Despite provisions in the Constitution, there is still systemic descent-based <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/dalit-lives-must-matter">discrimination against Dalits</a>, especially women, a new report by Amnesty International has said. The report states that there is a culture of impunity that puts Dalit women and girls at risk from an entrenched casteism in the police and the courts that perpetuates the discrimination.&nbsp; ‘Authorities in Nepal are failing to protect Dalits, particularly women and girls, from systemic and widespread caste-based discrimination,’ Amnesty International says in the report, ‘<a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa31/7980/2024/en/">No One Cares: Descent-Based Discrimination against Dalits</a>’ which documents case studies of caste-based discrimination in Nepal. The report details just how pervasive the caste system still is in Nepal despite laws against exclusion of Dalits. This manifests itself in violence and discrimination in everyday life for many Dalit individuals, families and communities. Even when they face blatant institutional discrimination and violence, Dalits have little recourse in the justice system or response from the police when complaints are filed. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/black-lives-matter-but-dalit-lives-dont">Caste-based prejudice</a> perpetuates a culture of impunity, the report says. “The authorities in Nepal are not doing enough to counteract the culture of impunity for human rights violations related to descent-based discrimination in Nepal. Efforts made by the authorities are still inadequate and insufficient, and they seem to exist only on paper but do not translate into real changes in the lives and the human rights of Dalits, Dalit women and girls in particular,” says Fernanda Doz Costa, Amnesty International’s Director for Gender and Racial Justice Programme.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024051209054_379b2278e487029b362e25e406f563faa4ff4ccb057b634cf1238afcf28789e5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2024051209054_379b2278e487029b362e25e406f563faa4ff4ccb057b634cf1238afcf28789e5" data-rendition-name="original" width="4976" height="3732" loading="lazy" alt="State of Dalits in Nepal NT"> <figcaption>(From left) Hari Bhakta Dhakal Mijar, Amnesty International's Gender, Racial Justice and Refugees Programme's Director Fernanda Doz Costa and Amnesty International Nepal's Chairperson Bipin Budhathoki. </figcaption> </figure>  Despite a reservation system for Dalits and the prohibition of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-s-caste-struggle">caste-based discrimination</a>, the report has documented many instances of impunity and lack of representation of Dalits in the justice system. There are also examples of institutional discrimination in the police and justice system, lack of effective oversight mechanisms and accountability. ‘Dalits do not trust the police and the justice system in general, and the limited government level data and statistics available, and confirm their distrust is well-founded, including for Dalit women confronting caste-based violence,’ the report says. Caste and gender-based violence therefore often go unreported making the exclusion of Dalits even less visible, and allowing the discrimination to be accepted and perpetuating it. When caste-based incidents are reported, Amnesty says, police frequently refuse to register cases of untouchability and gender-based violence or rape.&nbsp; Among the case-studies of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/i-never-thought-i-would-be-alone-this-early-in-life">caste-based crimes</a> in the report is that of 18-year-old Ajit Dhakal Mijar, whose corpse has been in a hospital morgue in Kathmandu for the past eight years. Ajit was involved in a relationship with a non-Dalit girl, and was found dead. Police automatically recorded it as suicide and he was buried without informing the family. Ajit’s father had the body exhumed and said police were trying to cover up the murder of his son by burying him after a fake post-mortem report. The case is pending in the Supreme Court and Ajit’s body is still in the morgue.&nbsp; Another case in the report is of 12-year-old Angira Pasi who &nbsp;was found four years ago hanging from a tree. A ‘higher’ case man was accused of raping her earlier, and the village authorities instead of punishing the man got him to marry her. But the girl was tormented by his family for being an ‘untouchable’ and she was found hanging.&nbsp; Pressure from human rights groups forced a reluctant police to register a complaint and the accused, his mother, and his aunt were detained. The Rupandehi District Court then convicted the accused of murder and sentenced him to 18 years in prison.&nbsp; Police often register such cases under other laws which downplays the discriminatory motive of the offence and dilutes the severity of caste-based discrimination, Amnesty says. Anita Mahara says in the report: “No one cares.” Despite laws, the caste system continues to segregate and oppress Dalits who make up about 14% of Nepal’s population. The entrenched discrimination excludes Dalits from opportunities and discriminates against them in everything from using community water sources to education, livelihood,<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/caste-aside"> marriage</a>, place of worship, security and health, and citizenship.&nbsp; Descent-based discrimination covers caste and analogous systems of inherited status, and authorities have a legal obligation to address all forms of caste-based discrimination, including when committed by private individuals, in accordance with the international human rights law and standards, Amnesty says. Parliament’s Committee on Law, Justice and Human Rights ruled that every police station should have a Dalit unit, and 86 were created to report, investigate and coordinate with victims of discrimination. &nbsp; In preparing this report, Amnesty International’s researchers visited three district police stations in Madhes Province and found that the Dalit desk was just a sign on the door.&nbsp; Amnesty says the Nepal government must be more proactive in uprooting entrenched caste and gender-based violence and discrimination. It says special measures are needed to improve the situation of Dalit women and girls due to the inter-generational history of oppression and entrenched culture of caste-bias, patriarchy and discrimination. Says Fernanda Doz Costa, “Nepal must fulfil its obligation to provide effective, timely and meaningful access to justice and reparations for survivors. It must move away from merely paying lip service to the ideals of achieving equality for all but take a concrete human-rights centric approach to relegating descent-based discrimination to the dustbins of history.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240512080552_34d93dcbdac9df34d4b6fc5ee0fed8cb939f6fd615d95eebcff001486728d4f4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20240512080552_34d93dcbdac9df34d4b6fc5ee0fed8cb939f6fd615d95eebcff001486728d4f4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="State of Dalits in Nepal"> <figcaption>'No One Cares: Descent-Based Discrimination against Dalits' by Amnesty International</figcaption> </figure>

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Who cares?

· In July 2016, 18-year-old Ajit Mijar and Kalpana Parajuli got married in a Kavre village. Parajuli’s family opposed the inter-caste marriage and forced the two to annul the union. Five days later, Mijar’s body was found buried on the banks of the Trisuli in Dhading district.&nbsp; Mijar’s death was ruled a suicide, but his family has refused to perform his last rites, insisting that he was murdered for daring to marry a ‘high’ caste woman. His body has remained at the TU Teaching Hospital morgue for the past seven years. · In May 2020, the body of a 12-year-old Dalit girl was found hanging from a tree in the Rupandehi’s Devdaha village. She had been raped and murdered after being forcibly married to her rapist, an ‘upper’ caste man, the day before she was killed. · On the same day in May 2020, Nabaraj BK and his friends Ganesh Budha Magar, Tikaram Nepali, Lokendra Sunar, Govinda Shahi, and Sanju BK were lynched and their bodies dumped into the Bheri River in Soti village of Rukum West. They were killed because villagers discovered Nabaraj was going to elope with a teenage girl from a ‘higher’ Thakuri caste.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230602080648_1b79c7e8e816fbfe2c90c9b0655d0636004a1aa71774fe7b396bd3ab555890ce.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20230602080648_1b79c7e8e816fbfe2c90c9b0655d0636004a1aa71774fe7b396bd3ab555890ce" data-rendition-name="original" width="1045" height="277" loading="lazy" alt="Dalit lives must matter 1"> <figcaption>Nabaraj BK (far left, above) and five of his friends who were killed on 23 May 2020 in Rukum West because he was eloping with a 'higher' caste teenager. </figcaption> </figure>  · In May 2022, Sundar Harijan, a 20-year-old Dalit inmate at Rolpa jail who was serving a life sentence on behalf of another prisoner died under suspicious circumstances. An investigation pointed to police corruption, but the probe yielded no further results. · In March this year, a restaurant owner in Gorkha beat 36-year-old Phulmaya Pariyar to death, because her 7-year-old daughter drank a beverage without permission. The issue was settled after the hotelier, Durga Ale, provided Pariyar’s family with financial compensation. · Last month, a 22-year-old Dalit man was injured in Simraungad when a priest poured hot rice starch over him for entering the temple. These are just a selection of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/black-lives-matter-but-dalit-lives-dont">acts of violence against Nepal’s Dalit community </a>that made it to the news. There are many more cases that are never reported, and the lifelong oppression that Dalits face every day all over Nepal is not news. “Sadly, political turbulence, civil governance, impunity, and lack of accountability to our people have undermined the Dalit achievements, moments and people’s aspirations,” said Pradip Pariyar, founder of the Dalit Lives Matter Global Alliance during a talk last week.&nbsp; He added: “The role of social justice seems murky, foggy and lost. Nepali society is becoming more regressive in comparison to other countries. It seems like Dalits belong to the country, but not to the state.”&nbsp; The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/caste-aside">murders of Nabaraj BK and his friends</a> in Rukum West three years ago catapulted caste-based violence to the forefront of national and political discourse in a way other atrocities against Nepal’s Dalit community had not in recent years. Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/caste-aside">Caste Aside</a> But when it came to justice, all that public outrage did not seem to matter. Attempts to sweep the murders under the rug began right from the top. Home Minister Janardan Sharma from the Maoist party that once waged war for Dalit rights, claimed the deaths of the young men was not caste-related, and they had all jumped into the Bheri River.&nbsp; Sharma’s remarks were seen as an attempt to cover up the involvement of Soti ward chair and fellow Maoist Dambar Bahadur Malla, who had been arrested for involvement in the murders. Three years later, justice continues to elude the families of Nabaraj BK and his friends. The final hearing of the case is scheduled for 13 June.&nbsp; Article 40 of Nepal’s Constitution guarantees the rights of Dalits to political competition and representation, as well as basic services like education and health, but Dalit representation in politics and in the workforce is tokenism at best. Nepal’s 2021 Census results did not include information about the country’s ethnic, linguistic, and religious demographics. But the 2011 census showed that Dalits made up 13.6% of Nepal’s population (researchers say the figure could be as high as 20%) but they hold only 0.7% of senior civil service jobs. Brahmins, on the other hand, are 12.2% of the population but have 72% of senior government jobs.&nbsp; “The demand for Dalits is for an equal share in the nation’s wealth until they are equally represented at decision-making levels,” said Suraj Yengde, PhD, one of India’s leading Dalit scholars and author of Caste Matters who is in Nepal to research a new book.&nbsp; “Until the nation’s wealth is equally distributed to us, there cannot really be a truly democratic society. Minority communities cannot control the majority resources,” said Yengde, who is a research associate with the Department of African and African American Studies at Harvard University and was recently named a Senior Fellow at the Kennedy School.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230602080648_eb030586cf88143bb35562206a4ca28836820182a0509c2e0073e6eb50288a61.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20230602080648_eb030586cf88143bb35562206a4ca28836820182a0509c2e0073e6eb50288a61" data-rendition-name="original" width="760" height="507" loading="lazy" alt="Dalit lives must matter 2"> <figcaption>A rally in Chaujhari of Rukum West demanding justice for the six slain men (Photo: Bignewskhabar)</figcaption> </figure>  “Caste is normalised in Nepal, India, and the rest of South Asia through the practice of retaining the hegemony of the historical oppressor castes who then control the resources of the state and then become the final adjudicator of the matters concerning the nation,” he added during the talk (see interview below). During local elections in May 2022, three mayors, eight deputy mayors, 143 ward chairs, and 878 ward members were elected from the Dalit community — each less than 3% of the total elected members from each category in 2017. In federal polls, there were only 16 Dalit MPs out of 275, the lowest proportion since Constituent Assembly elections in 2008. And only one of those 16 Dalit MPs was directly elected and the rest were nominated through the proportional representation system. Meanwhile, three Dalit leaders were elected to the Provincial Assembly directly, while 28 were elected through the PR system. The number of elected leaders from the Dalit community for both the federal parliament and provincial assembly is less than during the 2017 election. The Dalit Lives Matter movement gained traction in Nepal following the Rukum killings. But even as the discourse surrounding discrimination and violence against the Dalits continues, some activists want to move beyond the narrative of just being portrayed as victims of the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-s-caste-struggle">caste hierarchy</a> and take into account their stories of resistance to historical oppression. Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/dalits-disasters-and-discrimination">Dalits, disasters and discrimination</a>, Shikhar Sharma But information about equality and representation, insight from scholars and activists, are not accessible to Dalit and non-Dalit communities in rural and remote Nepal – even though people there are more likely to be victims of caste-based discrimination and violence. It is now up to the civil society to figure out how to ensure that the message of equality, representation and resistance gets to the grassroots, said Yengde: “Dalit lives matter because our stories and our individuality matter. It is because dignity, respect, compassion, humanity, resistance, honour, and justice matters.”&nbsp; <h2>Cast light on discrimination</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230602080652_73b65368a5d8e21a9f31dbdc7c2f3633927996e15e26290f55adbe985a365d97.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20230602080652_73b65368a5d8e21a9f31dbdc7c2f3633927996e15e26290f55adbe985a365d97" data-rendition-name="original" width="2492" height="1742" loading="lazy" alt="Cast light on discrimination"> </figure>  <h2> </h2> Suraj Yengde, PhD, is a leading Dalit scholar and author of the book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Caste-Matters-Suraj-Yengde/dp/0670091227">Caste Matters</a>. He is a research associate with the Department of African and African American Studies at Harvard University and was recently named Senior Fellow at the Kennedy School. Yengde is in Nepal to work on his new book, and look at the status of Nepal’s Dalit community. Excerpts of a conversation with Nepali Times this week: Nepali Times: You have spent some time in Nepal researching your new book. What are the impressions you have gathered about exclusion and caste issues here compared to India? Suraj Yengde: I’m slightly hesitant to respond to this, simply because I have to see more of Nepal. I spent some time in Lumbini, but couldn’t really meet people from the Dalit community there. I was, however, able to meet the Gandharva people, and was so profoundly impressed with the men and women, especially of the younger generation. They were engaged in community farming using commune models similar to Dr Ambedkar’s ideals. And since community farming is something that is very close to me— it provided me insight into community life in Nepal. But this is just a take from interacting with a limited number of people, especially given that the Nepali Dalit community is so vibrant. And I will be very sincere in saying that I may not be able to do everything right because I’m not an expert on Nepal. That is why I have been relying on two things: firstly, my primary respondents who are prominently from various Dalits communities as well as experts, and secondly, recorded textual evidence that civil society has preserved. So, I think this question might merit a more elaborate response when my next book comes out. It seems casteism transcends borders and is entrenched even among the Indian and Nepali diaspora. Why is it that education does not seem to make a big enough dent against caste discrimination? Caste is basically a reproduction of the identity of a community and the resources available to it, but the normalisation of this reality is worrisome. Because Nepal is still a young country with a profoundly invested Constitution, and as such, the nation needs to be shaped with appropriate ethical standards. &nbsp; What is needed first is a respectful sharing of this nation’s wealth with all of its people. Moreover, caste unfortunately has an intricate attachment to religion. So one might be confined to the caste system without even realising it. Another reality is that the caste system is upheld when people are confined within their own caste groups because that means that they are part of a network that everyone within that caste group benefits from. As far as the diaspora goes, we need to question if the people who go beyond India and Nepal leave their roots behind during the process of assimilating to the West. And by that I mean not just their caste roots, or even national roots, but the ways of their ancestry. &nbsp; So what one might think of an innocent incident or interaction or even celebration can be in fact deeply caste-based in nature, and there needs to be an acknowledgment that whatever pride one has for such interactions or events comes with certain caste attachments. The question, therefore, is: are we taking active steps towards annihilating caste altogether? But at the same time, annihilating the caste structure does not necessarily mean you are dismantling all of your personal beliefs. How do we ensure that the message of equality, representation and resistance goes to the grassroots in countries like Nepal and India, places where people are more likely to be victims of caste violence and discrimination?&nbsp; Yes, oftentimes, the message we are trying to get across does not reach the people that they are meant for. Two things are needed to ensure that it does, and the first is the media to let the world know what is happening. We also need to figure out how to democratise information. It is also how we construct the narrative because high-flying jargon-filled academic ideas and talks and events will not go beyond a handful of people. So we need to tailor messages according to the intended receiver.&nbsp; Once people have access to sufficient information, they will have formed opinions and then comes the role of mass movements. And so it ultimately comes down to how we decentralise information and diversify the audience.&nbsp;

Shristi Karki

Dalit lives must matter

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141144/636baec19c7e80680e078013jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1598" height="1066"/><figcaption>Photo: Bignewskhabar</figcaption></figure>On 23 May, Angira Pasi, a 12-year-old Dalit girl, was found hanging after being forcibly married to a 25-year-old ‘upper-caste’ man who had raped her. On 24 May, Nabaraj BK, and his five friends were <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/they-killed-our-son-and-now-they-are-killing-justice/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/they-killed-our-son-and-now-they-are-killing-justice/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1595740698198000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGV8LnJ9KL669O-ysSlJa5RS8RLWw">beaten to death</a> and thrown into a river because Nabaraj dared to marry an ‘upper-caste’ Thakuri girl. On 25 May, a white policeman in Minneapolis in the United States kneeled on <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/we-all-yearn-to-breathe-free/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/we-all-yearn-to-breathe-free/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1595740698198000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG9CqanylI4D8SxH_uxFnbi9IE-7Q">George Floyd's</a> neck for 8 minutes 46 seconds, and killed him.Three crimes in three consecutive days. One of them set off a worldwide movement that is fundamentally changing race dynamics not just in the US but around the world. The two other crimes in Nepal were the latest in a long list of casteist atrocities across the subcontinent perpetrated against a traditionally excluded community.Millions continue to protest police brutality and deeply rooted systemic biases that unfairly and disproportionality affect black Americans. These protests have gathered up to 26 million participants, one of the highest turnout in any protest in US history. It has also generated more media coverage than any other protest in the last 50 years.However, in an unsurprising turn of events, the crimes against Dalit people, just as heinous, just as frequent, have received disproportionately less attention, and have not led to any real reform.The Rupandehi police refused to file Angira's case until it got national attention. They then detained her rapist Birendra, his mother, and aunt, but remain convinced Angira died by suicide.Rukum police have detained 34 suspects in Nabaraj BK's case. The Home Ministry's five-member probe team from Kathmandu investigating it has deemed it pre-meditated caste-based violence. Serious repercussions are yet to follow.A <a href="https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CEDAW/Shared%20Documents/NPL/INT_CEDAW_CSS_NPL_32516_E.pdf" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://tbinternet.ohchr.org/Treaties/CEDAW/Shared%2520Documents/NPL/INT_CEDAW_CSS_NPL_32516_E.pdf&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1595740698199000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHsgicz5UlUdsg6lK2azGeGlDwDMg">comprehensive report</a> by the Feminist Dalit Organisation (FEDO) and the International Dalit Solidarity Network (IDSN) shows the extent to which Dalits are marginalised in Nepali society.A staggering 42% of Dalits live below the poverty line, in comparison to the national average of 25%. The Dalit literacy rate of 52.4% falls short of the national literacy rate of 65.97%, with Dalits comprising only 1.6% of Nepalis with SLC and above, and 0.8% of Nepalis with a Bachelor’s degree.The picture is worse for Dalit women, who are discriminated against because of their caste and gender. Dalit women and girls comprise 21% of trafficking victims of Nepal. Dalit girls make up 62% of Nepali <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=3798#.XwyQcJMzY6A" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D3798%23.XwyQcJMzY6A&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1595740698199000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHzsQA69rbsgXvvQE9icVEDpGVoVg">child marriages</a> under 15-years of age."While there are similarities between caste issues in Nepal and race in the US, it is important to recognise that there are distinct differences in terms of its origins and how it manifests in everyday life,” says Dalit rights activist Sarita Pariyar. “It is good to see some Nepali are taking interest in race questions, however, they need to ask themselves about their own role in the caste questions as well."Pariyar underlines the need to rethink relative privileges of other Nepalis and role in the persistence of caste-based injustices and inequities in Nepal. “This is important for reclaiming our humanity as well as just futures for all," she adds.Pradip Pariyar, social activist and chairperson of the SAMATA Foundation, adds: "Nepalis in the US are speaking up for black lives but are silent about Dalit lives because we have never had conversations about caste in our family, in our society."Although Dalits bear the brunt of casteism, ethnic discrimination also affects other marginalised communities in Nepal. Asked about this, all educated upper- and middle-class Nepalis interviewed for this article preferred to remain anonymous."My grandmother only wants a Bahun or Chhetri maid,” said one ‘upper-caste’ person in Kathmandu. Even though she is old and struggling with severe back pain, she would rather do all the work in her big house than hire a maid of another caste."Another adds, "My grandparents refused to put Dasain tike on my father's office staff because he is Teli Madhesi." A Sherpa student complained to her school about Losar not being a holiday, but was ignored.Pradip Pariyar argues that to tackle casteism, there must be representation. "Issues that affect Dalits are not even in the radar of non-Dalits,” he says. “I have talked to people who can stand up and bring change. Because they aren't Dalit, they aren't as concerned about these issues as they should be. This will continue if there is no representation."However, the picture is grim. Dalits, despite making up 13% of Nepal's population, have merely 8% representation in the Nepal’s Parliament and comprise a meagre 0.8% of Nepal's civil service. As long as Dalits are underrepresented, activists say, they will remain silenced and powerless, and continue to be discriminated against, oppressed, murdered, lynched, raped, and forgotten.Sarita Pariyar adds, "It is important to re-examine the idea and role of resources from within and outside of Nepal for inclusive development. In this, we need to have a genuine role of Dalits for ensuring effective distribution and use of resources."

Black lives matter but Dalit lives don't?

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

The Last Days of the Khampa

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

Turkish to Seville

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

Digital protection for Nepal’s art

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