In the week that<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/trump-s-first-month"> US President Donald Trump</a> visited Saudi Arabia to sign deals worth hundreds of billions of dollars, a rights group published its investigation of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/die-first-get-paid-later?%2F">deaths of migrant workers</a> in the country.
They are dying in horrific yet preventable workplace accidents, says the report by the US-based <a href="https://www.hrw.org/">Human Rights Watch (HRW)</a>. They are killed in falls at construction sites, electrocution, and even decapitation.
HRW cites lack of effective government policies and procedures to determine the causes of migrant worker deaths. Procedures already exist, but Saudi authorities have failed to conduct thorough investigations in recurring incidents and not provided timely and adequate compensation to affected families.&nbsp;
Under Saudi law, employers with 50 or more workers are required to implement health and safety measures, conduct training, assess workplace risks, and ensure the provision of protective equipment and first aid.&nbsp;
However, HRW’s investigation shows that abuses and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/dirty-dangerous-difficult-and-dehydrating">dangerous working conditions </a>remain widespread. While illnesses from extreme heat are formally recognised as occupational diseases, protections against <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/gulf-workers-need-protection-from-heat">heat-related injuries and deaths</a> remain grossly insufficient.
Families often struggle to receive compensation, with the process described to be lengthy and burdensome.
Even as the Saudi government ramps up construction work for the 2034 <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/pay-qatars-world-cup-workers-dzwfshhw">World Cup </a>with FIFA handing it over the tournament, the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/labour-rights-legacy-of-the-fifa-world-cup">risks of occupational deaths and injuries </a>further increase with the mega projects raising fears that it could come at a severe human cost.
“The gruesome workplace accidents killing migrant workers in Saudi Arabia should be a huge red flag for businesses, football fans, and sports associations seeking to partner with FIFA on the 2034 Men’s World Cup and other Saudi giga-projects,” HRW’s Michael Page.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/qatar-refuses-payoffs-to-world-cup-workers">Qatar refuses payoffs to World Cup workers</a>
The group called on Saudi authorities, FIFA, and involved employers to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/world-cup-ending-without-migrant-relief">take urgent action</a>, stressing that all migrant worker deaths must be thoroughly investigated.
HRW’s research on the migrant worker deaths reveals that the vast majority have been officially attributed to ‘natural causes’.
In 2023 alone, 74% of the 1,420 Indian migrant worker deaths recorded by the Indian Embassy in Riyadh were labeled as such. ‘Natural causes’ were cited in 80% of the 887 Bangladeshi deaths during the first half of 2024, and in 68% of 870 recorded Nepali migrant worker deaths between 2019 and 2022.
In two cases, witnesses informed families that their coworkers had died as a result of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/nepal-health-workers-at-risk-of-workplace-hazards?fbclid=iwy2xjawdc2dxlehrua2flbqixmqabhsoxnve7qmhmdyhvy5kqfukx4enrffx-ckjgixuxohjwwdp9uucvrtpw-w_aem_aruewa8pwa5jy2zcatow35g8vj5qh1rrn_j8cgyjp6skbpxbrpooznox8mmhipvs1h5tuow2gwu3xcsgctbi6l-n">workplace accidents</a>. One was due to electrocution and the other in an elevator incident. Families were told they died in their sleep.
Witnesses also reported being forced to resume work immediately after witnessing coworkers die in workplace accidents. One worker, who removed his friend’s body following a machinery accident, returned to work the next day without any bereavement leave or psychological support.
Saudi Arabia’s General Organization for Social Insurance (<a href="https://www.gosi.gov.sa/GOSIOnline/About_Portal&amp;locale=en_US">GOSI</a>) provides mandatory coverage for work-related injuries and deaths, yet, HRW says there is a gap between policy and practice.
Even when deaths are officially classified as work-related, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/in-the-minds-of-nepal-s-migrant-workers">migrant workers’</a> families often face prolonged delays and bureaucratic hurdles in accessing compensation.
Recounting the sudden death of her husband, one Nepali widow shared her experience: “I begged the company multiple times for insurance money. But they said it is not in their rules as they do not have a life insurance policy, just accidental insurance.” She suspects the investigation into her husband’s death was incomplete, but like many in her situation, she lacked the resources to challenge the company’s claims or travel to Saudi Arabia for clarity.
For many bereaved families, especially those from <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/south-asia-2040-qxr16oup">South Asia</a>, the burden of securing any form of redress often shifts to welfare programs run by their own governments.
These schemes, typically funded through <a href="https://publications.iom.int/system/files/pdf/social_protection.pdf">Migrant Welfare Funds</a>, offer limited relief and are frequently inaccessible to those without valid labor permits. The scope and generosity of such support also varies depending on the country of origin.

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Migrants dying in Saudi FIFA worksites

Migrant workers in Saudi Arabia are enduring widespread ill-treatment including forced labour to build giga-projects as FIFA prepares to officially announce the country as host of the 2034 World Cup next week, a rights group said.&nbsp; Details of pervasive labour exploitation are contained in a 79-page report by <a href="https://www.hrw.org/" target="_blank">Human Rights Watch (HRW)</a> titled ‘<a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2024/12/04/die-first-and-ill-pay-you-later/saudi-arabias-giga-projects-built-widespread">Die First, and I’ll Pay You Later</a>’ including exorbitant recruitment fees, wage theft, dangerous working conditions, and barriers to mobility. Most of the projects are funded by the Saudi Public Investment Fund (PIF), and <a href="https://www.hrw.org/middle-east/north-africa/saudi-arabia" target="_blank">HRW</a> condemns FIFA for proceeding without enforcing robust human rights commitments, raising concerns about potential exploitation tied to the massive infrastructure demands of hosting the tournament. “The human engine powering the construction of Saudi Arabia’s multibillion dollar giga-projects is the migrant workforce, who are facing widespread rights violations in Saudi Arabia without any recourse,” says HRW’s deputy director for the Middle East, <a href="https://www.hrw.org/about/people/michael-page" target="_blank">Michael Page</a>.&nbsp; “FIFA’s fake <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/10/28/saudi-arabia-flawed-assessment-world-cup-bid" target="_blank">evaluation process</a> to award the 2034 World Cup without legally binding human rights commitments will come at an unimaginable human cost, including adverse intergenerational impacts on migrant workers and their families,” Page added. The report is based on interviews with 155 current and former migrant workers, mainly from South Asia, and families of labourers who have died. Workers are often forced to pay illegal recruitment fees, and in Saudi Arabia employers frequently violate contracts, withhold wages, and impose severe restrictions on job transfers.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241204121216_ea90aba692b22a6acb6b67d939ad623187128a060929e53c5c854f38e14bbffe.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20241204121216_ea90aba692b22a6acb6b67d939ad623187128a060929e53c5c854f38e14bbffe" data-rendition-name="original" width="1777" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="'Die first, get paid later' NT"> <figcaption>Photo: ALEX SERGEEV/WIKIMEDIA</figcaption> </figure>  One worker reported being denied wages after two months, with a manager telling him, “Die first, and I’ll pay you later.” Another worker employed at the NEOM project described paying up to $3,200 to move to another job, while many were forced to sign agreements to reimburse employers for leaving their positions. The number of migrant workers in Saudi Arabia is more than <a href="https://portal.saudicensus.sa/portal/public/1/15/45?type=DASHBOARD" target="_blank">13 million</a>, and is expected to increase further as planned giga-projects are built. Of them, currently about 380,000 migrant workers are from Nepal.&nbsp; Workers also face extreme isolation and unsafe conditions, including <a href="https://www.migrant-rights.org/2024/06/from-frying-pan-to-fire-from-climate-stricken-villages-in-nepal-to-extreme-heat-in-gulf-workers-risk-lives-for-livelihoods/" target="_blank">heat exposure exacerbated by climate breakdown</a>. HRW had issued a similar report on worker abuse ahead of and during the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/rights-referees-blow-whistle-on-world-cup-fouls" target="_blank">FIFA World Cup in Qatar in 2022</a>. “Every day, one or two workers faint,” said a laborer on the <a href="https://www.neom.com/en-us/regions/theline" target="_blank">NEOM project</a>, a flagship PIF-funded futuristic megacity called ‘The Line’. Uninvestigated deaths are common, with 80% of 884 Bangladeshi worker deaths between January-July 2024 attributed to ‘natural causes’ without proper examination. A report in Migration-Rights.org in 2022 calculated that at least one worker a day died in Saudi Arabia. And <a href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20241112-21000-workers-killed-building-saudis-the-line-project-media-reports/" target="_blank">an ITV report</a> earlier this year said at least 21,000 migrant workers had already died during construction of The Line. The widow of one Indian plumber told HRW: “He did not have any health issues. We do not believe that he died of natural death as is mentioned in the death certificate. The death was not investigated properly.”&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241204121216_41af7c1aab8d9c0169884bda3618c6d408eab213ddf09551637715365844873f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20241204121216_41af7c1aab8d9c0169884bda3618c6d408eab213ddf09551637715365844873f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1767" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="'Die first, get paid later' NT"> </figure>  The worker used to send home $536 every month to cover family expenses, education, and outstanding loans. After his death, the family in India is destitute. Saudi Arabia’s World Cup bid entails the aconstruction of 11 new stadiums, the refurbishment of four others, and the creation of more than 185,000 hotel rooms, alongside significant transportation infrastructure.&nbsp; HRW wants FIFA to mandate strict labour protections and accountability measures before awarding <a href="https://www.dezeen.com/2024/08/01/2034-world-cup-stadiums-saudi-arabia/" target="_blank">World Cup</a> hosting rights, and criticised the Saudi government for failing to enforce existing labor laws and implement promised reforms. “Saudi authorities are spending billions to polish their global image, but the true cost is borne by exploited workers,” said Page. “Effective labour reforms and enforcement are overdue and critical.” Without meaningful changes, the HRW report warns, the 2034 World Cup could perpetuate cycles of abuse with devastating consequences for millions of migrant workers and their families. <a href="https://www.hrw.org/report/2024/12/04/die-first-and-ill-pay-you-later/saudi-arabias-giga-projects-built-widespread">The HRW report is available in full here</a>.

'Die first, get paid later'

The new left-led coalition in Kathmandu could pave the way for progress on finally addressing conflict atrocities, but first the government’s proposed bill in Parliament needs some important changes to ensure justice for victims. Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has held several meetings with opposition leader K P Oli of the UML over the past few months because he knew that the bill could not be passed without UML support. Dahal was under pressure from the international community, including from United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres during his visit to Nepal in October to conclude the transitional justice process. On Tuesday, <a href="http://www.hrw.org/asia/nepal">Human Rights Watch (HRW)</a> and the group Advocacy Forum-Nepal released a report that said although the <a href="https://www.hrw.org/asia/nepal">Nepal</a> government’s proposed bill on transitional justice contains positive provisions, but needs ‘significant amendments’. ‘It is widely recognised that a lack of accountability for conflict-era violations has led to a crisis of impunity in Nepal, with police and politicians rarely held accountable for rights violations and corruption,’ the two organisations said in a statement.&nbsp; But they added that the current moment presents the opportunity to amend the draft so that the demands of victims and survivors of the 1996-2006 conflict are met. More than 17,000 Nepalis, mostly civilians, were killed and some 3,288 are still listed as missing. HRW said that the work of rights activists had ensured built public pressure to improve the draft bill, but it still allowed those responsible for serious war crimes and crimes against humanity to not be answerable.&nbsp; The HRW Advocacy Forum report, <a href="https://www.hrw.org/node/387537">Breaking Barriers to Justice: Nepal’s Long Struggle for Accountability, Truth and Reparations</a> analyses the proposed law and reviews some cases where there were obstructions to justice by the Nepali state, which is made up of the former enemies in the conflict.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240306110324_81106a42b6e16cc935bacb7d2315487adc45b250b4b032276a0819db1918818c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20240306110324_81106a42b6e16cc935bacb7d2315487adc45b250b4b032276a0819db1918818c" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="TJ Bill"> </figure>  Survivors of war rape and relatives of victims filed complaints in 62 extrajudicial killings, and the organisations say that the draft does not meet international legal standards, rulings by Nepal’s &nbsp;<a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/05/01/nepal-supreme-courts-decision-reaffirms-need-amend-transitional-justice-law">Supreme Court</a> and demands of victims’ families. “To deliver a durable and rights-respecting process without further delay, Nepal’s leaders should agree to amendments called for by victims and recommended by legal experts, then ask parliament to pass the bill into law,” said <a href="https://www.hrw.org/about/people/meenakshi-ganguly">Meenakshi Ganguly</a>, HRW’s deputy Asia director. "This is a moment of opportunity to deliver the truth, justice, and reparations long sought by victims and help protect the rights of all Nepalis in the future." The conflict ended 18 years ago with the signing of the 2006 Comprehensive Peace Agreement under which mandated setting up a <a href="http://www.trc.gov.np/">Truth and Reconciliation Commission</a> (TRC) and a Commission on the Investigation of Enforced Disappeared Persons (CIEDP). During Secretary-General Guterres’ visit Prime Minister Dahal from the Maoist Centre party promised ‘speedy advancement’ of the peace process. The current bill provides for reparations and interim relief for some victims, including victims of torture and rape, who were left out of earlier relief packages. It guarantees the right of the families of victims of enforced disappearance to their relatives’ property.&nbsp; The TRC and (CIEDP) would investigate war crimes and those classified as ‘serious violations of human rights’ could be referred to and prosecuted in a special court. This includes rape, enforced disappearance, and cruel or inhuman torture, and a yet to be finalised definition of unlawful killing.&nbsp; However, HRW says the bill excludes numerous serious crimes under international law, including some acts of torture and other unlawful killings. It says excluding certain categories of crime risks providing general amnesty to perpetrators, as well as deprive some victims and their families from reparations.&nbsp; “If the transitional justice bill is passed without appropriate amendments, it risks hindering the search for justice,” said Bikash Basnet of Advocacy Forum. “If it is appropriately amended, it can be the basis for a meaningful, nationally-owned process that upholds the rights of victims and benefits all Nepalis by strengthening institutions and the rule of law.” Click here for full report, <a href="https://www.hrw.org/node/387537">Struggle for Accountability, Truth and Reparations</a>

Nepal’s chance on transitional justice

<img width="1169" height="747" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110151120/636d08ca9c7e80680e0a603ajpeg.jpg" alt=""/>The Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Tuesday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, urging him to uphold the rights of Nepali citizens and strengthen the rule of law.
Recent <a href="https://www.thelancet.com/action/showPdf?pii=S2214-109X(20)30345-4">reports</a> have revealed that the pandemic has decreased institutional delivery by half, increasing risks of premature birth, stillborn deliveries and newborn deaths, setting back Nepal’s past gains in maternal and child care.
Additionally, reduced family income coupled with prolonged school closures has pushed many Nepali children into labour, with projections that half of the girl students may not rejoin schools once they <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/half-of-nepals-girls-may-drop-out-of-school/">reopen</a>. Child marriages are on the rise.
“The new government should take measures to safeguard and continue progress on health and education, including through assistance for households whose livelihoods have been devastated by the pandemic,” says Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Safety nets are critical for ensuring that crises do not prevent children from continuing their education or harm progress on reducing child marriage and child labour.” 
The letter paid special attention to pressing human rights issues pertaining to Nepal’s failures in addressing war crime and transitional justice.
In 2015, Nepal formed the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons. A year before that in 2014, the Supreme Court scrapped provisions in the transitional justice law that allows amnesty for offences including torture, murder, and enforced disappearance during Nepal’s armed conflict. The law has not been revised.
Successive governments have stopped conflict-era cases from being heard in regular courts citing the supposed transitional justice process, even as victim groups and Nepali human rights organisations have long questioned its credibility. 
But their protests seem to have fallen on deaf ears, one of Deuba’s first acts in office was to extend the terms of transitional justice commissioners by another year.
“Successive governments have stalled on delivering justice to victims for the many grave cases of abuse, preferring to protect the abusers instead,” adds Ganguly. “As a result, abuses continue while principles of accountability, the rule of law, and the independence of institutions have been eroded, with negative consequences for everyone in society.”
Nepal has made little progress in investigations of human rights violations at home despite being re-elected as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council. This has had a corrosive impact on wider principles of accountability and the integrity of institutions.
Of late, Nepal has seen a marked increase in alleged extra-judicial killings, custodial deaths allegedly from torture, and the excessive use of lethal force against protesters. In fact, the NHRC in October 2020 published a list of 286 suspects of serious crimes that included law enforcement officials, military personnel, and former Maoist insurgents that police had refused to investigate.
A culture of impunity has undermined the rule of law, there is no accountability for abuses of power. Instead, they continue to climb up the bureaucratic ladder, like the promotion of a police officer alleged to be involved in the extra-judicial killing of two men in August 2018. 
Justice and relief for survivors of sexual violence during the conflict is even more difficult to come by. On the other hand, families of six young Dalit men murdered in Rukum in May 2020 —among the deadliest instances of caste-based killings in Nepal, still await justice. Those linked to the death of a 12-year-old girl forced to marry her rapist in May 2020 have yet to be held accountable.
The HRW has also called on the Deuba government to reverse appointments made to independent institutions like NHRC and the Election Commission after the Oli government pushed an ordinance amending the law in December 2020 to allow only three members of the Council to make appointments.
There are numerous other pending challenges such as the 2006 Citizenship Act, provisions in the 2015 Constitution, and a draft citizenship bill that limits women’s ability to transmit citizenship through marriage. The bill is similarly discriminatory against Nepal’s transgender people.
The HRW also opposed restrictions on the freedom of religion, rights to peaceful assembly, expression, and association of Tibetan refugees in Nepal who have fled Chinese persecution.
Says Ganguly: “Prime Minister Deuba faces many pressing problems, but he also has an opportunity to craft a positive legacy. Meanwhile, Nepal’s international development partners should press the government for measurable action on accountability if they hope to achieve change.”

Nepal must work on human rights

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110915110/636bb2ab9c7e80680e07baf7jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1169" height="747"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>Human Rights Watch (HRW) has once more urged the government to address allegations of recent extra-judicial executions and deaths in custody, as well as to respect the independence of the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/nepal-must-reboot-human-rights-rule-of-law/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/nepal-must-reboot-human-rights-rule-of-law/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1599117125900000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFoBusv1JSu9bs5W7mcTw9EzO-XIA">National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).</a><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110915110/636bb2ae9c7e80680e07baf8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="225">The NHRC has filed reports of continued human rights abuses by Nepal’s security forces, and HRW pressed the government to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/amnesty-on-nepal-impunity/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/amnesty-on-nepal-impunity/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1599117125900000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEH5HzJ3I4RshZx_BdtbX-KsWLiGA">end impunity</a> and be accountable for the abuses.“Nepal is still trying to grapple with delivering justice for unlawful killings during the armed conflict, but instead of keeping its promise of reforms and pledges against repeat offenses, the abuses continue to mount,” said <a href="https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=4tNED-2FM8iDZJQyQ53jATUZSUZsKQffopO3djP-2FXiLsskiG1Q6gEMW5ijTZcdpHqg1VNHdLPEKhbJiQPkGKrCUA-3D-3D96lz_Fw9I6ls453wh9AcW9OcnAOdGLtHJQWmb6iisfhwxtIrVHXOCd4VBT7bZGP2s-2FHbG9JxVKulQIyCjRDu9XnUWBhuOJZ-2BTIAC4GbOzVj7LjC7I-2FQPY6l4UxHr0M4TEpDQR-2F1KEz-2Fz91FYzeRtiZ5NzLtCBIn90Ft9K9VjTk8-2BC-2BX37Y-2FevkoNwB2tc-2F1uUWzlWl7V-2BVi0qWv4E-2BCukDvpOcN-2FERJ2N3YjLm5ateZ9bb7tuhfsjpJPm45z2zGY64P7QXusQiq6ay1HrAYGaKuHyKM3PHKqG0zyjdfWzde31JFFhNyQCre6m4W5TfEEeyHLQlujirrZIudDOnoFzw1HClU9-2B6p-2B3oVxBfxN72WiRj8EE5QIExi06a4nLUoU01h49" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn%3D4tNED-2FM8iDZJQyQ53jATUZSUZsKQffopO3djP-2FXiLsskiG1Q6gEMW5ijTZcdpHqg1VNHdLPEKhbJiQPkGKrCUA-3D-3D96lz_Fw9I6ls453wh9AcW9OcnAOdGLtHJQWmb6iisfhwxtIrVHXOCd4VBT7bZGP2s-2FHbG9JxVKulQIyCjRDu9XnUWBhuOJZ-2BTIAC4GbOzVj7LjC7I-2FQPY6l4UxHr0M4TEpDQR-2F1KEz-2Fz91FYzeRtiZ5NzLtCBIn90Ft9K9VjTk8-2BC-2BX37Y-2FevkoNwB2tc-2F1uUWzlWl7V-2BVi0qWv4E-2BCukDvpOcN-2FERJ2N3YjLm5ateZ9bb7tuhfsjpJPm45z2zGY64P7QXusQiq6ay1HrAYGaKuHyKM3PHKqG0zyjdfWzde31JFFhNyQCre6m4W5TfEEeyHLQlujirrZIudDOnoFzw1HClU9-2B6p-2B3oVxBfxN72WiRj8EE5QIExi06a4nLUoU01h49&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1599117125900000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH1ISXSgqGDV5tebZV8VO0gbX1Z9w">Meenakshi Ganguly</a>, HRW’s South Asia director. “The government uses rule of law rhetoric to appeal to foreign diplomats and donors but actually fosters a culture of impunity.”Last June, police in Sarlahi killed Kumar Paudel, 47, a member of the Biplav faction of an underground Maoist splinter group in what appears to be an encounter killing. An investigation by the NHRC said police officers responsible should be prosecuted, but the Home Ministry rejected the report.The NHRC has also called for an investigation into the deaths of Raj Kumar Chepang, 24, after being detained and allegedly beaten by the Army in Chitwan National Park, and Bijay Mahara, 19, after being taken in by Police for questioning.The human rights violations have continued mainly because earlier <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/just-not-justice/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/just-not-justice/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1599117125900000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH9PTZH3qurxSjq-Xb_0-1Cm5_CIg">heinous crimes committed during the 1996-2006 conflict</a> have <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-runs-out-of-excuses-to-address-war-crimes/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-runs-out-of-excuses-to-address-war-crimes/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1599117125900000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHKJa8U7eBo2jlefbhlqi3gdXnl9A">gone unpunished</a> due to the government’s insincerity in <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/truth-about-truth-commission,3565" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/truth-about-truth-commission,3565&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1599117125900000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGjW4eMd1la3zSwEIFS-njsyp1WEQ">pursuing transitional justice</a>, rights groups have said.Responding to the government’s request to the NHRC to reconsider its recommendation in the case of Kumar Paudel, secretary and spokesperson for the commission, Bed Bhattarai, told HRW: “The Home Ministry is asking the NHRC to rethink the recommendation of the commission but actually we have clear evidence…. The NHRC has investigated and concluded it as an extrajudicial killing.”Following the death of Bijay Mahara on 26 August, Police initially said he died of kidney failure, but two officers were subsequently suspended after a video emerged of Mahara claiming that he had been tortured in detention.Research by <a href="https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=TeZUXWpUv-2B6TCY38pVLo9kSUiUANym5PaENKGoAIavgLjK8V-2BovxX-2Fv2SYSAvGo4IRwUiTDUwgS1mwkxn-2Fx9Dd02uxGSWuDdVkHOBN9CEtSc2vxL0gWVcvdrg-2BMRL3V89NACQ2JFrG-2BC-2B8UjNb8eYQ-3D-3D34uM_Fw9I6ls453wh9AcW9OcnAOdGLtHJQWmb6iisfhwxtIrVHXOCd4VBT7bZGP2s-2FHbG9JxVKulQIyCjRDu9XnUWBhuOJZ-2BTIAC4GbOzVj7LjC7I-2FQPY6l4UxHr0M4TEpDQR-2F1KEz-2Fz91FYzeRtiZ5NzLtCBIn90Ft9K9VjTk8-2BC-2BX37Y-2FevkoNwB2tc-2F1uUWzlWl7V-2BVi0qWv4E-2BCukDvpOcOcaRU0-2FjbWitmF6bbjoNkqdarFAzyZZui93uhoxPEeAen-2Fj-2FzC56LaN6bJHNrzx7H4-2FabqTIr2HwABSYnyKLRkSfxY6yL3Ty0WRMhwGuse0vzCv39Ac4NSc14e9OPA7OF9X5hXSe86wSuNVGMmb1LXPxr4I-2FQ6MC7mwGBTN75bn" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn%3DTeZUXWpUv-2B6TCY38pVLo9kSUiUANym5PaENKGoAIavgLjK8V-2BovxX-2Fv2SYSAvGo4IRwUiTDUwgS1mwkxn-2Fx9Dd02uxGSWuDdVkHOBN9CEtSc2vxL0gWVcvdrg-2BMRL3V89NACQ2JFrG-2BC-2B8UjNb8eYQ-3D-3D34uM_Fw9I6ls453wh9AcW9OcnAOdGLtHJQWmb6iisfhwxtIrVHXOCd4VBT7bZGP2s-2FHbG9JxVKulQIyCjRDu9XnUWBhuOJZ-2BTIAC4GbOzVj7LjC7I-2FQPY6l4UxHr0M4TEpDQR-2F1KEz-2Fz91FYzeRtiZ5NzLtCBIn90Ft9K9VjTk8-2BC-2BX37Y-2FevkoNwB2tc-2F1uUWzlWl7V-2BVi0qWv4E-2BCukDvpOcOcaRU0-2FjbWitmF6bbjoNkqdarFAzyZZui93uhoxPEeAen-2Fj-2FzC56LaN6bJHNrzx7H4-2FabqTIr2HwABSYnyKLRkSfxY6yL3Ty0WRMhwGuse0vzCv39Ac4NSc14e9OPA7OF9X5hXSe86wSuNVGMmb1LXPxr4I-2FQ6MC7mwGBTN75bn&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1599117125900000&amp;usg=AFQjCNExZ-GYCF6ySN-Up51gEy8gF47o1A">Advocacy Forum</a> found that despite the end of the conflict in 2006, torture is still widespread in Police custody in Nepal, and members of the Dalit and other marginalised groups are far more likely to be tortured than those of the ‘upper’ castes.  Torture <a href="https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=4tNED-2FM8iDZJQyQ53jATUcC6qxQ9kuLqpPt-2B0oTwjIxNxBLiGkIHIKl5XCQd3p-2BZxeX38PHHR6QWOvh574Cl8YVewQ4R021Aqo-2Fff81xLwIO5-2B9CdFZ0i0egwP0-2FNuk-2BHLij_Fw9I6ls453wh9AcW9OcnAOdGLtHJQWmb6iisfhwxtIrVHXOCd4VBT7bZGP2s-2FHbG9JxVKulQIyCjRDu9XnUWBhuOJZ-2BTIAC4GbOzVj7LjC7I-2FQPY6l4UxHr0M4TEpDQR-2F1KEz-2Fz91FYzeRtiZ5NzLtCBIn90Ft9K9VjTk8-2BC-2BX37Y-2FevkoNwB2tc-2F1uUWzlWl7V-2BVi0qWv4E-2BCukDvpOcBHv3zUYyrNEtRNqqCiJvlmd9QHCSJuR0l3YsqkKyb0-2FnuW54yaQqOGtPpIvxJ-2ForXmb1LIsVj4cY9gPrIglkASFFsiffE5tcwwexY8Uu32qEHLPUgvYnyROfqbymrsHQf-2BiD-2BxbzPpiw-2BK0eHruGSVj2d49WRLM79a2SdD-2Flcwn" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn%3D4tNED-2FM8iDZJQyQ53jATUcC6qxQ9kuLqpPt-2B0oTwjIxNxBLiGkIHIKl5XCQd3p-2BZxeX38PHHR6QWOvh574Cl8YVewQ4R021Aqo-2Fff81xLwIO5-2B9CdFZ0i0egwP0-2FNuk-2BHLij_Fw9I6ls453wh9AcW9OcnAOdGLtHJQWmb6iisfhwxtIrVHXOCd4VBT7bZGP2s-2FHbG9JxVKulQIyCjRDu9XnUWBhuOJZ-2BTIAC4GbOzVj7LjC7I-2FQPY6l4UxHr0M4TEpDQR-2F1KEz-2Fz91FYzeRtiZ5NzLtCBIn90Ft9K9VjTk8-2BC-2BX37Y-2FevkoNwB2tc-2F1uUWzlWl7V-2BVi0qWv4E-2BCukDvpOcBHv3zUYyrNEtRNqqCiJvlmd9QHCSJuR0l3YsqkKyb0-2FnuW54yaQqOGtPpIvxJ-2ForXmb1LIsVj4cY9gPrIglkASFFsiffE5tcwwexY8Uu32qEHLPUgvYnyROfqbymrsHQf-2BiD-2BxbzPpiw-2BK0eHruGSVj2d49WRLM79a2SdD-2Flcwn&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1599117125900000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFKPGrAabZA8M1P5L3J38Q71HsSow">became a crime under Nepali law for the first time in 2018</a>, but there have been no successful prosecutions.<a href="https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=4tNED-2FM8iDZJQyQ53jATUXoVGUaW9MzXuF6NbqRpywagv8GnGLV2MH4IauJtg0LM1i-2FhKGqxJE-2B-2BqdW2h1Oc7L1mCztnv5XMLLKi-2BsEJY28czUOCpr2VdYVIprlRLcgBVmnU6Qk-2BzBVYmF4Cnc28mg-3D-3Dsh22_Fw9I6ls453wh9AcW9OcnAOdGLtHJQWmb6iisfhwxtIrVHXOCd4VBT7bZGP2s-2FHbG9JxVKulQIyCjRDu9XnUWBhuOJZ-2BTIAC4GbOzVj7LjC7I-2FQPY6l4UxHr0M4TEpDQR-2F1KEz-2Fz91FYzeRtiZ5NzLtCBIn90Ft9K9VjTk8-2BC-2BX37Y-2FevkoNwB2tc-2F1uUWzlWl7V-2BVi0qWv4E-2BCukDvpOcCEnkz-2F7VEFiqfgMwVc0SCYlT0WIUQhBNOpF2T7L-2BTrAHCZslcGloi7Hq-2FSacHY4TmgfflPcG9AwUfu5X1sVRhN2VlM-2BpYK0tDpzpzzvMFNSTXWI0cBDjPRUp6GSlYXpdlbY3Ss-2FGvPFKY5AABVluitYBA0eoX4Go-2FqfrUu09F5E" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn%3D4tNED-2FM8iDZJQyQ53jATUXoVGUaW9MzXuF6NbqRpywagv8GnGLV2MH4IauJtg0LM1i-2FhKGqxJE-2B-2BqdW2h1Oc7L1mCztnv5XMLLKi-2BsEJY28czUOCpr2VdYVIprlRLcgBVmnU6Qk-2BzBVYmF4Cnc28mg-3D-3Dsh22_Fw9I6ls453wh9AcW9OcnAOdGLtHJQWmb6iisfhwxtIrVHXOCd4VBT7bZGP2s-2FHbG9JxVKulQIyCjRDu9XnUWBhuOJZ-2BTIAC4GbOzVj7LjC7I-2FQPY6l4UxHr0M4TEpDQR-2F1KEz-2Fz91FYzeRtiZ5NzLtCBIn90Ft9K9VjTk8-2BC-2BX37Y-2FevkoNwB2tc-2F1uUWzlWl7V-2BVi0qWv4E-2BCukDvpOcCEnkz-2F7VEFiqfgMwVc0SCYlT0WIUQhBNOpF2T7L-2BTrAHCZslcGloi7Hq-2FSacHY4TmgfflPcG9AwUfu5X1sVRhN2VlM-2BpYK0tDpzpzzvMFNSTXWI0cBDjPRUp6GSlYXpdlbY3Ss-2FGvPFKY5AABVluitYBA0eoX4Go-2FqfrUu09F5E&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1599117125900000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFEJ_teaLKOO1vil_w98hjugui0Eg">According to the NHRC</a>, the government has fully implemented only about 12% of 810 commission recommendations in the eight years to 2019. The terms of the current members of the NHRC expire in October.HRW is also critical of Nepal’s donors for not addressing impunity and rights violations in the country, citing assistance from the UK, US and Norway for the Nepal Police and judicial reform.Human Rights Watch said in a statement that donors which fund the Nepal Police ‘should publicly and privately insist that Nepal meets its basic obligation to investigate and prosecute grave violations’.When the country was elected to the current United Nations Human Rights Council, Nepal had said that it guaranteed the independence of the NHRC and the judiciary, and it was genuinely committed to pursue <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/stop-stalling-transitional-justice-global-human-rights-bodies/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/stop-stalling-transitional-justice-global-human-rights-bodies/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1599117125900000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE7wbBcmxj-7lR9I-ivkL2vJMkExw">transitional justice</a> for conflict-era crimes.<a href="https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=4tNED-2FM8iDZJQyQ53jATUS-2FpwyhkazBUFbKhdFfXjgcTFa9DWLDOjxQdpFqupeeVEJghz4pOAjHGajsYws2Bd7RFpFme416EcXeCCJ-2FlNmS-2BTfHvstd0QEn8rrgZIk1tJA_f_Fw9I6ls453wh9AcW9OcnAOdGLtHJQWmb6iisfhwxtIrVHXOCd4VBT7bZGP2s-2FHbG9JxVKulQIyCjRDu9XnUWBhuOJZ-2BTIAC4GbOzVj7LjC7I-2FQPY6l4UxHr0M4TEpDQR-2F1KEz-2Fz91FYzeRtiZ5NzLtCBIn90Ft9K9VjTk8-2BC-2BX37Y-2FevkoNwB2tc-2F1uUWzlWl7V-2BVi0qWv4E-2BCukDvpOcCszbIhEI0mPssDQ2oL0n0QKJrmWVeo5yK7TrYJ7-2FIlJhYx96FPSvCxvDwc-2Bx3aBJI4TTUVaDztoXPg6rpUSDTTIh9YTFGkbC8EOF-2BERuor1Ej9gnVxPfrBVZaS-2BjfhqpFuScbhEJhgxHhMNI09c71BZStUyomzgltnOIZbL9McY" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn%3D4tNED-2FM8iDZJQyQ53jATUS-2FpwyhkazBUFbKhdFfXjgcTFa9DWLDOjxQdpFqupeeVEJghz4pOAjHGajsYws2Bd7RFpFme416EcXeCCJ-2FlNmS-2BTfHvstd0QEn8rrgZIk1tJA_f_Fw9I6ls453wh9AcW9OcnAOdGLtHJQWmb6iisfhwxtIrVHXOCd4VBT7bZGP2s-2FHbG9JxVKulQIyCjRDu9XnUWBhuOJZ-2BTIAC4GbOzVj7LjC7I-2FQPY6l4UxHr0M4TEpDQR-2F1KEz-2Fz91FYzeRtiZ5NzLtCBIn90Ft9K9VjTk8-2BC-2BX37Y-2FevkoNwB2tc-2F1uUWzlWl7V-2BVi0qWv4E-2BCukDvpOcCszbIhEI0mPssDQ2oL0n0QKJrmWVeo5yK7TrYJ7-2FIlJhYx96FPSvCxvDwc-2Bx3aBJI4TTUVaDztoXPg6rpUSDTTIh9YTFGkbC8EOF-2BERuor1Ej9gnVxPfrBVZaS-2BjfhqpFuScbhEJhgxHhMNI09c71BZStUyomzgltnOIZbL9McY&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1599117125900000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHL4oDZP8uhbAp9wpRvv4obxi7EGQ">Six UN special rapporteurs have warned</a> that the Nepal government has tried to ‘severely undermine’ the NHRC’s independence and authority, and the government had failed to comply with <a href="https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=4tNED-2FM8iDZJQyQ53jATUb5yH3-2BeXtQTvnT-2B-2BUMEEz4vk-2BM5b-2BCWldHLQwamPuPqDZU-2FhoCtpX8cVIafU0CYB1qVWzSARIP4cuPd-2Bex-2FjWk-3DfRGQ_Fw9I6ls453wh9AcW9OcnAOdGLtHJQWmb6iisfhwxtIrVHXOCd4VBT7bZGP2s-2FHbG9JxVKulQIyCjRDu9XnUWBhuOJZ-2BTIAC4GbOzVj7LjC7I-2FQPY6l4UxHr0M4TEpDQR-2F1KEz-2Fz91FYzeRtiZ5NzLtCBIn90Ft9K9VjTk8-2BC-2BX37Y-2FevkoNwB2tc-2F1uUWzlWl7V-2BVi0qWv4E-2BCukDvpOcKZ22P-2Bzc76cgmBpFkuXPJMU7EzfQBmVMrQ1J6jLJo-2FU99jF4uiyCNoCBn-2FWLi7Z3a4Uba9FEGJwlIWmYXaAKTG5Suo62LfQUOfOFGLpKJ-2BTLY7aW5jbBNJO8hdrgiutDBamjuT9ZRmgefIN3hCuk-2FPwhR3UnhkRl-2F77PQJq7GwJ" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn%3D4tNED-2FM8iDZJQyQ53jATUb5yH3-2BeXtQTvnT-2B-2BUMEEz4vk-2BM5b-2BCWldHLQwamPuPqDZU-2FhoCtpX8cVIafU0CYB1qVWzSARIP4cuPd-2Bex-2FjWk-3DfRGQ_Fw9I6ls453wh9AcW9OcnAOdGLtHJQWmb6iisfhwxtIrVHXOCd4VBT7bZGP2s-2FHbG9JxVKulQIyCjRDu9XnUWBhuOJZ-2BTIAC4GbOzVj7LjC7I-2FQPY6l4UxHr0M4TEpDQR-2F1KEz-2Fz91FYzeRtiZ5NzLtCBIn90Ft9K9VjTk8-2BC-2BX37Y-2FevkoNwB2tc-2F1uUWzlWl7V-2BVi0qWv4E-2BCukDvpOcKZ22P-2Bzc76cgmBpFkuXPJMU7EzfQBmVMrQ1J6jLJo-2FU99jF4uiyCNoCBn-2FWLi7Z3a4Uba9FEGJwlIWmYXaAKTG5Suo62LfQUOfOFGLpKJ-2BTLY7aW5jbBNJO8hdrgiutDBamjuT9ZRmgefIN3hCuk-2FPwhR3UnhkRl-2F77PQJq7GwJ&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1599117125900000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEjUvI50js_VF_0e-1iKnOZQTwcZQ">repeated Supreme Court rulings</a> to amend the transitional justice law to meet international standards, and instead has ignored numerous court orders relating to conflict-era police investigations and prosecutions. Nepal is now <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/does-nepal-deserve-2nd-term-at-unhrc/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/does-nepal-deserve-2nd-term-at-unhrc/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1599117125901000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFfgtjW7Hs6ogsMKf_aZYp2Rv5T3A">standing for a second term at the Council</a>, and its record is coming up for review.Said Ganguly: “Nepal’s authorities love to speak of their commitment to human rights and good governance … and diplomats and donors should insist on measurable progress on rights protections if they hope to see their financial and technical support bear meaningful results.”

End impunity, protect rights: HRW

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131148/636a50649c7e80680e04fd59jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="1053"/><figcaption>Subhas Rai</figcaption></figure>Four global human rights bodies took the unusual step Monday of issuing a joint statement condemning the Nepal Government’s inaction on rights violations committed during the decade-long armed conflict, which has denied justice to victims."The failure of the government to deliver on its commitment to ensure truth, justice, and reparations for the victims of conflict-era abuses shows a dismaying disregard for the protection of human rights,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, South Asia director at Human Rights Watch (HRW), in the press release.HRW, TRIAL International, the International Commission of Jurists and Amnesty International called on the government to: 1) suspend the current process of naming commissioners to Nepal’s two transitional justice commissions, and initiate a consultative and transparent process for the nomination and appointment of commissioners; 2) follow through on commitments to amend the 2014 transitional justice law to ensure that the legal framework is consistent with international human rights standards and Supreme Court rulings; and 3) adopt and publicise a plan for taking the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-struggle-for-transitional-justice/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">transitional justice</a> process forward.Read also: <a style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.15px;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-struggle-for-transitional-justice/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The struggle for Transitional Justice</a>, Hari PhuyalThe terms of the Commission of Investigation on Enforced Disappeared Persons and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission were extended in February 2019 but to date the new commissioners have not been named, as political parties are reportedly fighting over the influential roles.“The legitimacy of Nepal’s transitional justice process lies both in a transparent and consultative appointment process for commissioners, and a strong legal foundation to allow the commissions to fulfil their mandate,” said Helena Rodríguez-Bronchú, head of TRIAL International’s Nepal program, in the press release.Read also: <a style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/12-years-later-justice-is-a-mirage/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">12 years later, justice is a mirage</a>, Sewa BhattaraiAfter being elected in 2018, Prime Minister KP Oli renewed promises that the legal framework governing transitional justice would be brought into conformity with Nepal’s international human rights law obligations, as the Supreme Court had repeatedly directed. In April 2019, United Nations experts wrote a joint letter to Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali reminding him of that commitment and calling for a transparent process for appointing new commissioners.“The lack of progress in holding perpetrators accountable for the suffering inflicted upon victims, their families and Nepali society as a whole, is appalling,” said ICJ Asia-Pacific Director Frederick Rawski. “Nearly 13 years after the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, political leaders inside and outside of government are still playing games by politicizing the process. It is about time that they showed some courage, and took action to ensure access to justice, instead of continually looking after their own short-term self-interests.”Read also: <a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em; background-color: #ffffff;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/justice-in-transition/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Justice in transition,</a> David Seddon

‘Stop stalling’ transitional justice: global human rights bodies

Nepal has shut down dozens of social media platforms in a move that is widely seen as an effort to tax the revenue they generate in the country, and to control content critical of government. The sites were blocked as of midnight on Thursday, 4 September and affects all Meta products including WhatsApp and Messenger, Threads, and others. Although YouTube, Google and X are also on the government’s list, they were still working as of Friday midday.&nbsp; The government says it took the action after repeated warnings to the platforms to open offices in Nepal, a Cabinet decision last month setting a deadline, as well as a 17 August Supreme Court ruling also requiring them to register and pay requisite taxes. However, the Bill cited in the ban, ‘The Operation, Use, and Regulation of Social Media in Nepal’ has not yet been passed by Parliament. Some social media platforms which were already paying taxes in Nepal even though they are not officially registered, have also been blocked. The move is the latest in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/big-beautiful-bills" target="_blank">a slew of draft legislations</a> designed to undermine Nepal’s open society. A Bill amending the Print and Publications Act would allow district bureaucrats to shut down media. Another draft Bill would allow political appointees to head a new Media Council with the power to revoke the licenses of journalists.&nbsp; A counter-intelligence Bill would let just about anyone in government to arbitrarily tap phones, read emails and trail citizens. On Wednesday the government announced new immigration requirements that would allow it to track the movement of all foreigners in the country. Yet another draft Bill has been set to Parliament to dissolve the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=10675" target="_blank">Social Welfare Council (SWC)</a> and move registration and monitoring of non-governmental organisations, nonprofits and charities to the Ministry of Social Welfare. Seen in this light, the blockage of social media platforms this week is seen as the latest government attempt to constrict freedom of press. Nepal is one of the few remaining open societies in Asia, and now appears to be drifting towards authoritarianism. The government’s sudden shutdown of social media has been greeted with howls of protest on platforms that still remain open, like Viber and TikTok, as well as in Nepal’s mainstream press. Even senior members of the ruling UML-NC coalition have sharply criticised the move, asking if the government is trying to “turn Nepal into North Korea”.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025090508098_a2ab330e403e8418a7006cd5e915607382628dd6984524332bf7b99c74743656.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="2025090508098_a2ab330e403e8418a7006cd5e915607382628dd6984524332bf7b99c74743656" data-rendition-name="original" width="4280" height="5187" loading="lazy" alt="social media ban in Nepal"> </figure>  The Regional Director of the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Beh Lih Yi said in a statement: ‘Nepal’s sweeping ban on social media sets a dangerous precedent for press freedom. Blocking online news platforms vital to journalists will undermine reporting and the public’s right to information. The government must immediately rescind this order and restore access to social media platforms, which are essential tools for exercising press freedom.’ Besides undermining press freedom, blocking social media platforms will also hurt commerce and the economy since so many small and medium business trade through Instagram, Facebook and other platforms. Nepal’s vibrant social media has also been a boost or citizens to assert identity, build solidarity against injustice and play an adversarial role when the mainstream media does not do it. Social media platforms have also become the tenuous link for Nepali families scattered across the world to keep in touch with each other — its importance growing with the increasing size of the diaspora. The government wants social media platforms to register, pay taxes and remove posts on their sites that ‘undermine the national interest and Nepal’s territorial integrity, disturb social and religious harmony’.&nbsp; In response, rights activists have said while there is need for the government to regulate extreme content and hate speech, officials appear to be more intent on clamping down on free speech and trying to force platforms to share the revenue. On Friday, the government had allowed WhatsApp back online, but there were reports that it had instructed the Nepal Telecommunication Authority (NTA) to instruct mobile and internet service providers to block by Friday night all platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, X (Twitter), YouTube, LinkedIn, Reddit, Threads, Snapchat, Pinterest, Signal, Clubhouse, Rumble.&nbsp; Platforms that have registered and are allowed include TikTok, Viber, Nimbuzz, Popo Live, WeTalk, Global Diary and the Nepali portal Hamro Patro. TikTok was banned last year for ‘disturbing social harmony’ and it was lifted after the platform registered its office in Nepal. But even while it was banned, many users simply switched to VPN. Telegram was also banned for ‘financial crimes’ and it has since also been allowed back. NTA officials confirmed that some Asia-Pacific regional offices of platforms, including Meta had been in touch overnight inquiring about the registration process.&nbsp; Nepal is not alone in regulating social media. China bans most Western platforms, Russia and Turkey regulate their and require platforms to locate their data servers in the country. Gulf countries allow social media but keep a tight control on dissent.&nbsp; Experts have said even the government will not dare close down YouTube since so many Nepali individuals and companies make money with posts on that platform, and closing it would also impact on Google and Gmail. Facebook had also just launched a monetisation scheme for videos and reels, and Nepalis uploading content would lose revenue.&nbsp; Blocking the platforms has already hit content creators, influencers and cut small businesses from reaching customers. A survey of social media use in Nepal by Sharecast Initiative showed that 94% of those with smart phones used YouTube, followed by Facebook (92%) while TikTok was in the 50-60% range. X and Instagram were in the single digits. A YouTube ban will also hurt the mainstream media since up to 20% of the revenue of Nepal’s main tv channels came through YouTube. Some 11.1 million Nepalis watch YouTube content every day, the survey showed. ‘For global giants like Meta or Google, Nepal is a small market, and they may not even flinch — but for millions of Nepalis, these platforms are central to daily life, livelihoods, and connections across the world,’ wrote AI consultant Naresh Newar in a LinkedIn post. Some experts said the government’s sweeping ban on social media networks was untenable and the government would be forced to rollback sooner or later. Said editor Shiva Gaunle: “The platforms had given citizens a voice and broken the monopoly of the government, legislators, the courts and journalists over public opinion. This is an effort to reassert that monopoly, but Nepal can never be turned into a North Korea.”

Protest grows against Nepal’s social media ban

It was 30 years ago this month that investment into ‘Baby Arun’, the 201MW first phase of the run-of-river Arun III project, was brought to a screeching halt when the World Bank officially withdrew its support. This brought about profound and fundamental changes in the way Nepal’s power sector subsequently developed. Nepalis suffered debilitating power outages between 2008-2016 due to shortages attributable to the cancellation. At the same time, the gap left by Baby Arun was filled by private sector investment in ways that were not obvious in 1995. It took 30 years, but in many ways Nepal’s power sector is more healthy today than it has ever been, and likely better than if the project was built as planned. At a projected budget of $1.08 billion, Baby Arun would have cost the equivalent of Nepal’s entire annual government expenditure in 1995. It was to be funded by concessional grants and loans from multilateral and bilateral funders, including the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB), KfW, and investment by the government itself. At the time, Nepal’s total electricity generation capacity was only 230MW, and the trajectory of the power sector changed dramatically following the cancellation. In the past 30 years, $5.4 billion has been invested in the power sector led by private investors, and much of it from domestic banks and pension funds (table, right).  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250829150840_c13d6f9f34d7163832b3089eabdad6f20d2d5cef3a53039e0432add2be6c32f0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20250829150840_c13d6f9f34d7163832b3089eabdad6f20d2d5cef3a53039e0432add2be6c32f0" data-rendition-name="original" width="984" height="521" loading="lazy" alt="30 years after Baby Arun"> </figure>  Nearly 70% of the new megawatts generated were by private independent power producers (IPP) in the past 30 years, while the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) and its subsidiary companies added 30% of new capacity. Almost 80% of total debt financing came from domestic banks and employee retirement funds. International assistance for power generation dropped dramatically over this time, accounting for only about 15% of investment. Before 1995 new power projects used to be entirely dependent on foreign aid. Since 1995, 63% of new generation came from 171 small hydropower projects with an average capacity of 12MW, while 4% was from 21 solar photovoltaic and biomass projects developed by local IPPs.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250829150844_5bc299fc78be90b95ce4727b0b3bdaa4542e17e126718cc8725d136630ffc097.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250829150844_5bc299fc78be90b95ce4727b0b3bdaa4542e17e126718cc8725d136630ffc097" data-rendition-name="original" width="988" height="503" loading="lazy" alt="30 years after Baby Arun"> </figure>  Over three decades, investment in Nepal’s power supply came primarily from new actors that had never before been involved in this sector. The rate of electrification rose from 10% to close to 100% -- sufficient to meet domestic needs during most of the year, and in 2024 made Nepal a net exporter of power to India for the first time in its history. As practically all the new investment in this period went into run-of-river hydro and solar projects, rather than into hydropower reservoirs with seasonal storage, Nepal continues to rely on imports from India during the dry winter months. Surplus electricity generation for export during the monsoon is slated to grow rapidly as another 200 solar and hydro projects are nearing completion of construction, with over 5,000MW of power capacity. Private Power The cancellation of Baby Arun inadvertently accelerated the entry of the private sector into Nepal’s power generation. The government enacted the Electricity Act in 1992 to attract private IPPs and diversify away from total dependence from international aid, but had been struggling for several years to conclude the first agreement with the 60MW Khimti Project. There remained a large gap between the tariff that the government thought was reasonable versus what was demanded by the Norwegian investor Statkraft, and the private sector arms of the World Bank and ADB that were financing the project. The shock of World Bank withdrawal from Baby Arun put tremendous pressure on the government, then led by the UML as it is now. The Bank’s decision to terminate its involvement was ostensibly, at least partially, taken in response to a letter critiquing the project sent by the UML while it was in the opposition.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250829150848_7fb3641d776fe86a09ad60a758f7e16660a409fdb15e541644f13646b0894347.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20250829150848_7fb3641d776fe86a09ad60a758f7e16660a409fdb15e541644f13646b0894347" data-rendition-name="original" width="949" height="446" loading="lazy" alt="30 years after Baby Arun"> <figcaption>BAD NEWS: Newspaper clippings from the early 90s on tender announcement ahead of loan approval (left) and secrecy surrounding environmental assessment (centre) of Arun III before its eventual cancellation in August 1995.</figcaption> </figure>  The government was forced to soften its position and agree to the investors’ terms following the cancellation of Baby Arun. It directed NEA to sign a power purchase agreement (PPA) with Khimti. It was concluded in January 1996, and this was followed by a second PPA in July 1996 with Panda Energy, the American developer of the 45MW Upper Bhotekosi project. The expensive USD-denominated agreements to buy power from two international private producers, with price escalation clauses tied to the New York Consumer Price Index, sent alarm bells ringing. There was worry that the country was heading towards unaffordable tariff rates for the consumer and potential bankruptcy for NEA as a result of inevitable future weakening of the Nepali Rupee. The government had strong-armed NEA into signing these agreements, and realised that concessionary financing terms that Nepal was used to receiving for public sector projects such as Baby Arun and Kali Gandaki A, that included below-market interest rates and 40 years repayment period with a 10 year grace period before starting repayment, were not the norm for private sector investors. Nepal’s status as a less than attractive destination for foreign investment meant that the country had few options but to accept expensive dollar PPAs from international developers with the high commercial interest rates and short repayment periods imposed by their banks because of high investment risks. In the end, the government ended up having to additionally provide a sovereign guarantee in order to close the deal at the insistence of the lenders – committing it to repayment in case NEA defaulted on paying the IPPs. It is reasonable to assume that the extraordinarily high political cost of agreeing to the PPA terms would have meant that no government would have willingly agreed to them in 1995 had it not suffered the trauma of the loss of concessionary-financed public sector projects as large as the Baby Arun. It has taken NEA 25 years to consider offering dollar-denominated PPAs again: to cover the foreign exchange portion of the investment in the 216MW Upper Trisuli-1 and 120MW Rasuwa-Bhotekosi Hydropower projects. It seemed unlikely at the time, but it turned out that the dire situation Nepal found itself in 1995 planted the seed to mobilise investment for affordable power from within the country. Double Whammy After the dual shock of first losing investment in Baby Arun and having to sign expensive power purchase agreements with international IPPs, the first proposal for an alternative strategy to mitigate the risk of foreign currency investment into hydropower projects came from a group of engineers within the Arun III team at NEA. Led by <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=4900">Deputy Director Damber Bahadur Nepali,</a> engineers convinced the leadership that NEA needed to invest in a subsidiary company to build a series of locally-designed and domestically-financed projects that would have lower cost with rupee-denominated PPAs. They registered the Chilime Hydropower Company Limited (CHCL) in October 1995 with 51% shares from NEA, 25% from its employees, and 24% available for the general public, 10% of which was prioritised for local residents at the project site. The 22.1MW project is in Rasuwa on a tributary of the Trisuli, and mobilised debt financing from the Employee Provident Fund, which manages retirement savings for employees of the government, public enterprises, and private sector institutions. CHCL’s experience showed that NEA employees themselves believed that individual hydropower projects with operational independence from NEA could be developed profitably in Nepal by its own engineers -- and they were willing to put their own money on the line. Chilime also demonstrated that there was money in the country, particularly with retirement funds, looking for opportunities for long-term investments. Following completion of Chilime in 2003, CHCL led the formation of three other NEA subsidiary companies that completed construction in 2023 and 2024, producing 168.3MW using fully rupee-tied investment. NEA’s largest subsidiary, the Upper Tamakosi Hydropower Limited, completed construction of its 456MW plant in 2021.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250829160812_ce9ab8b49c598970db3f5bf0a079061ef52f153b28d9f4ead2bb1b26bfd7c2f3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20250829160812_ce9ab8b49c598970db3f5bf0a079061ef52f153b28d9f4ead2bb1b26bfd7c2f3" data-rendition-name="original" width="3000" height="1571" loading="lazy" alt="30 Years after Baby Arun"> <figcaption>DAMNED: The $700 million 456MW Upper Tamakosi built entirely with domestic funds before it was destroyed by the September floods last year. </figcaption> </figure>  There were some delays and cost overruns on this run-of-river project, the largest in the country with a final cost of over $700 million -- all of it sourced domestically. The five subsidiary companies launched by NEA have produced almost two times as much new power as NEA has over the past 30 years. Seven other NEA subsidiaries are currently constructing projects to add another 474MW to the national grid. But even more important than NEA subsidiaries have been local IPPs: Nepali companies which have over the past three decades enthusiastically entered the hydropower sector. From a regulatory perspective, the credit for mobilising domestic private investment to engage in power generation goes to Minister of Water Resources Shailaja Acharya, who in 1998 offered a flat feed-in-tariff of Rs4/kWh for hydropower projects under 10MW. This upfront offer removed a major barrier that early developers had faced of having to spend money to carry out a detailed feasibility study before they could even start tariff negotiations with NEA. She had laid the foundation stone of the Chilime project, and proved to be the champion of opening up the sector for domestic IPPs. The guarantee of a PPA with a fixed tariff, irrespective of project specifications, gave small power developers the confidence to apply for survey licenses and invest in feasibility studies so they could directly approach commercial banks and make a case for their project producing required revenue to repay loans. Domestic IPPs started adding power to the national grid in 2002. Their contribution was initially modest, and first projects were small and commercial lenders who took time to be confident about providing debt financing to a sector which had previously not been considered suitable for private sector investment. While the first 10 years were slow, with less than 10MW being added to the grid each year, this increased twenty fold over the following ten years, resulting in the equivalent of a Baby Arun being added by Nepali IPPs to the grid each year. A total of 84 IPPs added 232MW, 328 MW, 454MW, and 400MW of new generation to the grid in 2021-2024 (graph). There was explosive, exponential growth as domestic developers have surged ahead to account for 76% of the new megawatts added to the grid since 2020, compared to 24% by NEA and its subsidiary companies. The megawatts that IPPs are adding have followed the classic ‘hockey stick curve’ with the ‘breakout point’, signaling the rapid growth phase in 2020. Private producers are expected to accelerate new generation in the coming years with 300 solar and hydropower projects adding 11,000MW. Another 166 hydropower and 96 solar projects are currently in the survey stage, and are in line to add another 11,000MW to the construction pipeline. One major challenge is finding financing required for the projects. Domestic investment will no longer be sufficient to finance this ambitious pipeline of renewable energy projects. Project developers as well as NEA and the Electricity Regulatory Commission will have to leverage their substantial experience accumulated through the construction of over 200 projects to attract regional and international investment and hedge the risks of dollar-denominated PPAs. Following the cancellation of Baby Arun, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/people-power/decentralising-power-in-nepal">Nepal developed a highly distributed power sector</a>. The national electricity grid is currently supplied with power from a remarkably decentralised array of hundreds of hydropower and solar photovoltaic projects spread across 43 districts and all seven provinces.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250829150848_0c3aa66b34bfb08380a624f397bf3ebb4126f4d6b41a26115848b496876f501b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250829150848_0c3aa66b34bfb08380a624f397bf3ebb4126f4d6b41a26115848b496876f501b" data-rendition-name="original" width="1228" height="867" loading="lazy" alt="30 years after Baby Arun"> </figure>  This presents a sharp contrast to the pathway of a few large public sector hydropower projects with a sprinkling of private sector projects that was envisioned as part of NEA’s investment planning when Baby Arun was being considered the front runner for investment. The strategy then was to allow public sector investment in a few large hydropower projects with thermal plants to fill the gap. Knowing what we know now about acceleration of climate change impacts and increased extreme weather events, following this path would have made Nepal’s power sector highly vulnerable. Decentralised generation greatly improves the resilience of Nepal’s power supply as damage to power plants in one part of the country need not affect other areas that have their own generation. Following the investment plan where over two thirds of the country’s power supply would have come from power plants on the Arun River, would have greatly imperiled Nepal’s energy security. All rivers in Nepal are susceptible to flooding from cloudbursts made more frequent by climate change. The Arun River which is fed by glaciers in Tibet is also at risk to glacial lake outburst floods. Bikash Pandey is Director of Clean Energy and Circular Economy at Winrock International. People Power is his regular column in Nepali Times on global energy issues relevant to Nepal. <h2>Decentralised and Diversified</h2> In the 30 years since the cancellation of ‘Baby Arun’: Hydropower projects constructed cover capacities ranging from less than 1MW to 456MW and developed by IPPs from across the country with strong local involvement in purchasing equity shares. Renewable energy sources contributed to the generation mix through solar IPPs that further contribute to climate resilience, and cover shortfalls during low rainfall. The government is committed to solar contributing 10% of the power on the grid. Increasing solar beyond this target and providing incentives to project developers to invest in utility-scale battery storage would further improve resilience. BIG ARUN: The 900MW Arun III project under construction since 2018 at Num in Sankhuwasabha (pictured, below) is a separate initiative by a different project developer using a different financing modality. The ‘Baby Arun’ version of Arun III was cancelled in 1995.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250829150852_df534df5166eb5a9bb4cbe101627bdec7ac1df2a405a9d3988d1c86fcc8ecdeb.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20250829150852_df534df5166eb5a9bb4cbe101627bdec7ac1df2a405a9d3988d1c86fcc8ecdeb" data-rendition-name="original" width="1750" height="1312" loading="lazy" alt="30 Years after Baby Arun"> </figure>

30 years after Baby Arun

<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2fZXyjsE28" target="_blank">Yog Narendra Malla</a> became king at age 18, and ruled Patan from 1684-1705 — his reign marked by a cultural and architectural renaissance of the city state. He put up a statue of himself in the palace square with a little bronze bird sitting on the guardian serpent above his head. It is said he told his subjects that he would look after their welfare till the day the bird flew off. During<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/lessons-not-learned-from-2015-o2etq6zu"> the 2015 earthquake</a>, the pedestal collapsed and the statue was damaged. The bird was lost, only to be located in a pile of debris and reinstated when the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/piece-by-piece-patan-darbar-square-reconstruction,3782" target="_blank">statue was consecrated</a> two years later. <div class="embed-block"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/x2fZXyjsE28?si=jYfIb4p6zCLXYQ1T" 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> History remembers Yog Narendra Malla as a wise king, but like most<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/preserving-king-birendra-s-family-home"> royalty of the day</a>, he had a weakness for women. He is supposed to have consorted with 30 queens and numerous concubines. At least 33 of them self-immolated themselves on the king's funeral pyre when he died, adhering to the prevailing <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/review/Jhola,947">practice of sati</a>. When Yog Narendra Malla’s favourite queen found out that he was carrying on with yet another woman, she got the local community of the Kwelachhi neighbourhood to stage a shadow sex play to quite literally expose his unfaithfulness. Actors enacted the explicit exploits of the king and his mistress, a bright butter lamp projecting the moving shadows of their lovemaking on a thin white drape to entertain those gathered in the square below. The queen made sure that the show was designed to face the home of the king’s paramour to shame them both. She also paid for a group to chant a bhajan with lyrics that ridiculed the king’s extramarital affair. The Jhyalcha Guthi community trust that the queen set up three-and-half century ago is still active to this day, and performs the annual shadow play in the same building in Kwelachhi the day before <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-legend-behind-the-myth-of-indra-jatra">Indra Jatra </a>every year. This year’s show is on Friday evening, 5 September. The opening lines of the chants that accompany the play are the same words approved by the queen all those years ago: “Raja Yog Narendra ya aparadh…” (King Yog Narendra’s crime…) The community leader of the Kwelachhi neighbourhood, 62-year-old Baburaja Awale, explains the importance of the event: “This Jhyalcha is our<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/saving-the-intangible,3303"> intangible heritage</a> and oral history. We do not have a written format, it has been passed down from generation to generation. Every word of the bhajan is the story of King Yog Narendra Malla.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250904070952_249e85b32cbd99bb8515151557e0ec1a65d44a34ef1aacabaaeb469622d12664.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20250904070952_249e85b32cbd99bb8515151557e0ec1a65d44a34ef1aacabaaeb469622d12664" data-rendition-name="original" width="1750" height="1167" loading="lazy" alt="Sex and the city of Patan"> <figcaption>The statue of Yog Narendra Malla being reinstated after it toppled in the 2015 earthquake. Photo: GOPEN RAI/ NEPALI TIMES ARCHIVE</figcaption> </figure>  Jhyalcha Pyankha, as the ceremony is called, starts with a puja for the Bhimsen — the god of wealth and prosperity, a popular <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-homecoming-of-nepal-s-gods">deity in Patan</a> who has a temple dedicated just to him in the palace square. This is immediately followed by a bhajan of Bhairab performed with <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Buzz-house,670">traditional Newa musical instruments</a>. Community members serve snacks consisting of samay baji beaten rice, water buffalo chunks, soybean, green veggies, lentils, ginger, garlic and aila liquor. “In the first act of the shadow play, the man initiates the lovemaking, and in the third it is the woman,” says Laxmi Lal Awale, also a member of the trust that organises the show. The shadow action is all uncensored, but interspersed with <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/between-the-sacred-and-everyday">scenes of everyday life</a>: the woman is spinning a thread, the king is going about his royal chores, and the two sit down to share sanacha fermented pickle that is popular this time of year. <div class="embed-block"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qZ3twuG1wNQ?si=yRfkoC3A-X9cIl8r" 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> “Back then, there was no tv, films or YouTube, and yet we managed to stage the shadow play using our own resourcefulness,” says Baburaja Awale. “It is important to continue the tradition.” The challenge now is to ensure that the<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-reign-of-the-god-of-rain"> younger generation takes over</a>, learning the lyrics of the ancient bhajan. The dafa khala group that performs all over Patan during festivals and religious events is now training teenagers to play the musical instruments and act in the shadow play. The Jhyalcha was staged even after the 2015 earthquake when the falcha where the bhajan is performed collapsed and they made-do in a tin shed. The structure was later rebuilt with a grant from the group, Photo Circle. Lalitpur Metropolitan City sets aside a budget of Rs50,000 to organise the Jhyalcha Pyankha every year, but this is not enough and is supplemented by individual donations. The performers including musicians and actors are all volunteers, and take part in it because it is their community duty. The erotic shadow play was way ahead of its time, not just in its graphic content but the use of contemporary local technology as well as improvisation and pure imagination. Says Laxmi Lal: “Whatever its origin in the legend of King Yog Narendra Malla and his queen, Jhyalcha also served as a medium of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/lets-talk-about-it">sex education</a>. In the past, women were discouraged from watching the shadow play, but today everyone is welcome, we all watch it together.” Jhyalcha Pyankha Kwelachhi, Chyasal, Patan 7PM onwards Friday, 5 September

Sex and the city of Patan

This is the 72nd episode of Diaspora Diaries, a Nepali Times series in collaboration with Migration Lab providing a platform to share experiences of living, working and studying abroad. My father ran a store and that is where I spent all my time till Grade 6. Doing my homework. Serving customers. I then moved to my maternal grandparents’ house because I used to get along with my cousin who was a year older than me. We did everything together, and were best friends. We took turns studying: I was a night owl, and he was an early riser. Before I went to bed after studying all night, I woke him up. My mother was 44 when I was born, the same year my eldest brother got married. My sister-in-law becoming a part of our family was how my mother referenced my age. I liked making money, and was always a hustler. In Grade 7, I learnt to handle a tractor and helped my brother-in-law to plough, earning Rs10 a day. As I got better, he paid me more. By Grade 9, I was already making Rs500 per day, but had to slow down to prepare for my exams. From an early age I knew I did not want a 9-5 job. There just wasn’t enough money in it. I wanted to get into business, and compared my brother who worked in the post office and what businessmen made. It did not help that my brother was honest, and never took bribes. A friend and I made money selling cheap Chinese phones at a premium to our friends. We blasted music on the phones and pretended that we were giving them a discount. After SLC, I started teaching math and other subjects. I was soon a shareholder in the same school and in the evening I was involved in our family’s floriculture business, growing amaranth and marigold for garlands.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250831020844_1b54b999d67122a50c4c7e6204cc737bcc99bf2a68db6499a4566a7f61a880b4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20250831020844_1b54b999d67122a50c4c7e6204cc737bcc99bf2a68db6499a4566a7f61a880b4" data-rendition-name="original" width="955" height="1314" loading="lazy" alt="Diaspora Diaries 72"> </figure>  It was then that a friend suggested we learn the Korean language. We could be earning significantly higher in Korea for similar efforts. I had no plans to go abroad but he convinced me. I did not know anything about Korea, and was scolded at the language institute when I asked someone to point Korea on the map.&nbsp; It was only there that I learnt you had to pass an exam for the Korean Employment Permit System (EPS), and pay for language classes. After a week, I decided it was not for me and dropped out. But my friend convinced me to give it one more try. I did not prepare much for the exam, and it was no surprise that I failed. But it was just by one mark, and people would pity me for failing “just by one mark”. It was a brand of failure. It hurt my ego. I had to turn things around by taking the exams seriously, and locked myself up to study hard.&nbsp; Even when we had visitors, my wife told them I was not home. If I was not in my room learning Korean, I would be with a group of ten of us test-takers comparing notes and practicing late into the night. The exam was difficult, but this time I passed, the only one in my group who did.&nbsp; As someone who never liked the idea of doing a job, I still had my doubts about going to Korea. It did not help that one of my acquaintances had returned a month after he had left, and he discouraged me from migrating given that I was already making good money in Nepal.&nbsp; But my wife suggested that I give it a shot since I had worked so hard for it. And if it really turned out not to be my cup of tea, I could always return. What did I have to lose, I thought, at least I would get to visit Korea. My job there was in an electrical company that made circuit boards. I worked all day, earned good money. In the evenings, I kept myself busy with my real estate business back in Nepal. I had learnt the tricks of the trade from fellow real estate agents back home, but at the time did not have the capital to invest.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250831020848_941e961e2045058f255ad89884b51faa7d2365c68236e5cbe573d63d769ac6c5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250831020848_941e961e2045058f255ad89884b51faa7d2365c68236e5cbe573d63d769ac6c5" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Diaspora Diaries 72"> </figure>  In Korea, it helped that I had salary records that allowed me to get loans from financial institutions both in Korea and in Nepal. Ultimately, I started earning more from my real estate deals in Nepal than from my job in Korea. This was all thanks to my ability to take loans because of the EPS scheme. My wife has been managing the flower business while I was away. My finances grew stronger over the eight years I was in Korea. I paid off the loans that I had borrowed to buy land. But real estate did not satisfy me entirely. I wondered: what is my brand? What will I be known for? What is my contribution to society? Real estate is for wealth, but that is about it. I needed to sell one piece of land and use the revenue to start a venture. I took classes in business, and returned to Nepal six months ago and got back to my family’s ancestral roots in floriculture. In Nepal too, I am continuing the entrepreneurship training I had started in Korea with the Bridge International. Such exposure helps us reflect on our business such as our branding, vision, and proactive aspects like the importance of strong recordkeeping.&nbsp; I am now working to upgrade and expand my floriculture business. With a friend who is still in Korea I am building a cooling room to increase the shelf-life of flowers and other produce and set up a market in my village where others can sell their produce. Floriculture is our primary business, but it is seasonal and earns good money only during festivals like Tihar.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250831020848_a008ffeba13896e6918f68ff6e687c8fe11140d86a96f1ec11690547f2bcd415.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20250831020848_a008ffeba13896e6918f68ff6e687c8fe11140d86a96f1ec11690547f2bcd415" data-rendition-name="original" width="1280" height="720" loading="lazy" alt="Diaspora Diaries 72"> </figure>  So, I grow tomatoes to ensure year-round earnings. I also am engaged in other businesses like real estate and online shopping. I work round the clock in Nepal — a strong work ethic is something I picked up in Korea.&nbsp; My Korean bosses would work alongside us, that motivated us. I work just as hard in Nepal as I did in Korea. People here often ask me why I am pushing myself so hard. But making garlands comes easy to me, it is work my forebears were involved in. My childhood memories are about plucking flowers with my sister. I have a comparative advantage in this work. It comes naturally to me, it is easy and I enjoy it. And sometimes, if there are too many garlands to make, I can multitask while holding meetings. My fingers just fly. I am good at this job, but my wife is even better and faster.&nbsp; When there is too much load, we can also outsource the work. To be known as the flower guy would be great personal branding. The मखमली guy. Or the सयपत्री guy. I decided to come home for just this with a one-way ticket. “अब पासा: जाँदैन ल्हासा!” &nbsp;

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