Many young Nepalis at the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-s-gen-z-protest-turns-deadly">GenZ rally on 8 September</a> carried banners that read: ‘Enough Is Enough’. But by the end of the day and into 9 September, the arson and mayhem had gone out of control of the idealistic young activists. As Parliament, Singha Darbar, the Supreme Court, public and private property were <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/kathmandu-burns-despite-pm-resignation">torched and looted</a>, ‘Enough Is Enough’ took on a new meaning. What started out as a hashtag-led campaign exposing the luxurious lifestyle and extravagance of the scions of powerful political figures soon snowballed into a larger movement against corruption and impunity. #Nepokids in Nepal metamorphosed into a political reform campaign, which again transmuted on Tuesday into class rage. The Oli-led coalition government’s ban on social media last week forced what was essentially an online movement into the streets. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/what-next-nepal">Hami Nepal </a>and the GenZ platform organised the rally at Mandala on Monday despite information that controversial political forces and other elements planned to infiltrate it. Which they did. By Tuesday afternoon, Kathmandu was being firebombed. The three pillars of state: the legislative, executive, and judiciary were reduced to ashes. Even the fourth estate was not spared, and became the target of unnamed arsonists.&nbsp; The damage was not just to physical buildings, but<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-s-8-september-massacre"> to the national psyche</a>. But just like Hami Nepal emerged from the rubble of the 2015 earthquake, the GenZ movement now has to take the lead in rebuilding from the cinders of 2025. Nepal needs to rise from the ashes, and be reconstructed from the ground up by a new generation with accountable government, equitable and inclusive growth, and an open society. &nbsp; What this week’s upheaval showed, aside from the tragedy of the lives lost and physical destruction, is that Nepalis value freedom of expression and can use it to stand against injustice and keep fighting for reform and progress. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/what-next-nepal">What next, Nepal?</a>, Shristi Karki  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250911120928_e9cf9abfa8e35f3c074506dfdf94a262b5b311da6863cc2ec7bc3458a983df71.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20250911120928_e9cf9abfa8e35f3c074506dfdf94a262b5b311da6863cc2ec7bc3458a983df71" data-rendition-name="original" width="6566" height="4377" loading="lazy" alt="Trial by fire"> <figcaption>Photo: AMIT MACHAMASI</figcaption> </figure>  But there are pitfalls ahead. Some of the same forces that piggybacked on the GenZ rally are now outside the gates of Army Headquarters opposing the consensus candidate for interim prime minister. There are scores of imitation GenZs across the internet with familiar cast of characters from the past. The Army must have learnt from the 1 February 2005 experience that it should remain as a non-political institution of last resort — there cannot be wannabe prime ministers applying loudly for the job at the gates of its headquarters in Tundikhel. The Army was needed on the streets on Tuesday night, when the situation spiralled out of control. But it should now be President Ram Chandra Poudel who must take a more proactive role than he has so far in reestablishing stability. He cannot waste time in appointing an interim government led by a caretaker prime minister of unquestioned integrity to oversee elections. This is also the demand of GenZ activists, who want Parliament dissolved and changes in the Constitution to allow wide-ranging reforms. Changing the Constitution now will mean another shaky rigmarole like the 2008-2015 period. The amendments can be made after new elections. Our Common Ground A transformative transition like this also means a lot of uncertainty with competing interest groups trying to take advantage of the fluid situation. Nepal has gone through these upheavals before (although not on the scale we saw this week) with the 1990 People’s Movement or the 2006 Peace and Democracy Movement. Each time, there was hope that finally elected leaders who fought and suffered for liberation and freedom would deliver.&nbsp; Alas, the Nepali people have been let down every time. It has to be different this time. And who better to lead it than a new generation with hopes, aspirations, energy and resolve to build Nepal anew, led by a caretaker prime minister known for her independence, courage and honesty. In this edition, we carry two op-eds by Sri Lankan and Bangladeshi writers about similar youth-led movements that toppled governments in their countries in 2022 and 2024. Both have important lessons for Nepal’s GenZ. If<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/search?q=justice+in+chief"> former Chief Justice Sushila Karki</a> is appointed to head the interim government, she will be our Mohamad Yunus. But as we saw in Bangladesh, it did not go as smoothly as everyone had hoped. Similar story in the aftermath of Sri Lanka’s Aragalaya movement.&nbsp; There were different triggers in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, but one common strand was a neglected and disempowered citizenry which could not take it anymore. They organised organically through social media to push for change. The wildcard in all three countries is geopolitics, and the competing strategic interests of the India, China, United States triangle — especially with the Trump-Modi tiff. Time is now of the essence. The longer this drags on, the more difficult it will be to find common ground and start rebuilding. Ending the violence does not mean keeping things in a political vacuum.

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Trial By Fire

A rally organised by young Nepalis across the country against corruption, impunity and restrictions on freedom of expression on Monday turned into one of the deadliest days in the country's recent history. As of Monday evening, the death toll from the protest had reached 19, with 17 killed in Kathmandu and two in Itahari. More than 350 people were injured. Police have arrested more than 40 protesters. Home Minister Ramesh Lekhak of the Nepali Congress resigned, and there have been calls from opposition parties for the entire NC-UML coalition to step down and announce early elections. The protest followed a growing online movement led by young Nepalis exposing the ostentatious display of privilege by the offspring and relatives of politicians and other public figures, which had sparked discourse about nepotism, corruption and the wealth gap in Nepal. Confronted with joblessness and corruption, Nepali youth looked to the recent street movement in Bangladesh, where a student uprising against quota-based recruitment for government jobs expanded last year and toppled the autocratic Sheikh Hasina government. In Indonesia, public frustration with government apathy boiled over into a national movement last month after it emerged that elected officials and the political elite enjoyed perks while citizens faced a cost of living crisis. In the Philippines, as disaster mitigation-infrastructure projects failed to work, citizens began to question where the funds for such projects were actually going. This prompted social media users to look deeper into the lives of the politically-connected figures who flaunted their lavish lifestyles online. In Nepal public outrage has been building up against nepotism, corruption and impunity in government. Facing unemployment at home, nearly 10% of Nepalis, mostly youth, toil overseas or leave Nepal in search for better lives abroad. Meanwhile, the well-connected posted images online of themselves enjoying holidays abroad paid with the ill-gotten wealth of relatives in high places. Young GenZ Nepalis, frustrated with establishment politicians, had called for an anti-corruption, anti-government movement across the country. This coincided with the Nepal government’s decision on 5 September to ban 26 social media sites for failing to register and pay taxes in Nepal.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250908120956_53f97cf0de3ddc8d5c823686f56e71981df922d0ecd2989ad842245acdf71aa6.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20250908120956_53f97cf0de3ddc8d5c823686f56e71981df922d0ecd2989ad842245acdf71aa6" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="1200" loading="lazy" alt="Gen Z protest"></figure>  Faced with the government's social media blockade, the protests took to the street. The movement was supposed to be apolitical, and focused against corruption. It garnered support from public figures and opposition leaders, some of whom conveniently forgot that they had been in government when the TikTok ban was imposed in Nepal in 2023. On Monday morning, protesters showed up at Maitighar with slogans and placards, many of them college students, even school children. The organisers had called for young Nepalis to join in their uniforms, believing that it would protect them from violence that might occur during the course of the day. By mid-morning, thousands of Nepalis had gathered at the Mandala intersection, playing music and chanting slogans. The mood was almost festive. Shortly after noon, however, a rally that had begun peacefully descended into violence after protesters broke the police barricade in Baneswor to storm Parliament. Police first began firing tear gas and water cannons, and then live ammunition at demonstrators. The Kathmandu district administration is said to have authorised full use of force against protestors who vandalised public property after protestors infiltrated the Parliament grounds.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025090818090_84e4a5bdcf19aa3cbf03831140120c88d9f3fe5a12d47041588fea7409988e67.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2025090818090_84e4a5bdcf19aa3cbf03831140120c88d9f3fe5a12d47041588fea7409988e67" data-rendition-name="original" width="1200" height="1600" loading="lazy" alt="Gen Z protests"><figcaption>Photo: SUDIKSHA TULADHAR</figcaption></figure>  Organisers Hami Nepali had requested demonstrators to go home as the protests turned deadly, saying that those who stormed Parliament were not associated with them, hinting that the rally had been infiltrated by radical groups. But by that time, the demonstration had got too large to contain. In the ensuing violence, hundreds were left injured, including journalists, and 17 dead so far in Kathmandu. Nepal’s leadership and security forces do not seem to have learnt their lessons about managing mass protests after the pro-monarchy demonstrations in March in which two people were killed. The indiscriminate use of force against unarmed Nepalis turned into a massacre. The emergency wards in Kathmandu are filled with those with bullet wounds on their legs, arms and heads. Hospitals have called for blood donations. At the time of publishing, there has been no statement from the Prime Minister, who before the protest on Monday had belittled GenZ youth as being naive, wet behind the ears, and their movement being ‘led by provocateurs’. Oli has presided over a slew of Bills to constrain the press, social media, and civil society, he has silenced and mowed down competitors and critics within his own party. This week, the UML got rid of age and term limits for party chairmanship, effectively clearing the way for 74-year-old Oli to head the party for the foreseeable future. Also feeding into the anger in the GenZ protest was a CCTV clip of a young woman being hit on Saturday at a zebra crossing by the car of a provincial minister in Godavari. The video of the car speeding away without stopping went viral on TikTok, one of few social media platforms still functioning.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025090818090_35799a98e5a7f5f865bb6f94633059d2baa66ec57ea0d396ab020f2f8f912387.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2025090818090_35799a98e5a7f5f865bb6f94633059d2baa66ec57ea0d396ab020f2f8f912387" data-rendition-name="original" width="854" height="641" loading="lazy" alt="Gen Z protest"><figcaption>Photo: SANGYA LAMSAL</figcaption></figure>  Oli fuelled the outrage by dismissing the victim’s injury as “minor”, and accusing political rivals of magnifying the issue. Opposition leaders and members of civil society have called for the government to resign en masse, and the fourth-largest party in Parliament, the RSP, has called for a snap election. As per his agreement with the NC, Oli is supposed to hand over power early next year to its leader ’s Sher Bahadur Deuba. Some analysts have suggested that if Oli did the handover now, he could help defuse the situation and earn brownie points ahead of the 2027 elections. But such political calculation would belittle the tragedy that has befallen the families of the 19 who were killed on Monday. Nepal’s political leadership cannot think that just reshuffling its three-card prime ministerial deck will quell public anger now. Nepal’s next generation wants to uproot the rot of corruption from politics, governance, and the bureaucracy. It wants elected leaders to deliver services, provide jobs and raise living standards. Monday’s massacre has only made them angrier, and bolstered their resolve to lead from the front.

Shristi Karki

Nepal’s 8 September massacre

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

SLAPPing Democracy

A cabinet meeting last week appointed former journalist Sharad Ojha as the chair of the Nepal Insurance Authority, the regulator of the sector. Ojha has no qualifications for the post as required by Nepal’s Insurance Act.&nbsp;
His family ties to Nepali Congress president <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/deuba-5-qh371fm4">Sher Bahadur Deuba</a> has been cited as the reason he got to bypass appointment criteria.
This is just the latest example. Bending the law to appoint <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-crony-communism-exposed">cronies</a> and special interest groups to leadership positions in regulatory bodies has <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/crony-communism">become the norm in Nepal</a>.
Ojha’s predecessor was former Home Secretary Surya Prasad Silwal, who was suspended two months before the end of his term in December after the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/ciaa-traps-small-fish-lets-big-ones-go">Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA)</a> filed a corruption case against him in the Special Court. Days after Ojha’s appointment, the court cleared Silwal of corruption charges.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/search?q=corruption+case">Nepal’s corruption carousel</a>
Before Silwal, the Nepal Insurance Authority was led by Chiranjivi Chapagain, a relative of Chandra Dhakal of the IME Group. Chapagain is accused of granting approval to 10 insurance companies under dubious circumstances and favouring <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/business/ime-insurance">IME Life Insurance’</a>s approval.
Meanwhile, intense lobbying by interest groups with ties to both <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-government-changes-again">Prime Minister Oli</a> and PM-in-waiting Deuba allowed Santosh Narayan Shrestha’s appointment as the chair of the Securities and Exchange Board of Nepal (SEBON) in December. Shrestha promptly paid his dues to the groups that put him in office by making preparations to grant them permission to operate stock exchange.
Shrestha was preceded by hotelier Ramesh Kumar Hamal, the recommendation procedure and committee for whom were changed to ensure his appointment.
During his tenure, Hamal hastily amended a law that allowed specific companies to sell premium stocks amid ongoing debates, &nbsp;and another one allowing the operation of stock exchanges with private sector investment instead of public companies. None of this raised eyebrows.
Hamal’s predecessor Bhishma Raj Dhungana, a former Nepal Rastra Bank official, was dismissed as SEBON chair following allegations of irregularities.&nbsp;
Most of these recent individuals were appointed heads of regulatory bodies under PM Oli and Finance Minister Bishnu Paudel and probably at their behest.
The appointments at the Nepal Insurance Authority and SEBON reflect a blatant disregard for the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/federalism-rule-of-law-and-the-judiciary">rule of law</a>. Such practice is also rampant in the cooperatives and real estate sectors, where <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-risks-being-blacklisted-on-money-laundering">illegal financial dealings</a> and bad faith business is modus operandi.
Meanwhile, Energy Minister Deepak Khadka, also a hydropower entrepreneur, is set on ousting <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/more-than-half-of-nepal-s-electricity-imported-from-india">Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA)</a> managing director <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/latest/kulman-ghising-to-stay-on">Kulman Ghising</a>. He previously ordered the removal of Dudhkoshi Hydropower Project CEO Bimal Gurung for criticising him on <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/no-comment">social media</a>.&nbsp;
The minister has a major conflict of interest because of his involvement in private energy sector, and is pressuring parliamentary committees and regulatory bodies to amend the law to allow the sale of 50% of the shares of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/missing-pieces-of-the-hydropower-jigsaw">hydropower projects </a>during the so-called 'lock-in period', which prevents the sale of promoter shares.
Now, lobbyists have set their sights on the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB). Maha Prasad Adhikari’s tenure ends in April, and the same groups behind the appointment of the chiefs of regulatory bodies like SEBON and Nepal Insurance Authority are going door to door of governing coalition leaders to have their candidate appointed.&nbsp;
The book Why Nations Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson—co-winners of last year’s Nobel Prize for Economics with economist Simon Johnson—describes how public institutions are misused, weakened, and pushed toward failure by those with access to power.
Regulatory bodies are crucial to maintaining fair competition and ethical market practices. They exist to serve Nepal’s public. However, they are being deliberately undermined by special interest groups paying off authorities for plum positions that will enrich them and their political patrons. &nbsp;
The government ordered the Department of Money Laundering to ‘wait’ as the body sought permission to take action against Ajeya Sumargi for illicit dealing.
It was thus unsurprising that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) placed Nepal on its grey list in February for failing to take effective and result-oriented action to prevent money laundering.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/black-white-and-grey">Black, white and grey</a>, Ramesh Kumar
The international community has raised a red flag against malgovernance, political interference, conflicts of interest, and impunity. The world is watching, but Nepal’s politico-corporate interests are too deep in greed to care.
Ramesh Kumar

Public-Private Collusion

Nepal Rastra Bank Governor Maha Prasad Adhikari said last month that an assessment by the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) had put Nepal at risk of being placed on the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global money-laundering watchdog.
The final decision will be made during the FATF plenary 17-21 February in Paris. The country was previously greylisted from 2009-2014.
The watchdog had advised legal, policy and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/near-debt-experience">structural reforms for Nepal</a> to implement within a year. And while some laws were amended, implementation is another story.&nbsp;
“Nepal’s FATF rating has deteriorated due to the inaction against major cases of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/nepal-s-corruption-carousel">corruption</a>, tax evasion, and abuse of financial institutions,” explains Rup Narayan Bhattarai, former Director General of the Department of Money Laundering Investigation.&nbsp;
Sticking to the tradition of blame game, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-government-changes-again">Prime Minister KP Oli</a>, has blamed the delay in legal reforms on the previous Pushpa Kamal Dahal government.
The APG— of which Nepal has been a member since 2002— is an associate member of the FATF. The organisation had already placed Nepal on the observation list for failing to amend and implement necessary laws to prevent <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-figures-in-leaked-money-laundering-report">money laundering</a> after an evaluation last year.&nbsp;
The assessment looked into Nepal's efforts to combat money laundering in two parts: the first one being technical compliance— the legal and structural reforms to prevent money laundering— and the second being the effectiveness of their implementation.
Nepal has achieved relatively satisfactory results with technical compliance— the assessment found that the country had abided by at least 21 of the 40 criteria laid out by the FATF. Since the evaluation, Nepal has amended and enacted additional laws to meet an additional 10 criteria.&nbsp;
However, the evaluation found the country’s progress in effectively implementing laws to prevent money laundering to be very weak, with Nepal only ‘moderately compliant’ with four out of the 11 standards.
Bhattarai points to the lack of transparency and commitment to preventing money laundering. “It is not enough to just make laws and regulations, they must be implemented and produce noticeable results,” he says. “But we have failed to see such results, due to which our country’s international standing has deteriorated.”
Cooperatives and real estate transactions have also long been used to conceal and legitimise ill gotten wealth. Cooperatives are reluctant to provide details of suspicious financial transactions.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/cooperatives-leave-nepalis-high-and-dry">Cooperatives leave Nepalis high and dry</a>, Ramesh Kumar
“International authorities have taken issue with the absence of a strong legal and structural system to prevent money laundering in cooperatives and real estate,” says a government insider. “They are well aware of the absence of political will to monitor these sectors.”
In 2023, while banks and financial institutions reported details of 6,255 suspicious transactions to the Financial Intelligence Unit, cooperatives reported only two.
Following an objection by the APG last year regarding large amounts of black money circulating in cooperatives, legislators introduced a proposal to amend the Cooperatives Act to set an individual deposit limit of Rs2.5 million in cooperatives.
But the proposal was rejected after pressure from lobbyists as well as parliamentarians connected to the cooperatives sector.&nbsp;
In December, the government issued an ordinance to amend cooperative-related laws which included a provision allowing depositors to save up to Rs5 million in cooperatives depending on the scope of the institution.&nbsp;
Meanwhile, real estate agents in Nepal do not require a licence, and the government’s flexibility to accommodate <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-business-of-politics-in-nepal">wealthy businessmen</a> has meant there are no institutions to keep track of land and property dealings and investigate the suspicious financial activity.&nbsp;
“There is no monitoring to see who is buying and selling real estate at what price, and there is no legal framework to prevent money laundering in<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandu-s-unreal-real-estate-prices"> real estate</a>,” says the Nepal government official.&nbsp;
Casinos are also a breeding ground for laundering money, also lack a strong regulatory system.
Another shortcoming pointed out by the APG are delays in and ineffectiveness of investigations and prosecutions relating to money laundering. There has been international attention on scams like the Nepal Airlines Corporation Airbus 330 purchases.
In fiscal year 2022/2023, the Financial Intelligence Unit received 7,115 reports of suspicious transactions and activities and sent 505 cases for investigation. But only a few of them were ever investigated.
The Department of Money Laundering Investigation only took 12 cases to court during the first 6 months of this fiscal year and had similarly taken only a dozen cases involving a total of Rs1.74 billion last year.&nbsp;
The department was hastily set up in 2011 after the FATF warned that Nepal would be blacklisted, but so far, it hasn’t gone beyond appeasement and whitewashing.
“If money laundering cases are to be investigated, they would involve either those at the upper echelons of power or those connected to them,” a former government official who worked at the department told us, “How then would any investigation move forward?”
The Home Ministry has also been slow to prepare a list of people suspected of terrorist activities and make such a list available for monitoring even though it is an international requirement.&nbsp;
Nepal has also not worked on a new assessment report to recommend measures to prevent money laundering since the last report was prepared in 2020.
Nepal will most certainly be on that grey list later this month, and this will negatively impact the country’s reputation on the global stage as well as its foreign investment prospects.&nbsp;
In December, Nepal had received a ‘BB-’ rating from the US credit rating agency Fitch, becoming the second-highest rated country in South Asia, after India. Government officials have been suggesting that this raiting would help attract foreign investment.
As it stands, financial institutions here may bear the brunt of the grey list status. Banks may find it difficult to conduct international transactions, and transaction costs may rise, which will in turn make imports more expensive and hinder exports.&nbsp;
Nepal being on the FATF grey list also means that the government will find it more difficult to obtain financial assistance and concessional loans from donor countries and international organisations. Interest rates on loans taken by Nepal’s government and private financial institutions from abroad will also go up.
Additionally, as soon as Nepal is placed on the grey list, financial institutions will begin to closely monitor transactions made by the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/brain-drain-into-brain-gain">diaspora around the world</a>, which will affect Nepali students and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/a-long-way-to-europe">migrant workers</a> seeking to open accounts in foreign banks, as well as those <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/the-new-equaliser">sending remittances back home</a>.&nbsp;
“Any obstacles in the flow of remittance through official channels will spell a disaster for Nepal’s economy,” a government official told us.&nbsp;
Nepal government and relevant authorities must actively try to get out of the grey list as soon as possible. The FATF and APG will give Nepal a year to get off the list of countries at risk, failing which Nepal will be placed on the blacklist and be isolated from the global stage.&nbsp;
Says Bhattarai: “It is not enough to have made laws, we need results. Nepal must be committed to acting against leaders, lobbyists, and those with access and connections involved in criminal financial dealings.”

Black, white and grey

Corruption is conventionally – and misleadingly – measured as a one-dimensional problem. Global corruption indices, including Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) and the World Bank’s Control of Corruption Index, assign a single score to countries.&nbsp;
These metrics consistently show that rich countries are ‘very clean’ while poor countries are ‘highly corrupt’. For example, the 2023 CPI ranks the United Kingdom (scoring 71) as the world’s 20th least corrupt country, much cleaner than China (42) and Brazil (36). Most CPI users, including media outlets, companies, and analysts, interpret these numbers as a fact.
But are richer countries really less corrupt than poorer ones? One-dimensional metrics like the CPI obscure the fact that qualitatively different varieties of corruption cannot be reduced to a single score.&nbsp;
These metrics also systematically under-measure the corruption of the rich, which tends to be legalised, institutionalised, and ambiguously unethical, as opposed to corruption of the poor.
In poorer countries, corruption takes clearly illegal and outrageous forms, such as stealing public funds and taking bribes. In rich countries, by contrast, many believe the problem has disappeared.&nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/nepal-s-corruption-carousel">Nepal’s corruption carousel</a>, Editorial
In The Quest for Good Governance, Alina Mungiu-Pippidi even concludes that advanced economies have reached an end state of ‘ethical universalism’, where ‘equal treatment applies to everyone’. Britain is ‘the classic historical performer’ in this respect, followed by ‘British empire splinters populated mostly by populations of European descent’. In short, the rich West is clean.
But given the rise of populism in high-income democracies today, much of it a backlash against the outsize advantages enjoyed by the rich and politically connected, 'ethical universalism' seems more illusory than real. As a blistering 2020 exposé by the New York Times revealed, half of UK government contracts for medical supplies during the Covid-19 pandemic went to ‘companies run by friends and associates of politicians' through a special ‘VIP Lane’.
How, then, did the CPI rank the UK as the 20th least corrupt country? The score is based not on surveys conducted internally by Transparency International, but on a combination of various third-party polls. Almost all of these come from Western organisations such as the Economist Intelligence Unit, and they tend to rely heavily on responses from Western business executives.
Moreover, the wording in these surveys is often vague. For example, the World Competitiveness Yearbook, one of CPI’s sources, presents business executives with a crude binary choice: ‘Bribery and corruption: exist or do not exist.’ No wonder the CPI shows that rich countries are ‘very clean’ year after year, even as their ordinary citizens disagree.
Recognising that there were no alternatives to these conventional metrics, despite numerous critiques, I piloted the Unbundled Corruption Index (UCI) which is a perceptions-based metric of corruption that relies on expert surveys.&nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/heads-roll">Heads roll,</a> Nepali Times
However, it unbundles corruption into four distinct varieties: petty theft (extortion by street-level officers), grand theft (embezzlement by politicians), speed money (small bribes to overcome bureaucratic hurdles or harassment), and access money (big payoffs in exchange for exclusive, lucrative privileges such as contracts and bailouts).
While the first three varieties of corruption, the ones endemic in poor countries, are brazenly unlawful and directly harmful, access money might be illegal (as with bribery) or permissible (as with campaign finance). Sophisticated methods of buying privileges may involve entire institutions where no individual is corrupt.&nbsp;
For example, money laundering, for which London is a known hub, can involve moving funds seamlessly across borders through widely respected financial institutions. In the United States, banks collectively spent billions lobbying for lax regulations, leading to the 2008 financial crisis, yet only one banker was indicted.
The UCI uses an original expert survey to rate all four types of corruption. To improve the quality of measurement, I employ stylised vignettes that ask respondents to rate the prevalence of specific representative scenarios rather than overall corruption levels.&nbsp;
In my prototype covering 15 countries each country’s total UCI score appears at the top and is broken down into the four categories of corruption. Now we can compare not only aggregate levels of perceived corruption, but also the type and configuration of corruption across countries.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/nepal-gets-gold-medal-for-corruption">Nepal gets Gold Medal for corruption</a>, Editorial
One illuminating comparison is between the US and China. The US is less corrupt than China overall, but the gap is narrowest in the category of access money, the dominant type of corruption in both countries. Notably, America’s access-money score is higher than that of lower-income countries like Thailand and Ghana. If we relied solely on bundled scores, we would conclude that the US is clean. But once the scores are disaggregated, we can explain the appeal of populist promises to ‘drain the swamp’.
Even more interesting is that different forms of access money prevail in the US and China. In a comparison based on a vignette about bribe-taking through politicians’ personal networks, China clearly dominates. Yet when we turn to revolving door practices and regulatory capture through lobbying, the US takes the lead.
In short, access to money in the US is primarily institutional, whereas the problem in China is still enmeshed within personal relationships involving bribery and piles of buried cash. China isn’t necessarily more corrupt than the US, but its corruption certainly has a different quality.
Mismeasuring corruption is no mere technicality. Fundamentally, it reinforces the illusory, hypocritical, and often Eurocentric message that high-income countries have achieved a lasting state of ethical purity. In reality, corruption did not necessarily disappear as countries grew richer – rather, it evolved, becoming more sophisticated and imperceptible.
We must continue to fight ‘corruption of the poor’, but by unbundling corruption, capitalist democracies can also direct urgently needed attention toward some of their most pressing problems, including rising inequality, declining public trust in government, and what USAID Administrator Samantha Power calls “modern corruption” (such transnational networks of illicit finance). Overcoming these challenges requires measuring them accurately, rather than pretending they don’t exist. &nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/rot-at-the-top">Rot at the top</a>, Shristi Karki
© <a href="https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/corruption-perception-index-does-not-give-the-whole-picture-by-yuen-yuen-ang-2024-03">Project Syndicate</a>
Yuen Yuen Ang, Professor of Political Economy at Johns Hopkins University, is the author of How China Escaped the Poverty Trap - Cornell University Press, 2016) and China’s Gilded Age (Cambridge University Press, 2020).

Mismeasuring corruption lets rich countries off the hook

Nepalis are proud to proclaim that the Buddha was born in Nepal, but the over-development of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/telling-the-story-of-buddha-s-lumbini">Lumbini</a> may mean that the nativity site could be struck off the World Heritage Sites listing. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Nepal is internationally recognised for its cultural landmarks and their protection, but &nbsp;corruption, commercialisation and over-development are endangering sites like Lumbini and Pashupatinath Temple.&nbsp; World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for their historical, cultural or natural significance, and Nepal has four landmarks in the listing: Kathmandu Valley, Sagarmatha National Park, Chitwan National Park and Lumbini.&nbsp; It is difficult to be struck off the list, but UNESCO can put some landmarks in the List of World Heritage in danger. The spotlight is now on Lumbini and Pashupati because of recent construction. U Thant, the United Nations Secretary-General from Burma who <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/u-thant-kenzo-tange-and-the-buddhas-birthplace">visited Lumbini in 1977</a>, hired famous Japanese architect Kenzō Tange to devise a masterplan for the site. It has taken nearly 40 years for Tange’s scheme to more or less be put together, but the Lumbini Development Trust (LDT) has been flouting the Tange design. For example, a concrete and glass structure is coming up right next to Mayadevi Temple, an area of unexcavated archaeological significance. More recently, LDT announced that it was <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/lharkyal-lama-s-lumbini-inc">leasing out to a private company</a> for 99 years the sacred Ramgram Stupa, 35km east of Lumbini, one of eight sites in the Subcontinent with corporeal remains of the Buddha. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The plan was cancelled in January by Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee which also demanded a corruption probe into the Rs7 billion deal to lease 81 hectares around Ramgram for 99 years. The deal was to the Singapore-based Moksha Foundation and its Nepali counterpart The Promised Land, owned by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s landlord’s son.&nbsp; LDT is now headed by political broker and shady former lawmaker Lharkyal Lama, who was appointed by Prime Minister Dahal despite knowledge about his murky past. &nbsp; Neither the Ministry of Culture nor the Department of Archaeology had prior knowledge of the Ramgram proposal, and this lack of oversight and accountability has further eroded the LDT’s credibility, increasing concern about conflict of interest and political patronage.After the controversy erupted, an LDT executive committee meeting shelved the Ramgram agreement. &nbsp;&nbsp; The Heritage Site listing doubts come just as another ancient Buddha-era settlement of Tilaurakot near Lumbini is about to be added to the UNESCO Heritage List.&nbsp; Meanwhile, in Kathmandu, the Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) also faces the risk of having one of Hinduism’s holiest shrines delisted from the World Heritage Sites.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024032213038_4d830080d521db354a577a999e97d850282dab6cbf6795b04cab76535d1300cc.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2024032213038_4d830080d521db354a577a999e97d850282dab6cbf6795b04cab76535d1300cc" data-rendition-name="original" width="1574" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Pashupati NT"> </figure>  The reason is similar to what has tainted Lumbini: political interference. LDT and PADT are chaired by the Minister of Civil Aviation and Culture, but are supposed to operate autonomously from the government. The minister has just been replaced by another Maoist confidante of Dahal, Hit Man Tamang. PADT’s director Laxmi Pun was suspended soon after her appointment because she did not meet qualifications for the job. There is also a brewing controversy involving the Digital Copyright Act about the right to film the Ganga Arati evening prayer ritual at <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-healer-of-pashupati">Pashupati</a> by the entertainment company Budha Subba Digital.&nbsp; The company says it signed a deal with PADT, but this is denied by spokesperson Rewati Raman Adhikari whose signature is on the agreement between Budha Subba Digital and PADT. Now, both PADT and Adhikari vehemently deny any ownership or knowledge of such an agreement.&nbsp; “We don’t know how they got the stamp, this is nonsense,” Adhikari told Nepali Times. He added that PADT is working on crowd management at the evening prayers after several near stampedes. &nbsp; Adhikari says the Ganga Arati is not under the jurisdiction of PADT, but organised by a separate entity. He notes that the prayer ritual adopted more than a decade ago is not inherently a part of Nepali culture.&nbsp; Our investigation shows that on 15 June, 2023 former Minister of Tourism and Culture Sudan Kirati signed an agreement permitting the Kirat ethnic group to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/life-after-death">bury their dead</a> within the sacred Shleshmantak forest until a permanent burial site was found in three months.&nbsp; Six months have passed but no alternative site has been designated. Nabin Manandhar of Kathmandu Metropolitan Office had no idea about the agreement Kirati signed. Rewati Raman Adhikari also had no idea about an agreement. PADT has already been wracked by a corruption scandal over missing gold used to make a new necklace for the main Pashupati deity. Thapa is facing charges related to corruption in that case which goes back to when K P Oli was Prime Minister in 2021. &nbsp;

Alisha Sijapati

Unholy developments at holy sites

Just two weeks into the new Maoist-led 5-party coalition government, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has found a new best friend in Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane.
So desperate is Dahal to stay on as PM that he has sacrificed his bishop, comrade-at-arms Krishna Bahadur Mahara who is Maoist vice-chair and has given new meaning to his party designation.&nbsp;
Lamichhane is out to show that he has the pluck to go after high profile politicians, and has convinced Dahal that he had to do what he had to do to restore flagging public support.
It was convenient that Lamichhane could use an inquiry commission report implicating Mahara in 60kg of gold being smuggled in from Hong Kong as motorcycle brakes last year, and another 9kg gold a Chinese passenger was caught hiding in a consignment of e-cigarettes in 2022.&nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/skeletons-in-the-cabinet-k5x6py1v">Skeletons in the Cabinet</a>, Editorial
Lamichhane met the Prime Minister last Friday, and the two seem to have agreed that Mahara was expendable. Mahara got wind of this, and was caught while trying to escape to India via the Kapilvastu border. He is currently being detained in a hospital in Kathmandu.
Lamichhane is said to be targeting senior opposition Nepali Congress (NC) leaders next, and Mahara’s arrest was necessary to prove that he is not sparing party figures from his own coalition. His predecessor, Narayan Kaji Shrestha who is now Foreign Minister, had selectively gone after UML and NC leaders.&nbsp;
Dahal’s decision to sacrifice Mahara may have been easier because the former House speaker was already a tainted figure, with ties to telecom kickbacks and accusations of syphoning off money meant for ex-guerrillas. &nbsp;There was no probe into either allegation.&nbsp;
In 2010, an audio recording was leaked to the press of him demanding Rs500 million from a Chinese national to buy lawmakers to keep the Maoist coalition intact. Despite this, he became House Speaker in 2017.&nbsp;
Mahara was finally arrested in 2019 after a female staffer of the Parliament secretariat accused him of rape. He resigned as Speaker, but was eventually acquitted by the courts.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/what-difference-does-it-make">What difference does it make?</a>, Editorial&nbsp;
Former Maoist leader Muma Ram Khanal says this time, too, the case against Mahara may fizzle out. “It could just be another stunt that the Prime Minister is pulling with his Home Minister,” he told our sister publication, Himalkhabar.
As of press time Thursday, it was not clear whether Mahara’s four-day arrest would be extended. The evidence against Mahara that he pressured customs officials to release smuggled gold, and made multiple phone calls to the accused may not be deemed enough by the courts to convict him.&nbsp;
Seeing that Lamichhane may be coming after its own Arzu Rana Deuba and Binod Chaudhary next for their involvement in the fake refugee scandal and the Bansbari land grab, the NC is trying to snare the Home Minister in a case involving the misappropriation of funds from cooperatives to fund a media company Lamichhane co-founded with businessman G B Rai.
Suspiciously, one of Lamichhane’s first acts as Home Minister was to transfer CIB chief Kiran Bajracharya, who was heading the investigation of the cooperatives fraud case. Bajracharya was blamed for her unwillingness to investigate Mahara and others in gold smuggling.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/catapulting-to-singha-darbar">Catapulting to Singha Darbar</a>, Kunda Dixit
The NC has threatened to obstruct Parliament unless Lamichhane is investigated in the cooperatives case even though Prime Minister Dahal this week staunchly defended his Home Minister.&nbsp;
If all this was an attempt by the RSP to show that it is serious about curbing corruption, the public does not seem all that convinced. Many see the investigations as vendetta and political drama. The web of corruption is so tangled that every politician has something on another politician, and they all tend to cancel each other out.&nbsp;
Mahara was questioned about his alleged connection with the smuggling racket last year, and his son Rahul has been in police custody since August for his involvement in the case. Other political leaders including incumbent Finance Minister Barsaman Pun, former speaker Onsari Gharti Magar, and Dipesh Pun, son of former vice-president Nanda Bahadur Pun, have all also been accused of being a part of the gold trafficking ring.&nbsp;
Former prime ministers, ministers, and political leaders have been questioned, even detained, for their involvement in cases ranging from the Baluwatar real estate scam to the fake refugee scandal, but they have either been spared completely, released on bail, or the investigations have hit a dead end.&nbsp;
All the leadership seems to care about is to push probes into corruption cases when they are in power and rivals are in the opposition. In that respect, though, Mahara’s detention is an outlier — he has been taken in while his own party boss is Prime Minister.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/nepal-gets-gold-medal-for-corruption">Nepal gets Gold Medal for corruption</a>, Editorial
Shristi Karki

Nepal’s corruption carousel

In what seems to be a replay of an initiative 13 years ago by the shadowy Asia Pacific Cooperation and Exchange Foundation (APECF) to invest billions in the ‘development’ of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/u-thant-kenzo-tange-and-the-buddhas-birthplace">Lumbini</a>, a new scandal has erupted about a lease of the nearby Buddhist shrine of Ramgram to a private entity. The Hong Kong-based <a href="http://www.apecf.org/en/work_projects/lumbini/index.html">APECF</a> purportedly signed an MoU with <a href="http://www.apecf.org/en/work_projects/lumbini/lumbini05.html">a United Nations office in Beijing</a> in June 2011 for the Lumbini Buddist Cultural Special Zone project with the aim of turning it into an international tourist destination having the world’s tallest Buddha statue. The new Ramgram proposal, meanwhile, was pushed by a shady former lawmaker named Lharkyal Lama, who heads the Lumbini Development Trust (LDT) and involved leasing 82 hectares of the sacred site for 99 years to the Singapore-based Moksha Foundation to build hotels and other structures. Interestingly, both projects involve Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal. The APECF was chaired by Dahal after he resigned as prime minister in 2009 during his first tenure. And the local counterpart of the Moksha Foundation is Promised Land, owned by the son of Dahal’s landlord in Kathmandu. The vice-chair of APECF Xiao Wunan <a href="http://www.apecf.org/en/foundationnews/20230630.html">visited Kathmandu in June</a> last year and met Dahal after which Dahal is said to have offered to support the foundation’s ‘core focus’ of Buddhist culture. The APECF project has been in limbo ever since then UN Secretary General <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19159">Ban Ki-Moon cancelled a visit to Lumbini</a> to endorse it after geopolitical pressure and the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19096">controversy</a> in Nepal, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19096">reported by this paper at the time.</a> Then, last week the LDT cancelled the MoU with Moksha Foundation and Promised Land after a directive from the Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee, which also ordered the Commission on the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA) to probe the deal. Prime Minister Dahal appointed Lharkyal Lama to head LDT in August 2023 despite knowledge about his nefarious past. Proximity to powerful leaders across the political spectrum has allowed Lama to keep being reincarnated despite allegations ranging from <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/nepal-gets-gold-medal-for-corruption">corruption</a> to sedition.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240221080248_5bc713d63c962d3ad00716a8c4da9eb7e78758d8a96c4a8b20be6af8c0678733.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20240221080248_5bc713d63c962d3ad00716a8c4da9eb7e78758d8a96c4a8b20be6af8c0678733" data-rendition-name="original" width="800" height="533" loading="lazy" alt="Lharkyal Lama NT"><figcaption>Lumbini Development Trust vice chair Lharkyal Lama.</figcaption></figure>  “With Gautam Buddha and Maya Devi as my witnesses, I will promise to never denigrate this holy place and to uphold the dignity of Lumbini,” Lama declared after his appointment last year. The story about Ramgram, 35km east of Lumbini, was broken in January by a Kantipur investigation which revealed that Promised Land was owned by Nikesh Adhikari, the son of Sharada Adhikari, Prime Minister Dahal’s landlord. Tourism and Culture Minister Sudan Kirati, who chaired LDT before Lama’s appointment, had previously also attempted to hand over the same land to Moksha Foundation and Promised Land but the deal was blocked by other branches of government, including the Department of Archaeology. Lama tried to bulldoze the agreement despite the objections. One out of the eight relics of Gautam Buddha that were distributed among his disciples was sent to the ancient kingdom of Koliya, where present-day Ramgram stupa is located. Experts have long pushed to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/buddha-s-birthday-in-his-birthplace">archaeologically substantiate</a> the site’s history and include it in the World Heritage list. “What they tried to do with <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=7358">Ramgram</a> is heartbreaking,” says Bhairawa-based cultural expert Geetu Giri. “It seems that the Prime Minister has been using Lama and the Lumbini Development Trust as proxies to monetise Lumbini in collusion with cronies.” Lharkyal Lama was hugely controversial even before being appointed to the LDT. Media investigations showed that his citizenship paper states that he was born in Helambu on 28 November 1964, and came to Kathmandu to study Buddhism. Papers made public by Lama in 2016 state that he obtained a Khenpo degree from the Ngagyur Nyingma Institute in Karnataka in 2000, but the institute’s website shows only one person graduated that year and it was not Lharkyal Lama. During the newly post-Panchayat era, Lama was close to powerful Nepali Congress (NC) leader Khum Bahadur Khadka, who himself would go on to be convicted of several counts of corruption in August 2012. In 2001, during his second tenure as Prime Minister, the NC’s Sher Bahadur Deuba appointed Lama chair of the Monastery Management and Development Committee.  <figure><img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240221080248_7ec49626c0b71a8f2df46c4ab1ac32b6fdf288260e07b22fdff0e5c0de293768.png" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20240221080248_7ec49626c0b71a8f2df46c4ab1ac32b6fdf288260e07b22fdff0e5c0de293768" data-rendition-name="original" width="568" height="426" loading="lazy" alt="Ramgram stupa NT"><figcaption>Ramgram stupa. Photo: LUMBINI DEVELOPMENT TRUST</figcaption></figure>  Lama then pivoted to the UML in 2007, and was close to Ishwar Pokharel and Amrit Bohara who lined up a proportional representation seat for him in the 2008 Constituent Assembly election. He was appointed state minister for finance by Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal in 2011 but had to resign just two weeks into office after it was revealed that he possessed two Nepali citizenships, an Indian passport, and a Tibetan refugee ID card. A Home Ministry investigation further revealed his close ties to an emissary of the Dalai Lama and leader of the Free Tibet campaign. The investigation was never completed due to ‘non-cooperation by government agencies’. Lama then left the UML and joined the Maoist party in 2014 and was appointed lawmaker in 2015 despite the Election Commission's objections. Maoist chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal wrote four letters to the Commission on Lama’s behalf. Even Maoist leaders objected to his appointment, but Dahal went ahead with it. Lama was once again investigated by the CIAA in 2016 during his second stint in Parliament after illegal wealth and bullets were discovered inside his bank locker. He spent nine days in custody and was released on a mere Rs60,000 bail. The CIAA filed a case in the Special Court, but Lama was acquitted. Lama’s appointment to the LDT was also heavily criticised from within the Maoist party, but Dahal overruled objections. The Promised Land deal that Lama pushed therefore could have the backing of the highest office in the land. Basanta Bidari, who has worked as an archaeologist at the LDT for 28 years, says that Lama’s tenure has been disappointing but he is not surprised. He says, “There is no need for me to comment on appointments by Dahal and Kirati. We never had any expectations from Lama.” The LDT was established in 1985 to develop and promote the birthplace of the Buddha, and was under the tutelage of the royal palace. But even then there were allegations of misappropriation of funds and lack of progress in developing the nativity site. Four decades on and with multiple changes in government, political interference in Lumbini’s development continues. Meanwhile, the contrast between the heritage site and the surrounding <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/telling-the-story-of-buddha-s-lumbini">Greater Lumbini region</a> is starker than ever. Says Bhairawa-based observer Ram Bikas Chaudhary: “There are two Lumbinis here, separated by a wall. Inside it is beautiful, prosperous, and peaceful, while the outside is ugly, poor and chaotic.”

Lharkyal Lama’s Lumbini, Inc

The so-called experts referred to in the article <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/business-as-unusual">Business As Unusual</a> in the 22 September issue of Nepali Times by Ramesh Kumar, do not seem to have used their ‘expertise’ in making their observations. Their comments are thus simplistic and mutually contradictory.&nbsp;
If they were using a set of commonly accepted indicators and related verifiable data, their opinion could not be mutually so disparate. I know of no economist in Nepal worth the name who have defined the characteristics specific to Nepal economy and have come up with a theoretically defensible set of prescriptions for investment and economic development in the country.&nbsp;
Many of them masquerade as economists based on having acquired a degree, maybe, a PhD sometime in the past. Others after spending some time in the finance ministry as part of the musical chair of inter-ministry transfers in the bureaucracy.
Like most ‘observers’ in Nepal, these economists too dare to make profound-sounding observations based on what immediately meets their eyes.&nbsp;
For instance, this year they seem to be impressed by the size of the crowd visiting the NADA auto show in Kathmandu to claim that despite the nationwide clamour to the contrary, the economy is not really in a slump.&nbsp;
They are the mob economists who gauge the state of the economy by the size of the shoppers at New Road or Asan Tole.
Nepal's tragedy is that all governments headed by corrupt politicians have spent all their time and energy in defrauding the state and gullible citizens. Examples: massive scams like the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/losing-our-moral-compass">Fake Bhutanese Refugee</a> (KPO and SBD governments), <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/crime-and-or-punishment-in-nepal">Lalita Niwas</a> (MKN and BRB governments) and recent <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/nepal-gets-gold-medal-for-corruption">gold smuggling</a> (PKD government).
Meanwhile the so-called ‘Planning Commission’ and other think tanks recycle what is already in writing. There is no accountability for their total lack of delivery from their writings.&nbsp;
Even at the cost of modesty, I must state that during my tenure in the government as a karmachari, I have had the distinction of innovating three major policy reforms: the institution of user groups, the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/taking-away-forests-from-communities">forest user groups</a> and the mothers' groups and their Female Community Health Volunteers.
Together, these policies changed the face of our nation. &nbsp;As the saying goes, if you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there. That seems to be the fate of our planners, policy makers, self-styled economists and of course, corrupt politicians.
As things stand, as per recent agricultural survey, 62% of households remain in agriculture. A decade earlier in 2011, it was 71% whereas the sector's contribution to national GDP was only 34.3%.&nbsp;
The fact that only 12% farm households have had access to agriculture credit, &nbsp;a prime mover for development, and only 7% to agricultural grants, remains the most lethal of neglect to a sector on which so many people still depend.&nbsp;
This clearly suggests massive deprivation of a vast majority of the country's population through unemployment and underemployment, lack of sufficient land and their vastly unequal distribution.&nbsp;
While 4 million Nepalis plus a vast but unknown number <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/love-thy-neighbours">working in India</a> have migrated for income and employment, a 2018 survey showed that 900,000 people were actively looking for employment, and nearly 70% of them were in the age bracket between 15-34 years.&nbsp;
While Nepal's industrial sector remains miniscule, the irony is that sunflower, palm and soyabean oils remain the major export items. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-doesnt-produce-its-2-biggest-export-items">Since none of those oilseeds are produced in Nepal</a>, it only shows that our investment regime remains totally divorced from even the rudimentary rule of economic development — the principle of comparative advantage. &nbsp;
The size of the crowd visiting the NADA auto show, is more the manifestation of the artificial nature of our industrial sector and remains the handiwork of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/inconvenient-truths">corrupt and incompetent politicians, bureaucrats and an unscrupulous business community</a> working in cahoots to profit from loopholes.&nbsp;
Indian economist Jayati Ghosh who teaches at MIT, wrote about the impact of inequality in her own country in 2022, ‘The pandemic brought home to us a hard truth. Unequal access to incomes and opportunities does more than create unjust, unhealthy and unhappy societies—it kills people.’&nbsp;
Then, Nobel laureate economists, Abhijit Banerjee and Esthe Duflo wrote in 2020: ‘Although no one knows when the growth locomotive will start in a given country, if and when it does, the poor will be more likely to hop on the train if they are in decent health, can read and write, and can think beyond their immediate circumstances.’
Which kleptocrat politician, bureaucrat, unprincipled economist, or hardcore politician disguised as civil society leader has thought of our problems in these terms?
Bihari Krishna Shrestha is an anthropologist and a former government secretary.
<a href="mailto:biharishrestha@gmail.com" target="_blank">biharishrestha@gmail.com</a>

If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there

After a week of violent and destructive protests, Nepal’s President Ram Chandra Poudel on Friday appointed <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/Legalese/justice-in-chief,804">former Chief Justice Sushila Karki</a> as a caretaker Prime Minister to lead an interim citizens' government.&nbsp; Poudel had been in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/what-next-nepal">closed-door discussions since Thursday</a> with youth members who spearheaded the protests, constitutional experts, the House Speaker, and the Army Chief. There was a consensus on the choice of Karki as candidate for interim prime minister, but her swearing-in was stalled due to a disagreement about Constitutional processes for her appointment.&nbsp; Youth delegates and Karki demanded that Parliament be dissolved before the appointment of the caretaker prime minister, while President Poudel had been arguing that Parliament would be automatically dissolved once the new council of ministers announced elections. Representing the GenZ movement, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/who-or-what-is-hami-nepal">Sudan Gurung</a> (pictured, below) is said to have insisted that dissolution of Parliament first was non-negotiable because he did not trust the political parties. He is said to have added that he would call his supporters out into the streets, and the President relented. The military’s warning earlier that an emergency would be declared if there was no agreement tonight clinched it.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025091216098_cdd409c5824b578a04f05a43280e3f475d92bf7123d3a4565b4d720768fcc1b3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2025091216098_cdd409c5824b578a04f05a43280e3f475d92bf7123d3a4565b4d720768fcc1b3" data-rendition-name="original" width="1080" height="600" loading="lazy" alt="Sudan Gurung"> <figcaption>Sudan Gurung of Hami Nepali during negotiations.</figcaption> </figure>  With this, Karki becomes Nepal’s first female prime minister, exactly a decade after she became the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/interview/a-woman-is-as-capable-sushila-karki,3375">country’s first female chief justice in 2016</a>.&nbsp; Nepalis, still shocked by the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-s-8-september-massacre">death and destruction of the past week</a>, heaved a sigh of relief at the announcement, which was greeted as a victory of youth power for political reform led by the GenZ movement. Its initial anti-corruption protest on 8-9 September <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/kathmandu-burns-despite-pm-resignation">spiralled out of control into violence and arson</a> nationwide that claimed at least 51 lives. Several other candidates were floated for the caretaker prime minister’s post. Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah and former head of the electricity utility Kulman Ghising were being considered, but both declined possibly because they want to contest the next national elections. Given her experience in the judiciary and zero tolerance for corruption, Karki was the favourite of various groups within the GenZ campaign.&nbsp; The site of the negotiations moved to the official residence of the president in Shital Niwas from the Nepal Army Headquarters on Thursday. The Army had come under criticism on social media and from civil society for detaining the President and not letting him speak or be a part of the negotiation.&nbsp; This fuelled public perception that the military had a soft spot for a return of the monarchy. There were widespread rumours on Thursday that king Gyanendra, who was ousted after the abolition of the monarchy in 2008, was trying to stage a comeback by piggybacking on the agitation. Writing on X, senior journalist Kishore Nepal revealed that the Chief of Army Staff Ashokraj Sigdel had allegedly asked Poudel to step aside and pave the way for the military to negotiate, to which the President is said to have replied: “I will not resign. Kill me instead and blame it on the protesters. Then you can do whatever you like.” Live broadcast of swearing in of Sushila Karki:&nbsp; <div class="embed-block"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/53go4OxuOa0?si=Zd89QGIAX8-7Bm75" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025091219094_41b0f97a5925ab6969e1413636bf073ae43262893a55d9c177cb1312dea52f0d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="2025091219094_41b0f97a5925ab6969e1413636bf073ae43262893a55d9c177cb1312dea52f0d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1280" height="851" loading="lazy" alt="Sushila Karki swearing in"> <figcaption>President ram Chandra Poudel swearing in Sushila Karki as the 42nd Prime Minister of Nepal.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025091303098_8f2b6f98898c4cd73c271caa51b8e29d679a7385c249380aeb96d7cc2c3f6dba.png" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="2025091303098_8f2b6f98898c4cd73c271caa51b8e29d679a7385c249380aeb96d7cc2c3f6dba" data-rendition-name="original" width="1480" height="924" loading="lazy" alt="Sushila Karki PM"> <figcaption>GenZ representatives with new Prime Minister Sushila Karki after her swearing in </figcaption> </figure>  COURAGE AND INTEGRITY Sushila Karki served as the chief justice between 11 July 2016 to 6 June 2017, and has been known for her frugal ways. She was a firebrand judge unafraid to ruffle powerful feathers, and as chief justice was behind ruling to impeach for abuse of office a powerful head of Nepal’s anti-graft body in 2016. She wrote that he had ‘<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/Legalese/the-end-of-karkistocracy,827">neither the moral character nor qualifications for the post</a>’. Even before she became Chief Justice, Karki was one of the two judges on the bench that convicted the sitting Minister for Information and Communication, Jaya Prakash Gupta, of corruption in 2012. Then in 2016, a bench including Karki ruled against granting amnesty to former Maoist lawmaker and convicted murderer Bal Krishna Dhungel. Karki was born on 7 June 1952 in Biratnagar. She completed her undergraduate studies at Mahendra Morang College in 1972 before obtaining a postgraduate degree in political science from Banaras Hindu University in India three years later. This was followed by a Bachelor's in Law in 1978 from Tribhuvan University, and she started her law career as an advocate a year later. In 1985, Karki worked as a teacher at Mahendra Multiple Campus in Dharan, and was jailed for participating in the 1990 People’s Movement to overthrow the Panchayat absolute monarchy. She became a senior Advocate at the Nepal Bar Association in 2008 and was appointed an Ad-Hoc Justice at the Supreme Court in January 2009.&nbsp; On Thursday, there were supporters for other candidates for the post sloganeering against Karki’s nomination outside the Army Headquarters. Some on social media were also skeptical of her connection to the Nepali Congress (NC) party. Growing up in Biratnagar Karki was close to the family of B P Koirala, Nepal’s first elected prime minister in 1960. Her husband Durga Subedi was part of a group of underground Congress activists who hijacked a Royal Nepal Airlines plane in 1973, flying it to India to snatch cash belonging to Nepal Rastra Bank in the cargo hold.&nbsp; The money was used for the party’s pro-democracy campaign.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025091216098_1c030e7c42809a742e8082bff9663cec00b721eb48481dd40d4f632eaf44480e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="2025091216098_1c030e7c42809a742e8082bff9663cec00b721eb48481dd40d4f632eaf44480e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1838" height="1220" loading="lazy" alt="Sushila Karki"> <figcaption>Photo: SHAHIDUL ALAM</figcaption> </figure>  Karki has no love lost for the political establishment. In April 2017, the governing coalition under Maoist Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/lady-justice-sushila-karki,3693">submitted an impeachment motion against her</a> after the Supreme Court overturned his decision to install a favoured police chief, violating succession based on seniority. It was a political move backed by Dahal’s coalition partner Sher Bahadur Deuba of the NC who was waiting to become prime minister for the 4th time. CHALLENGES AHEAD With Karki now in charge of the interim government, she has the daunting task of forming a council of ministers made up of amorphous and disparate groups from the GenZ, technocrats, and current politicians. Karki has said she will not prevent members of her cabinet from contesting elections, which means those with electoral aspirations like Kulman Ghising, Balen Shah and Sumana Shrestha could be asked to join. Karki has her work cut out as she has to get her team members to pull in the same direction to hold free and fair elections. She also has to make sure she has the support of the military without giving the generals too much say, while also smartly maneuvering Nepal’s precarious geopolitical ties with its giant neighbours, China and India. But most of all, the new prime minister must lay the foundations to not just physically rebuild the judiciary, executive and legislature but also ensure that elections will produce a more accountable and efficient government. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/trial-by-fire">Trial By Fire</a>, Editorial

Madam Prime Minister of Nepal

Many had never heard of <a href="https://www.haminepal.org/">Hami Nepal</a>, the organisation that is part of the GenZ movement that did not just topple the government this week, but <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/what-next-nepal">pushed Nepal’s political system into new, uncharted territory</a>. It was part of an organic coming together of various youth groups fed up with Nepal’s corruption, mismanagement and lack of accountability. Hami Nepal and its GenZ comrades are now part of the negotiations with the Army to form an interim government. Hami Nepal is a non-profit dedicated to supporting communities and individuals in need, guided by its motto ‘For the People, By the People’. Its core mission is to assist individuals and communities in need, particularly during emergencies and crises, with a focus on directly connecting donors with recipients, and delivering aid efficiently and transparently. It was set up after the 2015 earthquake, but was formally registered and gained recognition in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic. Hami Nepal is led by 36-year-old civic activist Sudan Gurung who started the organisation after he lost his own son in the 2015 earthquake.&nbsp; Leading up to the events this week, it played a central role in guiding the demonstrations, using its Instagram and Discord platforms to circulate protest information and share guidelines. Other GenZ groups used their own WhatsApp groups and other fora.&nbsp; Among the 20 or so volunteers is Ronesh Pradhan, who spoke to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-s-gen-z-protest-turns-deadly">Nepali Times on 8 September </a>morning during the GenZ rally, before the violence escalated.&nbsp; “The voices of young people matter. We can’t keep being ruled by the same old men,” Pradhan said. “Our generation is the future and if there are older leaders in government, they need to be competent and accountable. We are ready to lead this country forward.” Hami Nepal’s earliest visible campaigns include donating more than 400 blankets to Bir Hospital’s Covid unit in 2022, creating a plasma and oxygen bank during the pandemic, and distributing school jackets to children in rural districts. More recently, it mounted a relief effort in response to the 2023 Jajarkot earthquake, reaching over 13,000 families with shelter, food, and medical support. The organisation was also associated with the two-month ‘Save Ghopa’ campaign, demanding effective and smooth administration of the BPKIHS (B P Koirala Institute of Health Sciences) in Dharan. The organisation was also actively engaged in providing rescue and relief during the Kagbeni and Sindhupalchok floods this year. It even sent aid to Turkey after its 2023 earthquake. After the Kavre floods last year, Hami Nepal donated solar lights. Funding for Hami Nepal comes directly from public donations, with a policy of channeling 100% of received funds for aid distribution. Volunteers self-finance administrative costs, and the group publishes detailed expenditure figures, regularly sharing updates and transparency reports through their social media and website which it launched at its Annual General Meeting in Bhaktapur last year.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250911090920_cd40c472bd7e06cc038a2d77a431cba777b6f53e4374a0216c9af2c4feb56c88.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20250911090920_cd40c472bd7e06cc038a2d77a431cba777b6f53e4374a0216c9af2c4feb56c88" data-rendition-name="original" width="1080" height="719" loading="lazy" alt="Who, or what, is Hami Nepal?"> </figure>  Following the death of Nepali student Prakriti Lamsal at KIIT University in India earlier this year, Hami Nepal advocated for justice using its Instagram account, raising concern about the safety of Nepali students. Its advocacy platform started with rescue and relief, and Hami Nepal managed to develop a track record for efficient campaigns and transparency in Nepal’s humanitarian landscape. But its work pushed the group to realise that there was a deeper malaise in Nepali society. Its #youthsagainstcorruption campaign on social media platforms gained rapid momentum, and that led to the rally on 8 September. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-s-8-september-massacre">Nepal’s 8 September massacre</a>, Shristi Karki The international #Nepobaby trend on TikTok propelled the rally even more, and young Nepalis used it to expose the scions of powerful politicians and politically-connected influencers who were exhibiting their flashy lifestyles on social media while citizens struggled with joblessness, corruption and poor service delivery. Public anger reached a tipping point when the UML-NC coalition led by Prime Minister K P Oli announced a sweeping ban on major social media platforms citing tax revenue, cyber security, and lack of content moderation. Netizens, civil society and media, however, saw it as the latest authoritarian attempt by the government to clamp down on free speech, increase surveillance of citizens and constrict Nepal’s open society. Susmita Khadka, 22, told us at the rally: “Politics is everywhere. Gen Z has the most platforms, and we want a revolution.” Leading up to 8 September, the GenZ movement disseminated information and reassured participants with volunteers readily available for help, medical support, and assistance. It put up a protest support helpline so that students needing assistance could get help. As the protests intensified, leaving at least 20 dead outside Parliament, and forcing Prime Minister K P Oli to resign, Hami Nepal shifted into a mediator role, engaging in talks with officials and seeking GenZ’s views on future leadership.&nbsp; Influencers like TikToker Nimesh Shrestha publicly backed the group, amplifying their voice in ongoing negotiations with the Nepal Army alongside other GenZ representatives. However, as the protests escalated on 9 September, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/kathmandu-burns-despite-pm-resignation">resulting in massive arson and vandalism of public and private property</a>, many GenZ activists disavowed association with the attackers, saying their movement had been infiltrated. The group backtracked, with Gurung saying he was not the leader of the protests.&nbsp; Meanwhile, others accused Hami Nepal for singlehandedly speaking with the Army chief, and said that they did not represent GenZ’s collective voice. Most GenZ supporters backed <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/Legalese/justice-in-chief,804">Former Chief Justice Sushila Karki</a> as their candidate for interim prime minister in an online group. Not everyone in the GenZ movement agrees with that choice, with support for Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah, even though he has endorsed Karki’s appointment. Dharan Mayor Harka Sampang rushed to Kathmandu on Wednesday to push his own candidacy. Hami Nepal has supported Balen Shah to lead the country for the next five years, not just during the interim period, and have called on the public to share their posts supporting Shah to amplify the message. With the old guard gone, there is a power vacuum with multiple actors with competing interests to fill it. GenZ’s youth-led activism has brought new energy for political reform, but its real test begins now — whether it can unite Hami Nepal and other sections to negotiate with the Nepal Army.&nbsp;

Who, or what, is Hami Nepal?

As arson and violence swept Nepal’s capital, Prime Minister K P Oli resigned on Tuesday. However, this did not stop angry protesters from setting fire to the Parliament building, homes of ministers, hotels and other property. Singha Darbar is also in flames. Meanwhile, former Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and his wife, Foreign Minister Arzu Rana Deuba were also attacked in their house. As protests spread, Police withdrew from guarding official buildings, and thousands of protesters entered the federal government secretariat at Singha Darbar, ransacking and setting fire to buildings.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250909120916_a86227e5556356134565053699ed9599f8b268d0c22815fa94410ffac52a49fa.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20250909120916_a86227e5556356134565053699ed9599f8b268d0c22815fa94410ffac52a49fa" data-rendition-name="original" width="1440" height="1042" loading="lazy" alt="de-escalation"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250909120916_995f368b8c372bf2f99b6a9c25c2816e941413b3c19d0f94458c07604391b039.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250909120916_995f368b8c372bf2f99b6a9c25c2816e941413b3c19d0f94458c07604391b039" data-rendition-name="original" width="1440" height="1042" loading="lazy" alt="Kathmandu protests"> </figure>  Kathmandu Valley was shrouded in smoke under heavy monsoon clouds on Tuesday afternoon with an acrid smell covering the capital. The minister’s quarters in Bhaisepati were set on fire, the convention centre in Godavari, the Hilton Hotel and Chhaya Centre in Thamel, and the headquarters of all three main parties were also burning.&nbsp; The widespread arson was sparked by the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-s-8-september-massacre">killing of at least 19 young protesters</a> as they tried to storm Parliament on Monday. A peaceful rally by youth against corruption and nepotism by Nepal’s GenZ movement in Kathmandu escalated after the killings. With the prime minister out of the picture, the government not visible and the security forces in retreat, protesters have had the run of the three cities of Kathmandu Valley.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250909120916_207c3c25f8aa9bd0934b8c98ccee1221e3a062815cfcb1e211deddb4dccd6511.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20250909120916_207c3c25f8aa9bd0934b8c98ccee1221e3a062815cfcb1e211deddb4dccd6511" data-rendition-name="original" width="1440" height="1042" loading="lazy" alt="Kathmandu protests"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250909120920_bb2c0f273dc95ef62c58b5f55045c58cbddc4b3b8f619e938be76ef2cda69468.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20250909120920_bb2c0f273dc95ef62c58b5f55045c58cbddc4b3b8f619e938be76ef2cda69468" data-rendition-name="original" width="1440" height="1042" loading="lazy" alt="Kathmandu protests"> </figure>  Nepal’s celebrity cricket captain Paras Khadka has appealed to to call off the agitation, saying: “The prime minister you wanted to kneel has already knelt.” Former prime minister and Maoist ideologue Baburam Bhattarai called for the formation of an interim government that included some young student leaders. He called for the agitating groups to find a solution from within the Constitution and a directly elected presidential system. All members of the opposition RPP and the RSP have resigned from Parliament, while party supporters entered the Nakkhu Jail and freed the RSP leader Rabi Lamichhane who had been detained for the past 8 months by the Oli government on charges of embezzlement. Some of the protesters also want an end to federalism, which was also the demand of opposition parties like the RSP and the pro-monarchist RPP. Chief Minister Satish Kumar Singh has stepped down. Many of the protesters have voiced support for Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah, who &nbsp;posted on Facebook calling on the GenZ protesters to “be ready to talk to the Army … but only after Parliament has been dissolved”. Army Chief Ashok Raj Sigdel and the heads of security agencies have called on the protesting groups to excercise restraint and to find a solution through talks.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250909120912_cd93a827631d987ee52723aa270faf45aa42e4322eb8f06304b28215e3cea28a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20250909120912_cd93a827631d987ee52723aa270faf45aa42e4322eb8f06304b28215e3cea28a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1440" height="1042" loading="lazy" alt="Kathmandu protests"> </figure>  Although the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-s-gen-z-protest-turns-deadly">protests were sparked by the GenZ campaigners</a>, disparate groups, including monarchists, anti-federalists, disgruntled Maoists, dissidents from the mainstream parties, and others have joined the protests. But one thing that united them is extreme frustration with the mainstream parties and their leaders past and present who have taken turns running and ruining the country.

corruption

Trial By Fire

Nepal’s 8 September massacre

SLAPPing Democracy

Public-Private Collusion

Black, white and grey

Mismeasuring corruption lets rich countries off the hook

Unholy developments at holy sites

Nepal’s corruption carousel

Lharkyal Lama’s Lumbini, Inc

If you don’t know where you are going, any road will take you there

Madam Prime Minister of Nepal

Who, or what, is Hami Nepal?

Kathmandu burns despite PM resignation

Nepal’s 8 September massacre