KIMFF 2024 is once again set to gather Nepali and international filmmakers, aficionados, scholars and mountaineers in a celebration of visual storytelling. Given dire warnings of how climate breakdown is affecting the ice caps on the world’s mountains, this year’s festival offers a new sense of urgency under the theme ‘Echoes of Change’. The festival from 29 May-2 June will take place at the Rastriya Sabha Griha and Nepal Tourism Board, featuring over 60 documentaries, fiction, features, and short films from 22 countries, including Nepal, Bhutan, India, Iran, South Korea, Colombia, and Tunisia. The festival’s Nepal Panorama section will showcase almost 30 films about contemporary Nepal by local filmmakers, the largest number Kimff has featured yet. “Kimff’s objective has always been to provide a platform for local stories and talent,” explains festival director Ramyata Limbu. “We hope the filmmakers and audiences will appreciate and enjoy this.”&nbsp; Kimff 2024 will kick off with the Asia Premiere of Italian director Brando Quilici’s The Tiger’s Nest. Filmed on location in Nepal, it follows a young boy embarking on a dangerous cross-country adventure to save a tiger’s cub from poachers. “Hopefully, films like these will open up the space for and spark conversations about more co-productions and collaborations in Nepal,” adds Limbu. The closing documentary on 2 June is No Monastery No Village about mountain people fighting to preserve their community and cultural heritage from a climate-induced disaster. The international jury includes director/producer Dina Mufti from the UK, Nepali anthropologist Suresh Dhakal, and film editor Regina Baertschi from Switzerland. &nbsp;They will pick winners from three shortlisted international feature films, 11 feature documentaries, and 16 fiction films for the Nepal Panorama section, among others. Kimff will also celebrate a century since pioneering attempts on Everest with a film screening and a photo exhibition titled Everest Revisited 1924-2024. It will also mark half a decade of bilateral ties between Nepal and South Korea with the screening of films from Korea’s Ulsan Ulju Mountain Film Festival. This year’s line-up will also include a panel discussion on Women Behind the Camera, screenings and an interactive session titled Championing Young Filmmakers, and a Nepali documentary pitch session by the forum Cut.Katha. Participants can also participate in an editing masterclass with Regina Baertschi. Kimff 2024 is co-hosted by Kathmandu Metropolitan City and promoted by Nepal Tourism Board with support from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the British Council, US Embassy, Film Development Board, Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA), Mila Productions, Pasang Lhamu Foundation, Daya Foundation, Voices of Women Media (VOW), Contemporary Art of Nepal Foundation, Toni Hagen Foundation, Bagmati Communications Registrar, Himalaya International Mountain Film of China (HIMF), GIZ, WWF, ICIMOD, North Face Nepal, and Sonam. &nbsp;&nbsp; <h2>HIGHLIGHTS</h2> <h2>The Tiger’s Nest</h2> 94 min | Italy/Nepal | 2022 Original Language: English Director: Brando Quilici &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240524120520_63b09ce3fbb8a63f27e8e0097631ab6338785b5ac2a4dc748b93d5189c6f2ae7.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20240524120520_63b09ce3fbb8a63f27e8e0097631ab6338785b5ac2a4dc748b93d5189c6f2ae7" data-rendition-name="original" width="1920" height="1012" loading="lazy" alt="Kimff 2024 NT"> </figure>  This opening film is the story of a young orphan named Balmani, who has grown up hearing about the legend of a guru who once flew through the Himalaya on the back of a female tiger. Where he landed, a cave on a sheer cliff, now stands a monastery called The Tiger’s Nest. One night, Balmani saves a tiger cub from the clutches of evil poachers and makes for the Tiger’s Nest, which he believes will be a safe haven. With the smugglers in hot pursuit, the boy and cub travel from the lush grasslands of central Nepal, through the chaos of Kathmandu, and into the high Himalaya, forming an unbreakable bond along the way. <h2>Andro Dreams</h2> 63 min | India | 2023 Original Language: Manipuri Director: Meena Longjam  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240524120520_d5e6c25f326dbd602325c706a3be1d451ceec3f92cfc6c455125bc7ad008d0fa.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20240524120520_d5e6c25f326dbd602325c706a3be1d451ceec3f92cfc6c455125bc7ad008d0fa" data-rendition-name="original" width="1621" height="1080" loading="lazy" alt="Kimff 2024 NT"> </figure>  This is the story of a love affair between the spirited Laibi and her all girls' football club in a village in rural northeast India. Laibi’s club battles economic challenges, the patriarchy, and orthodoxy. Andro Dreams was the opening film for the non-feature section at the International Film Festival of India 2023. <h2>कुलैं तौल कुछ नि जमदु (Nothing Grows Under The Pine Trees)</h2> 32 min | India | 2023 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Original Language: Garhwali Director: Sachin Rana&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240524120520_20729c87454d7e3c1e6b13c0427d6cbb61b29796251d861e5f0120b786719f1a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20240524120520_20729c87454d7e3c1e6b13c0427d6cbb61b29796251d861e5f0120b786719f1a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1663" height="1080" loading="lazy" alt="Kimff 2024 NT"> </figure>  In the hills of India’s Uttarakhand state live two sisters. The elder is pragmatic while the younger one is given to flights of fancy. When their parents deem that their firstborn daughter has crossed a line that would make her an outcast in society, they begin to make arrangements for her marriage. Her younger sister mistakenly comes to believe that she is the one whose wedding is planned. Nothing Grows Under The Pine Trees is the saga of a people who disguise their prejudice as tradition. <h2>Climbing For Gold</h2> 22 min | Belgium/ United States | 2024 Original Language: Dutch/ English Director: Vincent Groos &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240524120520_ed33d46e5907f2edd82423f7d50d4479451fcf9975622e682f6008aa08eb47c8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20240524120520_ed33d46e5907f2edd82423f7d50d4479451fcf9975622e682f6008aa08eb47c8" data-rendition-name="original" width="1920" height="1080" loading="lazy" alt="Kimff 2024 NT"> </figure>  Vincent Groos’ documentary follows paraclimber Fré Leys as he trains for and competes in the 2023 Paraclimbing World Championships in Salt Lake City. Climbing for Gold explores Leys’ unrelenting training regimen, the bureaucracy of sports, and his competitors. It is a celebration of hard work, determination, and the human spirit. <h2>My Radio My Life</h2> 68 min | India | 2023 Original Language: English/ Hindi/ Marathi Directors: Bidit Roy, Makarand Waikar&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240524120520_d3b926ef391f6f96f84594575f133776010a981d18d31e15b8306e7bc15a60f5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20240524120520_d3b926ef391f6f96f84594575f133776010a981d18d31e15b8306e7bc15a60f5" data-rendition-name="original" width="1895" height="1068" loading="lazy" alt="Kimff 2024 NT"> </figure>  Set in the 21st century, the film revisits the golden era of radio in India through people whose lives were shaped by the medium. Some of the cast of characters include a former announcer for Voice of America who broadcasted the Apollo 11 moon landing; a woman who found her calling, and later a life partner, through radio; an octogenarian who is determined to bring his treasured valve radio set back to life; a man who restores radios and displays them in his museum; and a woman who overcomes her conservative family through her passion for HAM radio. <h2>A Childless Village</h2> 82 min | Iran | 2022 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Original Language: Azerbaijani Director: Reza Jamali  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240524120528_f83f6b93f0e30cffff2d488bda7a7caaad06c3fe12ae9b011208efb0ab7f7446.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20240524120528_f83f6b93f0e30cffff2d488bda7a7caaad06c3fe12ae9b011208efb0ab7f7446" data-rendition-name="original" width="1080" height="720" loading="lazy" alt="Kimff 2024 NT"> </figure>  Two decades ago, an elderly filmmaker named Kazem made a documentary about women in a remote Azeri village, all of whom are childless. The women stole and burned the footage, but 20 years later, it emerges that it is actually the men in the village who are infertile. Determined to complete his project this time, Kazem heads back to ask new questions. <h2>The Whispers of a Qareen</h2> 15 min | India | 2024 Original Language: Hindi Director: Maaria Sayed  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240524120520_7e192e35e6ad30732c87893324dc91d38859e85d69ff5f86901ba83f155a186f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20240524120520_7e192e35e6ad30732c87893324dc91d38859e85d69ff5f86901ba83f155a186f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1920" height="942" loading="lazy" alt="Kimff 2024 NT"> </figure>  12-year-old Jahaan is visited by something strangely familiar in her Himalayan village. Her new companion gradually reveals its true identity. As the days blur, games played in wild playgrounds and trivial gossip passed back and forth among friends in the shadow of the holy tree near her home begin to feel distant. It is almost as if the world around her is disappearing. <h2>Arkesta</h2> 18 min | Nepal | 2023 &nbsp;&nbsp; Original Language: Nepali Director: Safal Pandey  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240524120520_aa42543291b9d3782fc4f7a2b23021e6572d6715e97657b662b2c2c2f5f3c44a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20240524120520_aa42543291b9d3782fc4f7a2b23021e6572d6715e97657b662b2c2c2f5f3c44a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1497" height="1080" loading="lazy" alt="Kimff 2024 NT"> </figure>  As a single father, Gokul’s world tilts on its axis when one day, he sees his son dance in a feminine manner in public. Gokul then commits to changing how his child conducts himself in order to protect his reputation in his community. In the process, Gokul learns more about the different facets of his son’s personality. <h2>No Monastery No Village</h2> 27 min | Nepal | 2024 &nbsp;&nbsp; Original Language: Tibetan Director: Tashi Lhazom  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240524120520_e50992e83393095fa21e994ffac52c476c5ec81067ed6c7fa8ae8e5cc678c7ad.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20240524120520_e50992e83393095fa21e994ffac52c476c5ec81067ed6c7fa8ae8e5cc678c7ad" data-rendition-name="original" width="1133" height="586" loading="lazy" alt="Kimff 2024 NT"> </figure>  Nestled in the shadow of a glacial lake in the Himalaya lies Halzi village, home to the ancient Halzi Rinchenling Monastery, the cornerstone of Humla’s cultural heritage for centuries. It now faces a growing threat from a glacial lake upstream. A poignant exploration of faith, resilience and the fight to preserve a way of life in the face of climate change, the documentary follows villagers caught between deep devotion to their heritage and impending disaster.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240524120520_f9f4b3983e17ce8cf0285e0fbb4ee96161ef84d3784a34a28f6465bd760b9bc8.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20240524120520_f9f4b3983e17ce8cf0285e0fbb4ee96161ef84d3784a34a28f6465bd760b9bc8" data-rendition-name="original" width="1241" height="665" loading="lazy" alt="Kimff 2024 NT"> </figure>  21st Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival Rastriya Sabha Griha and Nepal Tourism Board, Pradarsani Marga, Kathmandu 29 May-2 June 2024 For the complete festival line-up, visit the <a href="https://kimff.org">website</a>.

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Kimff turns 21

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100128/63bfd2cf9c7e80680e0d3039jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1778" height="1000"/><figcaption>"Bagh ko Bangara (The Tiger’s Jaw)"</figcaption></figure>From 8-10 December the capital is hosting the 20th iteration of the much-awaited Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival (KIMFF), bringing a carefully curated mix of films from around the world focusing on mountain communities and cultures to Nepali audiences.The festival is timed to mark the International Day of Mountains on 11 December, and is back to full physical screenings after two years of an online-hybrid event because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Screenings will happen at Rastriya Sabhagriha and Nepal Tourism Board in Kathmandu. The theme for this year is 'Sustainable Summits', and features over 60 documentaries, fiction, shorts and animations from 30 countries including Burkina Faso, France, Iran, Nepal, South Korea, UAE and Wales.The latest episode of Herney Katha Bagh ko Bangara kicked off KIMFF 2022 on Thursday. This 55 minute-long film from Nepal by directors Bidhya Chapagain and Kamal Kumar depicts the adventures of honey hunters from Jajarkot in Karnali Province. The festival will close with a special screening of Fly from Everest (60mins) by director Joe Carter about an Australian paraglider’s attempt to fly off Everest to help raise funds to eradicate polio.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100128/63bfd2d59c7e80680e0d303ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1920" height="1080"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Indian filmmaker Prakash Jha of acclaimed features like Gangaajal and Raajneeti joins KIMFF 2022 as its keynote speaker, and his film Matto ki Saikil will get a special screening on Thursday. Jha will be present for the Q&amp;A after the showing with the film’s director M. Gani.The festival will bring filmmakers, film enthusiasts, critics, scholars, journalists, artists and mountaineers for several special screenings, dialogues and discussions on the future of Nepali film, with filmmaker Abhinash Bikram Shah, director Pradeep Bhattarai, actor Surakshya Panta, theatre artist Akanchha Karki and co-founder of the animation company Incessant Rain Kiran Bhakta Joshi. In between the films, attendees will also be able to join the panels on children in film, ‘Young Person in Film’, and a workshop on adventure filmmaking.The international jury for the festival includes Michael Pause from Germany, Kiran Bhakta Joshi from Nepal, and Jinna Lee from Korea and they will be judging the 18 shortlisted films for the international competition, and 19 for the top documentary film and fiction film in the Nepal Panorama selection.KIMFF 2022 is organised by Himal Association, co-hosted by the Kathmandu Metropolitan City, and promoted by NTB. It is supported by UNESCO, the EU Embassy in Nepal, the Swiss Embassy, WWF, FDB, NMA, British Council, Mila Production, Toni Hagen Foundation Switzerland, ICIMOD, Contemporary Art of Nepal Foundation, Pasang Lhamu Foundation, and the Australian Embassy.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100128/63bfd2d99c7e80680e0d303bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="4016" height="2256"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><h5>Some Highlights</h5><h6 style="font-weight: 400;">Bagh ko Bangara (The Tiger’s Jaw)</h6>55 min | Nepal | 2022Original language: NepaliDirectors: Bidhya Chapagain and Kamal KumarHigh on the rugged mountains of Jajarkot in Karnali Province, locals harvest wild honey and shilajit. By the creators of the YouTube series Herne Katha, Bagh ko Bangara is a documentary about four wild honey pilots whose lives are bound together with the cliffs of Khal Taakuri. Their ancestors believed that wealth is found inside a tiger’s jaw. Along the extreme topography of Jajarkot, and across the mental and emotional geographies of the tenacious human spirit, Bagh ko Bangara is a story about the perilous journey into the tiger’s jaw. The people in these mountains have undertaken this journey for generations, always one step away from death. Now, for the first time, outsiders can witness it.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100128/63bfd2e29c7e80680e0d303cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1935" height="1750"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><h6 style="font-weight: 400;">Matto ki Saikil (Matto’s Bicycle)</h6>97 min | India | 2022Original Language: HindiDirector: M. GaniMatto Pal is a beldar from a village near Mathura in India, a daily wage-earning construction labourer whose life is synonymous with his 20 year-old bicycle. His family, including his ailing wife, a teenage daughter and another, a primary school dropout, depend on it. Matto struggles to keep his bicycle in working condition to be able to reach his workplace on time. Arriving late losing wages is not an option. Matto ki Saikil is the story of how Matto and his family negotiate the simple pleasures of life. Will their lives change when, finally, Matto realises his dream of buying a new bicycle?<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100128/63bfd2e69c7e80680e0d303djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2560" height="1440"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><h6 style="font-weight: 400;">Wantadar, My Countryman</h6>90 min | Australia | 2022Original Language: EnglishDirector: Jolyon HoffWhen former Afghan refugee and photographer Muzafar Ali discovers that Afghans have been an integral part of Australia for over 160 years, he begins to photograph their descendants in a search to define his own new Afghan-Australian identity. Then the Taliban take over Afghanistan and his old country comes calling.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100128/63bfd2eb9c7e80680e0d303ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1920" height="1080"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Fly From Everest67 min | Australia/ Nepal | 2022Original Language: EnglishDirector: Joe CarterRetired Australian police officer and mountaineer Ken Hutt, 63, set off to do something that has never been done before: to climb Everest and then fly a solo paraglider off the summit, all to raise funds and awareness for Rotary's End Polio Now campaign. An epic story of adventure, sacrifice, and daring – with an incredible ending no one saw coming.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100128/63bfd2f09c7e80680e0d303fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1591" height="845"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230112100128/63bfd2f49c7e80680e0d3040jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1591" height="851">20th Kathmandu International Mountain Film FestivalRastriya Sabhagriha and Nepal Tourism Board,Pradarsani Marga, Kathmandu8-10 December 2022For the complete festival line-up, please visit <a href="https://kimff2022.b-cdn.net/KIMFF_2022_Schedule.pdf" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://kimff2022.b-cdn.net/KIMFF_2022_Schedule.pdf&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1670488994219000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1rQMqjHlsfpDejC0UWRoJY">online</a>.

Ashish Dhakal

KIMFF at 20

<figure><img width="1776" height="1149" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101124/6372094f9c7e80680e0b5534jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Gyan, Buddhisara B.K., parents of two laboureres killed in Kotbada airport, Kalikot.</figcaption></figure>It was 8 December 2002, and my documentary जोगीमाराका ज्युँदाहरु (The Living of Jogimara) was being screened at the Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival (KIMFF 2002). The hall at the Russian Cultural Centre in Kathmandu was packed, and the audience had overflowed into the aisles. As director, I should have been sitting on the front row. But I had another job that day: to stand next to the projectionist and at exactly 10 minutes 47 seconds, mute the film for 20 seconds. As directed by the military censors, this was to prevent the audience from hearing the narration: ‘A few days after <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=6681#.YgimpChBzOQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the Mangalsen attack</a>, the army arrived at the airfield and opened fire. Thirty-five people were shot dead. Among them were two children, labourers from other parts of Nepal, including 17 young men from Jogimara.’ As a film-maker I had never been trained to mute the sound track during a public screening. My eyes were glued not on the screen but on the digital time counter on the VHS player.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tA34vvNRsSgA year earlier, the Maoists had broken off peace talks and conducted simultaneous raids on army bases across the country. The government declared an emergency, and for the first time mobilised the Royal Nepal Army against the Maoists. Till then it was the police that was fighting the rebels.Today, we know from many countries that crackdowns on the free press in elected democracies can be more draconian than in authoritarian regimes. Twenty years ago, I faced proof of it in that dark auditorium. I was then with <a href="https://cijnepal.org.np" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the Centre for Investigative Journalism Nepal (CIJ)</a>. Freed from day-to-day journalism, the job allowed me to look at the conflict in perspective, put the daily death tolls into context, and examine the human side of the war, and its impact on ordinary people.I was following the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=13920#.YgiiHChBzOQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kotbada massacre in Kalikot</a>. News reports were sketchy and contradictory. State media said ‘many terrorists’ had been killed at the under-construction airfield. Another news item buried in the inside pages said that among the ‘terrorists’ were 17 men from <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15172#.YgiiTShBzOQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jogimara in Dhading district</a>. An RSS report quoted MPs Prem Bahadur Singh from Kalikot and Rajendra Pandey from Dhading as informing the house that the dead were labourers constructing the airfield. <figure><img width="1486" height="1036" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101124/637209539c7e80680e0b5535jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>My <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/should-journalists-job-extend-beyond-coverage,1881" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">journalist antennae</a> perked up. I heard from reporter Bhupraj Khadka that a family in Jogimara had conducted a funeral of one of the dead even though it had not received his body from the Army.As a film-maker, I felt this could be a way to portray the cruelty and senselessness of war. But there was an insurgency going on, and filming would be difficult and costly. I approached renowned documentary maker Dhruba Basnet, who had made the film रक्ताम्मे गराहरू (Blood-soaked Terraces) and we had worked together in many parts of Nepal.Rajendra Dahal, editor at Himal Khabarpatrika, offered to publish the story. In Jogimara, I met 15 of the 17 families who had lost their men in a massacre 500km at the other end of Nepal in Kotbada. The story came out in Himal, and Nepali Times <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=5700#.Ygih3yhBzOQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">translated it in the issue #106</a> of 9-15 August 2002 (screenshots, below). This was a rare exposé of a conflict-era crime.We started working on the video footage, and were convinced it would be an important documentation of the tragedy. We had to do it on a shoe-string budget, and the film finally premiered at KIMFF 2002.There was pin-drop silence during the screening. From time to time, I could hear sobbing in the dark. But I had to concentrate on the approaching 10:47 on the VHS digital clock. At exactly 47 seconds, projectionist Sudarshan Karki muted the sound. The audience had been quiet till then, but I heard murmurs: “They’re censoring.” I had to have a ready answer in the remaining 32 minutes of the film, because the viewers were sure to have questions afterwards. <img width="1750" height="2448" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101124/637209569c7e80680e0b5536jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="2446" height="1096" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101124/637209599c7e80680e0b5537jpeg.jpg" alt="">King Gyanendra had just <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=5416#.YgikPShBzOQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">sacked elected Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba two months prior</a>, and had appointed Lokendra Bahadur Chand as prime minister. The emergency had been lifted, but now the palace and army were in charge.The Royal Nepal Army had got the district administration and Police Inspector Sukhdev Neupane of Kamal Pokhari station to stop the screening. Neupane called to say his bosses wanted to see the film. I replied that it was shot in a new format, and it would take time to convert. He said the police had state-of-the-art equipment in its tv studio and that wouldn’t be a problem.The police were not just trying to stop my film, but were putting pressure on KIMFF organisers Basanta Thapa and Kanak Mani Dixit to cancel the entire festival. They finally agreed on a compromise: show the film, but mute the parts the military found objectionable.When the screening started, I noticed soldiers in camouflage fatigues enter the hall. They had walkie talkies. When the film ended, there was stunned silence, then applause. The lights went up. I strode to the stage to answer audience questions, and the inevitable one: “Why was the film muted in the middle?”I had prepared my answer, but I saw the soldiers glaring at me from offstage. “The system was working, but it went off for a while,” I said, but could not muster the courage for the rest of my prepared answer: “But don’t ask me whether it was the sound system that was broken, or the country’s system.”I stepped off the stage, telling myself that when confronted with a formidable enemy, it is foolish to wage frontal warfare. It is better to outflank the adversary and go into insurgency mode. The censors had forced me to become a guerrilla film-maker. The 38-minute documentary went on to be a hit, with two additional screenings during the festival. Many wept openly. Basanta Thapa wrote later in Himal: “By trying to censor the film, have we been deprived even of the right to cry for our own country?” After KIMFF 2002, the Ministry of Communications imposed a <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=4413#.YgikvChBzOQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">censorship rule on all film festival screenings</a>. Since then, there have been many governments that have come and gone in Nepal. But the state has not been able to resist its temptation from time to time to curb the freedom of expression. Mohan Mainali is an author and documentary film-maker.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101124/6372095c9c7e80680e0b5538jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="145" height="189">

Forbidden to remember the Kotbada massacre

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf0f34b0ad905ca02f041jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3264" height="2448"/><figcaption>Nepali archer training for the Tokyo Olympics. Photo: NEPAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE</figcaption></figure>As Nepal plunges headfirst into 2021, it is worth reflecting back on a year of cancelled, postponed, or improvised events. Weddings and graduations to cricket tournaments and international conferences, all had to be cancelled or put off.Visit Nepal 2020 was an early casualty to the pandemic, and the lockdown wrecked the tourism industry. But <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/2020s-tips-for-2021/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">there is some cautious optimism</a> about numbers picking up in 2021.There were advantages to cancelled events, virtual exhibitions and festivals meant geography was no longer a barrier.Organisers are looking forward to holding these cancelled physical events in 2021:Sustainable SummitsDuring the 4th Sustainable Summits at Chamonix in France, Nepal won the contract to host the 5th edition of the international event in Kathmandu in 2020. It was slated for June and <a href="https://sustainablesummits2020.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">had to be postponed</a>. The organisers released a 50-minute video in which leaders and experts spoke about the impact of the climate crisis on the Himalaya.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf0f74b0ad905ca02f042jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="933" height="1280"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>The Sustainable Summits 2021 will now be held virtually as well as physically from 31 May to 4 June at ICIMOD headquarters in Kathmandu, just ahead of the Climate Summit COP26 in Glasgow. The Glasgow Summit was itself postponed and is a vital step to heal the planet.“The situation is getting more urgent with climate change, and the Himalaya is getting more and more focus because we're seeing the effects of glacial retreat and permafrost cracking underneath houses in Khumbu,” says Lisa Choegyal, who is part of the organising committee fo the four-day summit.“The fact that we’ve got COP26 coming up means Sustainable Summits has grown to being something that can make a global statement and achieve lasting change,” Choegyal says. “In a way, we’ve taken a step up to be global leaders as opposed to being a voice on the side.”One of the beneficial side-effects of the global pandemic is that global carbon emissions actually decreased in 2020 despite forest destruction that decreased land sinks for CO2.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf0f94b0ad905ca02f043jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="360"><figcaption>Kathmandu Triennale 2017. Photos: SHRAJESH TULADHAR, GOPEN RAI and ANUJ ARORA</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf0fa4b0ad905ca02f044jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427"><figcaption></figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf0fc4b0ad905ca02f045jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="425"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>Kathmandu TriennaleThe Siddhartha Art Foundation’s second <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/art-on-the-city-kathmandu-triennale,3607" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kathmandu Triennale</a> was supposed to be in 2020 and was supposed to explore multiple discourses on decolonisation, migration, indigenous knowledge.  It has been pushed to the second half of 2021, and will feature works from over 100 artists and collaborators from more than 40 countries.The Triennale will run for a month at multiple venues including the Nepal Art Council, The Taragaon Museum, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/patans-museum-piece/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Patan Museum</a>, The Chhauni Museum, Siddhartha Art Gallery, and the Bahadur Shah Baithak. The exhibitions will be curated by Cosmin Costinas of Para Site in Hong Kong, as well as Sheelasha Rajbhandari and Hit Man Gurung.“The Triennale format has enabled us to link with all the Biennale and Triennale happening around the world in 2021, and place Nepal on the global art map,” Sangeeta Thapa of the Siddhartha Art Foundation.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf0fe4b0ad905ca02f046jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption></figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf1024b0ad905ca02f047jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="667"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>Photo Kathmandu Nepal’s best known <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/photo-kathmandu-in-a-new-avatar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">photography festival</a> was supposed to happen in November, but will stretch out its 4th edition right through 2021 as opposed to previous month-long events. The shows and talks will mostly be virtual, and some of them have already begun. There will be physical exhibitions in 2021 if the pandemic tapers off.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf1044b0ad905ca02f048jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="351"><figcaption></figcaption></figure>Film Festivals Nepal International Film Festival (NIFF) barely managed to be held February just as the pandemic was spreading. But other events such as the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/irena-taskovski-virtually-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pame Film Festival</a>, the National Human Rights International Film Festival (NHRIFF), and KIMFF went virtual during the tail end of 2020, which meant that a large number of viewers including the Nepali diaspora had access to participating Nepali films.<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-postpones-international-events-as-fear-of-covid-19-intensifies/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pokhara Film Society</a>, however, opted to wait out the pandemic and postponed it from March, well before the Covid lockdown began. Festival Director Santosh Sharma Sapkota says, “We are hoping to have the 5th edition physically in 2021 with virtual options for viewers who prefer it.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf1054b0ad905ca02f049jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1152" height="864"><figcaption>Nepali athletes train for the Tokyo Olympics. Photo: NEPAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE</figcaption></figure>Tokyo Olympics<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-tennis-shines-in-covid-times/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepali athletes</a> were just gearing up for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics when it was  rescheduled for 23 July-8 August 2021. Fifteen Nepali athletes are training for archery, judo, tae kwon do, karate, shooting, weightlifting, swimming, and athletics. Of them, ten are in Kathmandu and three are in Pokhara, while two swimmers have been training in London.Chaturananda Raj Vaidhya of the Nepal Olympics Committee (NOC) told Nepali Times  the committee has constantly been in touch with the athletes virtually to ensure that their training and nutrition needs were being met.  Although training was scaled-back during the lockdown, athletes are now back to full-fledged schedules.2020 saw many sports institutions and teams across the world adopt bio-bubbles to restrict players’ exposure to the coronavirus.  Nepali athletes are also in closed training camps. “The International Olympics Committee has informed us that all participating Olympians will be vaccinated for free in the event that any coronavirus vaccine is approved,” Vaidhya explains. "In the meantime, we are following all safety protocols.”

Ring in the old in 2021

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181156/636bea0f9c7e80680e0878f8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3264" height="2448"/><figcaption>Nepali archer training for the Tokyo Olympics. Photo: NEPAL OLYMPIC COMMITTEE</figcaption></figure>As Nepal plunges headfirst into 2021, it is worth reflecting back on a year of cancelled, postponed, or improvised events. Weddings and graduations to cricket tournaments and international conferences, all had to be cancelled or put off.Visit Nepal 2020 was an early casualty to the pandemic, and the lockdown wrecked the tourism industry. But <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/2020s-tips-for-2021/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">there is some cautious optimism</a> about numbers picking up in 2021.There were advantages to cancelled events, virtual exhibitions and festivals meant geography was no longer a barrier.Organisers are looking forward to holding these cancelled physical events in 2021:Sustainable SummitsDuring the 4th Sustainable Summits at Chamonix in France, Nepal won the contract to host the 5th edition of the international event in Kathmandu in 2020. It was slated for June and <a href="https://sustainablesummits2020.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">had to be postponed</a>. The organisers released a 50-minute video in which leaders and experts spoke about the impact of the climate crisis on the Himalaya.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181156/636bea129c7e80680e0878f9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="933" height="1280"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The Sustainable Summits 2021 will now be held virtually as well as physically from 31 May to 4 June at ICIMOD headquarters in Kathmandu, just ahead of the Climate Summit COP26 in Glasgow. The Glasgow Summit was itself postponed and is a vital step to heal the planet.“The situation is getting more urgent with climate change, and the Himalaya is getting more and more focus because we're seeing the effects of glacial retreat and permafrost cracking underneath houses in Khumbu,” says Lisa Choegyal, who is part of the organising committee fo the four-day summit.“The fact that we’ve got COP26 coming up means Sustainable Summits has grown to being something that can make a global statement and achieve lasting change,” Choegyal says. “In a way, we’ve taken a step up to be global leaders as opposed to being a voice on the side.”One of the beneficial side-effects of the global pandemic is that global carbon emissions actually decreased in 2020 despite forest destruction that decreased land sinks for CO2.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181156/636bea159c7e80680e0878fajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="360"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181156/636bea179c7e80680e0878fbjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181156/636bea1a9c7e80680e0878fcjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="425"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Kathmandu TriennaleThe Siddhartha Art Foundation’s second <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/art-on-the-city-kathmandu-triennale,3607" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kathmandu Triennale</a> was supposed to be in 2020 and was supposed to explore multiple discourses on decolonisation, migration, indigenous knowledge.  It has been pushed to the second half of 2021, and will feature works from over 100 artists and collaborators from more than 40 countries.The Triennale will run for a month at multiple venues including the Nepal Art Council, The Taragaon Museum, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/patans-museum-piece/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Patan Museum</a>, The Chhauni Museum, Siddhartha Art Gallery, and the Bahadur Shah Baithak. The exhibitions will be curated by Cosmin Costinas of Para Site in Hong Kong, as well as Sheelasha Rajbhandari and Hit Man Gurung.“The Triennale format has enabled us to link with all the Biennale and Triennale happening around the world in 2021, and place Nepal on the global art map,” Sangeeta Thapa of the Siddhartha Art Foundation.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181156/636bea1c9c7e80680e0878fdjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181156/636bea209c7e80680e0878fejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="667"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Photo Kathmandu Nepal’s best known <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/photo-kathmandu-in-a-new-avatar/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">photography festival</a> was supposed to happen in November, but will stretch out its 4th edition right through 2021 as opposed to previous month-long events. The shows and talks will mostly be virtual, and some of them have already begun. There will be physical exhibitions in 2021 if the pandemic tapers off.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181156/636bea229c7e80680e0878ffjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="351"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Film Festivals Nepal International Film Festival (NIFF) barely managed to be held February just as the pandemic was spreading. But other events such as the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/irena-taskovski-virtually-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pame Film Festival</a>, the National Human Rights International Film Festival (NHRIFF), and KIMFF went virtual during the tail end of 2020, which meant that a large number of viewers including the Nepali diaspora had access to participating Nepali films.<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-postpones-international-events-as-fear-of-covid-19-intensifies/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Pokhara Film Society</a>, however, opted to wait out the pandemic and postponed it from March, well before the Covid lockdown began. Festival Director Santosh Sharma Sapkota says, “We are hoping to have the 5th edition physically in 2021 with virtual options for viewers who prefer it.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181156/636bea249c7e80680e087900jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1152" height="864"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Tokyo Olympics<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-tennis-shines-in-covid-times/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepali athletes</a> were just gearing up for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics when it was  rescheduled for 23 July-8 August 2021. Fifteen Nepali athletes are training for archery, judo, tae kwon do, karate, shooting, weightlifting, swimming, and athletics. Of them, ten are in Kathmandu and three are in Pokhara, while two swimmers have been training in London.Chaturananda Raj Vaidhya of the Nepal Olympics Committee (NOC) told Nepali Times  the committee has constantly been in touch with the athletes virtually to ensure that their training and nutrition needs were being met.  Although training was scaled-back during the lockdown, athletes are now back to full-fledged schedules.2020 saw many sports institutions and teams across the world adopt bio-bubbles to restrict players’ exposure to the coronavirus.  Nepali athletes are also in closed training camps. “The International Olympics Committee has informed us that all participating Olympians will be vaccinated for free in the event that any coronavirus vaccine is approved,” Vaidhya explains. "In the meantime, we are following all safety protocols.”

Shristi Karki

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be96a9c7e80680e0878bcjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1119" height="628"/><figcaption>Still from Baato.</figcaption></figure>A family embarks on a 300 km journey from the remote mountains of northeastern Nepal to Dharan in the plains. There is no road yet to their village, so they trek for five full days before getting a jeep, then a bus to reach the market just to sell a few डोको baskets full of medicinal herbs that they have collected over months.The journey involves physical hardship, much walking uphill and downhill, through rough and steep terrain (including on a wobbly makeshift log bridge over a fierce river at night) and preparation and planning for how to get a permit for their herbs at a national park office, and past police officers at checkpoints along the way.The feature-length film बाटो Baato is a rich visual document that records the villagers’ ambivalent lives and aspirations of ‘development’ as a new motorable road cuts through Nepal’s hinterland. Directed by Lucas Millard and Kate Stryker, the film follows Mikma and her family and reminds one of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/revisiting-the-corner-people-kesang-tseten,3803">We Corner People</a> by Kesang Tseten, who also happens to be the executive producer of this film.<a href="https://baatofilm.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://baatofilm.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608958346837000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHzlYjLZLfoLWbQGQmHwtDYdHQXPw">Baato</a> was screened in the recently concluded <a href="https://kimff.org/baato/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://kimff.org/baato/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608958346837000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEmafaDjWUlU1vs9q4gIj_ZpQL65A">Kathmandu International Film Festival (KIMFF).</a><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be96d9c7e80680e0878bdjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="875" height="486"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>While Baato primarily follows one family on their journey to market from mountains to the plains, it also offers a sneak peek into the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-building-a-highway-to-everest/">politics of roadbuilding in rural Nepal</a> showing us, on the one hand, road as an aspirational object of modernity and, on the other, its building as a contested process.While some villagers are concerned about the possible loss of land and homes as the excavators arrive, the contractors worry about possible disruption and dissent by local communities. And there is the government in the form of Roads Division that is concerned about the emergent illegal road-side structures and encroachment of public land.This 82-minute film immerses viewers into the reality of roads in rural Nepal. It makes us think  about the distinct meanings and consequences of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/from-nowhere-to-nowhere/">roads and road-building</a> for the protagonists involved -- villagers, contractors, traders, the government.At the micro level, the villagers anticipate a better life with less walking as jeeps arrive at their doorstep. The process of road building itself involves corruption, bribery pressures from vested interest groups, during construction. Zooming out to a macro level, we see the road and its construction bring to the fore discourses of development, connectivity, globalisation and international assistance as the government promises the economic upliftment to villagers if the road is completed.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be9709c7e80680e0878bejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1522" height="745">This observational film is an anthropological gaze into people’s lives in the marginal hinterlands that are yet to experience the infrastructure and amenities of modernity: road, electricity, television, and market, among others. The link between road and everyday life is one way of looking at the film, and the politics of infrastructure would be another level of understanding it.The film captures everyday life in a still-remote corner of Nepal, showing us the sorrows and difficulties hidden underneath the majestic mountains and valleys. Millard and Stryker try to document the uncertain and precarious lives of people in these isolated and far-flung communities. In doing so, they also show us the humility and improvisations with which the family relates to emergent, ambiguous, and adverse situations -- a young family member getting sick, or the bus stuck half-way into the journey with to engine breakdown.As the villagers sort out things in those precarious circumstances, we get a glimpse of  perseverance and toughness amidst the physical, mental and social challenges they experience. Even after five days of walking carrying heavy loads, the family reminds us that life goes on amidst adversity. They cut jokes and laugh, they smile, and they cherish the little moments of togetherness.Viewers can watch बाटो just to glimpse the reality of life, or they can view it as an anthropological study of how <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/new-high-way-to-dolpo/">connectivity and infrastructure</a>, development and globalisation, citizens and the state, perhaps even politics and geopolitics play a role in Nepal and beyond.More importantly, the film hints at a larger transformation taking place in Nepal’s Himalayan villages with the advent of roads, and how this is affecting every facet of life for Mikma and families like hers.<a href="https://baatofilm.com/about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://baatofilm.com/about/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608958346837000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHxTVH_S97ZXRfed8e0fJpEEcyQBQ">Watch trailer.</a><a href="https://www.bicramrijal.com/">Bicram Rijal</a> is a PhD candidate at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Simon Fraser University, Canada.

The road ahead for Nepal

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf0554b0ad905ca02f005jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1119" height="628"/><figcaption>Still from Baato.</figcaption></figure>A family embarks on a 300 km journey from the remote mountains of northeastern Nepal to Dharan in the plains. There is no road yet to their village, so they trek for five full days before getting a jeep, then a bus to reach the market just to sell a few डोको baskets full of medicinal herbs that they have collected over months.The journey involves physical hardship, much walking uphill and downhill, through rough and steep terrain (including on a wobbly makeshift log bridge over a fierce river at night) and preparation and planning for how to get a permit for their herbs at a national park office, and past police officers at checkpoints along the way.The feature-length film बाटो Baato is a rich visual document that records the villagers’ ambivalent lives and aspirations of ‘development’ as a new motorable road cuts through Nepal’s hinterland. Directed by Lucas Millard and Kate Stryker, the film follows Mikma and her family and reminds one of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/revisiting-the-corner-people-kesang-tseten,3803">We Corner People</a> by Kesang Tseten, who also happens to be the executive producer of this film.<a href="https://baatofilm.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://baatofilm.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608958346837000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHzlYjLZLfoLWbQGQmHwtDYdHQXPw">Baato</a> was screened in the recently concluded <a href="https://kimff.org/baato/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://kimff.org/baato/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608958346837000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEmafaDjWUlU1vs9q4gIj_ZpQL65A">Kathmandu International Film Festival (KIMFF).</a><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf0584b0ad905ca02f006jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="875" height="486"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>While Baato primarily follows one family on their journey to market from mountains to the plains, it also offers a sneak peek into the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-building-a-highway-to-everest/">politics of roadbuilding in rural Nepal</a> showing us, on the one hand, road as an aspirational object of modernity and, on the other, its building as a contested process.While some villagers are concerned about the possible loss of land and homes as the excavators arrive, the contractors worry about possible disruption and dissent by local communities. And there is the government in the form of Roads Division that is concerned about the emergent illegal road-side structures and encroachment of public land.This 82-minute film immerses viewers into the reality of roads in rural Nepal. It makes us think  about the distinct meanings and consequences of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/from-nowhere-to-nowhere/">roads and road-building</a> for the protagonists involved -- villagers, contractors, traders, the government.At the micro level, the villagers anticipate a better life with less walking as jeeps arrive at their doorstep. The process of road building itself involves corruption, bribery pressures from vested interest groups, during construction. Zooming out to a macro level, we see the road and its construction bring to the fore discourses of development, connectivity, globalisation and international assistance as the government promises the economic upliftment to villagers if the road is completed.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191124/636bf05a4b0ad905ca02f007jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1522" height="745">This observational film is an anthropological gaze into people’s lives in the marginal hinterlands that are yet to experience the infrastructure and amenities of modernity: road, electricity, television, and market, among others. The link between road and everyday life is one way of looking at the film, and the politics of infrastructure would be another level of understanding it.The film captures everyday life in a still-remote corner of Nepal, showing us the sorrows and difficulties hidden underneath the majestic mountains and valleys. Millard and Stryker try to document the uncertain and precarious lives of people in these isolated and far-flung communities. In doing so, they also show us the humility and improvisations with which the family relates to emergent, ambiguous, and adverse situations -- a young family member getting sick, or the bus stuck half-way into the journey with to engine breakdown.As the villagers sort out things in those precarious circumstances, we get a glimpse of  perseverance and toughness amidst the physical, mental and social challenges they experience. Even after five days of walking carrying heavy loads, the family reminds us that life goes on amidst adversity. They cut jokes and laugh, they smile, and they cherish the little moments of togetherness.Viewers can watch बाटो just to glimpse the reality of life, or they can view it as an anthropological study of how <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/new-high-way-to-dolpo/">connectivity and infrastructure</a>, development and globalisation, citizens and the state, perhaps even politics and geopolitics play a role in Nepal and beyond.More importantly, the film hints at a larger transformation taking place in Nepal’s Himalayan villages with the advent of roads, and how this is affecting every facet of life for Mikma and families like hers.<a href="https://baatofilm.com/about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://baatofilm.com/about/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608958346837000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHxTVH_S97ZXRfed8e0fJpEEcyQBQ">Watch trailer.</a><a href="https://www.bicramrijal.com/">Bicram Rijal</a> is a PhD candidate at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Simon Fraser University, Canada.

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108151128/636a67809c7e80680e0599dfjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3000" height="1252"/>Road-trips are not an established genre in Nepali films, like romance, action or comedy even though they may have all these elements. But in the last few years more than a few have made it to commercial cinema as a trend.Road trip movies tend to be mostly romantic and usually feature guy and girl trekking to Jomsom or Mustang with a gaggle of friends to bicker and eventually fall in love. Dollops of crude and convoluted sex jokes spice up the script, and keep the plot moving.There is usually a dead parent, a crazed brother or a failing orphanage in the mix as part of a thinly established back story or a point of conflict. The mountains always glisten in the backdrop as romance blossoms. It is a Nepali movie-goers have to suffer.However, there are a few memorable films within the sub-genre if we look at the last couple of decades. <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/issue/344/Interview/13437#.XgSKDVUzaUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Caravan</a>, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=14366#.XgSKIlUzaUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kaagbeni</a> and <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19506#.XgSJ5lUzaUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Highway</a> come to mind – adventure, horror, and the last a political drama.<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/631523-ama-khando?language=en-US" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ama Khando</a> is an addition to this list. It is an intimate comedy-drama depicting the journey of two families from Lo Manthang in Mustang to Pokhara, as part of an annual trip. But this year is different, especially for the little boy who is co-lead with his mother in the film.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drOXmPvz2l8The eponymous Khando of the movie’s title is Ama, or mother, to a school-skipping, fight-picking 10-year-old who never seems to listen to her. Even though the film’s central relationship is between Khando and her son Dhondup, the family friends who are travelling with them also ebb and flow inside the story.The elder son Lobsang of the other family wrestles with his fate of having to abandon his studies for a lack of money, and has a terse relationship with his father because of this.Khando, a financially vulnerable single mother is also frustrated with her son as she worries for his future. The elders in the story are concerned for their children’s prospects in the difficult terrain of Mustang as the world closes in. Even though they are conflicted about the idea of the city, its bustle and pollution are a draw.For young adults like Lobsang the idea of remaining farmers is financially and socially unattractive. Much like most of our young migrants overseas, they can only be nostalgic for a homeland they are already moving away from.For children like Dhondup , who does not care for much beyond food, entertainment and his long lost father, these larger themes do not interfere in his small adventures, but will eventually decide his fate.Writer-director Tshering Dhondup is from <a href="https://nepalitimes.atavist.com/high-and-dry-upper-mustang" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upper Mustang</a>, and drew from personal experiences to create this story. He plays himself in some portions of the film and so does his own mother, and his friends have roles too.The film is made up of little moments, small talk and chance encounters. There are no spectacles here, but much like the colossal mountains that make for the background in this journey, brooding themes of love, loss and identity are quietly visible under the surface.  Here at least, the mountains do stand for something. Here is a road movie where the characters are real and the emotional stakes highly resonant.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108151128/636a67839c7e80680e0599e0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="990" height="756"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The film does occasionally falter (musical cues seem needlessly placed and expose a proclivity for forced sentimentality, and some handheld shots feel random) but in the larger scheme of things, Ama Khando works.And one reason it does is the lead actress Pema Dolker Gurung’s performance which is unencumbered by showiness and lends itself so beautifully to the screen. The score by Pushpa-Sangam, and the understated cinematography by Ali Rasheed and Manoj Panta blend well.Made by a skeletal crew and under the painful circumstances that come with filming in far off locations on a shoestring budget, the film nevertheless has heart enough to travel. The film was selected for the prestigious <a href="https://www.biff.kr/eng/html/program/prog_view.asp?idx=42642&amp;c_idx=332&amp;sp_idx=&amp;QueryStep=2">Busan Film Festival</a> and the <a href="http://pibarchive.nic.in/newsite/photoright.aspx?phid=149731">50th International Film Festival of India in Goa</a>, coming home in December to a warm reception at the Kathmandu International Film Festival, where it won the audience award for best film.

Ama Khando: a different road trip film from Nepal

https://vimeo.com/349428192?fbclid=IwAR3HiMAvUGZMQEpDq3i5mbRtfhqrGpJu38IdenLW7o2VTm8RkjMfN-H9TKgWhen Belmaya Nepali undertook her first public speaking engagement, at the WOW (Women of the World) Festival in Kathmandu in January 2018, she had said: “I feel proud because, despite coming from a Dalit family, where I was discriminated against in my own village, I have come so far today.” In the year since, Belmaya has come further than she could ever have imagined. Fresh from speaking at WOW Madhes in Janakpur last week, the film I Am Belmaya of which she is the subject and co-director will be shown at the Kathmandu International Mountain Film Festival (KIMFF) on 14 December. <img width="930" height="623" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108151120/636a65ae9c7e80680e05993ejpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figure><img width="893" height="502" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108151120/636a65b09c7e80680e05993fjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The sixth and youngest child of a poor family, Belmaya was orphaned aged nine. She missed her early schooling, ending up in a girls’ home in Pokhara. That is where I met her in 2006 when I led a photo project to encourage self-expression. Belmaya, then 13, used to eagerly grab the camera. She wanted to be a photographer, she said, to expose injustice.Just as Belmaya loved the camera, the camera loved her. Unlike many of her friends who adopted the sweet submissive front expected of adolescent girls, Belmaya couldn’t conceal her feelings. I amassed a trove of footage that revealed her fiery spirit, her spiky humour, her joy when dancing, her vulnerability the day she started menstruating.My videotapes stayed on my shelf, niggling away at me to be used in a film that would shine a light on the reality of life for so many girls and women in Nepal. It was not until 2014 that I returned to Nepal and tracked down Belmaya -- dismayed to find the youthful spark gone. Now 21, she was living in poverty with a husband and baby daughter and desperate for an opportunity to rise out of the life of servitude. <figure><img width="760" height="662" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108151120/636a65b29c7e80680e059940jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Belmaya grasped the chance to pick up the camera again and learn how to make films. I had been seeking a way of documenting Belmaya’s life without casting her as the passive subject of my film. And so, I set out to follow the journey of an unlikely filmmaker, and as Belmaya gained camera skills, she would play an active role in her portrayal.   <img width="823" height="1235" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108151120/636a65b59c7e80680e059941jpeg.jpg" alt="">She met opposition from her conservative husband and family as she strived for an independent voice. As she took charge of her camera the power balance shifted in more ways than one. As well as making her own graduation film, she has recorded much of the footage for my documentary, giving private, tender and eye-opening glimpses of her domestic life. Together with the teenage tapes, the result is an extraordinarily intimate window into Belmaya's world, spanning 13 years.Domestic strife and the 2015 earthquakes threatened to derail her ambitions. But she persisted and in 2017, her first film, Educate Our Daughters, a personal take on the importance of education for girls, was selected for KIMFF, along with a second film about boatwomen’s struggles in Pokhara.Educate Our Daughters went on to be selected for prestigious festivals in Toronto, Chicago and the UK. I Am Belmaya screens at 1pm on Saturday 14 December at KIMFFCity Hall, KathmanduQ&amp;A with Sue Carpenter and Belmaya Nepali. <a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://belmaya.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">w</a><a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://belmaya.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ww.belmaya.com</a>

I Am Belmaya

One smoggy winter morning in February 2019, Ekta regretted coming to her sculpture class. It was the first day of her period, and the 19-year-old wished she was home, curled up in bed with a hot water bag to soothe her cramps.
Her class was at Kalapremi Ceramic Studio, a dark room on the ground floor of a house in Maharajganj, and Ekta’s teacher was the artist Gopal Das Shrestha ‘Kalapremi’, a noted sculptor.
Two other students were already there, using all their muscle strength to knead the sculpting clay. Ekta, now 24, recalls how Kalapremi asked her if she was feeling all right. She avoided him, as she did not want everyone to know she was menstruating.
Kalapremi repeatedly asked Ekta what was wrong. She finally muttered that she was having her period, after which he grabbed her hand and led her to a partitioned corner of the studio and sat her on a chair. Before she could stop him, he slid his hand under her dress, and started massaging her abdomen.
“I was horrified,” Ekta recalls. “I told him to stop, but he didn’t listen, asking me not to be shy, saying he knew how to relieve my pain. He stopped only after I protested furiously.”&nbsp;
The art tutor then said, “You’re like my daughter. I’m doing it out of love to make you feel better, but you’re so stubborn.”&nbsp;
“Instead of saying sorry he acted like I was the one having crazy thoughts,” remembers Ekta, adding that from April 2016 to August 2020 beginning the time she was 16, the artist sexually abused and harassed her on several occasions. &nbsp;
Now, Ekta and the artist’s other former students are finally sharing their experiences and some are pressing legal charges against him, hoping that others do not have to endure what they did.&nbsp;
Award-winning artist and teacher Gopal Das Shrestha ‘Kalapremi’ (the name means ‘Art Lover’) is known for his ceramic art, sculpture, and contemporary pottery. He was <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/the-house-of-kalapremi">profiled in Nepali Times after a collaborative exhibition</a>, ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ at the Siddhartha Art Gallery three years ago.&nbsp;
His pieces, titled Gaalis, featured sculpted female figures with the heads of dogs, sheep, and donkeys (pictured) to depict derogatory terms for women. Some critics said the collection was a satire on feminists.
Kalapremi started his artistic and teaching career in 1983 and over the years taught at Bhanubhakta School, Kathmandu University School of Arts, Lalitkala Campus and at his private Kalapremi Ceramic Studio. He has also lectured at Jeonju University in South Korea and recently at Tabor Academy in the United States.
Seven of Kalapremi’s former students were interviewed for this story. Five female students said he touched them inappropriately in his studio or at Kathmandu University. Two male students said they witnessed him abuse and harass the women. In all cases, the students struggled to recognise the abuse when it occurred, and the lack of reporting systems left them to cope on their own for years.&nbsp;
Earlier this year, students shared a social media post hinting at Kalapremi’s history of abusive behaviour following which more students of the artist reached out sharing similar experiences. Some students spoke of abuse that happened as long as 20 years ago.
Kalapremi, 60, has denied the allegations. He told Nepali Times: “Some years ago, there was a movement encouraging people to hug and kiss. I used to do it purely out of friendship and love. But after seeing posts on social media last year calling out my behaviour, I realised my actions may have hurt some people. I understand now that I should have been more mindful.”
He added: “I am also an auxiliary health worker, so I know the exact points to massage to relieve menstrual pain. It’s not just menstruation, I take anyone who is ill to the hospital.”
Sexual abuse is much more rampant than reported given how difficult it is to prove it in court. The law defines sexual abuse as occuring when someone touches another’s private parts, coerces them into touching theirs, uses vulgar language, shows degrading images, or behaves indecently towards them without consent.&nbsp;
Ekta and her fellow students are consulting lawyer Suneeta Regmi Pokhrel, who says they know that even if the court decides in their favour, it is difficult to survive after speaking up, and influential men defend themselves saying they are being framed.&nbsp;
“They are in a lot of pain and weep when recalling how he abused them,” Regmi Pokhrel told us. “They are angry and have filed a case against him, but they are also terrified. They know he is a powerful man and they have seen how our society treats women who speak up against abusers. Unless people speak up, perpetrators will be emboldened.”
Art and academia in Nepal simply reflect the power imbalances in society where people with intersecting identities experience worse forms of abuse. Theatre actors Raj Kumar Pudasaini, Rajan Khatiwada, and Sunil Pokhrel were called out during the #MeToo movement in the Nepali theatre scene in 2019. Even after the allegations Pokhrel went on to receive national awards, while others continued to work without repercussions.
“If you speak up against abusers, you gradually get sidelined from projects,” explained a theatre artist who wished anonymity fearing professional setbacks. “The theatre scene in Nepal is quite small, you just have to make peace with the perpetrators and work with them if you want to sustain yourself.”&nbsp;
In academia there is a history of faculty members sexually harassing students and getting away with it. After Tribhuvan University (TU) lecturer Krishna Bhattachan was accused of harassing women students, the university said it would follow Nepal’s sexual harassment law and set up a reporting mechanism. But nothing happened to the professor, who had already retired. Instead, he counter-accused the students of 'attacking the indigenous people’s movement with baseless allegations' as <a href="https://kathmandupost.com/letters/2019/01/29/bhattachan-responds">he told the Kathmandu Post in 2019</a>. He continues to be featured as a prominent speaker including at TU.
Other faculty members previously accused of sexual harassment include Jagadish Murti Koirala from TU, Bishnu Prasad Acharya from Ratna Rajya Campus, and Bodha Raj Tripathee from Lalitpur Madhyamik Vidhyalaya. A woman staff member from TU also filed a sexual abuse complaint against Dambar Chemjong from TU.
Prominent figures like <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-rise-and-fall-of-nims-purja">mountaineer Nims Purja</a> have been <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/31/sports/mountaineering-sexual-harassment-abuse-nims-purja.html">accused of sexual assault</a>, and cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane, actor <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/celebrity-rape-case-spotlights-nepal-laws">Paul Shah</a>, and former speaker of Parliament <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/mahara-arrested">Krishna Bahadur Mahara</a> have been accused of rape, but society-at-large has let off the alleged perpetrators amdist a larger debate about justice for survivors and punishment of perpetrators.&nbsp;
‘Gaushala-26’ is the court name given to the 18-year-old who accused Sandeep Lamichhane, former captain of Nepal’s national cricket team and skipper of Biratnagar Kings in the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/here-comes-the-nepal-premier-league">ongoing Nepal Premier League</a>, of rape. She left the country citing society questioning her character affecting her mental health while Lamichhane got an outpouring of support. In May, the Patan High Court overturned a prior verdict that found Lamichhane guilty of rape and had sentenced him to eight years in prison. During the 23-month legal battle to pursue justice, Gaushala-26 faced threats of gang rape and acid attacks.&nbsp;
Exhausted by the struggle, Gaushala-26 sought to “move to a new world” where she could live free without hiding her identity.
Actress Samragyee Rajya Laxmi Shah in an Instagram video now deleted detailed the harassment she faced from a filmmaker during a movie shoot. She did not name any name but veteran actor Bhuwan KC filed a defamation case against Rana, but the court ruled that the charge lacked sufficient evidence.&nbsp;
Former Kathmandu mayor <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/theytoo">Keshav Sthapit also mocked the #MeToo movement</a>, calling accusations against him by journalists Rashmila Prajapati and Ujjwala Maharjan “a rape of men’s rights”.
Serial Abuse
Back at the Kalapremi Ceramics studio, another former student, 24-year-old Rajiv, says he felt the need to speak out after seeing his female classmates being abused.&nbsp;
“He frequently kissed them on their cheeks,” he told Nepali Times. “Whenever they walked into the studio he flailed his arms like a child asking for a hug. They awkwardly hugged him from the side, but he pulled them closer, held their chin, and kissed their cheeks.”&nbsp;
Rajiv says he also saw Kalapremi pull the women’s bra straps, touch their breasts, and slap their buttocks. The young students would freeze, not knowing how to react, and if they protested, he would say it was “normal in art”. Rajiv, 19 at the time like his classmates, remembers thinking perhaps the well-respected artist was right after all.
Another student, Luna, who took lessons at Kalapremi’s studio from 2020 to 2022 did try to confront the tutor after he made an obscene proposal to her. She recalls: “One day when the other students had left the studio and it was just the two of us, he told me that God had given him special artistic talent and he could transfer those powers to me. But to do that both of us will have to be naked, inside a dark room, and have sex.”
Luna, who was 18 then, was livid and told him she did not want any of his powers, but she says he laughed at her as if he was joking. She did not tell her family about the incident because she thought no one would believe her.&nbsp;
“They were all in awe of this famous artist and felt I should be grateful that to be learning sculpting from him,” she says. “I was scared to be alone with him in case he talked about sex again. My coping mechanism was to be rude so he wouldn’t try to come close to me.”
Seeing how some classmates were standing up to Kalapremi, Ekta too tried to push back against his advances, but she said he found ways to coerce her. Since Ekta, Rajiv, and Luna could not afford Kalapremi’s Rs30,000 monthly fee for lessons, he had offered them all a stipend to assist him in the studio.
“He had spondylosis and took me to his therapy sessions to learn massage techniques, then he often made me and other students massage him,” says Ekta. Whenever she refused, he would feign pain to make her feel sorry for him. “He would insist that I put my hands under his shirt so that I could massage him better,” she adds.
The art tutor often tried to “seduce sympathy” from Ekta by sharing how he had never been loved as a child and was “sexually frustrated” as an adult.&nbsp;
“At 7PM, he would pour himself Signature whiskey and immediately go off again about how he was sex-starved. I didn’t know how to respond. It took me time to realise alcohol was just an excuse to talk about sex,” Ekta says.
If convicted, Kalapremi could face financial penalty and/or a prison sentence of up to three years according to Section 224 of National Penal (Code) Act 2017.&nbsp;
Data suggests that victims of child sexual abuse on average take nearly 24 years to tell someone about their trauma, and some may never disclose it at all.&nbsp;
“In our culture, children are rarely taught about boundaries. They often react, show anger when adults pinch their cheeks. But adults insist they did it out of love, and force the children to accept it,” says Sita Lama, a psychotherapist at Manka Kura. “And even when someone touches them inappropriately they struggle to identify and verbalise it.”
When perpetrators claim to be “acting out of love”, Lama says survivors are likely to perceive it as something safe, rather than recognising it as abuse.&nbsp;
“It may take years for them to realise they were abused,” she explains. "And even when they become aware, the power imbalance with the abuser and the associated shame often prevents survivors from speaking up."
Other former students from the School of Art at Kathmandu University have also come forward years later, saying Kalapremi sexually abused them. As young adults, they felt his behaviour was off but were uncertain if it was inappropriate, illegal, or they did not know how to respond. After having understood that it was indeed abuse, they say they are speaking out now to protect others.&nbsp;
Amina Singh, a visiting faculty member at Kathmandu University, says there is no clause against sexual abuse in contracts of teachers, and there is no formal grievance handling mechanism for the students.&nbsp;
“So the only way students can to deal with sexual abuse is approach someone they trust,” she says.
Eight other former art students of Lalit Kala Campus and Srijana College of Fine Arts of Tribhuvan University and other private art studios in Kathmandu say they were also sexually abused by their art teachers. Three faculty members interviewed from these institutions said they saw the abuse, but felt it was futile to report it given how powerful the teachers were.
In the absence of a formal system, some longtime women artists warned each other about “problematic” artists. They shared &nbsp;a “heads-up” to be more cautious when collaborating with them, and avoided responding to their calls and texts after work hours.
To ensure art institutions are safe for all, galleries, museums, artist studios, and smaller art spaces need to develop policies on sexual harassment. This would include a code of conduct or studio policies that hold the leadership accountable and outline the principles of professional ethics.&nbsp;
Students and employees should inquire about accountability mechanisms for raising concerns, both formally and informally, advocates say.
Three years after Ekta left the ceramics studio, she learnt that Kalapremi had harassed many other women. Still trying to get a footing in the art industry, she attended a workshop in Kathmandu where women artists discussed ways to stay safe in the art sector.&nbsp;
Since it was a close-knit group Ekta opened up about how she felt violated and realised she was not alone, he had been abusing underprivileged students for years, and this was common knowledge among artists in Nepal.
Ekta says that even after she quit, Kalapremi continued sending her text messages like ‘I am thinking of you’, ‘Why have you stopped speaking with me’, or ‘I am waiting for your call’.&nbsp;
But what really forced her to act was when Ekta found out that he was sending similar texts to her younger sister.&nbsp;
“I’ve had enough,” she told us. “He abused me all these years but I won’t let him abuse my sister.” &nbsp;
Ekta, Rajiv and Luna are not the real names of the students.&nbsp;

‘Art Lover’ accused of sexual abuse

It was 8:15 in the evening of 25 March 1968 when everyone in the village of Batulechaur near Pokhara heard a deafening sound like thunder as a bright flashing object hurtled down to land in a field.&nbsp; That field belonged to Kul Timilsina, and the next morning he retrieved a sheet of metal about 2m by 1m and carried it home with the help of a few others, thinking it would be useful for his buffalo shed.&nbsp; Before he died at age 83 three years ago, Timilsina had told photo archivist Sunil Ulak that the black metal sheet was not rectangular and had rounded corners. There are a few witnesses still alive who have a clear recollection of the object that fell from the sky that night.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024120707128_75cc85aac56b9cc4a77366471f058d7b3eb6868776811b0923845c2d0a61f014.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2024120707128_75cc85aac56b9cc4a77366471f058d7b3eb6868776811b0923845c2d0a61f014" data-rendition-name="original" width="1170" height="601" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> <figcaption>The field in Batulechaur belonging to Kul Timilsina where fragments of a flying object fell from the sky in 1968.</figcaption> </figure>  One of them is Timilsina’s wife Gyanu, who was 22 at the time. She had been at home, and remembers hearing the big bang and the sky becoming very bright. “We saw the thing in the field in the morning,” she told us. “It looked like a lid, a covering of some sort. The way it was stuck in the ground, it must have fallen from the sky. We thought we could use it to dry clothes on, and took it home.”&nbsp; Another witness is Kul Narayan Paudel. “I was only eight then. We ran to the field to see what had fallen. It was a four-sided metal sheet. The elders took it away, and I don't know what happened to it.” &nbsp; Ram Bahadur Baniya, a teacher at the local school, says he had heard the sheet had been brought to the school, and later handed over to the Zonal Commissioner at the time, Nanda Prasad Malla. “But that is all hearsay,” he says.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024120707128_0bf207a12063fb8155b3c8d9a00a94887b126380c9e0627527c84cf5e1101f54.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2024120707128_0bf207a12063fb8155b3c8d9a00a94887b126380c9e0627527c84cf5e1101f54" data-rendition-name="original" width="1170" height="610" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> <figcaption>Gyanu Timilsina, wife of Kul Timilsina.</figcaption> </figure>  There are two versions of what happened to Kul Timilsina’s metal sheet. One is that an American Peace Corp Volunteer teaching at the nearby Bindyabasini School took it, and another is that it was handed over to the government. Recently declassified Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and US State Department documents from the time say that the US Embassy in Kathmandu tracked down the object two years later and had it shipped back to the US. A telegram from the Department of State and Department of Defense tagged as ‘MOON DUST / Space Fragments’ dated 1 March 1972 stated: ‘1. Restored space fragment will be on board Embassy support flight 115 arriving Kathmandu on or about March 10. Fragment is packed in shipping crate (cargo no. 72-33365) marked in care of DAO.&nbsp; 2. State and Defense representatives examined fragments prior to shipment finding restoration acceptable.’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071212_929d903ee06d41baa4f6040e981cd7c7d7bd75cc9c37c9b617d307fc8538d2df.png" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20241207071212_929d903ee06d41baa4f6040e981cd7c7d7bd75cc9c37c9b617d307fc8538d2df" data-rendition-name="original" width="856" height="568" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> <figcaption>Declassified CIA documents about the investigation into the object sighted in Pokhara. </figcaption> </figure>  The documents show that the US government, military and intelligence agencies investigated this incident thoroughly when it occurred, and have continued to revisit it ever since, as recently as five years ago. What is even more intriguing is that the object that fell in Pokhara was not the only unidentified space object that fell to earth that year. There were similar sightings of objects falling from the sky in Ladakh, Sikkim and Bhutan between 19 February and 25 March 1968.&nbsp; These mysteries were the subject of a CIA investigation in 1968 titled ‘<a href="https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP81R00560R000100070007-8.pdf">Sighting of Unidentified Flying Objects in Ladakh, Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan</a>’, and the report is part of the recent online declassification of 800,000 top-secret documents from the period.&nbsp; &nbsp;Although unidentified flying objects (UFOs) have a connotation now of being alien craft, it could be pieces of satellite, missile, rocket or even aircraft. The CIA report documents six sightings in 1968 and quotes local sources as describing all of them having similar characteristics: bright blue or red streaks in the sky accompanied by loud sounds like lightning and thunder and objects falling to the ground. Aside from the metallic object that was found in Batlechaur, there were other items also found nearby in Tallakot, Tureypasal, Armalakot and Maidan. Whatever the object was, it seems to have disintegrated even before it hit the ground.&nbsp; The CIA report records the first sighting on 19 February 1968 in various parts of Sikkim and Olangchung Gola and Ghunsa in eastern Nepal. The light was said to be ‘long and thin’ and giving out ‘green and red light’. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071212_c3c825027d966a2aedc846970390eebe063957503c7eacc8e01e0517843f9bbb.png" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20241207071212_c3c825027d966a2aedc846970390eebe063957503c7eacc8e01e0517843f9bbb" data-rendition-name="original" width="892" height="596" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara "> </figure>  Two days later on 21 February, a soundless blue object was seen traveling fast across the sky above Thimphu in Bhutan. Then on 4 March there were multiple daytime sightings or white streaks in the sky at Chang La Pass, Fukche and Koyul in Ladakh. There were more sightings in Ladakh on the very day fragments fell near Pokhara on 25 March 1968.&nbsp; After the sightings in Pokhara, rumours started flying in Kathmandu that these were aliens trying to land on Earth, it could be Russian or Chinese spy planes or satellites, and some even say it as a sign from heaven that the end of the world was near. This was at the height of the Cold War. The Russians and Americans were testing their thermonuclear devices as well as intercontinental ballistic missile delivery systems. The Washington-Beijing rapprochement had not yet happened, and China was making quick progress testing atomic bombs. Within two years after its first atomic test, in 1966 China exploded its first hydrogen bomb at the Lop Nur site in Xinjiang, 3,000km to the north from Nepal. After neary six decades, what is still intriguing is that all the sightings within a few months of each other in 1968 were along the Himalayan arc bordering Tibet: from Bhutan, Sikkim Nepal, to Ladakh. The US military intelligence seems to have concluded that this was not a coincidence and there were frequent research trips to the site in Pokhara by American officials in the months after the incident. With the help of the Royal Nepal Army, the region north of Pokhara was thoroughly searched.&nbsp; A confidential memo dated 25 June 1968 by Jerry C Trippy to a ‘Mr Farley’ mentions that the US Air Force’s Foreign Technology Division had decided that the debris could be important because it may be related to a Chinese missile test or a Soviet ‘Vehicle Venik’ rocket.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071216_feb5425692dc36b20187de4e4fcc2ce9fd12b6d9e1b8724398e50bcdbf9032fe.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20241207071216_feb5425692dc36b20187de4e4fcc2ce9fd12b6d9e1b8724398e50bcdbf9032fe" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> </figure>  On 28 August 1968 the US Embassy in Kathmandu sent a letter to Washington DC saying that the object could be of Soviet origin, possibly from when the rocket carrying the ‘Kosmos 208’ satellite re-entered the atmosphere. But why were the fragments falling to earth several weeks apart, and in the same region? No one knows where the metal sheet that Kul Timilsina recovered is now. It was definitely packed in a crate and taken to the US, and although it is rumoured that it was returned that is not very likely. Archivist Sunil Ulak heard from the Timilsina family that CIA officials had returned to the site five years ago. &nbsp; Interest in UFOs peaked in the US in the 1950s, with the Cold War space race and tests of atomic weapons and delivery rockets. CIA and scientists were being sent to investigate sightings, both publicly and privately. Could the Pokhara fragments as well as the sightings in Ladakh and Bhutan actually be alien craft falling to earth? The renewal in interest in space travel in large part due to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, UFOs and sightings are again subjects of public interest.&nbsp; Even 57 years later, even if there was definitive proof about whether the Batlechaur fragment was from a Chinese missile or a soviet rocket, it has not been made public in documents declassified so far. We may never know.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071216_b6938795f40731e7657fd6dcbb3cf460a326186a15eb11d4f832f602201ff598.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20241207071216_b6938795f40731e7657fd6dcbb3cf460a326186a15eb11d4f832f602201ff598" data-rendition-name="original" width="642" height="320" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> </figure>  Sunil Ulak speculates if the debris actually came from an American aircraft, perhaps on an intel mission upon China. “Which could explain why they were so thorough in collecting the fragments in Pokhara,” he says. But that still does not explain the multiple sightings weeks apart in 1968.&nbsp; Indeed, US military aircraft were at that time flying frequent night-time missions from air force bases in India to supply weapons to Khampa guerrilla camps in Nepal located north of Pokhara in Mustang. It could very well be that the Chinese shot down one such aircraft. The other sightings could have been contrails of US spy planes, or Chinese anti-aircraft missiles.&nbsp; There were quite a few developments regarding UFOs in 2024. In a US congressional hearing in July, former intelligence officer David Grusch claimed that the government had long been involved in a program to investigate and retrieve non-human craft crashes, and then try to reverse engineer them. However Grusch did not show any evidence.&nbsp; The UAP Disclosure Act of 2024 was signed into law by Joe Biden in December 2023. It plans to oversee the public disclosure of UFO information. However, there is a clause in it that prevents disclosure if it would cause threats to military defense, intelligence operations or foreign relations.&nbsp; It is unlikely that the declassified documents about sightings in the Himalayan will cause any real surprise about definite evidence of alien life even if it was found. It seems humanity will continue, at least for now, to wonder about curious lights in the sky and whether there is anybody out there.&nbsp;

UFO over Pokhara

When Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) president Rabi Lamichhane was arrested in October on charges of defrauding depositors of cooperatives, the party’s vice president Swarnim Wagle gifted him Fareed Zakaria’s book, Age of Revolutions.
Since then, Lamichhane has been shunted around from Kathmandu to Pokhara to Chitwan and back to Pokhara to attend police investigations and court proceedings. He was being flown to Birganj via Kathmandu on Buddha Air on Monday. There is another pending case in Janakpur.
Human rights groups and civil society have criticised the government for hounding Lamichhane with inhumane treatment that borders on physical torture. The two parties in the coalition, Nepali Congress (NC) and the UML, see Lamichhane’s RSP as a potentially formidable challenge to their power.
Even if the fraud charges against Lamichhane are true, the Nepali public is increasingly looking at the government’s actions through the police and courts as political vendetta.
Despite all the travelling, sometimes by plane and often by road at night, Lamichhane appears to be in high spirits, waving to supporters who often gather if they know he is going to be driven around. A social media video shows him giving high fives to fellow passengers on a recent flight to Pokhara.&nbsp;
In the past weeks, streets in Pokhara have erupted with parallel protests by Lamichhane’s supporters as well as depositors of cooperatives who lost their savings to the scam.&nbsp;
Although family visits are allowed, prison officials in Pokhara told Nepali Times that not many people visit Lamichhane these days. He added, “When he does get visitors, he asks them to bring him books.”
Lamichhane is currently Nepal’s most high-profile public figure in custody, and highlights the stark difference between how influential prisoners are treated compared to ordinary inmates.
There are six prison cells at Kaski District Police Office’s two-story detention centre, three on each floor. And while authorities pack prisoners into already overcrowded cells, Lamichhane has an entire room on the second floor to himself.&nbsp;
He has also been allowed to call his family every few days. Other prisoners are not permitted phone calls except for emergencies.
Meanwhile, Lamichhane’s former business partner Chhabilal Joshi, an ex-Deputy Inspector General of Police with whom he established his Gorkha Media Network, is in custody under the same charges in the prison cell next to him.
Lamichhane is accused of siphoning off depositors' money to the tv network in which he was part-owner and anchor. &nbsp;
Both Lamichhane and Joshi are able to buy food from the police canteen instead of being served the regular meal like other prisoners. Joshi has also given his statement to authorities in Rupandehi and Kathmandu for his alleged role in the scam. Lamichhane is yet to be presented in Kathmandu for questioning.
While he was in custody at the Kathmandu District Police Complex, Joshi expressed his desire to sleep in a police officer’s office, reportedly assuring authorities that he would not run away and he was entitled to certain facilities as a former officer of the law.
“He seemed to be under the impression that he is still a police officer,” says a source at the Kathmandu District Police. “We made it clear to him that as someone accused of a crime, he was not entitled to special treatment.”
Former ministers Balkrishna Khand and Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, and ex-home secretary Tek Narayan Pandey, who were arrested in connection with the fake refugee scam last year, were similarly housed in the offices of law enforcement officials instead of prison cells. Khand has since been released after six months in jail.
While there is no legal provision to keep high-ranking officials in separate detention centres when they are arrested, authorities granting them special facilities is not uncommon. Law enforcement officials say VIP detainees expect preferential treatment while in police custody.
Among those is former Kosi Province minister Lila Ballav Adhikari, who was arrested from Biratnagar on 10 November over his alleged involvement in human trafficking and brought to Kathmandu. Adhikari had flown to Japan without government approval with three individuals on 29 October to attend a cultural conference, but had been sent back to Nepal from Narita.&nbsp;
His three companions were arrested at Kathmandu airport upon their arrival, but Adhikari was able to exit unscathed from the VIP lounge. Adhikari had resigned as the Kosi Province Minister for Internal Affairs and Law when it became public that his companions had been taken into custody, and was himself arrested shortly after. He has since been cleared by the courts.
Throughout his detention, Adhikari was kept separately from other inmates. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Basant Rajouri, head of the Bhadrakali complex, says that while there is no separate detention area for VIPs, some detainees are kept separately depending on the nature of their crime.
However, sources say that arrangements were made for retired judges and others to visit Adhikari frequently worked at the office of a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) during his time in custody.&nbsp;
“He used to constantly pester the authorities to let him sit outside in the sun, and to be able to use the police officer’s shower area,” added an officer.
Adhikari was released on 25 November after the government prosecutor’s office decided not to charge him in a move that was seen to expose the government’s double standards.
Over at Kathmandu’s Dilli Bazar Prison, former Kist Bank CEO Kamal Gyawali emerges from his prison cell into the courtyard of the prison’s ‘Ka (क)’ block every morning with a thick book in his hands, ready to give his daily sermon.
With his long beard, Gyawali, who is serving a prison sentence for banking fraud, looks the part of a religious guru as he implores his rapt listeners to “walk the right path, abandon bad thoughts and turn to scripture and spirituality”.&nbsp;
Afterward, the attendees gather to discuss politics and current affairs. Inmates at his daily sermons at the prison include other high-profile detainees, including former MP Ichchha Raj Tamang, who is in jail for money laundering and cooperatives fraud, former joint secretary Chudamani Sharma, who was convicted of corruption, as well as NC leader Chandra Bahadur Lama and Krishna Bahadur Upreti of the UML both of whom are on trial for embezzling billions of rupees.
Victims of the cooperatives scam that former lawmaker Tamang was involved in have made trips to the prison and requested visits, but he has refused to meet with any of them.
“Tamang often complains that the state has prevented him from returning the money to the victims by locking him up,” says a police officer at the Dili Bazar jail.
“All you hear every day from the VIP prisoners is that they have been framed,” adds the officer. “No one admits that they were involved in misdeeds.”
But while most high-profile prisoners complain about prison conditions, one exception is former provincial lawmaker Deepak Manange, who is serving a sentence at Dilli Bazar Jail for attempted murder.
“He is the happiest prisoner here,” says a warden. “Unlike the others, he doesn’t claim to have been framed, in fact he doesn’t seem to care that he is in prison.”
Manange is detained in the ‘Kha (ख)’ block of the prison complex, which he renovated at his own expense. The block previously housed female prisoners, but Manange used his influence to transfer them elsewhere. He faces no shortage of visitors, who range from political leaders to people from the underworld.
Along with Manange, other well-known prisoners in this block include Nepal Telecom Managing Director Sunil Poudel, and former executive director of the Surakshan Printing Centre Bikal Poudel, who are serving time for corruption.
Former prisoners at Dilli Bazar prison include ex-ministers Khum Bahadur Khadka and Shyam Sundar Gupta, NC leader Ganesh Lama, Maoist MP Balkrishna Dhungel, Nagarik Unmukti Party leader Resham Chaudhary, as well as former IGs Ramesh Chand Thakuri, Om Bikram Rana, and Hem Bahadur Gurung.
Section 54 of Nepal’s Prison Act assigns each prison’s internal administration the
responsibility of governing its prisoners, which means the more favourable the jail management is, the more comfortable it is for prisoners.
Dilli Bazar prison has been the prison of choice for many high-ranking prisoners, especially those convicted of white collar crimes, due to its more accommodating administrators. The prison, which has the capacity to house 700 inmates, is also less crowded than other jails.
Anuj Bhattarai, spokesperson of the Department of Prison Management, says that there is no legal classification in Nepal for felons to be assigned prisons based on the nature of their crimes.
“That Dilli Bazar Jail has a higher number of prisoners convicted of crimes like corruption is most likely a coincidence,” says Bhattarai. “There is no provision for influential people to be able to choose where they will be incarcerated.”&nbsp;
Translated by Shristi Karki from the Nepali original published in himalkhabar.com

What Nepal’s VIP prisoners do in jail

If you were raised in Nepal, you must have picked up its unique set of vocabulary: आन्दोलन, चक्का जाम, बन्द, राँके जुलुस, आफ्नो मान्छे, हाम्रो दल, कर्फु and many more words connoting political protest.
We became familiar with the acrid smell of burning tyres, and eyes smarting from tear gas. And yet, everyone speaks of another revolution in the making. Not by desire, but by suffocation.
We heard speeches about नयाँ नेपाल, but the New Nepal never arrived. The governance system changed, but it did not reflect on people’s lives — except for those close to centres of power. The state is still unreachable and is not bothered about <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/matter-of-life-and-debt">victims of loan sharks</a>, cooperative scams and other injustices.
Politicians continue to speak in sound bites, but fail to deliver. They have mastered the game of pointing fingers towards an external enemy and convincing people that they are never at fault. The political narrative is so disconnected from the actual analysis of the problem that suffocation doesn’t go away after every revolution.
No genuine effort has been made to deliver at all, which is why there is a palpable sense of disillusionment in the air forcing us to seek another revolution, even if Nepal may not be able to afford it.
How has the current system successfully held power, even if the public is deeply frustrated? How is it that for three decades we continue to be led by the same faces, who have time and again, proved to us that they may be great politicians but not national leaders?
<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/improving-internet-governance-in-nepal">My experience at the epicentre of politics</a> has led me to identify three cultures that have enabled political parties to keep a tight hold on power: acceptance, silence and dependency.
We accept things the way they are. We use fatalistic phrases like “नेपालमा यस्तै हो” or “नेपालको कानुन दैब जानुन”. While this resilience enables us to rise back up from devastating calamities, it is also a reason for our compliance with the status quo.
Despite so many ‘revolutions’ that have led to significant reforms, these phrases keep getting reinforced, to the point that the upcoming generations have made it their lingo.&nbsp;
This acceptance is not a symbol of law-abiding citizens, but citizens living in fear of those in power, unable to ask the whys and why-nots.
Innovation suffocates in this culture of acceptance of the status quo. This is manifested in remarks like “but we don’t have any laws for this,” or “we don’t have the capacity to implement this”. An innovator or entrepreneur therefore has to spend that energy to become a political lobbyist, often educating and convincing the bureaucracy.&nbsp;
Remember when locally assembled <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/designed-and-made-in-nepal">Yatri motorbikes</a>, despite having willing customers, had to suffer to secure license numbers because of a lack of regulations? Instead of creating new laws, the government kept chanting the “We will promote Nepal-made goods” mantra, leaving entrepreneurs in a labyrinth of bureaucracy. The weight of acceptance of the law lies heavily on innovators. Fatalism is a tactic used by those in power to generate mass fear in society.
When we accept, we become silent. This is a pervasive phenomenon. We are trained to keep quiet, lest we ruffle feathers, burn bridges, or not get the help we need in future. We know, yet we don’t speak.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/bureaucratic-hurdles-in-researching-nepals-bureaucracy">Bureaucratic hurdles in researching Nepal's bureaucracy</a>, Daniel W Edwards
Here is one example: the 2021 census shows that the number of baby boys born for every 100 baby girls is 112. This is a clear indication of female foeticide because of boy preference in society.
Despite such horrifying realities, there is finger-pointing within the government between the Ministry of Health and Population with the Ministry of Home Affairs. At the citizen level, we know those who are involved in killing girls. Yet, we don’t speak up. The Nepal Medical Council reports state that despite this gender imbalance at birth, there is no indication of any action.
But why would anyone speak against one's own fraternity, no matter how vile the act is?
When we accept and keep quiet, we become dependent on those who yield power. From getting our government procedure completed on time to getting transfers, to accessing any of our legally protected rights as well, we are forced to depend on our networks of चिनेको मान्छे people we know by blood, village, relations, political affiliation.
The culture of dependency has been the established way in Nepal. If you drive a two-wheeler or four-wheeler, and you get into a small accident, you will be asked to sort it yourself, dialing up the most powerful person you know. It becomes a competition of who knows who.
Recently I was told that there were calls from the Ministry of Health and Population and another from the Prime Minister's Office for just one medical position in a private hospital. Each was pushing its own candidate. Guess which candidate got the position.&nbsp;
The dependency of people is not on the laws or the state, it is with people in power, a reliance on the network of somebody who knows somebody, including those not officially in power.
These cultures are deeply ingrained in our heads, and in society. Collectively they form a vicious circle that helps those in power to retain power. This is not the society we want to live in.
Then, what do we do as a collective to break away from this? How do we break away from the cultures of acceptance and silence that have created this dependency? What can we do to ensure that our children do not have to learn the jargon of आन्दोलन before they learn about the state?
These are the cultures political parties need to shed rather than use them to perpetuate their power. This is what <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/an-alternative-to-alternative-politics-in-nepal">alternative politics</a> needs to be about.
Sumana Shrestha is a member of Parliament’s Education, Health and Information Technology parliamentary committee and represents the Rastriya Swatantara Party.

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