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?

After a week of violent and destructive protests, Nepal’s President Ram Chandra Poudel on Friday appointed <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/Legalese/justice-in-chief,804">former Chief Justice Sushila Karki</a> as a caretaker Prime Minister to lead an interim citizens' government.&nbsp; Poudel had been in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/what-next-nepal">closed-door discussions since Thursday</a> with youth members who spearheaded the protests, constitutional experts, the House Speaker, and the Army Chief. There was a consensus on the choice of Karki as candidate for interim prime minister, but her swearing-in was stalled due to a disagreement about Constitutional processes for her appointment.&nbsp; Youth delegates and Karki demanded that Parliament be dissolved before the appointment of the caretaker prime minister, while President Poudel had been arguing that Parliament would be automatically dissolved once the new council of ministers announced elections. Representing the GenZ movement, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/who-or-what-is-hami-nepal">Sudan Gurung</a> (pictured, below) is said to have insisted that dissolution of Parliament first was non-negotiable because he did not trust the political parties. He is said to have added that he would call his supporters out into the streets, and the President relented. The military’s warning earlier that an emergency would be declared if there was no agreement tonight clinched it.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025091216098_cdd409c5824b578a04f05a43280e3f475d92bf7123d3a4565b4d720768fcc1b3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2025091216098_cdd409c5824b578a04f05a43280e3f475d92bf7123d3a4565b4d720768fcc1b3" data-rendition-name="original" width="1080" height="600" loading="lazy" alt="Sudan Gurung"> <figcaption>Sudan Gurung of Hami Nepali during negotiations.</figcaption> </figure>  With this, Karki becomes Nepal’s first female prime minister, exactly a decade after she became the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/interview/a-woman-is-as-capable-sushila-karki,3375">country’s first female chief justice in 2016</a>.&nbsp; Nepalis, still shocked by the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-s-8-september-massacre">death and destruction of the past week</a>, heaved a sigh of relief at the announcement, which was greeted as a victory of youth power for political reform led by the GenZ movement. Its initial anti-corruption protest on 8-9 September <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/kathmandu-burns-despite-pm-resignation">spiralled out of control into violence and arson</a> nationwide that claimed at least 51 lives. Several other candidates were floated for the caretaker prime minister’s post. Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah and former head of the electricity utility Kulman Ghising were being considered, but both declined possibly because they want to contest the next national elections. Given her experience in the judiciary and zero tolerance for corruption, Karki was the favourite of various groups within the GenZ campaign.&nbsp; The site of the negotiations moved to the official residence of the president in Shital Niwas from the Nepal Army Headquarters on Thursday. The Army had come under criticism on social media and from civil society for detaining the President and not letting him speak or be a part of the negotiation.&nbsp; This fuelled public perception that the military had a soft spot for a return of the monarchy. There were widespread rumours on Thursday that king Gyanendra, who was ousted after the abolition of the monarchy in 2008, was trying to stage a comeback by piggybacking on the agitation. Writing on X, senior journalist Kishore Nepal revealed that the Chief of Army Staff Ashokraj Sigdel had allegedly asked Poudel to step aside and pave the way for the military to negotiate, to which the President is said to have replied: “I will not resign. Kill me instead and blame it on the protesters. Then you can do whatever you like.” Live broadcast of swearing in of Sushila Karki:&nbsp; <div class="embed-block"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/53go4OxuOa0?si=Zd89QGIAX8-7Bm75" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025091219094_41b0f97a5925ab6969e1413636bf073ae43262893a55d9c177cb1312dea52f0d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="2025091219094_41b0f97a5925ab6969e1413636bf073ae43262893a55d9c177cb1312dea52f0d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1280" height="851" loading="lazy" alt="Sushila Karki swearing in"> <figcaption>President ram Chandra Poudel swearing in Sushila Karki as the 42nd Prime Minister of Nepal.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025091303098_8f2b6f98898c4cd73c271caa51b8e29d679a7385c249380aeb96d7cc2c3f6dba.png" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="2025091303098_8f2b6f98898c4cd73c271caa51b8e29d679a7385c249380aeb96d7cc2c3f6dba" data-rendition-name="original" width="1480" height="924" loading="lazy" alt="Sushila Karki PM"> <figcaption>GenZ representatives with new Prime Minister Sushila Karki after her swearing in.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025091301098_470dbca4f4d34ca4533ce4d160045ffe8e525e98380f6f1e20eb24a6236c6029.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="2025091301098_470dbca4f4d34ca4533ce4d160045ffe8e525e98380f6f1e20eb24a6236c6029" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="Sushila Karki PM"> <figcaption>Sushila Karki with supporters including Genz representative Sudan Gurung of Hami Nepal and Sumana Shrestha of Rastriya Swatantra Party.</figcaption> </figure>  COURAGE AND INTEGRITY Sushila Karki served as the chief justice between 11 July 2016 to 6 June 2017, and has been known for her frugal ways. She was a firebrand judge unafraid to ruffle powerful feathers, and as chief justice was behind ruling to impeach for abuse of office a powerful head of Nepal’s anti-graft body in 2016. She wrote that he had ‘<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/Legalese/the-end-of-karkistocracy,827">neither the moral character nor qualifications for the post</a>’. Even before she became Chief Justice, Karki was one of the two judges on the bench that convicted the sitting Minister for Information and Communication, Jaya Prakash Gupta, of corruption in 2012. Then in 2016, a bench including Karki ruled against granting amnesty to former Maoist lawmaker and convicted murderer Bal Krishna Dhungel. Karki was born on 7 June 1952 in Biratnagar. She completed her undergraduate studies at Mahendra Morang College in 1972 before obtaining a postgraduate degree in political science from Banaras Hindu University in India three years later. This was followed by a Bachelor's in Law in 1978 from Tribhuvan University, and she started her law career as an advocate a year later. In 1985, Karki worked as a teacher at Mahendra Multiple Campus in Dharan, and was jailed for participating in the 1990 People’s Movement to overthrow the Panchayat absolute monarchy. She became a senior Advocate at the Nepal Bar Association in 2008 and was appointed an Ad-Hoc Justice at the Supreme Court in January 2009.&nbsp; On Thursday, there were supporters for other candidates for the post sloganeering against Karki’s nomination outside the Army Headquarters. Some on social media were also skeptical of her connection to the Nepali Congress (NC) party. Growing up in Biratnagar Karki was close to the family of B P Koirala, Nepal’s first elected prime minister in 1960. Her husband Durga Subedi was part of a group of underground Congress activists who hijacked a Royal Nepal Airlines plane in 1973, flying it to India to snatch cash belonging to Nepal Rastra Bank in the cargo hold.&nbsp; The money was used for the party’s pro-democracy campaign. Karki has no love lost for the political establishment. In April 2017, the governing coalition under Maoist Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/lady-justice-sushila-karki,3693">submitted an impeachment motion against her</a> after the Supreme Court overturned his decision to install a favoured police chief, violating succession based on seniority. It was a political move backed by Dahal’s coalition partner Sher Bahadur Deuba of the NC who was waiting to become prime minister for the 4th time. CHALLENGES AHEAD With Karki now in charge of the interim government, she has the daunting task of forming a council of ministers made up of amorphous and disparate groups from the GenZ, technocrats, and current politicians. Karki has said she will not prevent members of her cabinet from contesting elections, which means those with electoral aspirations like Kulman Ghising, Balen Shah and Sumana Shrestha could be asked to join. Karki has her work cut out as she has to get her team members to pull in the same direction to hold free and fair elections. She also has to make sure she has the support of the military without giving the generals too much say, while also smartly maneuvering Nepal’s precarious geopolitical ties with its giant neighbours, China and India. But most of all, the new prime minister must lay the foundations to not just physically rebuild the judiciary, executive and legislature but also ensure that elections will produce a more accountable and efficient government. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/trial-by-fire">Trial By Fire</a>, Editorial

Madam Prime Minister of Nepal

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

Who, or what, is Hami Nepal?

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

What next, Nepal?

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

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