Shakti (शक्ति) in Hinduism is the all-powerful feminine goddess without whom the masculine form is just a shadow. The mother goddess is also प्रकृति (nature), signifying the intimate link of all life forms with the female creator being. &nbsp;
This week, women across Nepal have been celebrating the runup to the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/women-celebrate-tij">nationwide carnival of Tij,</a> and the main day this year falls on 6 September.&nbsp;
Tij has traditionally been a symbol of entrenched patriarchy in Nepali society and a festival to put women in their place. They are required to fast all day to ensure longevity of their husbands, reinforcing the idea that a woman’s worth is tied to a man.&nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/parodying-patriarchy-at-tij">Parodying patriarchy at Tij</a>, Sewa Bhattarai
However, Nepali womanhood has coopted Tij and turned it into a festival of emancipation, independence and even defiance. Leading up to the festival, artists and singers have released music videos on social media platforms with scathing satire, commentary, and protest. Tij has become the stage on which to highlight continued discrimination, abuse, even rapes and murders of women which have gone largely unpunished.&nbsp;
The way Nepalis celebrate our myriad post-monsoon festivals has changed with increased disposable income, and in the process become more commercialised and consumerist. But just to show who is in charge, the Kathmandu District Administration on Tuesday issued a notice saying any ‘unnecessarily extravagant celebration’ of Tij would result in legal action.Why does Kathmandu’s moral police feel it is necessary to control merry-making on the one day that Nepali women have reclaimed for themselves? Don’t they have bigger fish to fry? Like arresting convicted rapists? &nbsp;
The 2015 Constitution has ensured better representation of hitherto excluded groups like women across all sectors. In theory. &nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16252">Re-inventing Tij</a>, Mallika Aryal
Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/songs-of-rebellion,3249">Songs of rebellion</a>, Smriti Basnet
Even though the amendment to Nepal’s Civil Service Act has reserved 33% of civil service seats for women, they make up just 7.41% of the total jobs. Women from underserved communities suffer double discrimination.&nbsp;
Women and minorities in politics tend to be token nominations just to fulfil quota requirements. Women were elected to every local council as either a mayor or deputy mayor in 2017, but electoral alliances between political parties in the 2022 elections at all three levels of government gave politicians loopholes to bypass this requirement.
Indeed, while the number of female mayors and chairpersons rose slightly from 18 in 2017 to 25 in 2022, the number of deputy chiefs in 761 local governments fell steeply from 718 women to 564 at the same time.&nbsp;
Similarly, the 2015 Constitution mandated that 33% of MPs had to be women. Most female parliamentarians were never given a ticket for direct elections by their parties, they had to get into Parliament via the Proportional Representation (PR) system and are therefore not taken seriously by their male peers.&nbsp;
The <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/more-things-change-more-they-remain-the-same">current coalition government of the NC and UML</a> came to power two months ago on the purported agenda of scrapping the PR system with a constitutional amendment, arguing it has brought political instability.&nbsp;
Forget for a moment that it is serial septuagenarian prime ministers of the three main parties who are more responsible for decades of instability, but women and other excluded communities are in real danger of losing guarantees of political representation.&nbsp;
The 2021 census shows the female population over the age of 10 who are economically active has increased from 29.2% to 60.4%. Women manage nearly 30% of all small and medium businesses.&nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-enterprising-women-in-politics">Nepal’s enterprising women in politics</a>, Samjhana BK
Female land and property ownership has increased since women were guaranteed inheritance rights. But while businesses registered by women are on the rise, this is largely so that male family members can use up subsidies for female-owned enterprises.&nbsp;
However progressive the laws, that is only the first step. True equality cannot be achieved until women are socio-culturally empowered to make their own decisions: whether or not to get married, when and to whom, to join the workforce after marriage or be a homemaker, have children (and how many) or not have them, get divorced, or remarry.&nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/50-outstanding-women-of-nepal">50 outstanding women of Nepal</a>, Pratibha Tuladhar
There is no right or wrong in all this, it is a woman’s choice. Family, society and community have no right to critique their decision. Patriarchy has contributed to gender inequality, but internalised misogyny lurks deep within society.
This is reflected in how Nepali families (including some matriarchs) continue to treat their daughters-in-law as slaves. Socialisation is so entrenched that in many cases, it is female family members who banish daughters to <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/women-speaking-out-against-chaupadi,3518">chhau huts</a> during their periods because of fears of divine retribution.
Recently, it was women who defended a self-proclaimed ‘godwoman’ who sermonised that women must endure abuse and exploitation at the hands of the husband and his family because divorce is “unnatural”. &nbsp;
Nepali society has a lot to learn and unlearn so that the next generation can finally break free of the shackles of discrimination, exploitation, abuse, and inequality.
Shristi Karki

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Quality of equality for women

<img width="1440" height="798" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121148/636ce5269c7e80680e0966edjpeg.jpg" alt=""/>The role of women in Nepal’s socio-political landscape is still on the margins, despite decades of activism. Nepali Times interviewed MP and outspoken gender rights activist Binda Pandey about the perpetual struggle of Nepali women for recognition and equality. Nepali Times: Have the demands of Nepali women from the past century had any results at all? Binda Pandey: From as early as 1916, Yogmaya Neupane had led movements against caste-based discrimination, sati, child marriage and polygamy while pushing for the recognition of remarried widows. Mangaladevi Singh formed the Nepal Women’s Association in 1947 to present a political front for women’s demands. With the backing of the Nepali Congress (NC) and Nepal Communist Party (NCP), the Association called for equal opportunities for women in education and employment and equal inheritance rights. With the end of Rana rule in 1951 came municipal elections in 1953 and Parliamentary elections in 1959. But women’s representation was severely lacking. Only Sadhana Pradhan and Dwarika Devi Thakurani were elected into municipal and parliamentary offices respectively. The NCP didn’t even bother raising a woman candidate in 1959. Despite their role in the political struggle, women were not involved in policy-making by their political parties. Schools for women were opened and the police started receiving female cadets. But with the exception of sati being outlawed in 1920, none of the demands presented since Yogmaya’s era was addressed.Did the Panchayat system fare any better? The partyless Panchayat system banned all political groups, including women’s organizations after the 1960 coup. Other than outlawing child marriage in 1963, the Panchayat system mostly worked against the interest of women. Therefore women emerged at the forefront of the anti-establishment movement with leaders like Shailaja Acharya who led the first anti-Panchayat demonstrations, declaring that King Mahendra had “no right to celebrate democracy while silencing it”. Female candidates contested the Independent Student Union elections and were at the frontlines of the 1969 Jhapa rebellion. Women took part in the 1979 student protests, rallying against gender-based discrimination. With the creation of the All-Nepal Women’s Association (ANWA) in 1980, female leaders called for implementing equal inheritance rights, equal opportunities in education, and obtaining citizenship via one’s mother. The Namita-Sunita rape-murder became another flashpoint as women took to the streets demanding action against gender-based violence. They received underground support from student groups, trade unions and political parties. These uprisings ultimately led to the 1990 People’s Movement. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-cycles-of-revolution/">Nepal’s cycles of revolution</a>, Nepali TimesAnd were those expectations met afterwards?Women had high expectations after contributing to the success of the 1990 People’s Movement. We called for 50% representation of women in the National Assembly, drafted demands including proposals for citizenship through mother’s name, laws for strict punishment of violence against women and establishment of family courts to oversee such cases. However, the leaders ignored our proposals for change. In fact, what little progress had been made was also reversed. A provision to grant citizenship to naturalised Nepali children with foreign fathers and Nepali mothers was repealed in 1991. There was apathy towards addressing gender-based violence. I went with a delegation to the government to demand justice for two minors who had been sexually assaulted in the capital. We were ignored, and told that women had to defend themselves with chilli sprays and long nails. We realised that women needed to be in power to achieve true emancipation. A constitutional amendment increased the number of women in local level offices from 136 in 1991 to 40,000 in 1999, while 5% of all candidates for the House of Representatives and National Assembly elections were required to be women. How were demands for gender equality affected by the insurgency? The Maoists triggered a change in the perception of women. With female combatants active on both sides, the state realised that women could carry guns, too, and do what men did. Women started forging their own identities independent of men. Local Mothers’ Groups and small savings and credit groups empowered women to be financially independent. Political parties started incorporating women’s issues and a National Women Commission was set up. In a landmark decree, the Supreme Court ordered an amendment of the Muluki Ain to guarantee equal rights over inheritance for all children.But while political bigwigs post-insurgency threw their weight behind women, the outcome did not reflect that. Upon the re-establishment of Parliament in 2006, our demands for citizenship through the mother, equal ownership over family wealth, strict punishment for gender-based violence and one-third representation in Parliament were ignored. Only after we pressured then-MP Bidya Devi Bhandari to file a Public Interest Litigation was one-third participation secured on all levels of the state. After another week of agitation, the Constitutional Draft Commission included four women who pushed for equal ownership of inheritance and equal-work-equal-pay schemes. Provisions were created for access to health, employment and social security. Reproduction and priority over childbirth were declared a woman’s right. Also established were the rights of all children, regardless of gender, to ancestral property, the duty of family members towards each other and ethnicity-based citizenship from either parent. What challenges lie ahead?While democracy has increased women’s representation, policy-making is increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few men despite the inclusive structure of the state. Overall, our political leaders have shown that they are good at waging revolutions against the existing system, but not changing it.True equality requires political change to go along with an overhaul of patriarchal values that affect politics. Political leaders are still unable to accept women in power, often undermining their achievements and struggles. The political establishment must realise that the support of women is crucial to their staying power, and a loss of that support could spell doom. Only then will they be spurred to act. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/women-leaders-seen-but-not-heard/">Women leaders seen, but not heard</a>, Shristi Karki

“Nepali leaders unable to accept women in power”

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811118/636a2ad59c7e80680e04593djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="1500"/><figcaption>Oligaun is an hour by foot from the district capital at Mangalsen of Achham. It is less remote than most villages and is made up of mixed families of Chhetris, Pariyar and Mijar. Mangala Nepal Rastriya Madhyamik Vidhyalaya offers technical education, and is he only one of its kind in Achham. Most households at least one member – mostly the men – working in India. Many young people aspire to leave. It is common for girls to marry by 16 even though the legal age of marriage for girls is 18 with parental consent and 20 on their own. Chhaupadi was outlawed in 2005 and criminalised since August 2018. Oligaun has been declared Chhaupadi-free by local authorities, but the tradition persists. All photos: UMA BISTA</figcaption></figure>Photographer Uma Bista’s exhibition Our Songs from the Forest is a gentle invitation into the remote mountains of Achham where we meet young women coming of age in a fast-changing society.The women are learning to navigate superstition and ingrained patriarchy in their community while balancing it alongside new aspirations of equality. They are asking questions, and pushing boundaries.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811118/636a2ad89c7e80680e04593ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="1600"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811118/636a2adb9c7e80680e04593fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1200"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811118/636a2adf9c7e80680e045940jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="1600"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811118/636a2ae29c7e80680e045941jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="1600"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811118/636a2ae59c7e80680e045942jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="1600">Women are considered impure during menstruation, and even though the practice of being banished to the cowshed during their periods is now outlawed and is gradually fading away, it is still happens. These brave women are challenging societal norms, and trying to speak against the superstition that perpetuates the practice.Many women still believe that the gods are angered if they do not isolate themselves in the outhouses every month. They are held responsible for ills that might befall the family, especially the menfolk, if they break the rules.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811118/636a2ae89c7e80680e045943jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1600" height="2000"><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811118/636a2aec9c7e80680e045944jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1200" height="1500"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Despite new laws that criminalise these practices, the fear runs deep: fear of angering the gods, fear of being labeled immoral, fear of being ostracised by the community, fear of change. Can such fears be replaced by the fear of legal consequences? Will destroying the sheds free us of the tradition associated with them?Uma Bista takes us into the forests around Oligaun, where the young women seek freedom from the inequality they face daily and the shame they are forced to endure every month. In the forest, the skies are open, the air is free and they feel no fear. They can sing and laugh as loudly as they wish.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811118/636a2aef9c7e80680e045945jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1600" height="2000"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811118/636a2af29c7e80680e045946jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="1600"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811118/636a2af69c7e80680e045947jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="1600">Our Songs from the ForestTill 10  AprilChhaya CentreThamel 11AM-7PM(01 )5543501 (photo.circle)

Their songs from the forest

<figure><img width="1400" height="1129" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811110/636a29249c7e80680e0458acjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Diwakar Chettri</figcaption></figure>While a debate about equal citizenship rights for women raged in Parliament this week, single women who survived the earthquake are quietly and bravely struggling against deep-rooted patriarchy to rebuild homes and carrying on with their lives.On International Women’s Day, this illustration by Diwakar Chhetri shows where Nepali women are today: their responsibilities have increased and so have their capacities and achievements. But they continue to face impediments from all sides, most glaringly from the state.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/staying-alive/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Staying alive</a>, Sewa Bhattarai<a style="background-color: #ffffff; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/nepals-better-halves/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepal's better halves</a>, Anil ChitrakarSince the mid-1990s female literacy in Nepal has doubled, and this has brought far-reaching changes that have ultimately empowered women. Employment and property ownership rates, and maternal and neonatal health have dramatically improved – all because women were more aware about health and rights.There has also been progress in politics, the economy, and sports. Not so long ago, the Chief Justice, Speaker of the Parliament and President of Nepal were all women and at the same time. We have also had one of the most inclusive parliaments in history in terms of gender. Most municipalities in Nepal have proactive female deputy mayors.Read also: <a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/a-house-for-the-nepali-family/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The house for the Nepali family</a>, Sewa Bhattarai<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/making-gods-for-a-living/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Making gods for a living</a>, Sonia Awale<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/surviving-the-aftermath/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Surviving the aftermath</a>, Sonam Choeyki Lama<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/staying-positive/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Staying positive</a>, Sewa Bhattarai Nepal’s National Women Cricket team returned home this week after clinching second position in the World Cup Asia Region Qualifier in Thailand. Not long ago, our women’s blind cricket team won the First International Women’s Blind Cricket Series in Pakistan. Nepal’s women football team was second runner-up at the Gold Cup in India last month.The outflow of men for overseas work has had many consequences, and the most notable is the feminisation of rural Nepal. With the men away, women have taken charge both in their homes and communities. They have decision making power in the management of schools and health posts, in community forestry and irrigation. It won’t be too far-fetched to say that much of the credit for ground-level development, despite the absence of local government for 20 years, goes to women. And now that we have local governments it is women who are standing up to corrupt male counterparts in some municipalities.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/saving-kathmandus-past-for-the-future/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Saving Kathmandu's past for future</a>, Sonia AwaleTo be sure, not everything is rosy. Juggling their dual roles of breadwinner and primary care givers in homes and raising children has increased their burden. This inequitable distribution of work is more prominent in urban areas where women have both careers and homes to make. Men and society in general have been slow to accept these changes, and see the economic benefits of shared responsibility at home and office.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/learning-about-teaching/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Learning about teaching</a>, Prakriti KandelAmong survivors of the 2015 earthquake, women were more affected. There are an estimated 2,000 earthquake widows and 50,000 single women whose houses collapsed in the disaster. In lack of reliable support, reconstruction and survival has been more difficult for them as reported in this issue. But despite these shortcomings, women are going boldly forth where men have gone before in rebuilding lives and homes.We have produced some of the finest females doctors, pilots, engineers, artists, teachers and historians in the past few decades. But despite the fact that for the first time FNCCI is headed by a woman, and 80% of Nepal’s labour force is female (one of the highest proportions in the world) women continue to be restricted to ‘informal sectors’. Though there are higher numbers of women in politics today than ever before, there are still very few in leadership positions. Despite women heading all three organs of the government, the legislative, judiciary and executive at one point, there are still too few actual decision-makers to exert enough influence. This has led to situations like the current citizenship debate, where a male MP this week said providing citizenship to the children of rape victims will encourage rape.Clearly, higher literacy has not led to behaviour change among males in our conservative culture that sees women as an inferior gender. Given opportunity, women have proved themselves time and again and prevailed despite roadblocks and limitations. All they need now is a little help from institutions like the state and family to remove the obstacles that impede progress.

3/4th OF THE SKY

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811110/636a29269c7e80680e0458adjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="1197"/>Last week, women engineers and managers in power utilities from across South and Southeast Asia gathered in Kathmandu for their first ever conference. They came from Afghanistan, Vietnam and countries in between.As more and more women are building and managing energy plants in power hungry Asia, these work places will have to be women friendly. The entire ecosystem from science and technology education to recruiting and retaining women in the energy sector were discussed at the Kathmandu meeting. We heard about women who struggled to rise up their career ladder and the prices they paid for it, including family separation.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/3-4th-of-the-sky/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">3/4th of the sky</a>, Editorial<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/staying-alive/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Staying alive</a>, Sewa BhattaraiTraditionally, women have an exalted place in Nepal. We worship the female attributes in the form of the Nava Durgas and the Asta Matrikas. We celebrate the life of Maya Devi, the mother of the Buddha, Sita, daughter of King Janak and Bhrikuti, the queen of the ruler of Tibet.Today, four years after the earthquake and failed attempts by men, Rani Pokhari is going to be restored by the women of Bhaktapur. We have trekking companies run by women for women. We may soon see pink taxis with women drivers for women passengers like in east Europe.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/a-house-for-the-nepali-family/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The house for the Nepali family</a>, Sewa Bhattarai<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/making-gods-for-a-living/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Making gods for a living</a>, Sonia Awale<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/surviving-the-aftermath/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Surviving the aftermath</a>, Sonam Choeyki Lama<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/staying-positive/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Staying positive</a>, Sewa BhattaraiNot too long ago, Nepal had a woman chief justice, a woman speaker of the house and a woman President of the republic. A woman CDO has just taken charge in Jumla. Women are in line to be secretaries and directors in many ministries and government agencies. The head of FNCCI is a woman.More and more girls are in school and the dropout rate in east Nepal, for example, is higher for boys than girls. In colleges and universities, here and globally, there are more women than men. This is partly because boys are absorbed into the job market more quickly. From Bhaktapur to Dhangadi, all deputy mayors are women. In four years they could all become mayors. Pokhara will probably be represented in parliament by the late Rabindra Adhikari’s wife.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/saving-kathmandus-past-for-the-future/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Saving Kathmandu's past for future</a>, Sonia AwaleWith the men having migrated overseas for work, rural Nepal is being rapidly feminised. All aspects of the social and economic life are being led and managed by women. Many women have also left their villages, in-laws and small pieces of land to go to cities to educate their children, paid for by remittance money from their husbands.More and more land is being registered in the name of women and the reduced tax for them is working as an incentive to accelerate this process across Nepal. This may be a good time to revisit the process of aggregating fragmented fertile land and initiating commercial and contract farming. It is also time to go for high value crops for cash and no longer for subsistence.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/learning-about-teaching/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Learning about teaching</a>, Prakriti KandelNepali women have shown that given the opportunity and a level playing field, they excel in every field. They climb the highest peaks, they run the most successful businesses, they are in the army, police and in banks. They are doctors, engineers, teachers and administrators. As more and more men leave the villages and cities for work abroad, women are taking charge.This must not be seen as a default but a real opportunity to empower Nepal’s women. We need to change our perceptions and mindset, and stop saying that the particular opportunity went to a person only because she was a woman. At the current pace of feminisation, within a decade or so Nepal may well have to institute affirmative action for men.Anil Chitrakar is President of Siddharthinc

Anil Chitrakar

Nepal’s better halves

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107141112/6369045e9c7e80680e037d1djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3000" height="2000"/><figcaption>(Left to right) Soniya Kumary Sada eloped when 16 after her Grade 10 exam, but her husband is away at work in India and she is prevented from studying by her in-laws. Sudesh Rishidev from the Musar community was married at 18, at a time when he had no idea what a husband’s responsibilities were. Navin Rishidev is Sudesh’s friend and was married when he was 18 and his wife was 14 because his parents wanted someone to help with the cooking.</figcaption></figure>Given Nepal’s poor record in enforcement and implementation, it is a given that here, passing laws are not enough. This is glaringly evident in the average age of marriage, which is stuck at 18 despite law raising the minimum marriage age to 20.Data shows that <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/ending-child-marriage-in-Nepal,3864" target="_blank" rel="noopener">37% of girls in Nepal marry before the age of 18</a>, and 10% are still married by the age of 15. This is the third highest rate of child marriage in South Asia after Bangladesh and India. Despite the rise in female literacy child marriage has not gone down significantly. This is taken as a proof that education is slow to reform deep-rooted patriarchy.<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/child-marriage-in-Nepal,3863" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Child marriage</a> is highest in districts with low female literacy and the Tarai districts have a particularly high rate. Experts say that even if marriage age can be deferred to 16 for boys and girls in the Tarai, it will be an achievement. This has thrown the government’s target to eradicate child marriage by 2030 in doubt.At a Girl Summit for the youth of Province 1 and 2 here last month, local government officials, lawmakers all made the right noises, expressing commitment to meet the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/on-air-radio-ro-deter-child-marriage,4185" target="_blank" rel="noopener">zero child marriage goal by educating, empowering and employing girls</a>. They heard from adults who were married when they were children, and were informed of pressures in male-dominated society from family and the influence of the Internet in encouraging early relationships lately. The Summit's motto was: ‘Educate Girls To Save Girls’.Sudesh Rishidev from a Musar community in Rangeli of Morang was 18 when he was married and did not know a husband’s responsibilities. “I knew I had to look after my family, but did not know how,” recalls Rishidev, now a 26-year-old anti-child marriage campaigner.Navin Rishidev is Sudesh’s friend and is now 28, but he was married when he was 18 and his wife was 14. His parents had five other children, and wanted him married only so they could have a daughter-in-law to help with the household chores. Today Navin is a well-known Maitihili singer and uses his musical talent to raise awareness against child marriages.Soniya Kumari Sada from Chandranagar eloped with Indrajit Sada when she was 16, just after her Grade 10 exam. However, with her husband working in India, her in-laws refused to let her study and banished her back to her parent’s home. She is now worried about her future.Pooja Shah, 18, from Janakpur had to take care of her mother and three siblings after her father died. Relenting to pressure from her mother to get married, she wedded 21-year-old Sarkar Shah, but says: “I did this for my mother, who was facing financial pressure to raise the family.” She is sad about dropping out of school, but understands why her mother forced her to do it.Rani Mahato is now 37 and an active member of a political party, but was married when she was 11. “I was not even aware that I had been married,” recalls Mahato, who is now district vice-chair of her party. She is glad the average age of marriage has climbed to 17, even though it is still low.Ajay Kumar Rishidev, from Morang is now 23 and in Grade 12. He is under pressure from family to get married but has evolved a clever strategy to deal with it: he brings his friends to talk to his parents, or he disappears from his home when he hears that prospective bride families are visiting.This has helped him to stay single till now, an he is involved in performing street dramas to show the Musar communities reasons on why child marriage deprives women of opportunities in life.Saroj K Patel, ward Chair of Jeetu Simra Sub Municipality in Province 2, is with the Rastriya Janata Party, but says the campaign against child marriage crosses party lines. But he adds that banning registration of marriage below 20 is depriving many young married women of their rights.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/mr-province-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Chief Minister of Province 2 Lal Babu Raut</a> is convinced that increasing female literacy is the first order of business to fight patriarchy and caste system that lie at the high rate of child marriages in the Tarai. He is trying to amend the relevant clauses in the Civil Laws, and impose a 50% quota in the provincial police.Raut seems to know what he is talking about when he says: “Women are less corrupt than men, so if they are educated and employed, they will also benefit along with their families and the community.”namrata1964@yahoo.comRead also:<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/child-marriage-in-Nepal,3863" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Far too young</a>, Sonia Awale<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/on-air-radio-ro-deter-child-marriage,4185" target="_blank" rel="noopener">On air to deter child marriage</a>, Shipra Jha<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/ending-child-marriage-in-Nepal,3864" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Not just a social problem, but an economic one</a>, Elizabeth Hanna Satow

Can Nepal end child marriage by 2030?

One smoggy winter morning in February 2019, Ekta regretted coming to her sculpture class. It was the first day of her period, and the 19-year-old wished she was home, curled up in bed with a hot water bag to soothe her cramps.
Her class was at Kalapremi Ceramic Studio, a dark room on the ground floor of a house in Maharajganj, and Ekta’s teacher was the artist Gopal Das Shrestha ‘Kalapremi’, a noted sculptor.
Two other students were already there, using all their muscle strength to knead the sculpting clay. Ekta, now 24, recalls how Kalapremi asked her if she was feeling all right. She avoided him, as she did not want everyone to know she was menstruating.
Kalapremi repeatedly asked Ekta what was wrong. She finally muttered that she was having her period, after which he grabbed her hand and led her to a partitioned corner of the studio and sat her on a chair. Before she could stop him, he slid his hand under her dress, and started massaging her abdomen.
“I was horrified,” Ekta recalls. “I told him to stop, but he didn’t listen, asking me not to be shy, saying he knew how to relieve my pain. He stopped only after I protested furiously.”&nbsp;
The art tutor then said, “You’re like my daughter. I’m doing it out of love to make you feel better, but you’re so stubborn.”&nbsp;
“Instead of saying sorry he acted like I was the one having crazy thoughts,” remembers Ekta, adding that from April 2016 to August 2020 beginning the time she was 16, the artist sexually abused and harassed her on several occasions. &nbsp;
Now, Ekta and the artist’s other former students are finally sharing their experiences and some are pressing legal charges against him, hoping that others do not have to endure what they did.&nbsp;
Award-winning artist and teacher Gopal Das Shrestha ‘Kalapremi’ (the name means ‘Art Lover’) is known for his ceramic art, sculpture, and contemporary pottery. He was <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/the-house-of-kalapremi">profiled in Nepali Times after a collaborative exhibition</a>, ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ at the Siddhartha Art Gallery three years ago.&nbsp;
His pieces, titled Gaalis, featured sculpted female figures with the heads of dogs, sheep, and donkeys (pictured) to depict derogatory terms for women. Some critics said the collection was a satire on feminists.
Kalapremi started his artistic and teaching career in 1983 and over the years taught at Bhanubhakta School, Kathmandu University School of Arts, Lalitkala Campus and at his private Kalapremi Ceramic Studio. He has also lectured at Jeonju University in South Korea and recently at Tabor Academy in the United States.
Seven of Kalapremi’s former students were interviewed for this story. Five female students said he touched them inappropriately in his studio or at Kathmandu University. Two male students said they witnessed him abuse and harass the women. In all cases, the students struggled to recognise the abuse when it occurred, and the lack of reporting systems left them to cope on their own for years.&nbsp;
Earlier this year, students shared a social media post hinting at Kalapremi’s history of abusive behaviour following which more students of the artist reached out sharing similar experiences. Some students spoke of abuse that happened as long as 20 years ago.
Kalapremi, 60, has denied the allegations. He told Nepali Times: “Some years ago, there was a movement encouraging people to hug and kiss. I used to do it purely out of friendship and love. But after seeing posts on social media last year calling out my behaviour, I realised my actions may have hurt some people. I understand now that I should have been more mindful.”
He added: “I am also an auxiliary health worker, so I know the exact points to massage to relieve menstrual pain. It’s not just menstruation, I take anyone who is ill to the hospital.”
Sexual abuse is much more rampant than reported given how difficult it is to prove it in court. The law defines sexual abuse as occuring when someone touches another’s private parts, coerces them into touching theirs, uses vulgar language, shows degrading images, or behaves indecently towards them without consent.&nbsp;
Ekta and her fellow students are consulting lawyer Suneeta Regmi Pokhrel, who says they know that even if the court decides in their favour, it is difficult to survive after speaking up, and influential men defend themselves saying they are being framed.&nbsp;
“They are in a lot of pain and weep when recalling how he abused them,” Regmi Pokhrel told us. “They are angry and have filed a case against him, but they are also terrified. They know he is a powerful man and they have seen how our society treats women who speak up against abusers. Unless people speak up, perpetrators will be emboldened.”
Art and academia in Nepal simply reflect the power imbalances in society where people with intersecting identities experience worse forms of abuse. Theatre actors Raj Kumar Pudasaini, Rajan Khatiwada, and Sunil Pokhrel were called out during the #MeToo movement in the Nepali theatre scene in 2019. Even after the allegations Pokhrel went on to receive national awards, while others continued to work without repercussions.
“If you speak up against abusers, you gradually get sidelined from projects,” explained a theatre artist who wished anonymity fearing professional setbacks. “The theatre scene in Nepal is quite small, you just have to make peace with the perpetrators and work with them if you want to sustain yourself.”&nbsp;
In academia there is a history of faculty members sexually harassing students and getting away with it. After Tribhuvan University (TU) lecturer Krishna Bhattachan was accused of harassing women students, the university said it would follow Nepal’s sexual harassment law and set up a reporting mechanism. But nothing happened to the professor, who had already retired. Instead, he counter-accused the students of 'attacking the indigenous people’s movement with baseless allegations' as <a href="https://kathmandupost.com/letters/2019/01/29/bhattachan-responds">he told the Kathmandu Post in 2019</a>. He continues to be featured as a prominent speaker including at TU.
Other faculty members previously accused of sexual harassment include Jagadish Murti Koirala from TU, Bishnu Prasad Acharya from Ratna Rajya Campus, and Bodha Raj Tripathee from Lalitpur Madhyamik Vidhyalaya. A woman staff member from TU also filed a sexual abuse complaint against Dambar Chemjong from TU.
Prominent figures like <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-rise-and-fall-of-nims-purja">mountaineer Nims Purja</a> have been <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/31/sports/mountaineering-sexual-harassment-abuse-nims-purja.html">accused of sexual assault</a>, and cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane, actor <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/celebrity-rape-case-spotlights-nepal-laws">Paul Shah</a>, and former speaker of Parliament <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/mahara-arrested">Krishna Bahadur Mahara</a> have been accused of rape, but society-at-large has let off the alleged perpetrators amdist a larger debate about justice for survivors and punishment of perpetrators.&nbsp;
‘Gaushala-26’ is the court name given to the 18-year-old who accused Sandeep Lamichhane, former captain of Nepal’s national cricket team and skipper of Biratnagar Kings in the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/here-comes-the-nepal-premier-league">ongoing Nepal Premier League</a>, of rape. She left the country citing society questioning her character affecting her mental health while Lamichhane got an outpouring of support. In May, the Patan High Court overturned a prior verdict that found Lamichhane guilty of rape and had sentenced him to eight years in prison. During the 23-month legal battle to pursue justice, Gaushala-26 faced threats of gang rape and acid attacks.&nbsp;
Exhausted by the struggle, Gaushala-26 sought to “move to a new world” where she could live free without hiding her identity.
Actress Samragyee Rajya Laxmi Shah in an Instagram video now deleted detailed the harassment she faced from a filmmaker during a movie shoot. She did not name any name but veteran actor Bhuwan KC filed a defamation case against Rana, but the court ruled that the charge lacked sufficient evidence.&nbsp;
Former Kathmandu mayor <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/theytoo">Keshav Sthapit also mocked the #MeToo movement</a>, calling accusations against him by journalists Rashmila Prajapati and Ujjwala Maharjan “a rape of men’s rights”.
Serial Abuse
Back at the Kalapremi Ceramics studio, another former student, 24-year-old Rajiv, says he felt the need to speak out after seeing his female classmates being abused.&nbsp;
“He frequently kissed them on their cheeks,” he told Nepali Times. “Whenever they walked into the studio he flailed his arms like a child asking for a hug. They awkwardly hugged him from the side, but he pulled them closer, held their chin, and kissed their cheeks.”&nbsp;
Rajiv says he also saw Kalapremi pull the women’s bra straps, touch their breasts, and slap their buttocks. The young students would freeze, not knowing how to react, and if they protested, he would say it was “normal in art”. Rajiv, 19 at the time like his classmates, remembers thinking perhaps the well-respected artist was right after all.
Another student, Luna, who took lessons at Kalapremi’s studio from 2020 to 2022 did try to confront the tutor after he made an obscene proposal to her. She recalls: “One day when the other students had left the studio and it was just the two of us, he told me that God had given him special artistic talent and he could transfer those powers to me. But to do that both of us will have to be naked, inside a dark room, and have sex.”
Luna, who was 18 then, was livid and told him she did not want any of his powers, but she says he laughed at her as if he was joking. She did not tell her family about the incident because she thought no one would believe her.&nbsp;
“They were all in awe of this famous artist and felt I should be grateful that to be learning sculpting from him,” she says. “I was scared to be alone with him in case he talked about sex again. My coping mechanism was to be rude so he wouldn’t try to come close to me.”
Seeing how some classmates were standing up to Kalapremi, Ekta too tried to push back against his advances, but she said he found ways to coerce her. Since Ekta, Rajiv, and Luna could not afford Kalapremi’s Rs30,000 monthly fee for lessons, he had offered them all a stipend to assist him in the studio.
“He had spondylosis and took me to his therapy sessions to learn massage techniques, then he often made me and other students massage him,” says Ekta. Whenever she refused, he would feign pain to make her feel sorry for him. “He would insist that I put my hands under his shirt so that I could massage him better,” she adds.
The art tutor often tried to “seduce sympathy” from Ekta by sharing how he had never been loved as a child and was “sexually frustrated” as an adult.&nbsp;
“At 7PM, he would pour himself Signature whiskey and immediately go off again about how he was sex-starved. I didn’t know how to respond. It took me time to realise alcohol was just an excuse to talk about sex,” Ekta says.
If convicted, Kalapremi could face financial penalty and/or a prison sentence of up to three years according to Section 224 of National Penal (Code) Act 2017.&nbsp;
Data suggests that victims of child sexual abuse on average take nearly 24 years to tell someone about their trauma, and some may never disclose it at all.&nbsp;
“In our culture, children are rarely taught about boundaries. They often react, show anger when adults pinch their cheeks. But adults insist they did it out of love, and force the children to accept it,” says Sita Lama, a psychotherapist at Manka Kura. “And even when someone touches them inappropriately they struggle to identify and verbalise it.”
When perpetrators claim to be “acting out of love”, Lama says survivors are likely to perceive it as something safe, rather than recognising it as abuse.&nbsp;
“It may take years for them to realise they were abused,” she explains. "And even when they become aware, the power imbalance with the abuser and the associated shame often prevents survivors from speaking up."
Other former students from the School of Art at Kathmandu University have also come forward years later, saying Kalapremi sexually abused them. As young adults, they felt his behaviour was off but were uncertain if it was inappropriate, illegal, or they did not know how to respond. After having understood that it was indeed abuse, they say they are speaking out now to protect others.&nbsp;
Amina Singh, a visiting faculty member at Kathmandu University, says there is no clause against sexual abuse in contracts of teachers, and there is no formal grievance handling mechanism for the students.&nbsp;
“So the only way students can to deal with sexual abuse is approach someone they trust,” she says.
Eight other former art students of Lalit Kala Campus and Srijana College of Fine Arts of Tribhuvan University and other private art studios in Kathmandu say they were also sexually abused by their art teachers. Three faculty members interviewed from these institutions said they saw the abuse, but felt it was futile to report it given how powerful the teachers were.
In the absence of a formal system, some longtime women artists warned each other about “problematic” artists. They shared &nbsp;a “heads-up” to be more cautious when collaborating with them, and avoided responding to their calls and texts after work hours.
To ensure art institutions are safe for all, galleries, museums, artist studios, and smaller art spaces need to develop policies on sexual harassment. This would include a code of conduct or studio policies that hold the leadership accountable and outline the principles of professional ethics.&nbsp;
Students and employees should inquire about accountability mechanisms for raising concerns, both formally and informally, advocates say.
Three years after Ekta left the ceramics studio, she learnt that Kalapremi had harassed many other women. Still trying to get a footing in the art industry, she attended a workshop in Kathmandu where women artists discussed ways to stay safe in the art sector.&nbsp;
Since it was a close-knit group Ekta opened up about how she felt violated and realised she was not alone, he had been abusing underprivileged students for years, and this was common knowledge among artists in Nepal.
Ekta says that even after she quit, Kalapremi continued sending her text messages like ‘I am thinking of you’, ‘Why have you stopped speaking with me’, or ‘I am waiting for your call’.&nbsp;
But what really forced her to act was when Ekta found out that he was sending similar texts to her younger sister.&nbsp;
“I’ve had enough,” she told us. “He abused me all these years but I won’t let him abuse my sister.” &nbsp;
Ekta, Rajiv and Luna are not the real names of the students.&nbsp;

‘Art Lover’ accused of sexual abuse

It was 8:15 in the evening of 25 March 1968 when everyone in the village of Batulechaur near Pokhara heard a deafening sound like thunder as a bright flashing object hurtled down to land in a field.&nbsp; That field belonged to Kul Timilsina, and the next morning he retrieved a sheet of metal about 2m by 1m and carried it home with the help of a few others, thinking it would be useful for his buffalo shed.&nbsp; Before he died at age 83 three years ago, Timilsina had told photo archivist Sunil Ulak that the black metal sheet was not rectangular and had rounded corners. There are a few witnesses still alive who have a clear recollection of the object that fell from the sky that night.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024120707128_75cc85aac56b9cc4a77366471f058d7b3eb6868776811b0923845c2d0a61f014.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2024120707128_75cc85aac56b9cc4a77366471f058d7b3eb6868776811b0923845c2d0a61f014" data-rendition-name="original" width="1170" height="601" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> <figcaption>The field in Batulechaur belonging to Kul Timilsina where fragments of a flying object fell from the sky in 1968.</figcaption> </figure>  One of them is Timilsina’s wife Gyanu, who was 22 at the time. She had been at home, and remembers hearing the big bang and the sky becoming very bright. “We saw the thing in the field in the morning,” she told us. “It looked like a lid, a covering of some sort. The way it was stuck in the ground, it must have fallen from the sky. We thought we could use it to dry clothes on, and took it home.”&nbsp; Another witness is Kul Narayan Paudel. “I was only eight then. We ran to the field to see what had fallen. It was a four-sided metal sheet. The elders took it away, and I don't know what happened to it.” &nbsp; Ram Bahadur Baniya, a teacher at the local school, says he had heard the sheet had been brought to the school, and later handed over to the Zonal Commissioner at the time, Nanda Prasad Malla. “But that is all hearsay,” he says.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024120707128_0bf207a12063fb8155b3c8d9a00a94887b126380c9e0627527c84cf5e1101f54.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2024120707128_0bf207a12063fb8155b3c8d9a00a94887b126380c9e0627527c84cf5e1101f54" data-rendition-name="original" width="1170" height="610" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> <figcaption>Gyanu Timilsina, wife of Kul Timilsina.</figcaption> </figure>  There are two versions of what happened to Kul Timilsina’s metal sheet. One is that an American Peace Corp Volunteer teaching at the nearby Bindyabasini School took it, and another is that it was handed over to the government. Recently declassified Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and US State Department documents from the time say that the US Embassy in Kathmandu tracked down the object two years later and had it shipped back to the US. A telegram from the Department of State and Department of Defense tagged as ‘MOON DUST / Space Fragments’ dated 1 March 1972 stated: ‘1. Restored space fragment will be on board Embassy support flight 115 arriving Kathmandu on or about March 10. Fragment is packed in shipping crate (cargo no. 72-33365) marked in care of DAO.&nbsp; 2. State and Defense representatives examined fragments prior to shipment finding restoration acceptable.’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071212_929d903ee06d41baa4f6040e981cd7c7d7bd75cc9c37c9b617d307fc8538d2df.png" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20241207071212_929d903ee06d41baa4f6040e981cd7c7d7bd75cc9c37c9b617d307fc8538d2df" data-rendition-name="original" width="856" height="568" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> <figcaption>Declassified CIA documents about the investigation into the object sighted in Pokhara. </figcaption> </figure>  The documents show that the US government, military and intelligence agencies investigated this incident thoroughly when it occurred, and have continued to revisit it ever since, as recently as five years ago. What is even more intriguing is that the object that fell in Pokhara was not the only unidentified space object that fell to earth that year. There were similar sightings of objects falling from the sky in Ladakh, Sikkim and Bhutan between 19 February and 25 March 1968.&nbsp; These mysteries were the subject of a CIA investigation in 1968 titled ‘<a href="https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP81R00560R000100070007-8.pdf">Sighting of Unidentified Flying Objects in Ladakh, Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan</a>’, and the report is part of the recent online declassification of 800,000 top-secret documents from the period.&nbsp; &nbsp;Although unidentified flying objects (UFOs) have a connotation now of being alien craft, it could be pieces of satellite, missile, rocket or even aircraft. The CIA report documents six sightings in 1968 and quotes local sources as describing all of them having similar characteristics: bright blue or red streaks in the sky accompanied by loud sounds like lightning and thunder and objects falling to the ground. Aside from the metallic object that was found in Batlechaur, there were other items also found nearby in Tallakot, Tureypasal, Armalakot and Maidan. Whatever the object was, it seems to have disintegrated even before it hit the ground.&nbsp; The CIA report records the first sighting on 19 February 1968 in various parts of Sikkim and Olangchung Gola and Ghunsa in eastern Nepal. The light was said to be ‘long and thin’ and giving out ‘green and red light’. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071212_c3c825027d966a2aedc846970390eebe063957503c7eacc8e01e0517843f9bbb.png" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20241207071212_c3c825027d966a2aedc846970390eebe063957503c7eacc8e01e0517843f9bbb" data-rendition-name="original" width="892" height="596" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara "> </figure>  Two days later on 21 February, a soundless blue object was seen traveling fast across the sky above Thimphu in Bhutan. Then on 4 March there were multiple daytime sightings or white streaks in the sky at Chang La Pass, Fukche and Koyul in Ladakh. There were more sightings in Ladakh on the very day fragments fell near Pokhara on 25 March 1968.&nbsp; After the sightings in Pokhara, rumours started flying in Kathmandu that these were aliens trying to land on Earth, it could be Russian or Chinese spy planes or satellites, and some even say it as a sign from heaven that the end of the world was near. This was at the height of the Cold War. The Russians and Americans were testing their thermonuclear devices as well as intercontinental ballistic missile delivery systems. The Washington-Beijing rapprochement had not yet happened, and China was making quick progress testing atomic bombs. Within two years after its first atomic test, in 1966 China exploded its first hydrogen bomb at the Lop Nur site in Xinjiang, 3,000km to the north from Nepal. After neary six decades, what is still intriguing is that all the sightings within a few months of each other in 1968 were along the Himalayan arc bordering Tibet: from Bhutan, Sikkim Nepal, to Ladakh. The US military intelligence seems to have concluded that this was not a coincidence and there were frequent research trips to the site in Pokhara by American officials in the months after the incident. With the help of the Royal Nepal Army, the region north of Pokhara was thoroughly searched.&nbsp; A confidential memo dated 25 June 1968 by Jerry C Trippy to a ‘Mr Farley’ mentions that the US Air Force’s Foreign Technology Division had decided that the debris could be important because it may be related to a Chinese missile test or a Soviet ‘Vehicle Venik’ rocket.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071216_feb5425692dc36b20187de4e4fcc2ce9fd12b6d9e1b8724398e50bcdbf9032fe.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20241207071216_feb5425692dc36b20187de4e4fcc2ce9fd12b6d9e1b8724398e50bcdbf9032fe" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> </figure>  On 28 August 1968 the US Embassy in Kathmandu sent a letter to Washington DC saying that the object could be of Soviet origin, possibly from when the rocket carrying the ‘Kosmos 208’ satellite re-entered the atmosphere. But why were the fragments falling to earth several weeks apart, and in the same region? No one knows where the metal sheet that Kul Timilsina recovered is now. It was definitely packed in a crate and taken to the US, and although it is rumoured that it was returned that is not very likely. Archivist Sunil Ulak heard from the Timilsina family that CIA officials had returned to the site five years ago. &nbsp; Interest in UFOs peaked in the US in the 1950s, with the Cold War space race and tests of atomic weapons and delivery rockets. CIA and scientists were being sent to investigate sightings, both publicly and privately. Could the Pokhara fragments as well as the sightings in Ladakh and Bhutan actually be alien craft falling to earth? The renewal in interest in space travel in large part due to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, UFOs and sightings are again subjects of public interest.&nbsp; Even 57 years later, even if there was definitive proof about whether the Batlechaur fragment was from a Chinese missile or a soviet rocket, it has not been made public in documents declassified so far. We may never know.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071216_b6938795f40731e7657fd6dcbb3cf460a326186a15eb11d4f832f602201ff598.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20241207071216_b6938795f40731e7657fd6dcbb3cf460a326186a15eb11d4f832f602201ff598" data-rendition-name="original" width="642" height="320" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> </figure>  Sunil Ulak speculates if the debris actually came from an American aircraft, perhaps on an intel mission upon China. “Which could explain why they were so thorough in collecting the fragments in Pokhara,” he says. But that still does not explain the multiple sightings weeks apart in 1968.&nbsp; Indeed, US military aircraft were at that time flying frequent night-time missions from air force bases in India to supply weapons to Khampa guerrilla camps in Nepal located north of Pokhara in Mustang. It could very well be that the Chinese shot down one such aircraft. The other sightings could have been contrails of US spy planes, or Chinese anti-aircraft missiles.&nbsp; There were quite a few developments regarding UFOs in 2024. In a US congressional hearing in July, former intelligence officer David Grusch claimed that the government had long been involved in a program to investigate and retrieve non-human craft crashes, and then try to reverse engineer them. However Grusch did not show any evidence.&nbsp; The UAP Disclosure Act of 2024 was signed into law by Joe Biden in December 2023. It plans to oversee the public disclosure of UFO information. However, there is a clause in it that prevents disclosure if it would cause threats to military defense, intelligence operations or foreign relations.&nbsp; It is unlikely that the declassified documents about sightings in the Himalayan will cause any real surprise about definite evidence of alien life even if it was found. It seems humanity will continue, at least for now, to wonder about curious lights in the sky and whether there is anybody out there.&nbsp;

UFO over Pokhara

When Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) president Rabi Lamichhane was arrested in October on charges of defrauding depositors of cooperatives, the party’s vice president Swarnim Wagle gifted him Fareed Zakaria’s book, Age of Revolutions.
Since then, Lamichhane has been shunted around from Kathmandu to Pokhara to Chitwan and back to Pokhara to attend police investigations and court proceedings. He was being flown to Birganj via Kathmandu on Buddha Air on Monday. There is another pending case in Janakpur.
Human rights groups and civil society have criticised the government for hounding Lamichhane with inhumane treatment that borders on physical torture. The two parties in the coalition, Nepali Congress (NC) and the UML, see Lamichhane’s RSP as a potentially formidable challenge to their power.
Even if the fraud charges against Lamichhane are true, the Nepali public is increasingly looking at the government’s actions through the police and courts as political vendetta.
Despite all the travelling, sometimes by plane and often by road at night, Lamichhane appears to be in high spirits, waving to supporters who often gather if they know he is going to be driven around. A social media video shows him giving high fives to fellow passengers on a recent flight to Pokhara.&nbsp;
In the past weeks, streets in Pokhara have erupted with parallel protests by Lamichhane’s supporters as well as depositors of cooperatives who lost their savings to the scam.&nbsp;
Although family visits are allowed, prison officials in Pokhara told Nepali Times that not many people visit Lamichhane these days. He added, “When he does get visitors, he asks them to bring him books.”
Lamichhane is currently Nepal’s most high-profile public figure in custody, and highlights the stark difference between how influential prisoners are treated compared to ordinary inmates.
There are six prison cells at Kaski District Police Office’s two-story detention centre, three on each floor. And while authorities pack prisoners into already overcrowded cells, Lamichhane has an entire room on the second floor to himself.&nbsp;
He has also been allowed to call his family every few days. Other prisoners are not permitted phone calls except for emergencies.
Meanwhile, Lamichhane’s former business partner Chhabilal Joshi, an ex-Deputy Inspector General of Police with whom he established his Gorkha Media Network, is in custody under the same charges in the prison cell next to him.
Lamichhane is accused of siphoning off depositors' money to the tv network in which he was part-owner and anchor. &nbsp;
Both Lamichhane and Joshi are able to buy food from the police canteen instead of being served the regular meal like other prisoners. Joshi has also given his statement to authorities in Rupandehi and Kathmandu for his alleged role in the scam. Lamichhane is yet to be presented in Kathmandu for questioning.
While he was in custody at the Kathmandu District Police Complex, Joshi expressed his desire to sleep in a police officer’s office, reportedly assuring authorities that he would not run away and he was entitled to certain facilities as a former officer of the law.
“He seemed to be under the impression that he is still a police officer,” says a source at the Kathmandu District Police. “We made it clear to him that as someone accused of a crime, he was not entitled to special treatment.”
Former ministers Balkrishna Khand and Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, and ex-home secretary Tek Narayan Pandey, who were arrested in connection with the fake refugee scam last year, were similarly housed in the offices of law enforcement officials instead of prison cells. Khand has since been released after six months in jail.
While there is no legal provision to keep high-ranking officials in separate detention centres when they are arrested, authorities granting them special facilities is not uncommon. Law enforcement officials say VIP detainees expect preferential treatment while in police custody.
Among those is former Kosi Province minister Lila Ballav Adhikari, who was arrested from Biratnagar on 10 November over his alleged involvement in human trafficking and brought to Kathmandu. Adhikari had flown to Japan without government approval with three individuals on 29 October to attend a cultural conference, but had been sent back to Nepal from Narita.&nbsp;
His three companions were arrested at Kathmandu airport upon their arrival, but Adhikari was able to exit unscathed from the VIP lounge. Adhikari had resigned as the Kosi Province Minister for Internal Affairs and Law when it became public that his companions had been taken into custody, and was himself arrested shortly after. He has since been cleared by the courts.
Throughout his detention, Adhikari was kept separately from other inmates. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Basant Rajouri, head of the Bhadrakali complex, says that while there is no separate detention area for VIPs, some detainees are kept separately depending on the nature of their crime.
However, sources say that arrangements were made for retired judges and others to visit Adhikari frequently worked at the office of a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) during his time in custody.&nbsp;
“He used to constantly pester the authorities to let him sit outside in the sun, and to be able to use the police officer’s shower area,” added an officer.
Adhikari was released on 25 November after the government prosecutor’s office decided not to charge him in a move that was seen to expose the government’s double standards.
Over at Kathmandu’s Dilli Bazar Prison, former Kist Bank CEO Kamal Gyawali emerges from his prison cell into the courtyard of the prison’s ‘Ka (क)’ block every morning with a thick book in his hands, ready to give his daily sermon.
With his long beard, Gyawali, who is serving a prison sentence for banking fraud, looks the part of a religious guru as he implores his rapt listeners to “walk the right path, abandon bad thoughts and turn to scripture and spirituality”.&nbsp;
Afterward, the attendees gather to discuss politics and current affairs. Inmates at his daily sermons at the prison include other high-profile detainees, including former MP Ichchha Raj Tamang, who is in jail for money laundering and cooperatives fraud, former joint secretary Chudamani Sharma, who was convicted of corruption, as well as NC leader Chandra Bahadur Lama and Krishna Bahadur Upreti of the UML both of whom are on trial for embezzling billions of rupees.
Victims of the cooperatives scam that former lawmaker Tamang was involved in have made trips to the prison and requested visits, but he has refused to meet with any of them.
“Tamang often complains that the state has prevented him from returning the money to the victims by locking him up,” says a police officer at the Dili Bazar jail.
“All you hear every day from the VIP prisoners is that they have been framed,” adds the officer. “No one admits that they were involved in misdeeds.”
But while most high-profile prisoners complain about prison conditions, one exception is former provincial lawmaker Deepak Manange, who is serving a sentence at Dilli Bazar Jail for attempted murder.
“He is the happiest prisoner here,” says a warden. “Unlike the others, he doesn’t claim to have been framed, in fact he doesn’t seem to care that he is in prison.”
Manange is detained in the ‘Kha (ख)’ block of the prison complex, which he renovated at his own expense. The block previously housed female prisoners, but Manange used his influence to transfer them elsewhere. He faces no shortage of visitors, who range from political leaders to people from the underworld.
Along with Manange, other well-known prisoners in this block include Nepal Telecom Managing Director Sunil Poudel, and former executive director of the Surakshan Printing Centre Bikal Poudel, who are serving time for corruption.
Former prisoners at Dilli Bazar prison include ex-ministers Khum Bahadur Khadka and Shyam Sundar Gupta, NC leader Ganesh Lama, Maoist MP Balkrishna Dhungel, Nagarik Unmukti Party leader Resham Chaudhary, as well as former IGs Ramesh Chand Thakuri, Om Bikram Rana, and Hem Bahadur Gurung.
Section 54 of Nepal’s Prison Act assigns each prison’s internal administration the
responsibility of governing its prisoners, which means the more favourable the jail management is, the more comfortable it is for prisoners.
Dilli Bazar prison has been the prison of choice for many high-ranking prisoners, especially those convicted of white collar crimes, due to its more accommodating administrators. The prison, which has the capacity to house 700 inmates, is also less crowded than other jails.
Anuj Bhattarai, spokesperson of the Department of Prison Management, says that there is no legal classification in Nepal for felons to be assigned prisons based on the nature of their crimes.
“That Dilli Bazar Jail has a higher number of prisoners convicted of crimes like corruption is most likely a coincidence,” says Bhattarai. “There is no provision for influential people to be able to choose where they will be incarcerated.”&nbsp;
Translated by Shristi Karki from the Nepali original published in himalkhabar.com

What Nepal’s VIP prisoners do in jail

The Nepal Premier League T20 men’s cricket tournament is a culmination of much progress in the sport in Nepal over the past decade, and a thrilling first step into higher level sports events in the country. Adding to the excitement is the international talent taking part. The tournament features eight teams made up of Nepali and international cricketers, including Shikhar Dhawan, one of India’s greatest ODI batsmen over the 2010s, and an IPL stalwart for the Delhi and Mumbai franchises. Dhawan is playing for the Karnali Yaks at the NPL. Other eminent imports include Kiwi batsman Martin Guptill, Indian-American Unmukt Chand, and Trinidadian fast bowler Anderson Philip. The NPL franchises are named for Nepal’s provinces and cities. Beside the Yaks, there are the Biratnagar Kings, the Chitwan Rhinos, the Janakpur Bolts, the Kathmandu Gurkhas, the Lumbini Lions, the Pokhara Avengers, and the Sudurpaschim Royals. The franchises have a wide variety of backers, including Kantipur Publications behind the Gurkhas, Chitwan Medical College behind the Rhinos, and Himalayan Builders for the Yaks. These entities are paying the international stars salaries rumoured to be in the Rs5 million range ($37,000) for the 21-day contest.&nbsp; The teams will play each other first in a round-robin league, after which the best performers will progress to playoffs. There will be 32 games in total, all to be held at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur which is being spruced up, including additions of an expanded boundary, digital scoreboard, new sight screens, and practice pitches.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241129041152_9236da646959b888a8635b10bd46b9f9e08f0068ab031a4b8ad736a185288164.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20241129041152_9236da646959b888a8635b10bd46b9f9e08f0068ab031a4b8ad736a185288164" data-rendition-name="original" width="1080" height="1080" loading="lazy" alt="NPL"> </figure>  “Holding all the games at the same stadium makes sense logistically for this inaugural season,” says Chhumbi Lama of the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN). “Future editions will see matches happen across Nepal.”&nbsp; Another benefit of the tournament in future is that it may expedite the completion and upgrades of stadiums across the country, such as Mulpani Cricket Stadium in Kathmandu, the Gautam Buddha International Stadium in Bharatpur, and the Fapla Cricket Ground in Kailali. The main benefit of the tournament is said to be the development of Nepali cricket talent. The rules are also made up to favour this with each 16-player squad having no more than four foreign players. One Nepali ‘marquee’ player was selected by lottery, and others were signed through auctions for as high as Rs1.5 million. “Each team will have the marquee player from the province they represent,” says Lama, although this does not seem to be the case in practice. The 24-year-old leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane, for example, is captaining the Biratnagar Kings, although he comes from Syangja district in Gandaki Province. “NPL’s goal is to support the development of cricket and our players,” says ex-captain and CAN secretary Paras Khadka. Players who are not usually selected for the national team will have the chance to show their cricketing skills. This has proved very beneficial in similar domestic leagues around the world. The Indian Premier League, for instance, led to the discovery and improvement of players like fast-bowler Jasprit Bumrah and batsman Suryakumar Yadav, who not only have become regular starters for the Indian national team, but also are now some of the top-ranked cricketers in the world, contributing to India being the best team in both T20s and ODIs. Nepal’s excellent run in the T20 World Cup this summer, with stellar performances against The Netherlands, South Africa and Bangladesh showed the world that the country could compete at the highest level in cricket. This has added to the legitimacy of the NPL and also promises longevity through future editions: the titular sponsor of the tournament, Siddhartha Bank, has committed to this role until 2029. Ncell is also involved, as the ‘Powered by’ sponsor, continuing the telecom company’s support for cricket, football, volleyball, golf and paralympic athletes. Another sponsor for the Kathmandu Gurkhas, is Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD. Adding weight to the NPL is that it is being broadcast live on Star Sports, giving it a global audience. Perhaps the eyes on the tournament that will have the added benefit of discouraging match fixing which has been a problem in past attempts to organise cricket leagues in Nepal.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024112905110_d1817c8e82f476c20081dae3ba820c7f7305b8cfb095a97264915c6af50f3d60.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2024112905110_d1817c8e82f476c20081dae3ba820c7f7305b8cfb095a97264915c6af50f3d60" data-rendition-name="original" width="1440" height="1080" loading="lazy" alt="Nepal Premier League NT 3"> </figure>  The 2022-23 Nepal T20 league, sold to Indian sports management company Seven3Sports by CAN, saw individual cricketers approached by sports bettors to ‘spot-fix’ by getting out quickly or conceding a lot of runs when bowling. The large sums of money offered to the athletes by fixers is tempting, especially considering that salaries are not only low but sometimes unpaid. This led to an investigation from officials from the International Cricket Council, and cases filed against cricketers by the District Attorney’s Office in Kathmandu. The much wider coverage of this tournament should do better at discouraging corruption. Ticketing partner Khalti reports that tickets for the opening game are quickly selling out. The winning trophy was revealed at a ceremony at Dharara on Saturday. Marquee Players including Lamichhane, Rohit Paudel, Dipendra Singh Airee and Sompal Kami flanked Prime Minister KP Oli as he presented the cup: a large silver piece with an engraving of Mt Everest, topped by a stone from Kala Pattar (pictured).&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241129041152_f37ca66b9e68f28ad9bf1ab6f7dc74314e71345b8b3a02794c62be9357fb08be.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20241129041152_f37ca66b9e68f28ad9bf1ab6f7dc74314e71345b8b3a02794c62be9357fb08be" data-rendition-name="original" width="1080" height="720" loading="lazy" alt="Nepal Premier League NPL NT 1"> </figure>  The tournament kicks off at 12:15PM on Saturday 30 November, with a game between the Biratnagar Kings and the Janakpur Bolts. Two games are scheduled almost every day until 16 December, with the first starting at 9:15AM and the second at 1:15PM. Playoffs start on 18 December with teams that end up third and fourth playing first, with the loser eliminated. The first and second play next, with the winner advancing to the final. The loser then plays the winner of the first match for a place in the final. This format, compared to a straight semifinal-final approach, rewards teams for having done better in the group stages, as teams 1 and 2 have multiple chances at reaching the grand finale on 21 December. A team to look out for is the Sudurpaschim Royals which is well-backed, with the most Facebook followers. Captained by popular national team all-rounder Dipendra Singh Airee, the Royals also have batsman Aarif Sheikh, bowler Abinash Bohara and Scottish all-rounder Brandon McMullen in their ranks.

equality