Since Nepal first opened its doors to the outside world in the 1950s, it has steadily gained goodwill and friends around the globe. The Nepal brand has remained strong despite political instability, a ruinous conflict, corruption, poor infrastructure and air pollution.&nbsp;
First came the high fliers of the sixties to this Shangri La, then the hippies and overlanders seeking Nirvana. Himalayan hikers and development volunteers travelled and worked in the remotest corners of Nepal where even Nepalis had never been. Scientists, academics and experts like <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/time-capsule-of-kathmandu">Toni Hagen</a> and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/kathmandu-s-legacy-is-goetz-hagmueller-s-legacy">Götz Hagmüller</a> made Nepal their adopted home, and gave the country a global identity.&nbsp;
They worked in schools, hospitals, conservation or heritage projects, building lifelong connections with Nepal, immersing themselves so much in the Nepali way of life that they felt alien in their own homeland.
Many wanted to spend their last days here, and some did. But in the past year the state has made it more and more difficult for long-staying foreigners to remain, and many in their seventies and eighties have bid tearful farewells to Nepal.&nbsp;
Why is Nepal driving away its best friends? Most of those interviewed for this report did not want their names used, and many teared up when they recounted the humiliation and dead-end they encountered while trying to renew their visas.&nbsp;
Countries like Thailand issue long-term retirement visas to foreigners in return for spending a minimum of $25,000 a year. Nepal had been allowing retired foreigners to stay on long-term residential visas until recently. This has been discontinued, but no one seems to know why. When asked, officials say it is a directive from the Home Ministry.&nbsp;
The website of the Immigration Department, which falls under the Home Ministry, says that a foreigner aged 60 or above can apply for and get a residential visa in Nepal as long as they have $20,000 in their bank account every year, pay an annual visa fee, obtain a no-objection letter from a related embassy, a health certificate issued by Teaching Hospital.
But the Immigration Department has not granted any new residential visa for over a year, forcing many elderly applicants to leave for good after being given the runaround. Expats can extend their tourist visas but only for up to 5 months during a calendar year.
We asked an official at the Immigration Department why no new residential visas had been approved. His reply: “You will have to ask the Home Ministry about it, they stopped it.” Only 3 long-term residential visas have been renewed in the past year.&nbsp;
After agreeing to speak anonymously, an official asked a rhetorical question: “It boils down to two alternatives: are we going to make money from long-term visas for foreigners, or is Nepal going to be an old people’s home?”&nbsp;
Foreigners who have given up knocking on doors at the Immigration Department are used to such cynicism. One 72-year-old applicant who has spent 30 years in Nepal was bluntly told: “Sir, we don’t care if you are here or not.”
An American who has been living in Nepal for over 25 years has been trying to apply for a long-term visa for five years, and has been going in and out on a tourist visa. He was told the only way would be to pay off a broker, or get a letter from the Prime Minister’s Office.&nbsp;
Earlier this year, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/The-Marston-Menagerie,4084">British couple Wendy and Robin Marston</a> who have lived in Nepal for over 45 years left the country after they were denied a residential visa. Robin was one of the pioneers of trekking in Nepal since 1978, and Wendy was involved in life-saving charities to help burns victims at hospitals in Kathmandu. &nbsp;
Austrian architect Götz Hagmüller died earlier this year in Bhaktapur aged 85 after spending more than half his life in Nepal. He made the preservation of Kathmandu Valley’s cultural heritage <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/The-guardian-of-the-shadows-%20G%C3%B6tz%20Hagm%C3%BCller,3352">his life’s work</a> and never left, restored<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/style-and-substance"> Kuthu Math</a>, Kaiser Mahal’s Garden of Dreams and the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/patans-museum-piece">Patan Museum</a>. He was refused a residential visa, and only got to stay on in a different visa category.&nbsp;
Foreigners have two ways to get long-term visas: by enrolling as students or investing in a business. The government is tightening the student loophole, and requires foreigners to invest Rs10 million or more in Nepal. This group is mainly made up of Chinese and South Koreans who have opened restaurants in Kathmandu or Pokhara.&nbsp;
But there are hassles even in renewing business visas every year, and a hydropower investor says he cannot get his passport stamped without getting his fixer to hand cash under the table.&nbsp;
“If the Nepal government is serious about foreign investment in the country, it must clean up its act,” he told us on condition of anonymity. What puzzles long-time Nepalophiles is that officials are so intent on undermining the country’s international goodwill by being so nasty to its most devoted brand ambassadors.
There are many theories about the tightening of visas: traditional xenophobia from a time Nepal was a hermit kingdom, geopolitics, suspicions about foreigners engaged in proselytisation, corruption and lack of coordination between the tourism promotion and immigration authorities. It could even be immigration officials doing a tit-for-tat for someone they know being refused a Schengen or American visa.
The Visit Nepal Year 2020 sign is still painted on the sides of Nepal Airlines jets, the country’s tourism promotion has lofty slogans like ‘Guest Is God’ or ‘Visit Nepal: Once Is Not Enough’. On the other hand, visitors whose visa fees could be a lucrative source of income are being told they are not welcome.&nbsp;
“Nepal has so much goodwill it can capitalise on, it is a wonder that it doesn’t,” says a long-term resident. “There is a larger xenophobia and suspicions at play here, especially with the relations with the United States and the rise of India and China. But Nepal is losing out on other friends and opportunities.”
Indeed, some see pressure from China on the government to control the activities of Westerners who may be sympathetic to the Tibetan cause, and India is also seen to be wary of the presence of third-country foreigners. &nbsp;
Writing for Nepali Times, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/race-against-time">researcher George van Driem</a> says xenophobic legislation enforces an ethnic bias that seals off Nepal for long-term residents.
‘Even with the written approval of His Majesty King Birendra, it took Lt. Col. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/home-away-from-home">John Philip Cross</a> 32 years, 6 months and 2 days before he was granted citizenship. When his struggle was finally rewarded, the legendary Gurkha figure was already deep into his retirement. Yet he is the lucky exception,’ van Driem wrote. ‘This grudging attitude with respect to Nepali citizenship reflects a mind-set firmly rooted in the racial attitudes of the Mulukī Ain.’
Ironically, while Nepal is pushing away long-staying foreigners, Nepalis themselves are emigrating in droves to their countries.&nbsp;
Says an American academic who first came to Nepal in the early 1990s: “We are definitely not a drain on the economy, we are happy to pay but it is a real shame that Nepal has made it so hard for us to stay. So many have left and gone to Thailand and elsewhere. They had no other choice.”
Another 72-year-old resident who has lived in Nepal for 30 years is emotional when she says in a soft voice and with a faraway look: “Despite everything, I still wanted to live here for the rest of my days.”&nbsp;
Her residential visa application was turned down, and she is leaving Nepal for good this week.

Sonia Awale

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'GO AWAY'

Mention “Cross Sa’b” and anyone on the path along a forested ridge above this scenic central Nepal town will point out his house amidst terrace fields of maize.&nbsp; In Dhampu Niwas resides Colonel (Retired) John Philip Cross, self-proclaimed Nepali who has found solace, love, and an unconventional family in these mountains. “JP” was also known as “Brain prince” for his audacious exploits in Sarawak during the war against insurgents.&nbsp; At 98, the Colonel is still a lean and sprightly man, looking like a fair-skinned Brahmin in his Dhaka topi as he took Luka, his faithful canine companion, for a walk through the monsoon mist. Cross spends his days embracing life's simple joys: playing, writing, reading, spending time with great-grandchildren, and sipping his favourite milk tea. Young JP joined the British Army at age 17, and was immediately transported to the European theatre of World War II. After the war ended there, he was sent off to India where the allies were still fighting the Japanese.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/diary-of-a-nepali-soldier-in-france">Diary of a Nepali soldier in France</a>, Shree Bhakta Khanal  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023080309080_f4c7a20fa7fe6b4e941ea562d42ff8350a3418124ed462a9d618cb5da547777c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2023080309080_f4c7a20fa7fe6b4e941ea562d42ff8350a3418124ed462a9d618cb5da547777c" data-rendition-name="original" width="800" height="419" loading="lazy" alt="John Philip Cross NT"> </figure>  It was there in the Gurkha training camps in Dehradun that his association with Nepal began. He learnt Nepali from his fellow soldiers and developed a deep admiration for Nepali culture. Soon, he got caught up in the turmoil of Partition, as the departing British hastily drew a line on the map separating India and Pakistan. Millions died. Cross recalls: “Some days, I would go to sleep in India and wake up in Pakistan.”&nbsp; Even after Indian independence in 1947, there were still wars to be fought: in the jungles of Malaya and in Borneo. He was captured by insurgents and was about to have his head chopped off by a notorious commander, but quick thinking and language skills helped him escape. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/adventures-of-a-lone-archivist">Adventures of a lone archivist</a>, Alisha Sijapati  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023080309080_9a765b8d31dea385d8b8e8f08e5291f70db0990a55a158a7edc7686432d55956.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2023080309080_9a765b8d31dea385d8b8e8f08e5291f70db0990a55a158a7edc7686432d55956" data-rendition-name="original" width="844" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="John Philip Cross NT"> </figure>  After 40 years in the military, Cross retired as a decorated Lt Colonel, and then immersed himself in his real passion: languages. Besides his mother tongue, he is fluent in Nepali, Roman, Urdu, Cantonese, Malayalam, Iban, French, Hindi, Thai, Vietnamese, and Tamang, Gurung and Magar languages of Nepal. “I was interested in languages and history. I studied, but the government made me a soldier,” Cross says with a chuckle. Cross even got a degree from Tribhuvan University and worked as a researcher at the Center for Nepal and Asian Studies (CNAS).&nbsp; Cross first visited Nepal in 1946, and remembers walking up to Kathmandu via Chitlang and being warmly received by Prime Minister Padma Shumsher Rana. He returned in 1976 to head the British Army recruitment camp in Paklihawa. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/lest-we-forget">Lest we forget</a>, David Seddon  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023080309080_8e2bcadc55be9a7bd67ff2f67aacac179d0165af78b5d05d836a8dec56591296.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="2023080309080_8e2bcadc55be9a7bd67ff2f67aacac179d0165af78b5d05d836a8dec56591296" data-rendition-name="original" width="1777" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="John Philip Cross NT "> </figure>  Fate brought Cross face-to-face with Budhiman Dura Tamu “Dhamphu” in 1975, a young man from Lamjung who was not selected for the British Army because he was half an inch shorter than the required height. Budhiman worked for Cross in Pakhlihawa, helping him with chores. Budhiman had no family, and having left England so long ago, Cross did not either. So he adopted him.&nbsp; “It's been 47 years. He is like a son to me. I am his father. This is my family,” says Cross, remembering that an astrologer once told him and Budhiman that they were born from the same mother 400 years ago in England.&nbsp; After many years in Nepal, King Birendra issued an edict allowing him to buy land and a house. But with the end of the monarchy, he had to apply for citizenship, which was not an easy process. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/ukraines-lessons-for-sandwiched-nations-like-nepal">Ukraine's lessons for sandwiched nations like Nepal</a>, &nbsp;Bhaskar Koirala  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023080309080_9af6e38e13f9e6d3b1a31fdde67c033388e8202ff55182f6fdd1915efb5539b1.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="2023080309080_9af6e38e13f9e6d3b1a31fdde67c033388e8202ff55182f6fdd1915efb5539b1" data-rendition-name="original" width="1777" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="John Philip Cross NT"> </figure>  “After 32 years, 6 months, and 2 days of struggle, I finally obtained Nepali citizenship," says Cross, proudly displaying his citizenship card. Nearing his 100th birthday, Cross is hale and hearty, and only has problems with his eye sight and hearing. Before Covid, he used to hike 20km a day and even now does a fair bit of walking. “Exercise is the best formula for staying young,” he says. Cross has written 21 books including titles like Gurkhas at War, The Fame of the Name, Jungle Warfare, and It Happens with Gurkhas. He is getting ready to publish his 22nd book. "I'm fluent Nepali of the central mountains, Cross says, “I've been to more than 40 countries, but my heart, mind, and body are in Nepal. I will take my last breath here in Nepal.” Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/and-the-metaphor-of-metamorphosis">पुतली बाजे and the metaphor of metamorphosis</a>, Shristi Karki Translated by Aayusha Pokharel from the <a href="https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/137110">Nepali original</a> published on <a href="http://himalkhabar.com/">himalkhabar.com</a>

Home away from home

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637221ba9c7e80680e0c02cfjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>The first view inside the British Cemetery at Kathmandu as it looks today - the caretakers Prem and Durga Devi might ask you to sign their visitors' book. Photo: DR MARK F WATSON.</figcaption></figure>The British cemetery at Kathmandu is little known but not hard to find.Keep the imposing white sweep of the British Embassy gate on your left, and then walk past the well-guarded Indian Embassy entrance to your right. The lane shrinks dramatically between their towering walls and, if you are lucky, no passing vehicle pins you against the brickwork.Persevering on down the hill a little further than you think and avoiding a constant stream of bikes, the graveyard looms suddenly on your right. A mound of exotic trees, cultivated flowers and manicured lawns comprise this ‘corner of a foreign field’ that shelters a tantalising assortment of headstones and memorials dating back over 200 years.Once through the gate with a helpful sign beneath a friendly arch, you might encounter the conscientious caretakers Prem and Durga Devi. Lingering amongst the meticulously tended graves, the shades of people buried here begin to manifest at the edge of consciousness. ‘The laughter learnt of friends; and gentleness, in hearts at peace.’The atmosphere vibrates with the ghosts of times remembered, whilst the mind crowds with apparitions of historic figures, funerals and friends, long-stay residents and short-term visitors, whosoever fate decreed would never leave the valley of Kathmandu.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637221bd9c7e80680e0c02d0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="851"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637221c19c7e80680e0c02d1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="926"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/250-years-of-nepals-history-through-art/">Nepal’s history through ar</a>t, Lisa ChoegyalThis haven of tidiness was not always so. As we learn from this important new book, the fate of the British cemetery has ebbed and flowed with the tide of centuries at the whim of its diplomatic custodians. Sometimes neglected and overgrown, sometimes nurtured and cared for, it has always been at the heart of the history of foreigners in Nepal – ‘A pulse in the eternal mind”.For the first time, the facts about the British cemetery and its glamorous array of inhabitants are gathered together in this comprehensive volume. The first grave dates from 1820, and I attended the most recent funeral in 2014.Elegantly written and highly readable, Andrew Hall, anthropologist and former British Ambassador to Nepal, and Mark Watson, keen historian and Himalayan botanist at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh, have collaborated with Vajra Books. Initially conceived as a modest booklet to resolve the incomplete listings and jumbled records of the historic graveyard, it later expanded to include the wider context of Nepal’s complex relationship with the outside world.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637221c49c7e80680e0c02d2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="279"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637221c79c7e80680e0c02d3jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="229"><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637221ca9c7e80680e0c02d4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="137"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>As might be expected, such a formidable combination of scholarship has done a very thorough job. The evolving changes to the physical site are documented with maps, drawings, paintings and letters dredged from London collections, and identities clarified that have been disrupted by earthquakes, fallen branches and general dereliction that damaged the marker stones, rendering some unreadable.Every grave in the British cemetery in Kathmandu is catalogued, but there are others further afield. The Gurkhas had burial sites in Paklihawa and Dharan,<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/father-moran-and-nepals-jesuits/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> the Jesuits</a> at Godavari, two memorial parks mark the terrible 1992 air disasters in Kakani and Lele, each facing the direction of the catastrophe, and there is even a solitary grave in the grounds of the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/no-lovelier-spot-than-kakani/">British bungalow in Kakani</a>.We find exhaustive descriptions of the British cemetery graves, headstones, location maps, names, dates, images, stories and anecdotes, and even details of trees and shrubs that grow there; a glossary, bibliography, sources, endnotes and index; and a list of the British heads of mission assigned to Nepal, responsible for this patch of ground ‘that is for ever England … A body of England’s, breathing English air’.But not really. Of the 100 or so people laid to rest here only about 40% are British, the remaining represent at least 16 nationalities and several religions other than Christian. Their causes of death are an eye-opener into the Nepal of their lifetimes.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637221cb9c7e80680e0c02d5jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="892"><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637221ce9c7e80680e0c02d6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="719"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637221d29c7e80680e0c02d7jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="426" height="640"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Although the British were first to put down roots after the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/beginning-of-the-end-of-the-gorkha-empire/">1816 Treaty of Sugauli</a>, the truth is that over the centuries this remote Himalayan country received a wide variety of visitors from all corners of the globe and the cemetery’s eclectic occupants reflect this – missionaries, mountaineers, military, traders, adventurers, eccentrics and dreamers.The earliest grave belongs to Robert Stuart, the Assistant Resident who died suddenly one spring evening in 1820 of ‘a violent cold’. His superior, Hon Edward Gardner was devastated but had no choice but to inter him beneath the nearby hillock that the British were hastily given to bury their dead.Hardly ‘that rich earth, a richer dust concealed’ of Rupert Brooke’s iconic First World War poem <a href="https://poets.org/poem/soldier-0">The Soldier</a>, but a sandy wasteland unsuitable for cultivation, situated not far from the uninviting piece of land on the then-distant outskirts of Kathmandu that had been grudgingly granted for the British residency – now given over to the Indian mission after Independence.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637221d39c7e80680e0c02d8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="960"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>By 1857 the cemetery contained only three graves. The grandest monument commemorates <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=3246#.YqNelI5BxpQ">Brian Hodgson</a>’s deputy, Ensign Hastings Young, aged only 20 and the first child burial, seven-year-old William Nott Nicholetts. The only official Commonwealth War Grave in Nepal, belonging to Gilbert Deatker who died in 1942, ensures a funding commitment which proved crucial to the garden’s maintenance during the leaner years of British government support. The grave diggers’ busiest period was the tourism times from the 1970s to 1990s, before mortuary freezers enabled repatriation and local cremations became more generally accepted.Some incumbents remain more mysterious than others, but the authors’ investigations have culminated in this highly readable account that spans not only the history of the British and other early foreigners in Nepal, but also curious, sad and sometimes extraordinary stories of how they met their end.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637221d79c7e80680e0c02d9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2499" height="3000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Some of these tales are tragic and extreme. Particularly heart-breaking are the babies and children, including the infant son of Henry Ambrose Oldfield the Residency surgeon and artist dated 1861. In addition to the occupational hazard of illness, as might be expected in harsh mountain terrain, fatalities feature <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/1921-rendezvous-mallory-pumori-and-everest/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">mountaineering</a>, rock falls, drownings and <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/kundadixit/2014/02/17/twin-otters-in-the-nepal-sky/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">air accidents</a>. On the back wall, a plaque remembers the New Zealand pilot of the flight that killed Sir Edmund Hillary’s wife and youngest daughter in 1975.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637221da9c7e80680e0c02dajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1978" height="1389"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>This peaceful garden is the last resting place of a roll call of Nepal’s early tourism, conservation and development pioneers. Familiar and colourful characters who left their mark include <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/nepals-tourism-now-has-to-re-start-from-zero/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Boris Lissanevitch</a> (plus his mother, mother-in-law, wife and son), <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/so-far-so-good/remembering-des-la-at-shangrila/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Desmond Doig</a>, AV Jim Edwards, Mike Cheney, Freddie Bowles, Robert and Cecille Reiffel, Peter and Margaret Ross and many more. Unearthing some buried recollections of my own having known them all (full disclosure), I helped the ever-erudite Doctors Andrew and Mark with research, editing and proof-reading.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637221dd9c7e80680e0c02dbjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="480" height="640"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>A collaborative and diligent research effort, many have contributed to this slim volume packed with information. Dedicated to the late great Charles Allen with a foreword by current British Ambassador Nicola Pollitt, both the Nepal Britain and Britain Nepal Societies supported its publishing, along with the <a href="https://www.bacsa.org.uk">British Association for Cemetaries in South Asia</a> (BACSA), Bon Travel and Tours, Vajra Books and the personal generosity of Pratima and Prithivi Pande.My only niggle is the misleading title. This useful book reaches far beyond the confines of the British cemetery enclosure, now a hidden and forgotten island in an ocean of concrete urbanisation down that narrow Lainchaur lane – which perhaps you will be inspired to discover. By using the graveyard and the circumstances of its existence, the chapters expand to encompass the entire early history of Nepal’s convoluted interaction and engagement with outsiders and the international world.Corner of a Foreign Field: The BRITISH CEMETERY at KATHMANDU by Mark F Watson and Andrew R HallVajra Books 2022Rs2,500168 pages<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111412118/637221df9c7e80680e0c02dcjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2164" height="3848">Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/so-far-so-good/mainly-fine-throughout-the-kingdom/">‘Mainly fine throughout the kingdom’</a>, Lisa Choegyal

Buried in history

<figure><img width="1804" height="1310" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141128/636cfd269c7e80680e0a0bcbjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Ex-Nepal Army soldier Dhan Singh Dhami worked for a US defence contractor guarding the American Embassy in Kabul and assisted NATO forces in Helmand Province from 2004-2015. As the Taliban advances in Kabul, many other Nepalis in Afghanistan are at risk. Photo: NEPALI TIMES ARCHIVE</figcaption></figure>As the Taliban closes in on Kabul, international media attention on the rescue of Western diplomats has overshadowed the plight of thousands of international contract workers, including Nepalis, stranded there.There is no exact count of how many Nepalis workers there are in the war-torn country, but figures range from 2,000 to 15,000. The Nepal Embassy in New Delhi, which is also accredited to Afghanistan, says it is in touch with Nepalis there but seems to be laying its bets on Indian rescue flights.If flights are not possible, the only way out would be to negotiate a safe passage out for Nepalis through Pakistan. This will need coordination with the Pakistan government though the Nepal embassy in Islamabad. Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/they-fail-we-fall/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">has not been able to expand his cabinet</a> even a month after his coalition government came to power, and there is no foreign minister. Preoccupied with politics and fighting the pandemic, the government has left the Nepalis in Afghanistan to their own devices.The opposition RPP is the only party so far that has called on the government to bring back Nepalis from Kabul. In a joint statement, the party’s leaders Kamal Thapa, Pashupati SJB Rana and Prakash Lohani on Sunday demanded that the government ‘ensure the safe return’ of Nepalis in Afghanistan.The end-game in Afghanistan has also coincided with Gurkha veterans in the British Army on hunger strike in London demanding equal pension with US soldiers. The RPP statement also expressed ‘solidarity with their struggle’.Besides Nepalis in the British Army who used to be deployed in Helmand and other provinces and were withdrawn, there are still many retired Nepali veterans from the British and Indian Armies, Singapore Police, as well as Nepal Army and Police who worked as <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/canada-settlement-with-families-of-nepali-guards/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">security guards for private defence contractors</a>.They worked as security guards for US and British defence contractors based in Kabul, Bagram Air Base, Kandahar and other military installations. While some third country workers left as the US withdrew from Bagram and other bases last month, there were still many Nepalis guarding Western embassies in Kabul. American and British troops arrived in Kabul this weekend to evacuate their diplomats and nationals, but the contract workers will have to find their own way out on very limited flights.Some Nepalis working for private contractors who managed to get out on some of the last flights are now stranded in Dubai, and cannot get home because of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/how-nepal-must-prepare-for-3rd-covid-wave/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Covid-19</a> restrictions in the UAE. <img width="640" height="751" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141128/636cfd299c7e80680e0a0bccjpeg.jpg" alt="">Many of the Nepalis worked for logistics companies like the Texas-Based Fluor or Turkish sub-contractors, while security guards were hired by the American private security firm DynCorp International, or the UK-based Aegis Defence.Aegis alone used to have more than 1,000 Nepalis on contract in Afghanistan before the latest Taliban offensive. Besides working as security guards, military escort and in demining operations, Nepalis have also been hired as construction workers, cooks, cleaners and as support staff. Many of the Nepalis who have managed to get out are said to be ready to be recruited again to go to other dangerous countries like Iraq. In 2004, 12 Nepalis working for a private contractor in Baghdad were massacred in cold blood by extremists, prompting the Nepal government to ban Nepalis from going to that country.Again, after the death of <a href="http://www.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2016/06/23/lives-of-our-brothers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2016/06/23/lives-of-our-brothers/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1629113964967000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFo-y7ikyGPJ_LXBEsZqeaMUNgKEQ">13 Nepalis</a> guarding the Canadian Embassy in a <a href="http://www.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2016/06/20/kabul-attack-condemned/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2016/06/20/kabul-attack-condemned/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1629113964967000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH3EX-wbri9zWNVZoysmf-N3m7rkA">terrorist attack in Kabul</a> in June 2016, the Nepal government had banned nationals from going to Afghanistan.However, a government fact-finding team visited Afghanistan later that year to assess the danger, and the Labour Ministry later lifted the ban and recommended measures, including approval of work contracts that included safety provisions. <figure><img width="2020" height="1208" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141128/636cfd2c9c7e80680e0a0bcdjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Nepal Embassy in New Delhi on Sunday 15 August released security advisory for Nepalis in Afghanistan.</figcaption></figure>Legally, Nepalis and other foreign workers in war zones like Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya fall between the cracks. The US and Britain get to lessen exposure to their own troops by hiring nationals from other countries through private contractors for much less money and fewer facilities. There is also no legal obligation during emergencies like this.The Nepali guards at the Canadian Embassy in Kabul in 2016, for example, were hired by Sabre International, a private contractor. Families of the security guards <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepali-guards-sue-canada-government/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepali-guards-sue-canada-government/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1629113964967000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF_vbyXjkznQcgethYi-VAXg_lldg">sued the Canadian government </a>in 2018, and finally <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/canada-settlement-with-families-of-nepali-guards/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/canada-settlement-with-families-of-nepali-guards/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1629113964967000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE8GgyoW7SKOcucIKsvMUT19KI1fw">reached a settlement</a> verdict on compensation at the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Toronto last year. Five of the Nepali soldiers wounded in the attack and 13 widows of those killed were awarded a total of $20.4 million in compensation. <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/guarding-guards-afghanitan,3370" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/guarding-guards-afghanitan,3370&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1629113964967000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEVDrjU4r49vZyjGUrngw5_Cig9ZA">The guards were killed</a> when a lone suicide bomber blew up the unarmoured bus taking them to the Canadian embassy for their duty.After the attack Sabre International terminated its contract with the Canadian embassy, and shut down operations. Representing the Nepali plaintiffs, Canadian lawyer Joe Fiorante had told CBC: “These men died in the service of our country and have basically been cast aside…They were abandoned by our government and we thought that was dishonourable and frankly unacceptable.” The American and NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan, has now left Nepalis and other nationals working for them in a similar predicament. Although a Taliban offensive was expected, what has shocked many is the speed at which the US-trained, equipped, and funded Afghan security forces have either surrendered or been defeated. There are no accurate figures for the number of foreign contract workers still in Afghanistan, but many had been leaving, and the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction put the number at 7,000. It is not clear how many are still there. However, besides registered Nepalis there are also said to be many other undocumented workers of which neither the government in Nepal nor the embassy in New Delhi have exact figures. Many have been <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15312#.YRjkLy1w3OQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D15312%23.YRjkLy1w3OQ&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1629113964967000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGop6Gp8JOg2gil_DovcJlzScCJJw">cheated by their recruiters</a>, and are stranded there.“Everyone has been so focused on the U.S. troops, and also the Afghans, interpreters and others who could face revenge killings by a resurgent Taliban," said John Sifton, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch to <a href="https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-08-10/contractors-who-powered-u-s-war-in-afghanistan-stuck-in-dubai" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2021-08-10/contractors-who-powered-u-s-war-in-afghanistan-stuck-in-dubai&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1629113964967000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG_gLNys429Cdv8JTQb-_aJrNvBlA">Los Angeles Times. </a>“About the stranded foreign workers, the Biden administration can say, well, their companies and their governments should have moved heaven and earth to get them home.”Meanwhile, <a href="http://s.ca/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Globalnews.ca</a> reported that Canada had not approved the evacuation of 100 Nepali guards from its embassy in Kabul, even after its other staff were flown out.

Who will rescue Nepalis from Afghanistan?

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

Digital protection for Nepal’s art

India and Pakistan are twins separated at birth. Tensions between them have been at a hair trigger ever since independence and has erupted into full scale conflict at least four times in the past 80 years.
The 22 April terrorist attack in Kashmir that killed 25 Indian tourists and a Nepali citizen, threatens to escalate tension between the two nuclear-armed nations. India has squarely blamed Pakistan for the attacks, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given his military “operational freedom” to respond. Pakistan has said it has credible intelligence of an Indian military strike and its officials have promised a “full spectrum” response — a code for a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/thinking-the-thinkable">nuclear retaliation</a>.
For Nepal, the killing of its national in the Pahalgam attack comes as another stark reminder that in conflicts from Afghanistan to Iraq, from <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/how-to-agree-an-armistice-in-ukraine">Ukraine</a> to Israel, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/10-nepalis-from-one-town-fighting-in-ukraine">Nepalis are getting caught in the crossfire</a>. The last time full-scale fighting broke out between <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/peacemongers-at-india-pakistan-border">India and Pakistan</a> on Kargil in 1999, at least 22<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/india-s-trial-by-fire-for-soldiers-from-nepal?%27%5C%22="> Nepalis fighting for the Indian Army</a> were killed in action.
Three of Nepal’s immediate neighbours (China, India, Pakistan) have nuclear weapons, and they do not have good relations. With China supplying weapons, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/war-and-warming">missile technology</a> and other support to Pakistan, this triangular friction could set off a regional conflagration.&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-022-00573-0" target="_blank">Research at Rutgers University</a> has calculated that even a week-long tactical nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan would throw up so much smoke and debris into the atmosphere that it would block out the sun for years, and lead to a collapse of the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/grow-nourish-sustain-together-world-food-day">global food system</a>. This does not take into account the radioactive fallout that prevailing winds would blow up to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/lives-on-the-line-in-the-himalaya">the Himalaya</a>, contaminating glaciers that are the sources of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/saving-what-is-left-of-himalayan-rivers">Asia’s main rivers</a>.
The impact of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/climate-breakdown-linked-to-thame-flood">climate breakdown </a>on High Asia was already ringing alarm bells about its <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/himalayan-icecap-melting-faster-than-thought">shrinking ice cap</a> reducing the dry season flow of water downstream. Water was going to be the next strategic commodity, geopolitical experts warned, and the next wars in Asia would be over water.
That water war is already happening. India retaliated to the Kashmir attack by suspending the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/24/world/asia/india-pakistan-indus-waters-treaty.html" target="_blank">Indus Waters Treaty</a> of 1960 mediated by the World Bank that has withstood at least three wars between India and Pakistan. The treaty gives India control over the three eastern tributaries of the Indus (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beas_River" target="_blank">Beas</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravi_River" target="_blank">Ravi</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutlej" target="_blank">Sutlej</a>), while Pakistan got water from the Indus and two of its western tributaries (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_River" target="_blank">Indus</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chenab_River" target="_blank">Chenab</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jhelum_River" target="_blank">Jhelum</a>.
Pakistan was assured of 70% of the annual flow, and India could use a reasonable amount of water for<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15231"> irrigation and hydropower</a>. &nbsp;Within days of its threat, India stopped water flowing down to Pakistan from the Chenab river and is reportedly preparing to do the same on the Jhelum.
The sabre-rattling has reached a crescendo. Besides threats and counter-threats there are also symbolic drills, with the Indian Air Force practicing landing on an expressway in Uttar Pradesh by its Rafale, Su-30 and Jaguar fighter jets to demonstrate ‘operational readiness’. In response Pakistan test-fired its Abdali ballistic missile that can carry a nuclear warhead and has a range of 450km.&nbsp;
The danger is that with ultra-nationalist rhetoric and the beating the war drums by both sides, India’s government and Pakistan’s military may have to ‘do something’ to appease domestic public opinion. But any tactical strike, an artillery exchange, or territorial incursion could quickly escalate out of control.
Expecting an Indian retaliation for the Pahalgam killings, Pakistan is using<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/interfaith-collaboration-for-nuclear-disarmament"> nuclear deterrence </a>and warning of “catastrophic consequences”. The two neighbours came close to a nuclear exchange in 2019 after an attack on the Indian military in Kashmir, and prompt international intervention led by the United States cooled tensions.&nbsp;
This time, the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/trump-shock-wave-hits-nepal">Trump administration</a> is too distracted and not as engaged. Pakistan has denied it was responsible for the terrorist attack and called on Washington to stop a possible Indian retaliation. India and Pakistan have stopped overflights by each other’s airlines, and some international carriers have even stopped flying over Pakistan fearing an air war.
Washington, Beijing, the UN and the EU have all urged restraint. Iran, which has good relations with both India and Pakistan has sent its foreign minister to urge both countries not to go into a tit-for-tat war. Iran has its own nuclear flashpoint to worry about with tensions in Israel, &nbsp;Yemen and Syria.
India and Pakistan both share similar problems of joblessness, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/why-nepal-s-poverty-rate-is-stuck">poverty </a>and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/climate-change-new-threat-to-nepal-s-rhinos">environmental threats</a>. Neither side needs the threat of a senseless war, and we in the neighbourhood do not need it either.&nbsp;
Kunda Dixit
This Editorial is brought to you by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/" target="_blank">Nepali Times</a>, in collaboration with <a href="https://inpsjapan.com/en/" target="_blank">INPS Japan</a> and <a href="https://sgi-peace.org/" target="_blank">Soka Gakkai International</a>, in consultative status with UN ECOSOC.

Nukes in the neighbourhood

Most Nepalis thought they had seen the last of it after <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/11-56-25-april-2015-wkc9q2an">the 25 April 7.8 magnitude </a>earthquake ten years ago. But the Himalaya had more surprises in store. On 12 May, another 7.3 magnitude tremor that some said was an aftershock, but was strong enough to itself be a major earthquake, struck Dolakha.&nbsp; Not many people had heard of Singati till then — a cluster of houses by the Tama Kosi River along a narrow gorge that is the roadhead to Rolwaling Valley.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_57b6e316656851f71eca56ca6f98d9bbcc820c1a00d62af3c990725b4361244d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250508110520_57b6e316656851f71eca56ca6f98d9bbcc820c1a00d62af3c990725b4361244d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_016534fb2b6a79957402281cda768efb83a146786377e39e11df3e251d37159e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20250508110520_016534fb2b6a79957402281cda768efb83a146786377e39e11df3e251d37159e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> </figure>  It was here that dozens were killed on 25 April in the first earthquake. Hundreds of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Singati-rising-from-rubble-rebuilding,3703">Singati survivors</a> had lined up for food and relief supplies in the morning of 12 May when the second earthquake triggered a rock slide that buried a nearby camp. At least 50 people were killed. &nbsp; Three hours later, a US Marine Corps UH-1Y Venom helicopter landed in a nearby cornfield to pick up the wounded, and flew off. The aircraft lost contact with air traffic control in Kathmandu and its wreckage was located high on Kalinchok four days later. Six American servicemen, two Nepal Army soldiers, and five wounded civilians from Singati were killed. Today, Singati bears little physical scar of the multiple tragedies that struck the town ten years ago. Most <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/bungamati-builds-back">houses have been rebuilt</a> as urban-style concrete structures, and Singati has become an economic hub on the road leading up to several hydropower plants and a<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/off-the-beaten-trek-in-nepal"> popular trekking destination</a>.&nbsp; The town looks less like a village and more like a suburb of the Dolakha district headquarter of Charikot, 47km away.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_196f341d1df1403ba133e5dfeb837eec20d7cbcb4c8c56b17cc5598810de5df2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250508110520_196f341d1df1403ba133e5dfeb837eec20d7cbcb4c8c56b17cc5598810de5df2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110524_ae66c4a92430f67db51b5e11e017059eedfbac4cb18c8e073f2a50cca1fe904e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20250508110524_ae66c4a92430f67db51b5e11e017059eedfbac4cb18c8e073f2a50cca1fe904e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> </figure>  “The demand for construction material, cement, iron rods and bricks peaked after the earthquakes,” says Suresh Khadka, who owns a hardware business here and now supplies material to the 456MW Upper Tama Kosi hydropower project that is undergoing repairs after it was damaged by a landslide last year. The demand for cement boomed since most residents believe, not necessarily correctly, that <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/in-a-disastrous-state">cement houses are safer</a>. Although Khadka did well selling construction material after the earthquake, he worries that most new structures do not follow seismic-resistant building codes.&nbsp; The construction boom financed by bank loans has in turn forced many from Singati to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/making-overseas-migration-better">migrate overseas for work</a> so they can service their debt.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110524_50caa4530bd5ff9120cf7ab70a62173846d337ef448ff8bac339f3faa375a9e2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20250508110524_50caa4530bd5ff9120cf7ab70a62173846d337ef448ff8bac339f3faa375a9e2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> <figcaption>Suresh Khadka</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_ef8b7d3993fc3b5df852bbf952feb3fbabc96d6883b0d5eb74ee5c60f4123b83.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20250508110520_ef8b7d3993fc3b5df852bbf952feb3fbabc96d6883b0d5eb74ee5c60f4123b83" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> <figcaption>Phu Doma Sherpa (right)</figcaption> </figure>  “My family had no choice but to borrow money to rebuild our home since the government compensation was not enough, and ten years later we are still paying off the loan,” says Phu Doma Sherpa, 60. Because of the shortage of qualified masons and proper seismic engineering, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/structural-problems">many of the buildings are of questionable building standards </a>and the traditional architecture has been abandoned, admits Kul Bahadur Budathoki, deputy chair of the municipality. “But these buildings were more expensive than what the government grants could cover, many people here are heavily in debt and the men have <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/every-day-is-closer-to-pay-day">migrated to the Gulf to pay their loans</a>,” Budathoki says.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_32f89e97b7e757fc9286c0bbb671f48ea8d4468e9634fa646d7247c650ad8480.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="20250508110520_32f89e97b7e757fc9286c0bbb671f48ea8d4468e9634fa646d7247c650ad8480" data-rendition-name="original" width="1501" height="1079" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> <figcaption>Kul Bahadur Budathoki</figcaption> </figure>  Singati is in a multi-hazard zone. The <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Singati,3091">12 May 2015 earthquake </a>could have led to the collapse of Nepal’s largest glacial lake, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/stairway-to-heaven">Tso Rolpa</a>, upstream. Due to global warming, the glacier has turned into an expanding lake 3.5km long, and its collapse would have unleashed a catastrophic Himalayan tsunami down the Tama Kosi Valley, with Singati directly in its path. Singati has literally risen from the ashes of 2015, with its residents beginning to recover from the trauma and financial toll. But it is not out of danger as <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/climate-breakdown-linked-to-thame-flood">climate breakdown </a>magnifies the risk from future earthquakes.

Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village

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

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