<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101120/636b71259c7e80680e0600b7jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1100" height="1031"/><figcaption>Illustration : DIWAKAR CHHETRI</figcaption></figure>The Nepal Communist Party (NCP) government completes two years in power next month. Despite its <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/two-thirds-empty/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">strong majority</a>, the party’s performance has been underwhelming.It may look like the NCP is just lurching from one embarrassing cockup to another. But there are signs the party may have A Plan. That all along, it has been aiming not for ‘stability and prosperity’, but for the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/spooking-nepalis-by-snooping-on-them/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">extension of control</a>, the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/rule-by-law/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">stiffling of dissent</a>, the intimidation of critics, the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/gagging-the-press-in-installments/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">muzzling of the media</a> and the constriction of civil society. There is even a systematic strategy in place to roll back the development gains of the past decades.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/14-years-after-conflict-no-closure-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">14 years after conflict, no closure in Nepal</a><a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/crushers-of-justice/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Crushers of justice</a>, EditorialGiven that power is centralised in Baluwatar, the plan is obviously being hatched at the Prime Minister’s Office. There may be a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/which-way-nepali-politics-in-2020/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">power struggle at the top</a> between Prime Minister Oli and his comrade Pushpa Kamal Dahal, but on matters of control and domination the party has <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/one-body-two-heads/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">one body with two heads</a>.The Cabinet has zero accountability and no performance evaluation. Instead, ministers regularly threaten critics with crude scare tactics. They take their cues from Prime Minister Oli, who last week accused editors in the Nepali media of being “without hearts”. It is true that the criticism of Oli across a broad-spectrum of the national media over <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-business-of-politics-undermines-nepals-democracy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">his dealings with the Yeti Group</a> has been relentless, but we have received no satisfactory explanation of why the consortium gets preferential treatment in leases of former royal property by the Nepal Trust.The government’s actions over the past two years may seem ad hoc and haphazard, but taken together there appears to be a method to the madness. Let’s take the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/no-speaker-no-parliament-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sidelining the NCP’s own Shivamaya Tumbahangphe</a> and the bullheaded approach to replace a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-rise-and-fall-of-comrade-mahara/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rape-accused Speaker</a> with a murder-accused Speaker. If we had to cite just one example of why there is <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/getting-away-with-murder/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">impunity and blatant flouting of the rule of law</a> in this country, the appointment of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2011/05/31/hearing-set-for-case-against-minister-agni-sapkota/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Agni Sapkota</a> to the post of Parliament Speaker is it.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/no-speaker-no-parliament-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">No Speaker, no Parliament in Nepal</a>, Sewa BhattaraiEver since the end of the conflict 14 years ago, the Maoists, the UML, NC and the security forces have been <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/yesterdays-enemies-todays-comrades/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">partners in crime</a> in sweeping their combined <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/state-of-impunity,2976" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wartime atrocities</a> under the carpet. Families of the victims and survivors of the war demand justice and truth, but every government since 2006 has tried to rig the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/12-years-later-justice-is-a-mirage/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">transitional justice</a> mechanism, and not a single perpetrator has been brought to trial. In fact, perpetrators get to lead Parliament.Agni Sapkota is accused of murdering <a href="https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/111027" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Arjun Lama, an activist of the UML</a>, in Kavre in 2005. The irony of it all is that the UML and the former Maoists are now unified in the Nepal Communist Party. After years of struggling for justice for her husband, Purnimaya Tamang finally told this paper this week: “I have lost all hope for justice now.”Pushpa Kamal Dahal may have been technically right in stating last week in Chitwan that he was responsible for the deaths of “only” 5,000 of the 17,000 people killed during <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-transition-to-peace-needs-justice/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the conflict</a>. But who is keeping count? If this vulgar non-repentance rattled many Nepalis, imagine what it did to the families of the disappeared and the survivors of that terror-filled decade.One of the provisions of the Comprehensive Peace Accord signed in 2006 was the establishment of a <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/One-To-Many/victims-waiting-for-justice,698" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) and a Commission for Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP)</a>. But all governments since have conspired to make these commissions ineffectual by appointing party loyalists to their senior positions so that no one ever has to answer for war crimes. This week, the NCP and NC appointed new handpicked commissioners to the TRC and CIEDP.Aside from transitional justice, the NCP has been trying to dismantle just about every sector in which Nepal has done well. There are <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/taking-away-forests-from-communities/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">attempts to dilute the laws</a> governing <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/who-now-owns-nepals-forests/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">community forestry</a>. Pushpa Kamal Dahal hinted in Madi last week that he intended to change the by-laws governing Chitwan National Park. Under pressure from the fossil fuel lobby, the Finance Ministry is said to be thinking of scrapping <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-electric-transport-future-is-here/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the tax rebate on electric vehicles</a>. And this week, the Home Ministry was reported to be drafting a new Social Organisations Act which will allow it to close down non-government organisations it does not like.Taken together, it is not hard to see what the NCP has been working hard to do in the past years. In an Orwellian sense, when the party said ‘stability’, it always meant ‘control’.<h2>10 years ago this week</h2>...The <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16728" target="_blank" rel="noopener">analysis by Ashutosh Tiwari</a> in <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/issue/486" target="_blank" rel="noopener">issue #486 of 22-28 January 2010</a> shows us how the power centre may have shifted in the last ten years, but the lust for power among our political leaders remains the same. As two Communist alpha males continue to battle it out in the ruling NCP, the latest casualty is the post of Speaker, with the sidelining of Shivamaya Tumbahangphe in favour of a murder-accused candidate: Even accounting for politicians’ lust for power, what’s wrong with our particular democratic structure that keeps on returning the same old politicians to power no matter how many Roman numeral andolans we have?On the outside, our system has the requisite avatar of a democracy (multiple parties, elections, political horse-trading, etc). Dig deeper, and you will find that it’s not the voters who call the shots but the party leaders, who have designed their parties’ internal structures in such a way as to keep them in power for as long as they live. Voters can express resentment, but come election time, they have to choose among the same menu of candidates.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101120/636b71289c7e80680e0600b8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="513" height="800">...

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THE TWO - YEAR ITCH

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107161116/636921f79c7e80680e03a0ffjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/>Nepal’s flourishing diversity of ethnicities, languages and cultures and its socio-cultural closeness to Burma made me feel at home as soon as I landed in Kathmandu recently.Unfortunately, another similarity is that both countries have been mired in conflict and are trying to come to terms with truth and justice for past human rights violations.  There is a lot the two countries can learn from each other.Burma (Myanmar) was ruled by notorious military regimes for nearly half a century up until 2011, when political liberalisation began. The United Nations and others have documented widespread and systematic human rights violations by the junta, including war crimes, crimes against humanity and allegations of ethnic cleansing.Burma has the world’s longest-running civil wars, and has seen continuous conflict between the government and many of the country’s ethnic groups since independence in 1948. Both the military and ethnic armed groups have committed crimes including extrajudicial killings, forced displacement of entire villages, recruitment and use of child soldiers, and destruction of property, and war rape.The brutal suppression of pro-democracy movements, and violent crackdowns of protests were common throughout this period of military rule from 1962 to 2011, resulting in thousands of political prisoners. The atrocities against ethnic minority groups continue to this day, with the <a href="https://www.hrw.org/tag/rohingya-crisis" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=https://www.hrw.org/tag/rohingya-crisis&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1536731149248000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG9Jk6SjnsFjB6vZ6LOiPDxXWE85A">violations against Rohingya</a> people getting the most international attention at the moment.In comparison, Nepal’s conflict lasted a shorter period between 1996-2006 when most of the rights violations occurred. The violations of human rights during conflicts in both countries are so numerous and egregious that the normal justice system is not able to provide adequate response, which is why <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-struggle-for-transitional-justice/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">transitional justice mechnisms </a>are needed.After 2011 Burma’s military rule was replaced by a military-backed civilian leadership. A comprehensive peace process with ethnic armed groups brought bilateral ceasefires moving up to a <a href="https://www.mmtimes.com/national-news/17022-extracts-from-the-nationwide-ceasefire-agreement.html" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=https://www.mmtimes.com/national-news/17022-extracts-from-the-nationwide-ceasefire-agreement.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1536731149248000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFCatvjWLrPNer76IDwjivKl6nh7g">Nationwide Ceasefire</a> in October 2015. The current National League for Democracy (NLD) government, elected in a landslide in 2015, has continued <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-politics-peace-idUSKCN1160RF" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-politics-peace-idUSKCN1160RF&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1536731149248000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHlFs7iEmrEFX7RmKFS5qH4T1roYg">negotiations</a> between government, military, ethnic armed groups and political parties. Even so, the International Center for Transitional Justice (<a href="https://www.ictj.org/our-work/regions-and-countries/burmamyanmar" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=https://www.ictj.org/our-work/regions-and-countries/burmamyanmar&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1536731149248000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFZYp8J36Vu0BAiKxeaJ9db3UEJEw">ICTJ</a>) has been pushing Burma to provide redress to political prisoners and bring victim experiences into the national dialogue.However, the process has been overshadowed by the accusations of a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-rohingya/myanmars-ethnic-cleansing-of-rohingya-continues-u-n-rights-official-says-idUSKCN1GI0C2" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-myanmar-rohingya/myanmars-ethnic-cleansing-of-rohingya-continues-u-n-rights-official-says-idUSKCN1GI0C2&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1536731149248000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHnY3CEDJon3L9CC2ux35UaP6z-Qg">campaign of ethnic cleansing</a> against the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/living-on-the-margins/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rohingya Muslim</a> population by the military which has forced some 700,000 refugees to flee to neighbouring countries. A <a href="https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/FFM-Myanmar/A_HRC_39_64.pdf" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/HRCouncil/FFM-Myanmar/A_HRC_39_64.pdf&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1536731149249000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFjnSZCGKZsKvq4mB0Q05qmpvitkQ">UN repor</a>t on 24 August was the strongest condemnation yet and called for top military figures to be investigated for genocide in Rakhine State and crimes against humanity in other areas. It recommended that the case be referred to the International Criminal Court (ICC).Predictably, Burma’s rulers <a href="http://time.com/5381281/myanmar-rejects-un-rohingya-genocide-report/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=http://time.com/5381281/myanmar-rejects-un-rohingya-genocide-report/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1536731149249000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHXozMm9CjyFfrgfrqgRcp2s_JVGw">rejected</a> the report. Then last week, a Rangoon court sentenced two Reuters reporters to seven years in prison for <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-45392972" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-45392972&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1536731149249000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE07dgoa6OG7N-imhGIkuPmFXc8aw">violating a state secrets act</a> while investigating the atrocities against the Rohingya. Domestic and international rights have condemned it as a crushing blow to freedom of the press and another setback for democracy.Nepal’s own 2006 Comprehensive Peace Agreement laid down the steps to establish the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Commission on Investigation of Disappeared Persons which were finally established in 2015. Even so, they are criticised for allowing the government to grant amnesty to perpetrators, they <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/02/13/nepal-transitional-justice-proving-elusive" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=https://www.hrw.org/news/2018/02/13/nepal-transitional-justice-proving-elusive&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1536731149249000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGebWcVaS1DrMhWBpyjX4uKXTT3HQ">fail to meet international standards</a> and are unconstitutional. The government has extended their mandates for the second time in February, but has not provided them enough technical and financial support.Both Nepal and Burma currently face the challenge of a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/just-not-justice/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">lack of commitment and delays</a> about the transitional justice process because of the lack of political will to acknowledge the past and provide relief to victims.In Burma, the military did not want to uncover the wrongdoings of its personnel and discussion of massive human rights violations has been largely<a href="http://www.irrawaddy.com/election/news/forgive-those-who-wronged-us-suu-kyi-tells-nld" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=http://www.irrawaddy.com/election/news/forgive-those-who-wronged-us-suu-kyi-tells-nld&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1536731149249000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF-f-Fz5PYrT6mZYMmyuPWQSLywog">understood to be off the table</a> during the transition and the peace process. This is because the current government says it is worried that raking up the past might reopen old wounds and further deepen divisions. Burma’s hybrid political structure still equips the military with greater power and influence. This failure to address transitional justice to confront past violations is now impeding the ability to confront the present.A similar <a href="https://www.icj.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Nepal-TJus-Process-Advocacy-2017-ENG.pdf" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&amp;q=https://www.icj.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Nepal-TJus-Process-Advocacy-2017-ENG.pdf&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1536731149249000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFjTUV6E4PEQAdkfJwBIUBkGlAJYg">narrative</a> is <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Rights-right-here-at-home,3956" target="_blank" rel="noopener">being put out in Nepal as well</a>, and this is largely the reason why the perpetrators of conflict-era violations keep getting amnesty without serving actual jail time or prosecution. Since former enemies are now the state, it is in their interest delay, dilute and deny justice. Transitional justice is said to impede reconciliation, and perpetrators argue they were just following orders.Victims, their families, and human rights activists want them to be held to account no matter what. The Nepal government recently began consultations on amendments to the two <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/rocky-transition-to-justice/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">transitional justice mechanisms</a>. While this shows the country may be going in the right direction, the notion that seeking justice impedes reconciliation is still widespread.Justice and reconciliation should not be trade-offs, nor are they mutually exclusive. After periods of repression and conflict, burying the past for the sake of peace might seem desirable but is not  sustainable in the long run. Transitional justice does not merely mean prosecution or reopening old wounds, it holds perpetrators to account and gives a change for them to offer apologies and acknowledgment. Nepal and Burma must remember that addressing past violations and recognising victims as rights-holders, fosters civic trust and the rule of law while promoting reconciliation.Naw Gladys Maung Maung is a political science student from Burma who was recently in Nepal.

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Nepal and Burma delay, dilute and deny justice

Kathmandu ground to a halt on Friday as pro- and anti-monarchy protests rocked separate parts of the capital. While the Socialist Front led by the Maoist Centre Party held a large rally in the centre of the city, a group agitating to reinstate Nepal as a Hindu kingdom gathered on the outskirts.&nbsp; The two rallies were kept apart, but pro-monarchy protesters resorted to arson and looting, setting fire to buildings in the Tinkune neighbourhood and attacking newspaper offices, party buildings and ransacking a branch of the Bhatbhateni department store. Police fired tear gas and live rounds after stone pelting protesters tried to prevent fire trucks from trying to put out blazes. One protester and a reporter died and 22 people, including several riot policemen, were injured.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250328130336_10a340ec54625655b84320e9708349f32ae410ebd66dc2e9006d74c26e24e723.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20250328130336_10a340ec54625655b84320e9708349f32ae410ebd66dc2e9006d74c26e24e723" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Pro-monarchy protests 28 March NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250328130336_4095596005d5c744222ed813ef2621c887fec3f3d8cb99b0580f9f4e241bdd55.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250328130336_4095596005d5c744222ed813ef2621c887fec3f3d8cb99b0580f9f4e241bdd55" data-rendition-name="original" width="1810" height="1207" loading="lazy" alt="Pro-monarchy protests 28 March NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250328130336_b64ae8a70d36a7a2bbc4d9f4f51344a92531a735f653dd25f97700e170b7f12c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20250328130336_b64ae8a70d36a7a2bbc4d9f4f51344a92531a735f653dd25f97700e170b7f12c" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Pro-monarchy protests 28 March NT"> </figure>  The pro-monarchy rally was organised by the United People’s Movement Committee for the Restoration of the Monarchy, which had the support of the royalist RPP party and was led by business tycoon Durga Prasai and the 86-year-old former Panchayat politician Nawaraj Subedi.&nbsp; The government had assigned both the protesting groups separate parts of the city so as to minimise chances of confrontation. The pro-monarchy rally turned violent after Prasai broke through police cordons with his vehicle, with supporters following. Across town, a much larger flag-waving crowd marched through the streets and gathered to listen to speeches by leaders of the Socialist Front made up of Maoist Centre, the CPN- Unified Socialists, the Nepal Samajwadi Party and the Communist Party of Nepal led by a breakaway Maoist faction of Netra Bikram Chand.&nbsp; The Socialist Front is in the opposition and has blamed the rise of royalists to the non-performance of Prime Minister K P Oli’s governing coalition. The Maoists were till last year in their own coalition with the Nepali Congress, until it joined up with Oli’s UML.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250328130336_36c4b5cd97720a86d4cc65d680211644bbdd23ba9d872ca33ecde56cf7a83bd8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20250328130336_36c4b5cd97720a86d4cc65d680211644bbdd23ba9d872ca33ecde56cf7a83bd8" data-rendition-name="original" width="1772" height="1181" loading="lazy" alt="Pro-monarchy protests 28 March NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250328130336_6598409e322e0680bb01e00306842343642ee662a6f95e0d097478c0517879c3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20250328130336_6598409e322e0680bb01e00306842343642ee662a6f95e0d097478c0517879c3" data-rendition-name="original" width="1933" height="1288" loading="lazy" alt="Pro-monarchy protests 28 March NT"> </figure>  &nbsp;“This country cannot return to autocratic, dynastic rule that destroyed our nation,” said former prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal of the UML-US. “The Nepali people have no interest in being servants to anybody.” Speakers accused the monarchists of getting support from elements of the Hindu-right in India. Former king Gyanendra had met Uttar Pradesh’s cleric Chief Minister Yogi Adiyanath several times in the past year, and posters with the Yogi have been seen at previous royalist rallies. Chronic corruption, impunity, poor service delivery and lack of jobs has fed public anger at the three established parties that have taken turns to rule Nepal for the past 20 years or more.&nbsp; Adding fuel to the fire was the sacking this week of the popular head of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) Kulman Ghising, and his replacement by the prime minister’s brother-in-law, Hitendra Dev Shakya. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250328130336_340647eb1ac3e611a7fe9ea5cabe6bc280ec02fd9162e1fdce81a3c7101b6072.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20250328130336_340647eb1ac3e611a7fe9ea5cabe6bc280ec02fd9162e1fdce81a3c7101b6072" data-rendition-name="original" width="1872" height="1179" loading="lazy" alt="Pro-monarchy protests 28 March NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250328130336_b0e1012e17637ceebf2611db796ae745d274636583974f7595b4ab79670b5c37.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250328130336_b0e1012e17637ceebf2611db796ae745d274636583974f7595b4ab79670b5c37" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Pro-monarchy protests 28 March NT"> </figure>  In his speech Maoist chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal seemed more introspective and moderated his criticism of the current government.&nbsp; “Perhaps it is because we republicans were unable to live up to the expectations of the people that the forces that were buried in the rubble of history have dared raise their heads once again today,” Dahal told the crowd.&nbsp; While these speeches were going on, tension was escalating in Tinkune as pro-monarchists trashed and set fire to an office block, the office of the CPN-Unified Socialists, vandalised the Annapurna Media building, and attempted to break into the offices of the Maoist Centre. &nbsp;&nbsp; A curfew was imposed in Tinkune and surrounding areas, affecting travellers entering and leaving Kathmandu. Nearby Kathmandu airport was closed for two hours.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250328130336_b9d567d96a519dfdf7627ca9bf372a441b47a5f7dc709df94e2042274da1fe23.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20250328130336_b9d567d96a519dfdf7627ca9bf372a441b47a5f7dc709df94e2042274da1fe23" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="Pro-monarchy protests 28 March NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250328130336_277512a9bff76fd425e964f41854f7abd835ce3f38b68e95ec8a4cdd3d4e10c5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20250328130336_277512a9bff76fd425e964f41854f7abd835ce3f38b68e95ec8a4cdd3d4e10c5" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Pro-monarchy protests 28 March NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250328130336_aa52420cd50c238a9cbd7d49855fbd45586098a92dba14f1b5ef3dfad43293b0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20250328130336_aa52420cd50c238a9cbd7d49855fbd45586098a92dba14f1b5ef3dfad43293b0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1722" height="1144" loading="lazy" alt="Pro-monarchy protests 28 March NT"> </figure>  Royalist morale was boosted earlier this month to welcome former king Gyanendra to Kathmandu from a trip to western Nepal. Gyanendra has been king twice, and was ousted when an elected Constituent Assembly voted to abolish the monarchy in 2008. In 2015 Nepal’s new Constitution officially declared the country a secular federal republic. Royalists like former BBC journalist Rabindra Mishra have been exhorting the Nepal Army and Police to join the protests to reinstate the king, which many have described as provocative and dangerous rhetoric. Earlier this month Mishra told an Indian tv channel that New Delhi should support the reinstatement of a Hindu monarchy in Nepal.&nbsp; Indian leaders including External Affairs Ministry S Jaishankar have reportedly told Nepal’s leaders that they do not want to interfere in the country’s internal affairs. As tensions escalated on Friday, Mishra absolved himself and the pro-monarchy protesters of responsibility for the casualties and property damage.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250328130336_fef2e6aee4a59e2fbec96bba5814af5c18a9390b532fd6cb8d7cb62e86441cdf.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20250328130336_fef2e6aee4a59e2fbec96bba5814af5c18a9390b532fd6cb8d7cb62e86441cdf" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="Pro-monarchy protests 28 March NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250328130336_a70af2ece39b52108f32560e0a4c06a1ed7cd95e6f0c1c23121e8951b5525cdc.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20250328130336_a70af2ece39b52108f32560e0a4c06a1ed7cd95e6f0c1c23121e8951b5525cdc" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Pro-monarchy protests 28 March NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250328130336_8d5ab4cbabb4d1ab9bc2fa94711168ea1dc854297b5a427a2030536bc87db75c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20250328130336_8d5ab4cbabb4d1ab9bc2fa94711168ea1dc854297b5a427a2030536bc87db75c" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1333" loading="lazy" alt="Pro-monarchy protests 28 March NT"> </figure>  “No mass movements are under the control of its leaders,” said Mishra. “The government must take responsibility for the loss of life and property incurred today.” Despite the tough words, Nepal’s royalist bloc seems to lack a unified front. The RPP’s Rajendra Lingden and RPP-Nepal’s Kamal Thapa have distanced themselves from Prasai.&nbsp; Gyanendra himself appears to be content to ride what he thinks is a wave of public support, and leave the organising to his supporters. He has so far not spoken in public except occasional video appearances. One thing the pro-monarchy protests have done is restore a semblance of unity among the fractious three main parties. Top leaders of the NC, UML and Maoists met earlier this week to chart a response to the royalists, indicating that they are aware of the public mood and are rattled by the scale of support for the former king. Friday’s protests should serve as a stark reminder to Nepal’s serial prime ministers and their parties that if they do not step up and do their job, street protests could escalate.

Republicans and royalists on Nepal’s streets

One video on social media shows Avenues tv videographer Suresh Rajak filming <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/republicans-and-royalists-on-nepal-s-streets">Friday's pro-monarchy protests</a> in Kathmandu through windows shattered by stone-throwing crowds on the street below. The steel sliding door has been padlocked from the outside.&nbsp;
Minutes later, the rioters set fire to the building and stoned a fire truck trying to douse the flames. Rajak’s body was found two hours later after colleagues started searching for him.
Onlinekhabar journalist Dinesh Gautam was taking pictures of protesters snatching a tear gas gun from a policeman, when they attacked him, fracturing his leg. Across the Tinkune intersection, protesters attempted to set fire to the office of Annapurna Post and pelted stones at the Kantipur Television building. A Himalayan TV van was set alight.
Kathmandu woke up on Saturday to watch videos of the violence on their devices, or buy dailies at the newstands. The front pages carried special editorials and publisher’s notes that accused the royalists of deliberately targetting the media.&nbsp;
The <a href="http://www.fnjnepal.org/np">Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ)</a> organised memorials nationwide for Rajak and called the royalist attacks “a black day for press freedom”, comparing it to the days of the absolute monarchy.
“The attacks on the press and activists prove that protesters had no intention of peaceful gathering, they were itching for violence,” former FNJ chair Taranath Dahal said at the event in Kathmandu attended by hundreds of journalists.
Nepal’s public sphere appears to be polarised by former king Gyanendra Shah’s <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-ghost-of-monarchy-returns-to-haunt-nepal">attempt to reinstate Nepal as a Hindu kingdom</a>. While the mainstream press is vocally critical of the arson and looting unleashed by his supporters on Friday, on social media the picture is more mixed with many accusing the security forces of provoking the protesters.
The posts say riot police used the roof of the building that was torched to fire tear gas shells at the stage prepared for pro-monarchy figures. Police denied doing this. The owner of Avenues tv, Bhaskar Rajkarnikar, who is on a pro-monarchy committee led by Bollywood actress Manisha Koirala, had one of his own journalists burnt to death by royalist protesters. He has since accused the police of not doing enough to douse the fire and rescue Suresh Rajak.&nbsp;
The other fatality on Friday was 29-year-old Sabin Maharjan who got a police bullet in his neck. At least 112 people were injured, including 77 security officials. Apart from newspaper buildings, protestors vandalised private property, party buildings as well as ransacked a Bhatbhateni department store and a pharmaceutical factory.
Late Friday night, pro-monarchy leaders Rabindra Mishra and MP Dhawal Shumsher Rana of the royalist RPP were arrested for instigating demonstrators to engage in violence. The leader of Friday’s protest, business tycoon and alleged bank defaulter<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/street-politics"> Durga Prasai</a>, who rammed his pickup through police cordons, has eluded the police dragnet.
Many have said that the final responsibility for Friday’s violence lies with Gyanendra Shah, who reportedly instructed Prasai directly on Thursday on plans for the rally. The government is reportedly planning to strip Shah of state facilities granted to him since the monarchy was abolished in 2008, and to cancel his passport because of fears he may flee the country.
Ex-king Gyanendra has not yet spoken out about the protests. The RPP under Rajendra Lingden gave moral support to the protest but he had disagreements with Prasai, Mishra and Rana about how and when to hold it. The party meeting on Saturday is said to have decided to continue with “peaceful protests” to restore Nepal’s monarchy. Strategically, it helps Lingden's position within the party that a more radical faction is being blamed for Friday’s violence.
Former prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba of the NC on Saturday warned: “If this is what Gyanendra is doing now, what will he do if he is a king? He has never been a constitutional monarch, and he never will be.”
In its Special Editorial titled ‘<a href="https://ekantipur.com/opinion/2025/03/29/special-editorial-make-gyanendra-shah-accountable-16-58.html">Hold Gyanendra Shah Accountable</a>’ on Saturday, Kantipur wrote: ‘Instead of presenting ideological, political, and practical arguments for monarchy the royalists have engaged in vandalism, arson, and looting, proving that frenzy and chaos is inherent in their identity and character.’
Most editorials and analyses emphasised that Friday’s protest was an indication of public dissatisfaction with Nepal’s three main party leaders who have been prime minister multiple times — their corruption, lack of accountability and impunity.
<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/sacking-of-nea-chief-exposes-cronyism">Public anger is bubbling away</a>, and Friday’s mayhem in Tinkune was a manifestation of this. This should be a final wake-up call to political parties to clean up their act, and for ageing leadership to hand the reins to younger untainted figures before the next elections in 2027.
This is the reason leaders like Balen Shah and Rabi Lamichhane were elected in 2022, and is proof that at least democracy allows citizens to choose their next leaders.
But for democracy to function, it needs checks and balances in place, and this is where the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/media-matters">role of the media as a watchdog </a>becomes crucial. It is when critical voices are silenced and suppressed, dictators are born.
Following an emergency central committee meeting, the FNJ has announced protests demanding action against those involved in the killing of Rajak. “Protesters might have attacked and killed journalists, vandalised equipment and media outlets, but you will lose,” FNJ’s Deepak Acharya said at Saturday’s memorial. “Nepal’s press has always fought authoritarian control and it will keep fighting.”

Nepal’s déjà vu on Black Friday

Usually in winter, air quality in Kathmandu is equivalent to smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. But <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/wildfire-season-starts-early-in-nepal">wildfires raging</a> across central Nepal for the past weeks may have increased that to four packs a day. <a href="https://firms.modaps.eosdis.nasa.gov/map/#d:24hrs;@86.3,28.9,7.0z" target="_blank">NASA’s Fire Information and Resource Management System (FIRMS)</a> uses infrared heat detecting satellites to map the world for fires. While central India and Burma are the worst affected, forests along the central Tarai and the mountains south of Kathmandu have hundreds of red dots — each representing a forest fire. Kathmandu Valley had the worst air quality of any city in the world on Monday afternoon, according to <a href="https://www.iqair.com/world-air-quality">Swiss-based air quality tracker IQ Air</a>. Air Quality Index (AQI) which measures the concentration of tiny suspended particles in the air smaller than 2.5 microns hit 250 because of soot particles from smoke combined with pre-existing pollution from vehicular and industrial emissions.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250331110320_6ea6ed9ab5fceefd0b46e5ba59222eefe6f838b475a75a5ec2c12598ffccb6eb.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20250331110320_6ea6ed9ab5fceefd0b46e5ba59222eefe6f838b475a75a5ec2c12598ffccb6eb" data-rendition-name="original" width="1896" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="NASA FIRMS 29 March"> <figcaption>More than 200 forest fires are burning in central Nepal with prevailing winds blowing it up the valleys to Pokhara and Kathmandu, worsening air quality. This NASA FIRMS satellite image was taken on Sunday afternoon.</figcaption> </figure>  This was ten times higher than what the World Health Organization (WHO) has set as the threshold for healthy air. The microscopic particles cannot be seen by the naked eye and can jump the blood-air divide in capillaries in the lungs causing not just lung infections but also heart disease and cancer.&nbsp; The immediate effects of air pollution are felt in dry and burning eyes, itchy throats, difficulty breathing, headaches, and dizziness. In the longer term, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is a major cause of death in Nepal, with the average life expectancy of Kathmandu’s residents has been reduced by 3.5 years.&nbsp; Despite studies, Nepal’s leaders are preoccupied with coalition politics, and little action has been taken to control vehicular emissions with green stickers, curb open garbage burning and industrial pollution. Studies have shown that in winter 60% of the air pollution over Kathmandu is transboundary from the south, and in November it is compounded by crop residue burning by farmers in India and Pakistan which prevailing winds blow up the Himalayan mountains.&nbsp; Forest fires are common in Nepal in the pre-monsoon months as farmers and herders set fire to slopes hoping for green shoots when the rains arrive for their livestock. But successive years of winter drought have meant that the wildfires have been starting earlier, and they spread fast because of high afternoon winds this time of year.&nbsp; On 29 March, there were at least 200 fires burning across central Nepal. The FIRMS satellite image also shows thick blue smoke blanketing the river valleys, reducing visibility and affecting flights. On Monday morning three flights attempting to land at Kathmandu airport had to divert due to runway visibility being below minimum.&nbsp; This level of pollution is classified as ‘extremely unhealthy, and &nbsp;has serious health impact not only on <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/poisoning-children-at-school">vulnerable groups</a> like children, the elderly, and those who live with health conditions, but across Kathmandu’s population.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250331110324_b0f149ef5fc3f2657e883c311520b87d45e9636a7464ab418c691dd2bb6f6c7a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20250331110324_b0f149ef5fc3f2657e883c311520b87d45e9636a7464ab418c691dd2bb6f6c7a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1778" loading="lazy" alt="Pokhara Wildfire NT"> <figcaption>A fiery sunset over Phewa Lake in Pokhara on Sunday afternoon was caused by thick smoke from forest fires. Photo: KUNDA DIXIT</figcaption> </figure>  After the<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-revenge-of-the-rivers"> devastating September floods last year,</a> Kathmandu Valley and much of the country experienced a prolonged drought with little to no winter rain. Such prolonged dry spells raises fire risk, and with Kathmandu’s bowl-shaped topography concentrates pollutants. There are indications that high pollution levels do not just harm human health, but are also beginning to affect tourism. Operators in Pokhara said that there were many negative online posts by visitors unable to see the famous panorama of Machapuchre and the Annapurnas even from Sarangkot. Aviation is also affected, as planes have to circle sometimes for hours burning fuel for visibility to get better at Kathmandu airport. The higher fuel cost is just passed down to customers, making air tickets in and out of Kathmandu some of the highest in the world.&nbsp; Kathmandu’s toxic air quality is not a temporary phenomenon, it has consistently gotten worse. IQ Air places Kathmandu eighth out of 121 capital cities with the worst air quality in 2024, and Nepal is seventh among countries with the highest air pollution. The State of Global Air (SOGA) Report published last June <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/bad-air-and-polluted-politics">revealed </a>more than 50,000 Nepalis died from air pollution in 2021, accounting for 19% of all mortality, just behind high blood pressure. Kathmandu, with a population of four million, has not implemented a concrete policy to curb toxic air despite having formulated various action plans and repeated commitments by the government to protect the environment and control air pollution. The Department of Environment’s &nbsp;2017 Air Quality Management Action Plan for Kathmandu put forward a policy to reduce air pollution caused by vehicles which was approved by the Cabinet, but has yet to be put to practice. The action included the immediate implementation of the Euro 5 emission standard to reduce pollution emitted by vehicles. But Nepal has not even been able to implement Euro 4 standards so far. India, meanwhile, has already moved forward with the implementation of the Euro 6 standards.&nbsp;

No smoke without fire

The <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/time-capsule-of-kathmandu">Kathmandu Valley civilisation</a> can also be called a hydrological culture where sophisticated<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-needs-to-plan-for-plenty-and-scarcity-of-water"> water management</a> allowed densely-packed settlements to co-exist with intense <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/back-to-the-future-of-farming">agriculture</a> on the fertile soil of the former lake-bed. Both needed plenty of water, but <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/geopolitics-of-nepal-s-rivers">the Valley’s rivers </a>are not snowfed. So, the rulers of the kingdoms sourced them from the surrounding hills in an elaborate <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandu-s-ancient-water-spouts-still-functioning">network of canals </a>that did not just provide water for irrigation and fill ponds that recharged ground water, but also ensured urban supply through sunken spouts called hiti.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025032705030_4e0cf8c700f36086c3ea12917b03f2ae1f5224db3c9eac61c02b9a2a0d3ba91a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="2025032705030_4e0cf8c700f36086c3ea12917b03f2ae1f5224db3c9eac61c02b9a2a0d3ba91a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1227" loading="lazy" alt="Hiti "> <figcaption>Photo: HAYLEY SAUL</figcaption> </figure>  The fact that the hiti system is still a vital source of water for the residents of inner city <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/a-green-city-is-a-smart-city">Kathmandu</a>, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/patan-for-beginners">Patan</a> or <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/clash-of-cultures-in-bhaktapur">Bhaktapur </a>despite rapid urbanisation is a testament to the engineering and planning expertise of our ancestors dating back to the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/losing-loose-change-in-nepal">Lichhavi period</a> (400–750 CE) and later expanded during the Malla era (10th–18th century CE). ‘The Liquid Landscape of Kathmandu Valley: Hiti Pranali Water Heritage’ is a new exhibition at<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/patans-museum-piece"> Patan Museum</a> to pay tribute to this <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/culture-cannot-be-an-afterthought">cultural heritage</a> and explores recent archaeological research that offers solutions to not just their preservation but also to maintain them to supplement modern systems.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/saving-nepal-s-hiti-heritage">Saving Nepal’s hiti heritage</a> The research by Hayley Saul of Heritage for Global Challenges Research Centre and PhD scholar Anoj Khanal at the University of York in the UK entailed using Ground Penetration Radar (GPR) to generate electromagnetic waves to map underground water conduits. Collaborating in the research was engineer and author of the seminal book Hiti Pranali, Padma Sunder Joshi of the Madan Bhandari University of Science and Technology. “We used GPR to explore if we can find filtration systems or functions that allow for the flow and control of water and its distribution,” Saul explained. Although many of the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/in-with-the-old-in-nepal">historical monuments of the Valley</a> that were destroyed in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/lessons-not-learned-from-2015-o2etq6zu">the 2015 earthquake </a>have now been rebuilt, there has been minimal work in finding out about underground water conduits that may have been damaged, and in their restitution. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/a-portal-into-patan-s-past-and-present">A portal into Patan’s past and present</a>, Prakriti Kandel GPR technology can be used to map the main canals (raj kulo) and their branches, explore how they were designed and built in the first place, without having to carry out expensive excavation -- which would be difficult anyway because much of the Valley floor is now built up.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025032705038_c51c4e9e1a59d413f652d10f78b1ea7ee49a6c02e4ca01dff29c1ed79df10796.jpg" data-media-id="editor_16" data-image-id="2025032705038_c51c4e9e1a59d413f652d10f78b1ea7ee49a6c02e4ca01dff29c1ed79df10796" data-rendition-name="original" width="14888" height="10627" loading="lazy" alt="Hiti GPR results"> <figcaption>Photo: HAYLEY SAUL and ANOJ KHANAL</figcaption> </figure>  Local governments can now use the data collected by the researchers to map out the network canals, enforce building restrictions if needed and to maintain them.&nbsp; The hiti of Kathmandu were not just functional, but sacred and served as social and spiritual hubs. They provided water for drinking, laundry, household use, rituals, while also serving as gathering places for communities.&nbsp; With the<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/water-for-the-ages"> introduction of modern water mains </a>from the late 19th century onwards and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/cost-of-living-in-a-big-city">rapid urban growth</a>, many hiti have fallen into disrepair or dried up. Of the at least 573 stone spouts once counted in Kathmandu Valley, many are lost, damaged, or no longer functional due to neglect, pollution, and encroachment of ponds and canals that feed them. Joshi explains that<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/thimi-s-urban-tissue"> Kathmandu’s ancient urban planners </a>developed the hiti network after the kingdoms located to higher ground to leave the lower areas for <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/aid-rarely-aids-agriculture-in-nepal">agriculture</a>. It forced them to devise ways to bring water through a network of canals fed by aquifiers, and use the gradient to sunken hiti stone spouts for distribution.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025032705034_ae12c7503ea6717c4a727a1c14a500f964e0e86668f9f923950cfb8a6c907d81.png" data-media-id="editor_21" data-image-id="2025032705034_ae12c7503ea6717c4a727a1c14a500f964e0e86668f9f923950cfb8a6c907d81" data-rendition-name="original" width="890" height="677" loading="lazy" alt="Hiti map"> </figure>  The exhibition at Patan Museum also demonstrates that the hiti system incorporates space for living beings, making it a self-functioning <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/people-tigers-trees-and-rivers">ecosystem </a>in itself. The existence of plants such as ferns and algae, and snakes and frogs indicate a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/orchids-of-godavari-phulchoki">healthy ecosystem </a>in the sunken spouts. Absence of such biodiversity today indicates that the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/saving-the-waters-of-life">water systems</a> have been degraded or <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/too-little-too-much-or-too-polluted">polluted</a>. “The<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/nepal-must-keep-water-on-its-land"> ponds </a>were used to collect water and recharge groundwater and aquifers,” explains Joshi. “They were primarily used for farming ducks which needed the algae in the ponds as food.”&nbsp; Every June just before <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/managing-the-monsoon">the monsoon</a>, Kathmandu Valley’s <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/kathmandu-marks-ihi-with-a-difference">Newa community </a>ritually cleans wells and other sources of water to maintain drainage and ensure that they serve as effective storage systems. Which is why Kathmandu’s hydrological culture is such an important part of its civilisation to this day.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250327100320_02d01e05c3f8aa3cde1f5af1569e8e09bf84dee88ebda76bb68ee0e0df669c80.png" data-media-id="editor_29" data-image-id="20250327100320_02d01e05c3f8aa3cde1f5af1569e8e09bf84dee88ebda76bb68ee0e0df669c80" data-rendition-name="original" width="1339" height="634" loading="lazy" alt="Kathmandu hiti NT"> </figure>  Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-water-emergency">The Water Emergency</a>, Ajaya Dixit The underground network of water canals also showed advanced engineering skills, and the system was so well built that it has lasted centuries, even though local communities may have lost the skills needed to build and maintain them. Says Anoj Khanal, “The wisdom from the past must be preserve and used. The technique and knowledge must be adapted to the modern times.” The York University team used the GPR technology at 33 hiti sites in Patan, and now hope to do similar research in Kathmandu.&nbsp; The hiti system thrived because it worked in balance with nature which has been disrupted with modern pressures as over-extraction of ground water and the disappearance of recharge ponds. Pollution from septic tanks and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/blueprint-for-a-net-zero-nepal">industrial waste</a> contaminate aquifers, while <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/climate-breakdown-linked-to-thame-flood">climate breakdown</a> alter rainfall patterns. Many hiti that once flowed year-round are now dry even during <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/soon-monsoon">the monsoon</a>.&nbsp; The hiti exhibition showcases the intricate <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-history-of-heritage">heritage of Kathmandu Valley</a>’s water supply network and how <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/tech-and-transition-in-nepal">modern technology</a> can help restore them. It is also a call to action to preserve the canals, spouts, ponds and the catchment areas on the Valley’s rim.&nbsp; Says Khanal, “It is possible to revive the hiti using the maps of water conduits underground to figure out alternate routes where water can flow. It is better late than never.” The Liquid Landscape of Kathmandu Valley: Hiti Pranali Water Heritage Until 30 March Patan Museum

forced-disappearances

THE TWO - YEAR ITCH

Nepal and Burma delay, dilute and deny justice

Republicans and royalists on Nepal’s streets

Nepal’s déjà vu on Black Friday

No smoke without fire

Kathmandu’s liquid landscape