Sherpa climbers"> <figcaption>Mingma Dorje has climbed Everest 14 times.</figcaption> </figure>  Panuru himself has reached the summit of Everest 16 times, and set up the<a href="https://www.khumbuclimbingcenter.com/" target="_blank"> Khumbu Climbing Centre</a> in 2003 to train others in climbing techniques. Following in his footsteps was another brother Mingma Tshiring, who has been up 15 times and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/sherpaland-co-usa" target="_blank">now lives in Colorado</a>.&nbsp; Nima Tshiring’s only daughter Mingma Yanjin has also climbed Cho Oyu, Ama Dablam and other &nbsp;Himalayan mountains. Her husband Lhakpa Chiri Sherpa has climbed Everest 11 times. Counting him, the total summits for the family would be 92. This number also does not include other Himalayan eight-thousanders besides Mt Everest that the family from Phortse has summited. Nima Tsiring’s youngest son is Danuru who has climbed Everest 16 times, and has been on top of North American peaks from his base in Colorado. He is giving Everest yet another try.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251011171048_cd3e2961567ca507fc4110c97e01d85ee1c7e35f787276564ff59a4a76151fe2.png" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20251011171048_cd3e2961567ca507fc4110c97e01d85ee1c7e35f787276564ff59a4a76151fe2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1308" height="980" loading="lazy" alt="Sherpa climbers"> <figcaption>Nima Tshiring Sherpa and his son Danuru.</figcaption> </figure>  Even his grandchildren are following Nima Tshiring’s footsteps up Everest. Panuru’s son Lhakpa has climbed Everest from both sides and wants to break previous Everest records.&nbsp; “It is a dangerous occupation, but the rewards in terms of fame and money are substantial,” says Danuru. “One season’s income is enough for a Phortse climber to support his family for a year. And we have Chomolungma to be thankful for.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251011171048_d1f16e3925890663cadf3e20d955a531f21c479708f662df371fad3fdb87cf7a.png" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20251011171048_d1f16e3925890663cadf3e20d955a531f21c479708f662df371fad3fdb87cf7a" data-rendition-name="original" width="760" height="1040" loading="lazy" alt="Sherpa climbers"> <figcaption>Mingma Chhiring Sherpa who has climbed the Everest 16 times with a client.</figcaption> </figure>

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