The past can hold nostalgic memories for many, but for Man Bahadur Chaudhary there are no fond recollections of being a slave bonded to his landowner.
In 2000, Man Bahadur was one of thousands of bonded labourers across the country who were liberated after the Kamaiya system of bonded labour was abolished. The Kamaiya spent their entire lives working for zamindar landowners for no pay, and just got a portion of the food they grew.
“I don’t want to ruin my present by remembering my past,” Man Bahadur tells us in the town of Ghorahi. “I have a good life now and I’m happy with that.”
Man Bahadur's children have taken over running the household. His eldest son, Santu, is a contractor and even provides jobs for others. Of Man Bahadur's three other sons, one works abroad while the two are bus drivers.
“I couldn’t afford to pay for their higher studies but they are doing their best to make a living,” says Man Bahadur, “But at least they do not have to work as slaves like I did.”
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/opening-their-home-to-others">Opening their home to others</a>, Urmila Gamwa Tharu
Man Bahadur’s neighbour, Sabina Chaudhary, was also a bonded labourer and had never imagined that her son, Swarup, would be a police officer one day. “We worked for someone else with no pay, there was no way we could dream so big,” says Sabina.
Swarup was selected on his first attempt, and the whole village came out to celebrate when he came home in his uniform.&nbsp;
“Like many children of former bonded labourers, I saw my parents work tirelessly in someone else’s house,” he says. “Today, we work tirelessly to stand on our own feet.”
Many of the children of former slaves are now in the Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and Nepal Army, as well as in other government jobs and they have made their parents proud. Many former Kamaiya communities here in the western Tarai are seeing this transformation.
But it has not been easy. Even after they were freed, the former bonded labourers found it difficult to make a living. Sontali Chaudhary had started working as a day-wage labourer to educate her daughter Srijana, but does not need to work as hard anymore after Srijana got a job as a teacher in a government school.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepali-politician-educates-herself-at-age-43-rcgx53wr">Nepali politician educates herself at age 43</a>, Unnati Chaudhary
“Back then, I was always in a rush to go to work, now I am in a rush to see her off to work,” Sontali says with pride.
Apart from government jobs, many children of former Kamaiya have opted for technical and vocational education and often work as nurses, agriculture technicians, or survey engineers.
Working in the health centre of the village, Sunita Chaudhary is an inspiration to many. Her patients are her biggest fans. She says, “Education has brought about real changes, it has given our community hope.”
The five districts of the western Tarai, which includes Dang, Banke, Bardia, Kailali and Kanchanpur have 42,000 liberated bonded labourers, most of whom have received identity cards that give them access to government services. But there are still about 10,000 former Kamaiya who do not have the cards, and are deprived of access to jobs and state facilities.
“If only the government could extend the identification to everyone in our community, all former bonded labourers could have a better life,” says Harish Chandra Chaudhary, chair of Mukta Kamaiya Samaj. “The older generation’s life went by fighting for liberation. At least the new generation has a chance to forge a new identity.”
Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=17356">Free of bondage</a>, Shanta Chaudhari

original

674x448

610x380

500x500

400x266

400x240

400x203

301x200

1250x600

1084x550

thumbnail

viewImage

From slavery to salvation

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

Sonia Awale

Protecting those who protect us from Covid

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

Violations of Nepal’s airspace during WWII

At Budhanilkantha School Ujwal Thapa was a few years my senior. He was a quiet person who kept to himself; I didn’t know him very well despite being related to him because of that introversion and natural shyness. What we did have in common, coming of age in the 1990s, is our generation, GenX, which became weary, inured for the most part, to Nepal’s famously unstable politics.&nbsp; Counting the events of this past September, GenX has, astonishingly, lived through three people’s revolutions, one armed conflict, a flawed but hard won constitution, and a major earthquake. Ujwal Thapa, one of Nepal’s most cherished Gen Xers, despite his previous, youthful reticence, did not long remain a complaisant bystander against the backdrop of these extreme upheavals.&nbsp; By the mid 2000s he had become deeply political, but without the equivocation that so often accompanies politics. Thanks to his lived experience, he came to believe that the youth of Nepal are the key to our future. He believed in discerning wisdom (bibeksheelta), innovation, and nurture. He inspired entire generations, young and old, including GenZ, before his untimely death due to Covid in 2021. He was only 44.&nbsp; By the time of his passing he had started a tech company, and employed and mentored scores of youth. It is important to note that only after he had made a significant contribution to civil society did he turn towards politics, founding and then stepping back from the Bibeksheel Nepali party, which has now, after several complicated mergers and splits, been integrated into the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP). When the Ujwal Thapa Foundation set out to make a documentary on his life three years ago, no one could have known that it would premiere at such a crucial point in Nepal’s social and political history.&nbsp; Everything that Ujwal Thapa believed in still holds true. I think he would have been proud to see the youth of our country, GenZ, stand up for themselves, peacefully. He would have been grieved at the state condoned bloodshed, and, believing in non-violent protest himself, been deeply shocked by the savage revolution that followed.&nbsp; Most of all, I wonder how he would have reacted to the publishing of the blatantly elitist RSP proportional representation list - the party that many had pinned their hopes on, and that Bibeksheel Nepali has ultimately been absorbed into. That party now seems like it may be a chip off the rotten old block, ruled by men endorsing rampant nepotism, and outnumbered by people without scruples.&nbsp; Many of the names on the list and the rankings, in particular, disrespect the very spirit of a provision that was created for those competent individuals who would not otherwise be able to contest elections, due to lack of monetary and social capital, but whose marginalised voices are vital for inclusive policy making. There is still time for real inclusion, to embrace a more bibeksheel path, before the March elections.&nbsp; Ujwal Thapa’s own, firm, ethical stances are clear in the The Man Who Shook Our Minds, translated loosely from the Nepali title Dimaag Ghhochne Manchhe. While long, at almost two hours, it is filled with thought-provoking and sage counsel. The film also offers very real insight into how Ujwal Thapa evolved into the icon he is today.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026011111018_eb596eb063dcaf0f67840bfa4ffa39eb27df2bf9ec1a3f9a1f531824c1b7a569.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2026011111018_eb596eb063dcaf0f67840bfa4ffa39eb27df2bf9ec1a3f9a1f531824c1b7a569" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="670" loading="lazy" alt="Ujwal Thapa"> <figcaption>Stills from the documentary.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026011111018_65d9625d3a4865ca228425b7ce7b7b186ae5009313bbfab0ee65eada276aebd6.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2026011111018_65d9625d3a4865ca228425b7ce7b7b186ae5009313bbfab0ee65eada276aebd6" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="670" loading="lazy" alt="Ujwal Thapa"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026011111018_2ff455c55722d153cafbd2d650e19584e38d7c098b109271bd106a55201f4fa0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2026011111018_2ff455c55722d153cafbd2d650e19584e38d7c098b109271bd106a55201f4fa0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="670" loading="lazy" alt="Ujwal Thapa"> </figure>  It isn’t easy making a documentary after the passing of the primary subject. While there are many talking heads, the people featured, friends, family, fellow activists and senior politicians are all eloquent in their descriptions of Ujwal Thapa and his transformation from an engaged, civic minded entrepreneur into a committed political leader who among many other commendable things, believed in putting women first, and understood the crucial necessity for a welfare state that would serve its people. The main man is not deified, he is humanised.&nbsp; The feature is punctuated, and leavened, with moments of real humour as his infamous bluntness and occasional domestic haplessness are gently exposed. Another strength of the film is the profound love story between Ujwal Thapa and his brave, brilliant, incredibly resilient wife, Erica Adhikary, the heroine to a real life hero, and a major force behind the making of this film, alongside many of his stalwart wellwishers and friends, old and new.&nbsp; Sushila Karki, the Prime Minister, was present at the premiere of the film with members of her Cabinet. Candid and sincere in her opening remarks, she said she had wanted to attend the moment she heard about the film. She had known Ujwal Thapa, and she had mourned his loss, praying for him during his illness. She wished that leaders like him were here today to show us the way forward in a time of need. The film opened in theatres on the 9th of January, and is an essential viewing experience for anyone who cares about Nepal’s future and wants some insight into how they might make a difference.&nbsp; Ujwal Thapa was not perfect, but he was remarkable. He realised that being a civic minded citizen just isn’t enough. To make a real difference, one also needs to be principled, insightful, entrepreneurial, creative, self motivated, able to speak truth to power, uncorruptible, practical, well prepared, and, perhaps, most importantly, able to step back from holding power even after attaining it.&nbsp; The saying by Plato that goes “He who does not desire power is fit to hold it” was surely meant for people like Ujwal Thapa. One can only hope that in the near future more people embodying this description will, however reluctantly, come forward to lead Nepal. Ujwal Thapa worked hard to enable this, they must be out there. <div class="embed-block"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/veO1yVM4pS4?si=f0Lcbs1wasyqfnK1" 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> The Man Who Shook Our Minds is being screened at QFX cinemas across town. Sophia L Pandé is on the Ujwal Thapa Foundation Advisory Board. She is a writer, art-historian and filmmaker, advising on the economic and social potential of the Cultural and Creative Industries. She is Director of Development at the Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust, and Founding Director of The Kalā Salon, a non-profit space for the arts.

The Man Who Shook Our Minds

Did <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/1921-rendezvous-mallory-pumori-and-everest">George Mallory</a> and Andrew Irvine of the 1924 British Expedition reach the top of the highest mountain in the world? It has been more than a century after the two climbers were last seen just 300m below the summit. And 26 years ago Mallory’s remains were found on the North Face of Everest, while Irvine’s boot was located at its base.&nbsp; Some doubt that the two could have reached the top with the level of equipment and clothing of the time, but others are convinced that at least one of them made it but had an accident on the way down.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260108110148_26b4f6883ce3362c6f0c312d35422a57384c04aeb673f578d3ddb660761747fc.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260108110148_26b4f6883ce3362c6f0c312d35422a57384c04aeb673f578d3ddb660761747fc" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="George Mallory and Everest"> <figcaption>Panuru Sherpa on the top of Mt Everest with a client in 2002. He has climbed the peak 16 times.</figcaption> </figure>  Among those who believe Mallory and Irvine were the first to climb Mt Everest, and not <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/everest-70-years-on">Hillary and Tenzing in 1953</a>, are the Nepali guides who took part in the research expeditions in 1999, 2001 and 2004 to find clues about Mallory and Irvine. Mallory’s body was found 8,125m on the North Face in 1999, and Irvine’s detached foot and sock with his initials inside a leather hob-nailed boot was found in 2024 in the Rongbuk Glacier below the North Face. Various expeditions have recovered a mitten, an oxygen cylinder, and ice axe from that expedition. “I believe they reached the summit, and fell on the way down in the dark and bad weather,” says <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/sherpaland-co-usa">Panuru Sherpa</a>, who has climbed Mt Everest 16 times, including on the northern route taken by four British expeditions in 1921, 1922, 1924 and 1933. “They were making good progress past the Second Step from where it is a much easier hour-and-half to the summit. A climber who reaches that point below the final pyramid does not turn back.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260108110148_bdbdd01c5c12cb5bb022857f7ca871cc4ff95e02c2305f6bbf1a63d1d15de8e4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20260108110148_bdbdd01c5c12cb5bb022857f7ca871cc4ff95e02c2305f6bbf1a63d1d15de8e4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1300" height="864" loading="lazy" alt="George Mallory and Everest"> <figcaption>Mt Everest North Face in China which early expeditions took because Nepal was closed till 1950. The red line is the classic route to the peak, the dotted line is probably what George Mallory and Sandy Irvine took in 1924 to avoid the formidable obstacle of the Second Step.</figcaption> </figure>  Panuru is convinced that the location of Mallory’s body and Irvine’s ice axe shows that the two had not lost their way on their descent. He told Nepali Times in Denver, where he now lives: “Mallory’s body was not decomposed even after 75 years, and his exposed back was white like marble. One of legs was broken, and there was an altimeter and letters written to his wife Ruth in his pocket.” He remembers the search team was happy to locate <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/mountains-of-books">Mallory</a>, but it was unable to find one of the three cameras believed to be with the duo that could have held the proof that the two, or at least one of them, had indeed been the first to climb Everest.&nbsp; There was a deep wound around Mallory’s waist, which could have been caused during the fall by the rope which was still found tied around his body. Mallory’s remains were covered in stone slabs at the site after a brief ritual, Panuru recalls. A 1975 Chinese expedition reported seeing the body of a Western climber, which was probably Mallory, near their Camp VI. There are rumours in climbing circles that the Chinese also found a camera, but that the negative could not be developed. Everest summiteers have said the Second Step’s 45m overhanging cliff at 8,610m would have been “essentially insurmountable”, and it is only possible today because the Chinese fixed aluminium ladders to the rock face in 1975.&nbsp; But Panuru agrees with other mountaineering historians who believe Mallory could have decided to take a route below the northeast ridge and bypass the Second Step, following the advice of fellow team member Ed Norton who set the then world record by reaching 8,572m. The other finding that could indicate that Mallory reached the top was that a photograph of his wife Ruth which he intended to place at the summit was not in his pocket.&nbsp; EVEREST CONNECTION Panuru is the son of Nima Tsering Sherpa, who was a part of the 1953 expedition to Mt Everest that made Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay the first climbers on the world’s highest peak. Nima carried loads for that expedition up to the South Col. Nima had eight sons and a daughter, Panuru is the sixth, and<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-most-prolific-mountaineering-clan"> most of his siblings are also climbers</a>. After the successful 1953 expedition, Nima spent time grazing yaks, growing potatoes and raising his family in Phortse. He joined expeditions to support the family. The young Panuru would meet mountaineers who stopped by at the family’s tea house in Phortse. He has walked the Jiri route to Kathmandu many times, and his eldest brother who worked for Mountain Travel Nepal got him a job as a trekking guide. Panuru ended up joining expeditions, climbing Everest from both sides multiple times. Panuru Sherpa’s brother Danuru was the youngest member of the 1999 expedition, and a year earlier had first climbed Everest from the Nepal side when he was only 18. The siblings are now chefs at the Sherpa House in Colorado.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260108110152_9275f617585d33f7324d087455de7c61fd3759fe4d44a7ebe604fa2eefc047df.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20260108110152_9275f617585d33f7324d087455de7c61fd3759fe4d44a7ebe604fa2eefc047df" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="523" loading="lazy" alt="George Mallory and Everest"> <figcaption>Brothers Panuru and Danuru Sherpa are now working in Golden, Colorado, and lead occasional climbing trips in the Rockies and Alaska.</figcaption> </figure>  In 2001, both brothers were members of another expedition composed of 20 foreign and 21 Nepali climbers led by David Hahn that tried to find Irvine in the same area of the North Face, guided by the discovery of Irvine’s ice axe in a 1933 expedition as well as sightings of what was believed to be his body near the ridge above. No more clues were found then, or in 2004 when Danuru returned for another search expedition. Remnants of Irvine and Mallory’s Camp VI were found at 8,600m during the 2001 expedition, only about 300m from where Mallory’s body was located.&nbsp; “It was probably dark when Mallory fell because his snow goggles were in his pocket,” says Danuru, who has taken part in the three search expeditions on the north side and is also convinced the two fell on their way down after reaching the summit. Altogether 13 people died on Everest during the three expeditions that Mallory was involved in, of which nine were Nepali porters, cooks and guides who were hired in Darjeeling before the march-in. “Chomolungma and Sherpa are synonymous,” says Danuru. “It was Chomolungma that made the Sherpa people famous globally, and it was Sherpas who made it possible to climb Everest.” Konrad Anker, who led the 1999 team that found Mallory’s body, doubts that one or both the climbers reached the summit in 1924, mainly because of the difficulty of climbing a cliff at 8,600m with the kind of gear they had.&nbsp; “It is possible, but unlikely they climbed the Second Step with 1920s equipment, but even getting to that altitude back then was an incredible accomplishment,” he has said. After the expedition, Anker and Panuru worked together to set up the Khumbu Climbing Center to upgrade the technical skills of Nepali guides. Panuru has also trained hundreds of fellow Nepali guides, and many of them regard him as a mentor. Panuru knew the need for better training because he himself had been badly wounded during a fall into a crevasse in the Khumbu Icefall in one of his early expeditions in 1992 and had to be evacuated by helicopter to Kathmandu.&nbsp; But the very next year, he was back on the mountain. He climbed Everest from the north with a Korean team in 1994, and a year later got to the top again from the north side with an American expedition. He summited again from the Nepal side in 1996, and nearly died in an avalanche on the north side that killed a fellow Sherpa in 1997.&nbsp; So far, Panuru has climbed Everest 16 times, Cho Oyu 14 times from both sides, Xixapangma four times, five other eight-thousanders in Nepal, and Ama Dablam six times. He was the first Nepali to ascend Gurla Mandhata in Tibet. After emigrating to the United States, he has climbed Mt Denali (6,190m) in Alaska three times while also being a part of a volunteer rescue team.&nbsp; Irvine’s boot was found by an expedition led by American climber Jimmy Chin in the Rongbuk Glacier, probably transported there from the base of the face by the movement of ice in the past 100 years. Asked why he climbed Everest 16 times, Panuru echoes George Mallory: “Because I was there.” &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Finding George Mallory

The 12-day political partnership of Kulman Ghising with Rabi Lamichhane and Balen Shah that ended on Saturday was brief even by Nepali standards.&nbsp;
The Ujyalo Nepal Party backed by Ghising and Lamichhane’s RSP had inked a deal to unite on 29 December, one day after Balen Shah formed an agreement with the RSP to contest the election under the party’s banner.
The alliance between the RSP and Ghising is said to have fallen apart after Ghising asked for institutional and ideological changes within the party, and for members of his team to be given key positions including senior vice-chair and general secretary, as well his stipulation that more than two dozen of his camp be appointed members of RSP’s central committee.&nbsp;
Ghising had also been less than happy about some of his 18 proposed candidates being left off RSP’s Proportional Representation list, and had taken issue with the priority order of those from his camp on the docket.&nbsp;
The merger between Ghising and Lamichhane happened after last minute negotiation before the deadline for the submission of the PR candidate list after multiple previous rounds of discussions between BRK had failed. Ghising had agreed to sit down one final time with the two leaders following a last-ditch effort by youth leaders including Sudan Gurung.
Ghising following his resignation last week had told the press that his partnership with Lamichhane and Shah had not come into effect even though his UNP had formally signed to merge with RSP. The party, which has been hailed as a formidable alternative political foil to legacy outfits in the March polls, had come under considerable criticism for its PR list, most of which included influential public figures as opposed to qualified people who would represent the nation’s socio-culture, socio-economy, diverse ethnic makeup, and geography.&nbsp;
On Saturday, following news of the RSP-UNP dissolution, Ghising was announced as the chair of the UNP, of which he had only remained the patron so far.
That Ghising broke away from Lamichhane and Shah does not come as a shock. Analysts had already predicted the clash of egos between the three figures who have gained popularity through personality rather than ideology driven politics.&nbsp;
It is also not surprising that the new trio has been following the playbook of make-up and break-politics written by the Oli-Deuba Dahal trio that has defined Nepali politics for the last decade.&nbsp;
As the RSP deals with its growing pains, Nepal’s established parties are busy preparing for the polls even as they confront infighting within their own institutions. The Nepali Congress is seeing widening rifts between factions brought on by power struggles between old and newer leadership within the party. The &nbsp;special general convention called by General Secretaries Gagan Thapa and Bishwo Prakash Sharma began on Sunday amid party president Sher Bahadur Deuba and other senior leaders’ refusal to endorse and attend the event.&nbsp;
The special general convention was called after it was endorsed by 54% of NC’s general convention delegates, but the party leadership has been adamant about holding the general convention to choose a new party head after the election.
The decision to go ahead with the special general convention has been opposed by numerous NC district chapters for going over the head of party leadership. Even so, leaders of the Thapa-Sharma faction expect 60% of the party’s delegates to attend the event.&nbsp;
The Thapa and Sharma faction want the party to contest the election under a new leadership, seeming to have a better grasp on the sheer lack of popularity of the party, especially after GenZ protests. The leaders are banking on having a better outcome at the March polls if there is a change in party leadership.&nbsp;
Leftist leaders like Pushpa Kamal Dahal of the NCP and Baburam Bhattarai have also been busy reaching out to Indian leadership in the weeks leading up to the election.
And while pro-monarchy leaders like Durga Prasai—while initially calling for a royalist mobilisation following the September protests—seem to be laying low lately, only emerging after the Balen-Rabi merger to call them “political actors groomed by foreign powers”, former king Gyanendra during his Prithvi Jayanti address on Saturday took the opportunity to deliver a particularly somber address to the nation.&nbsp;
Gyanendra commented on the youth frustration that led to the September revolt, linking it to the ongoing exodus of young people and capital, as well as geopolitics, and criticising Nepal’s political leadership of “repeatedly using the youth but not understanding their needs”.
“Yesterday, there was concern that there was no development in the country, but today there is a bigger worry that the country itself might not survive,” Gyanendra said in his remarks. “This country was not built, nor will it be built, by speeches, magic or miracles.”

healthcare-workers

From slavery to salvation

Protecting those who protect us from Covid

Protecting those who protect us from Covid

Violations of Nepal’s airspace during WWII

The Man Who Shook Our Minds

Finding George Mallory

BRK break up