<figure><img width="957" height="638" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111152/636b866b9c7e80680e067852jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: BIKRAM RAI</figcaption></figure>On 20 May, the Health Ministry released a condolence message for doctors including Ishwor Lal Acharya, Mukesh Chaudhary and Pujya Shree Karki who lost their lives to Covid-19.Nepal doesn't yet have an exact figure on the total number of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/protecting-those-who-protect-us-from-the-epidemic/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/protecting-those-who-protect-us-from-the-epidemic/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1622085873678000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE67Zklb3ITwY-EN9ZPs4LRP2MFtQ">medical staff</a> infected by the SARS-CoV-2 but the Nepal Health Research Council (NHRC) is currently conducting a study to find out. “Majority of our frontline health care provides have been fully vaccinated, so even if they are being infected, they are only mild to moderately sick,” says cardiologist and chair of the Nepal Medical Council (NMC) <a href="https://www.facebook.com/bhagawan.koirala" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.facebook.com/bhagawan.koirala&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1622085873678000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEOs-qwziT36jBSTwwrTvDCe4MA1A">Bhagawan Koirala.</a> “This combined with a better understanding of Covid-19, they are now more confident and have a better sense of responsibility this time around.”At the National Trauma Centre in Kathmandu, nursing staff Suman Chaudhary is back to work after recovering from the coronavirus herself and draws motivation from health workers who are battling the pandemic in major hotspots like Birganj.“This is our chance to make a real contribution and having been infected myself has given me a new perspective on how patients feel,” says Chaudhary who was pursuing Masters in Nursing at Bir Hospital during the first wave. “It is difficult to work in a PPE all day without water or bathroom breaks. I still feel weak and have shortness of breath, but watching people recover keeps us going.”Both Koirala and Chaudhary, however, agree that there is a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-frontline-workers-brave-it-out/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-frontline-workers-brave-it-out/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1622085873678000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG1eSnzgkQ-VmoauOQrzkj_c0eUzA">chronic shortage of medical staff</a> across the country. Hospitals outside Kathmandu and even Covid dedicated institutions are overstretched, and now doctors and nurses are themselves falling sick. In some hospitals, since patients and staff are all positive, nurses and doctors with mild symptoms have just kept working, since there is no one else to take care of the sick.Last week, more than 47 of Dhading District Hospital’s emergency and ward staff were infected with Covid-19, with many of them in isolation and some requiring ICU treatment even as the facility was finding it difficult to source enough <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/why-is-there-still-an-oxygen-shortage/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/why-is-there-still-an-oxygen-shortage/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1622085873678000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGkShQk2X-gpsUuQceFplgqsL0bSg">oxygen for existing patients</a>.“We are a hospital of only 8 doctors, 5 paramedics and 23 nurses and with no backup, we were very close to collapsing,” says Medical Superintendent at Dhading District Hospital Tribhuvan Jha, adding that everyone had to be called back to work after 10 days of isolation. “We are in this position due to a lack of preparedness, shortage of staff and limited infrastructure.”At Charikot Hospital in Dolakha, which is also a Covid-dedicated hospital, the majority of coronavirus patients are critical and there is at least one fatality every day. The 17 nurses work three shifts a day, and are unable to handle patient inflow, so the hospital has brought in community nurses from outlying villages. The hospital is consistently reporting a 45% test positivity rate among those tested.“If a majority of our health workers get infected and are in isolation, we have no Plan B and this is especially worrying because we are the sole care provider for Covid here,” says Binod Dangal of Charikot Hospital. “Medical staff are all  overworked, and they do not have any insurance or allowances.”As dire as the situation is in Nepal’s big cities and district hospitals, the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/nepals-humanitarian-emergency/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/nepals-humanitarian-emergency/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1622085873678000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE3z3JV_9xnJ0reDy2ABkI8VuY16A">pandemic has now infiltrated rural Nepal</a> where there is just one doctor for every 15,000 people. Kathmandu’s doctor-to-patient ratio is 1:850.In her village of Phediguth of Okhaldhunga district, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/saving-nepali-mothers-on-mothers-day/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/saving-nepali-mothers-on-mothers-day/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1622085873678000&amp;usg=AFQjCNErggt96LmoW-c38IzduDUsayQwIg">Rita Khatri</a> is the only skilled birth attendant. Despite the growing risk of the second wave, she is still performing deliveries and ante-natal check-ups wearing a mask and her single PPE suit. There are no tests of health workers and the public.“We are working despite fears of transmission, I wish we had more PPEs, masks and gloves so that we could conduct more regular check-ups and make home visits,” adds Khatri. “At the moment many people in the community have high fever and are staying at home, but there is no way to test them.” This time last year while in the grip of the first wave of a new pandemic, there was stigma associated with Covid-19 and people who were infected were ostracised in the community. There were many instances where <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-health-workers-battle-covid-19-but-also-stigma/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-health-workers-battle-covid-19-but-also-stigma/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1622085873678000&amp;usg=AFQjCNECgLl_SyeWRy6kuDEPnEbsSFoCyQ">healthcare providers were mistreated</a>.Doctors and nurses interviewed for this report say that is still the case, but there is also more praise for frontline medical workers risking their own health to save lives. However, there is growing concern about the worry and over-work affecting the mental health of nurses and doctors.“Among other things we need psychological support and counselling. I have seniors who have children infected with the new variant, and they are having a hard time coping,” says Suman Chaudhary, nursing staff at the Trauma Centre in Kathmandu.As most of Nepal enters the fourth week of lockdown, nationwide daily Covid-19 infections, positivity rate as well as fatalities are going down slightly. The number of recoveries have also risen to nearly equal new confirmed cases on some days.Bayalpata Hospital in remote Accham District had to turn its Emergency Room into a Covid-19 ward last month to cope with a flood of patients. It had 33 patients, 18 of them needing high flow oxygen support. On Wednesday, it had only 12 Covid-19 patients with only two on oxygen. Four of those infected are medical staff. “The situation is easing somewhat here, in Mangalsen, Doti and Dadeldhura. There are beds available, and oxygen is coming in. But we are desperately short of medical staff,” says Mandeep Pathak, a physician at Bayalpata which is also caring for trauma and maternity patients from surrounding districts.However, the cases and the test positivity rate <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/its-an-emergency/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/its-an-emergency/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1622085873678000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHx4NfPYsEDb5xqY31L966E2avOdg">have not gone down as expected</a> and fatalities nationwide have stayed above 160 for nearly two weeks now as the highly contagious and more lethal B.1.617.2 variant spreads rapidly through communities.Health Minister Hridayesh Tripathi sounded optimistic at a virtual press meet on Monday, predicting that there would be a decline in the infection rate in the next four weeks. As Nepal receives large shipments of oxygen cylinders, liquid oxygen, test kits, PPEs and masks, doctors say the emphasis now needs to shift to more testing, mass vaccination, and replenishing exhausted and over-stretched medical staff at hospitals, both in the cities and the districts. A non-profit One Heart Worldwide that works primarily in maternal care in Nepal’s 21 districts has been helping district hospitals by mobilising oxygen cylinders and medical kits it procured from China.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/what-can-be-more-fulfilling-than-saving-lives/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/what-can-be-more-fulfilling-than-saving-lives/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1622085873678000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFzGOK8F0-jy4gwuRmK8iyNBD7AIA">Executive director Surya Bhatta</a> gives three reasons why despite the lockdown the infection rate is still high. “There is virtually no contact tracing, people are still not following health protocols and patients isolating at homes are not doing it right, resulting in a gross underestimation of total cases and fatalities.”		
			<h2>Weddings into hotspots</h2>		
		Gopal Dahal in DhankutaOn 30 April, when a young man in Okhre village in Dhankuta district got married, the whole . The whole community was invited for the feast.But a few days later, the groom suddenly fell sick. When he showed coronavirus symptoms, a test at the primary health care centre confirmed he was <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/its-an-emergency/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/its-an-emergency/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1622085873678000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHx4NfPYsEDb5xqY31L966E2avOdg">Covid-19</a> positive.Now, every household in Okhre village has members showing similar symptoms. Most of them had attended the wedding. Of the 51 people tested, 25 tested positive. “This is a crisis, the pandemic has spread to the whole village now,” says Ward Chair Palak Basnet.One of the guests at the wedding was a man who had returned recently from the Tarai with mild symptoms. He was hired to wash dishes at the wedding, and had died a few days after the feast. No one tried to find the cause of death, and there was no PCR test done. Dhankuta MP Jitendra Rumdali Rai says there are probably many more cases than the ones who have tested positive so far. “The pandemic is spreading out of control here because the municipality wasn’t able to manage it on time,” he adds.Okhre village has now been sealed off till 8 June. Some of those infected are in critical condition, and six who were more serious were taken to hospital in Dharan. It is difficult for the others because the municipality does not have an ambulance, and some who had taken sick relatives to Dharan returned because there were no beds, or it was too expensive. “Initially they were charging Rs10,000 per day for the bed and we paid Rs4,000 daily for the doctor. But then they hiked it to Rs14,700 and I couldn’t pay it any more,” says one patient’s family who returned recently from Dharan’s Bijayapur Hospital.Another <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/rural-nepal-fights-back-covid-19/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/rural-nepal-fights-back-covid-19/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1622085873679000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHu0t7Yl9XzW-TA064jBcggx4L-TA">coronavirus</a> patient says ambulances are also expensive, making it hard to get patients to hospitals. Buses refuse to take passengers who are sick.The municipality called an emergency all-party meeting and decided to set up a 10-bed isolation centre with two staff nurses, and a doctor. Talks are underway to get at least a pickup from Dhankuta Red Cross to use as an ambulance.

Sonia Awale

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Protecting those who protect us from Covid

<figure><img width="957" height="638" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110131128/636cee759c7e80680e09ae2fjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: BIKRAM RAI</figcaption></figure>On 20 May, the Health Ministry released a condolence message for doctors including Ishwor Lal Acharya, Mukesh Chaudhary and Pujya Shree Karki who lost their lives to Covid-19.Nepal doesn't yet have an exact figure on the total number of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/protecting-those-who-protect-us-from-the-epidemic/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/protecting-those-who-protect-us-from-the-epidemic/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1622085873678000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE67Zklb3ITwY-EN9ZPs4LRP2MFtQ">medical staff</a> infected by the SARS-CoV-2 but the Nepal Health Research Council (NHRC) is currently conducting a study to find out. “Majority of our frontline health care provides have been fully vaccinated, so even if they are being infected, they are only mild to moderately sick,” says cardiologist and chair of the Nepal Medical Council (NMC) <a href="https://www.facebook.com/bhagawan.koirala" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.facebook.com/bhagawan.koirala&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1622085873678000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEOs-qwziT36jBSTwwrTvDCe4MA1A">Bhagawan Koirala.</a> “This combined with a better understanding of Covid-19, they are now more confident and have a better sense of responsibility this time around.”At the National Trauma Centre in Kathmandu, nursing staff Suman Chaudhary is back to work after recovering from the coronavirus herself and draws motivation from health workers who are battling the pandemic in major hotspots like Birganj.“This is our chance to make a real contribution and having been infected myself has given me a new perspective on how patients feel,” says Chaudhary who was pursuing Masters in Nursing at Bir Hospital during the first wave. “It is difficult to work in a PPE all day without water or bathroom breaks. I still feel weak and have shortness of breath, but watching people recover keeps us going.”Both Koirala and Chaudhary, however, agree that there is a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-frontline-workers-brave-it-out/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-frontline-workers-brave-it-out/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1622085873678000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG1eSnzgkQ-VmoauOQrzkj_c0eUzA">chronic shortage of medical staff</a> across the country. Hospitals outside Kathmandu and even Covid dedicated institutions are overstretched, and now doctors and nurses are themselves falling sick. In some hospitals, since patients and staff are all positive, nurses and doctors with mild symptoms have just kept working, since there is no one else to take care of the sick.Last week, more than 47 of Dhading District Hospital’s emergency and ward staff were infected with Covid-19, with many of them in isolation and some requiring ICU treatment even as the facility was finding it difficult to source enough <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/why-is-there-still-an-oxygen-shortage/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/why-is-there-still-an-oxygen-shortage/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1622085873678000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGkShQk2X-gpsUuQceFplgqsL0bSg">oxygen for existing patients</a>.“We are a hospital of only 8 doctors, 5 paramedics and 23 nurses and with no backup, we were very close to collapsing,” says Medical Superintendent at Dhading District Hospital Tribhuvan Jha, adding that everyone had to be called back to work after 10 days of isolation. “We are in this position due to a lack of preparedness, shortage of staff and limited infrastructure.”At Charikot Hospital in Dolakha, which is also a Covid-dedicated hospital, the majority of coronavirus patients are critical and there is at least one fatality every day. The 17 nurses work three shifts a day, and are unable to handle patient inflow, so the hospital has brought in community nurses from outlying villages. The hospital is consistently reporting a 45% test positivity rate among those tested.“If a majority of our health workers get infected and are in isolation, we have no Plan B and this is especially worrying because we are the sole care provider for Covid here,” says Binod Dangal of Charikot Hospital. “Medical staff are all  overworked, and they do not have any insurance or allowances.”As dire as the situation is in Nepal’s big cities and district hospitals, the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/nepals-humanitarian-emergency/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/nepals-humanitarian-emergency/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1622085873678000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE3z3JV_9xnJ0reDy2ABkI8VuY16A">pandemic has now infiltrated rural Nepal</a> where there is just one doctor for every 15,000 people. Kathmandu’s doctor-to-patient ratio is 1:850.In her village of Phediguth of Okhaldhunga district, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/saving-nepali-mothers-on-mothers-day/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/saving-nepali-mothers-on-mothers-day/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1622085873678000&amp;usg=AFQjCNErggt96LmoW-c38IzduDUsayQwIg">Rita Khatri</a> is the only skilled birth attendant. Despite the growing risk of the second wave, she is still performing deliveries and ante-natal check-ups wearing a mask and her single PPE suit. There are no tests of health workers and the public.“We are working despite fears of transmission, I wish we had more PPEs, masks and gloves so that we could conduct more regular check-ups and make home visits,” adds Khatri. “At the moment many people in the community have high fever and are staying at home, but there is no way to test them.” This time last year while in the grip of the first wave of a new pandemic, there was stigma associated with Covid-19 and people who were infected were ostracised in the community. There were many instances where <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-health-workers-battle-covid-19-but-also-stigma/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-health-workers-battle-covid-19-but-also-stigma/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1622085873678000&amp;usg=AFQjCNECgLl_SyeWRy6kuDEPnEbsSFoCyQ">healthcare providers were mistreated</a>.Doctors and nurses interviewed for this report say that is still the case, but there is also more praise for frontline medical workers risking their own health to save lives. However, there is growing concern about the worry and over-work affecting the mental health of nurses and doctors.“Among other things we need psychological support and counselling. I have seniors who have children infected with the new variant, and they are having a hard time coping,” says Suman Chaudhary, nursing staff at the Trauma Centre in Kathmandu.As most of Nepal enters the fourth week of lockdown, nationwide daily Covid-19 infections, positivity rate as well as fatalities are going down slightly. The number of recoveries have also risen to nearly equal new confirmed cases on some days.Bayalpata Hospital in remote Accham District had to turn its Emergency Room into a Covid-19 ward last month to cope with a flood of patients. It had 33 patients, 18 of them needing high flow oxygen support. On Wednesday, it had only 12 Covid-19 patients with only two on oxygen. Four of those infected are medical staff. “The situation is easing somewhat here, in Mangalsen, Doti and Dadeldhura. There are beds available, and oxygen is coming in. But we are desperately short of medical staff,” says Mandeep Pathak, a physician at Bayalpata which is also caring for trauma and maternity patients from surrounding districts.However, the cases and the test positivity rate <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/its-an-emergency/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/its-an-emergency/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1622085873678000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHx4NfPYsEDb5xqY31L966E2avOdg">have not gone down as expected</a> and fatalities nationwide have stayed above 160 for nearly two weeks now as the highly contagious and more lethal B.1.617.2 variant spreads rapidly through communities.Health Minister Hridayesh Tripathi sounded optimistic at a virtual press meet on Monday, predicting that there would be a decline in the infection rate in the next four weeks. As Nepal receives large shipments of oxygen cylinders, liquid oxygen, test kits, PPEs and masks, doctors say the emphasis now needs to shift to more testing, mass vaccination, and replenishing exhausted and over-stretched medical staff at hospitals, both in the cities and the districts. A non-profit One Heart Worldwide that works primarily in maternal care in Nepal’s 21 districts has been helping district hospitals by mobilising oxygen cylinders and medical kits it procured from China.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/what-can-be-more-fulfilling-than-saving-lives/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/what-can-be-more-fulfilling-than-saving-lives/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1622085873678000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFzGOK8F0-jy4gwuRmK8iyNBD7AIA">Executive director Surya Bhatta</a> gives three reasons why despite the lockdown the infection rate is still high. “There is virtually no contact tracing, people are still not following health protocols and patients isolating at homes are not doing it right, resulting in a gross underestimation of total cases and fatalities.”		
			<h2>Weddings into hotspots</h2>		
		Gopal Dahal in DhankutaOn 30 April, when a young man in Okhre village in Dhankuta district got married, the whole . The whole community was invited for the feast.But a few days later, the groom suddenly fell sick. When he showed coronavirus symptoms, a test at the primary health care centre confirmed he was <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/its-an-emergency/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/its-an-emergency/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1622085873678000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHx4NfPYsEDb5xqY31L966E2avOdg">Covid-19</a> positive.Now, every household in Okhre village has members showing similar symptoms. Most of them had attended the wedding. Of the 51 people tested, 25 tested positive. “This is a crisis, the pandemic has spread to the whole village now,” says Ward Chair Palak Basnet.One of the guests at the wedding was a man who had returned recently from the Tarai with mild symptoms. He was hired to wash dishes at the wedding, and had died a few days after the feast. No one tried to find the cause of death, and there was no PCR test done. Dhankuta MP Jitendra Rumdali Rai says there are probably many more cases than the ones who have tested positive so far. “The pandemic is spreading out of control here because the municipality wasn’t able to manage it on time,” he adds.Okhre village has now been sealed off till 8 June. Some of those infected are in critical condition, and six who were more serious were taken to hospital in Dharan. It is difficult for the others because the municipality does not have an ambulance, and some who had taken sick relatives to Dharan returned because there were no beds, or it was too expensive. “Initially they were charging Rs10,000 per day for the bed and we paid Rs4,000 daily for the doctor. But then they hiked it to Rs14,700 and I couldn’t pay it any more,” says one patient’s family who returned recently from Dharan’s Bijayapur Hospital.Another <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/rural-nepal-fights-back-covid-19/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/rural-nepal-fights-back-covid-19/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1622085873679000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHu0t7Yl9XzW-TA064jBcggx4L-TA">coronavirus</a> patient says ambulances are also expensive, making it hard to get patients to hospitals. Buses refuse to take passengers who are sick.The municipality called an emergency all-party meeting and decided to set up a 10-bed isolation centre with two staff nurses, and a doctor. Talks are underway to get at least a pickup from Dhankuta Red Cross to use as an ambulance.

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>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025091301098_470dbca4f4d34ca4533ce4d160045ffe8e525e98380f6f1e20eb24a6236c6029.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="2025091301098_470dbca4f4d34ca4533ce4d160045ffe8e525e98380f6f1e20eb24a6236c6029" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="Sushila Karki PM"> <figcaption>Sushila Karki with supporters including Genz representative Sudan Gurung of Hami Nepal and Sumana Shrestha of Rastriya Swatantra Party.</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. 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 this story is being uploaded on Wednesday evening, sloganeering is going on outside the gates of the Nepal Army headquarters in Kathmandu between various GenZ groups about who should be the caretaker prime minister.&nbsp; The GenZ campaign includes Hami Nepal and several other groups that spearheaded the anti-government rally this week against corruption and neoptism. Thirty people died as the protests in Kathmandu turned violent on Monday and Tuesday. After Prime Minister K P Oli stepped down on Tuesday, Nepal has existed in a power vacuum, with no one really in charge. The Nepal Army took over security management from Monday night, and President Ram Chandra Poudel appealed to Nepali youth to come to the negotiating table.&nbsp; Thousands of GenZ youth held hours long discussions on Discord and other online fora on Wednesday, and voted to endorse former Chief Justice Sushila Karki to lead the transitional government. The group informed Chief of Army Staff Ashokraj Sigdel about their choice, but he has also been meeting leaders of at least 12 other groups claiming to be the genuine GenZs. Among them are royalist and other groups that many saw as having infiltrated the GenZ rally on Monday in which 20 people were killed while trying to storm Parliament.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250910170936_4efefa67f54228154d316ca692838c3d0c078f5f9ec96ea68cfc4ca740f4df4d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20250910170936_4efefa67f54228154d316ca692838c3d0c078f5f9ec96ea68cfc4ca740f4df4d" data-rendition-name="original" width="640" height="387" loading="lazy" alt="Sushila Karki"> <figcaption>Photo: SHAHIDUL ALAM</figcaption> </figure>  On Tuesday, disparate groups joined the arson and looting that ended up gutting Singha Darbar, the Parliament and Supreme Court buildings and attacks on party offices, media, schools and private residences across the country. The original GenZ disavowed involvement.&nbsp; 'Nepal's 2015 Constitution does not envision any transitional or emergency provisions to address a state of political and constitutional vacuum. For now, the President, per Article 273 of the Constitution, can exercise emergency powers in light of the current situation,’ wrote former National Human Rights Commissioner Mohna Ansari on social media on Wednesday evening. The President can declare a state of emergency per Article 273 of the Constitution, but that must be endorsed by a two-third majority of Parliament within a month, after which it will be in effect for three months. ‘Former Chief Justice Sushila Karki is the best option to address the adverse circumstances prevailing in the nation. The President must heed the Constitution and take the next steps in a manner that is transparent, keeps the public informed, and is in the national interest,’ Ansari added.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250910140912_019d62de4b62a366299a27d1276e931a7dadefcc674441e7fb3acd503970efaf.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250910140912_019d62de4b62a366299a27d1276e931a7dadefcc674441e7fb3acd503970efaf" data-rendition-name="original" width="8000" height="5760" loading="lazy" alt="Nepal in ashes"> <figcaption>Photos: KAMAL PRASAI</figcaption> </figure>  The Gen Z movement itself appears fragmented and without distinct leadership, both before the anti-corruption protests on 8 September and in the aftermath of the two-day protests.&nbsp; Various groups are said to have met or waited to meet the Gen Sigdel on Wednesday. The Army told others claiming to be GenZ and raising slogans against Karki’s candidacy to appear at the army headquarters on Thursday.&nbsp; Nepalis had floated the names of some of Nepal’s more acceptable public figures to lead a caretaker government, including Kathmandu mayor Balen Shah. But Shah told the Army chief he endorsed Sushila Karki’s nomination. <div class="embed-block"><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FbalenOfficial%2Fposts%2Fpfbid02M9CBZiWETz4qocKaYUG6ZSZ4ARNcq231V8edJJVGQhPLmpSRMdv1mTWM2q7mJijjl&show_text=true&width=500" width="500" height="256" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share"></iframe></div> The names of former NEA chief Kulman Ghising and ex-education minister Sumana Shrestha of the RSP had also been proposed.&nbsp; Polls conducted on social media to gauge public sentiment show a significant number are open to Sushila Karki taking charge of a transitional government. Both Shah and Shrestha are not so keen, and are probably waiting to contest elections.&nbsp; Meanwhile, Nepal’s young reform campaigners largely seem to reject the idea of handing leadership to RSP chair Rabi Lamichhane who was retrieved by supporters on Tuesday from Nakhhu jail after eight months of incarceration for embezzling depositers of cooperatives. But even as GenZ held discussions with the Army chief to decide on the interim government, other interest groups have continued to engage as well. Erstwhile royalist businessman Durga Prasai, posted a photo of himself with Sigdel on social media and professed that he has 'no interest' in leadership and would accept whomever GenZ youth chose. The job of the caretaker government, whoever leads it, will primarily be to hold free and fair elections for a new leadership which will then face the challenge of reestablishing Nepal’s democratic institutions.&nbsp; “The course of events showed that the movement has gone beyond Constitutional remedy,” political analyst Krishna Khanal told BBC Nepali following erstwhile Prime Minister Oli’s resignation on Tuesday. “There needs to be a middle-ground solution that will be acceptable to the people who took to the streets while upholding the existing constitutional process.” Various GenZ collectives have issued demands that include the dissolution of Parliament and the formation of a new civilian government, which analysts say are antithetical. Constitutional experts have suggested that the youth opt for a solution that allows for new leadership to move forward under the current Constitution.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250910140912_e6bf05bfe95f519e05ab8d9016587211b241340fd23a0f9ae728e74747fc5f29.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20250910140912_e6bf05bfe95f519e05ab8d9016587211b241340fd23a0f9ae728e74747fc5f29" data-rendition-name="original" width="8064" height="6048" loading="lazy" alt="Nepal in ashes"> </figure>  One option, they say, is for the President to appoint any prime minister from the existing Parliament under Article 76(5) if all other measures fail, who would then have the authority to appoint up to 25 non-elected ministers for six months. This can be a way for that temporary leadership to hold elections within the mandated time frame. The existing Constitution can then be amended to accommodate the aspirations of the Nepali youth after the election.&nbsp; But any conditions put forward by GenZ youth that requires a new Constitution might set Nepal back years, warn some experts. The 2015 Constitution was the result of nearly 10 years of negotiations and strife, and the formation of another charter will mean that Nepal will head into decades more of rotating governments and political instability. For now, Nepali youth need to unite to decide by Thursday who leads the country into the next phase.&nbsp;

What next, Nepal?

Edited: The paragraph about K P Oli's whereabouts has been deleted. On Wednesday morning, orange flames are still leaping out of the windows of Singha Darbar. Fire trucks which could finally make their way in, were trying to douse the fires. Most of the ministries inside Singha Darbar, including the Prime Minister’s Office, are charred hulks. Singha Darbar’s imposing west facade built by Chandra Shumsher Rana 117 years ago and the hall where he met visiting foreign envoys was destroyed in the 2015 earthquake. It was restored last year to its original splendour with stained glass windows and an ornate ceiling. After demonstrators entered the central government secretariat on 9 September they set the entire complex on fire. Dozens of SUVs and cars that were smashed and burnt litter the parking lot.&nbsp; Across to the south at the Supreme Court, a fire truck belonging to Kathmandu Metropolitan City is trying to put out the flames. The building is still smoking, and hundreds of case files have gone up in flames. There is now also a threat from escaped prisoners from jails all over the country.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250910100936_fd21ff82606c8ab6ec729b3758edb70e7f4498004d71ba7a857a86c9fb75f786.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20250910100936_fd21ff82606c8ab6ec729b3758edb70e7f4498004d71ba7a857a86c9fb75f786" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="1066" loading="lazy" alt="Raising Nepal from the ashes"> <figcaption>Supreme Court sustained heavy damages following Tuesday's arson.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250910100932_6c36bde0847f90934f6a40086a92573c1eec8f2967a4ddc59d79a56c08495628.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250910100932_6c36bde0847f90934f6a40086a92573c1eec8f2967a4ddc59d79a56c08495628" data-rendition-name="original" width="7008" height="4672" loading="lazy" alt="Raising Nepal from the ashes"> <figcaption>Nepal Army cleaning up the debris outside the main gate of Singha Darbar.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025091010098_f4c7d857ae1111968223d20ad02bda6ac0127a3fe4caaa779b35d0e8f07b3529.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2025091010098_f4c7d857ae1111968223d20ad02bda6ac0127a3fe4caaa779b35d0e8f07b3529" data-rendition-name="original" width="7008" height="4672" loading="lazy" alt="Raising Nepal from the ashes"> <figcaption>The grand staircase leading to the upper balcony of the Parliament building.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250910100916_39154c14faa25b5a8838f75c9cb4aa7505f228bd344e19c8e29209cebfb25d46.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20250910100916_39154c14faa25b5a8838f75c9cb4aa7505f228bd344e19c8e29209cebfb25d46" data-rendition-name="original" width="6526" height="4350" loading="lazy" alt="Raising Nepal from the ashes"> <figcaption>Nepal Army armoured car guarding the Baneswor intersection outside Parliament.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250910100916_1dabfef07b909c916aa462b7c0bb62a1db96ebe4f0b52d61f71140edffd429f4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20250910100916_1dabfef07b909c916aa462b7c0bb62a1db96ebe4f0b52d61f71140edffd429f4" data-rendition-name="original" width="6677" height="4451" loading="lazy" alt="Raising Nepal from the ashes"> <figcaption>The row of electric vehicle showrooms in Thapathali were all torched with the cars inside.</figcaption> </figure>  Interestingly, the under construction Supreme Court, and the newly-built Parliament Complex are untouched. The current Parliament is housed in the Birendra International Convention Centre (BICC) built by the Chinese in 1993, and was the first target of protesters on 8 September. Outside its gates was where 20 students were shot and killed as they tried to storm the gates. After Tuesday’s mayhem, Kathmandu’s streets are now under control of the Nepal Army which has imposed a nationwide curfew. K P Oli was whisked out of his official residence in Baluwatar on Tuesday.&nbsp; Tuesday and Wednesday saw additional 8 casualties, including policemen who were lynched in Tinkune and Budanilkantha.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250910100916_1e93335333741ec809cff95e27e7b714bfea6af527c94c6f74f7cbd311562bbf.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20250910100916_1e93335333741ec809cff95e27e7b714bfea6af527c94c6f74f7cbd311562bbf" data-rendition-name="original" width="6539" height="4360" loading="lazy" alt="Raising Nepal from the ashes"> <figcaption>The parking area of the Department of Roads with a row of charred cars (also below).</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250910100920_a3e5a54cf11411c8b81a7b2a01c0f43bff451f343b7b2ce35de70d5719f35d30.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250910100920_a3e5a54cf11411c8b81a7b2a01c0f43bff451f343b7b2ce35de70d5719f35d30" data-rendition-name="original" width="7008" height="4672" loading="lazy" alt="Raising Nepal from the ashes"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250910100920_e75830d7d0e87dc8c451be3caccf1f00ef858b8299a20fe8c7dc8805d83a82aa.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20250910100920_e75830d7d0e87dc8c451be3caccf1f00ef858b8299a20fe8c7dc8805d83a82aa" data-rendition-name="original" width="6726" height="4484" loading="lazy" alt="Raising Nepal from the ashes"> <figcaption>A police vehicle set on fire by demonstrators at Patan Darbar Square on Tuesday.</figcaption> </figure>  The Army is negotiating with the president and representatives of the GenZ campaign that includes Hami Nepal group that organised the protests to form a new government. Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah and former Supreme Court Chief Justice Sushila Karki have been named as potential candidates to lead the new government The Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal has decided to keep Kathmandu airport closed for all domestic and international flights ‘until further notice’. Update: The video of a flight attendant speakling on social media has now been found to be fake. The error is regretted.&nbsp;

dhading

Protecting those who protect us from Covid

Protecting those who protect us from Covid

Madam Prime Minister of Nepal

Who, or what, is Hami Nepal?

What next, Nepal?

Raising Nepal from the ashes