<figure><img width="1918" height="884" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109171152/636bdb499c7e80680e0802b8jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Some of the 43 migrant workers who had been stranded and deprived of proper wages in the UAE collectively filed a complaint with the Department of Foreign Employment when they returned to Nepal. </figcaption></figure>Hari Sharma paid Rs115,000 to Code Manpower in Kathmandu in 2018 for a food-packing job in Malaysia. When he got there, he was not paid the 1200 Ringgit ($290) as per his contract, and has not received any payment for the past four months of the pandemic. Since May, the company has been forcing him to not just carry out his regular duties, but also to clean toilets, collect trash and do some heavy-lifting manual job for another company. The compensation from the other company is being taken by Sharma’s original employer.“It has been five months since I sent any money home to my family. I barely have any money to feed myself twice a day, and have been relying on loans from friends,” says Sharma, who has stopped working for a month.  Besides Sharma, there are five other Nepalis in the same situation in the company. Three returned to Nepal recently, after a bitter confrontation with the boss. The two remaining Nepalis continue to work along with other migrants from Bangladesh and Burma.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/the-theory-and-practice-of-zero-cost-migration/">The theory and practice of zero-cost migration</a>, Upasana KhadkaExamples of wages fully or partially unpaid, or end-of-service benefits contractually owed but denied, were common even before the pandemic. But one of the most inhumane realities of the Covid-19 crisis is that workers at the lowest rungs of the ladder who worked for past months under difficult conditions have been denied compensation. For many migrant workers, a good portion of their two-year contract abroad is spent repaying recruitment costs to intermediaries. A worker in debt-bondage who has to return prematurely incurs a heavy loss. Getting on the plane amidst a messy repatriation process was a priority for many migrants, but the scars of the unpleasant experience abroad and the pressure to repay the high-interest loans to finance it will continue to burden them.Forty-three returnees from the UAE came to Kathmandu from all parts of Nepal this week to file a complaint with the government’s Department of Foreign Employment. Each worker had paid above Rs250,000 to get a job as a driver, which was supposed to pay a basic monthly salary of Rs95,000 each. Nine of the workers Nepali Times spoke to had spent between 7 to 11 months in the UAE, with half of them not working at all or working just for a month. “The costs kept adding up beyond what we paid the recruiter, for the driver’s license, and the wages were considerably lower than what we were originally promised,” said one of the workers. “Not only were we unable to send any money home, we had to ask our family to send us money so we could survive during the lockdown.”<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/in-the-minds-of-nepals-migrant-workers/">In the minds of Nepal's migrant workers</a>, Upasana KhadkaMany of the workers had a choice between sleeping in the park or somehow making it back alive to Nepal. After getting back, they decided to file the complaint jointly given their common recruiters and the employer.  <figure><img width="1634" height="1220" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109171152/636bdb4c9c7e80680e0802b9jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Nepali workers ran out of money waiting for repatriation flights from UAE. “Back then, the priority was to somehow make it alive to Nepal,” said one of them. Some were later supported by the NRNA and the Nepal embassy.</figcaption></figure>The Nepal government has in place provisions to help victims of migration get compensated. The Department of Foreign Employment handles these cases, and there is also a dedicated Foreign Employment Tribunal (FET).   Hefty security deposits required of recruiters are used to compensate victims, who are subject to joint liability with foreign employers. In 2017/18 and 2018/19, there were 2,129 and 2,082 cases registered of which 1,023 and 1,692 were resolved.  Nepali missions <a href="https://dofe.gov.np/cancel.aspx" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://dofe.gov.np/cancel.aspx&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1603277208346000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEHZK4r-4lyop5lI0O1C46zY9oAEA">blacklist employers</a> who are engaged in malpractices including wage theft, and bar them from future hires. These were from ‘normal’ times when cases were more sporadic. With Covid-19, an already overwhelmed bureaucratic machinery is now under further pressure to address these complicated transnational legal issues. Many workers have little idea how to navigate the complicated systems, or may not even know such legal channels exist. Workers need proof of non-payment, and do not know where to go for assistance.  Extending help to migrants is necessary, but recruiters are also struggling to keep their heads above water after a complete halt in migrant deployment. Also, they cannot be held solely liable when employers, including multinational companies, behave irresponsibly towards migrant workers.  Many victims have also been <a style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.15px;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/labour-mobility/crossborder-virus-and-nepali-migrant-workers/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/labour-mobility/crossborder-virus-and-nepali-migrant-workers/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1603277208346000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEx7rOyG8H1F2mgvNVYQeI8mYZbdg">working abroad for many years</a>, in which case it may not be fair to penalise recruiters as in the case of newer migrants who return prematurely. The issue is transnational, and the destination country governments have to hold employers accountable, which requires proactive diplomacy by Nepal’s missions abroad.  <figure><img width="744" height="760" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109171152/636bdb4f9c7e80680e0802bajpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Hari Sharma's job was to pack food, but his employer forced him to do heavy-lifting of these objects in another company, and pocketed his earnings. </figcaption></figure>Qatar has setup a Workers’ Support Insurance Fund that aims to ensure workers receive their unclaimed wages, but its implementation has remained slow. Nepali missions blacklist employers who are engaged in malpractices including wage theft, and bar them from future hires. Nepal is not alone. Migrant workers from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan or Philippines face similar issues. The Manila-based Migrant Forum in Asia (MFA) has partnered with trade unions and activists in a campaign advocating the establishment of an International Claims Commission, a compensation fund to address wage theft, and for returnees to have access to justice. “When countries started repatriation of their workers, the issue of wage theft was not given due attention,” explains MFA’s Joanna Yu, adding that information on unclaimed wages were not collected, and complaint mechanisms were also absent. After Nepal started repatriating workers, over <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/to-many-stranded-nepalis-not-enough-flights/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/to-many-stranded-nepalis-not-enough-flights/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1603277208346000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEVLUzhRNqqYSrBoNz9PCRXj3vh0Q">111,549 Nepalis have returned</a> from 59 countries, with <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/uae-threat-to-send-back-workers-including-nepalis/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/uae-threat-to-send-back-workers-including-nepalis/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1603277208346000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFmvFgbUEOwQNxLEBnoa1s-ZIyI2w">UAE (31,957),</a><a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/the-kathmandu-airlift-begins/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/the-kathmandu-airlift-begins/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1603277208346000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGSteopGqZAeLzJLGaWxm9cSUM9qw">Qatar (18,941),</a> Saudi (16,637), Malaysia (15,910) and Kuwait (9,773) topping the list. There is little information on how many of them did not receive salaries and benefits.There are some good examples: the UAE paid out 261 million Dirhams ($71 million) worth of unpaid wages was delivered to 26,000 workers in Abu Dhabi by a mobile court to hear grievances filed in the first half of 2020. In Australia, Queensland has criminalised wage theft. <a style="outline: 0px;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepali-workers-stuck-in-no-mans-land/">Nepali workers stuck in no man's land</a>, Nepali TimesSays Yu: “These good practices are not standardised across countries, but showcase how wage theft cases can be resolved expeditiously.”In Malaysia, thousands of indebted migrant workers are getting back their recruitment costs after the US ban on imports from one of its <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/global-glove-makers-compensate-nepali-workers/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/global-glove-makers-compensate-nepali-workers/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1603277208346000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEtVHROPGA7qgxTT7D6rOXClEWQrw">largest glove-makers, Top Glove</a>. The US Department of Labour recently put Malaysia’s rubber gloves on a list of goods produced by forced labour. Malaysia’s <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepali-workers-in-malaysia-fear-covid-19-crackdown/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepali-workers-in-malaysia-fear-covid-19-crackdown/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1603277208346000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGATmXYZChJ027rAErtLlLLLuqp1g">Human Resources Ministry</a> says it has been going after errant companies and will continue to monitor and take action against employers failing to comply. The latex glove export sector in Malaysia has created five billionaires after the pandemic, but even as profits have skyrocketed the risk to reputation from inaction for them is high.The <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/As-It-Happens/Nepali-migrants-illegal-Malaysia-,718" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/As-It-Happens/Nepali-migrants-illegal-Malaysia-,718&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1603277208346000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFJHlQtH-ellex1hdUupGzs0diL1g">vulnerability of remittances</a> can be due to job losses of current migrants, or employment that future migrant workers may never get because of the economic fallout of the pandemic. But after the apathy shown towards migrants by the home government throughout these months, activists say, it is difficult to imagine that helping them<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/the-theory-and-practice-of-zero-cost-migration/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/the-theory-and-practice-of-zero-cost-migration/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1603277208346000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFLgD5CKq5RccQzSNF_KvCg_xzE_w"> recoup lost earnings will be a priority.</a>Although money transfers from Nepali workers abroad has not fallen this year as predicted, a true picture of the impact of Covid-19 on remittances will be seen after the festivals.  The World Bank has said the number of people living in extreme poverty around the world will rise by 88 million to 115 million. In Nepal, many of these ‘newly poor’ will be migrant worker families deprived of a steady flow of remittances.Some names have been changed

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Wage theft of migrants during pandemic

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110915114/636bb3d19c7e80680e07bb66jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="360"/><figcaption>Stranded Nepali workers who have been unemployed since March, staging a protest in a labour camp demanding to be repatriated home.</figcaption></figure>Hundreds of Nepali migrants working for a Saudi Arabian supply company staged a protest against the Nepal government and embassy in their employer’s camp in Riyadh on Tuesday, demanding more flights to go home.The workers have been unemployed for the past six months, and accuse the Nepal government of not providing enough flights even though their employer, Smasco, is willing to sponsor their air fares and pay for PCR tests.“The company points at the embassy, the embassy points at the company. Where do we go?” an exasperated Nepali worker said on the phone. In response to the protest, 50 of the workers were sent to the Nepali Embassy in a company vehicle where they were assured that their concerns will be addressed.In fact, the embassy in Riyadh has also been asking the government to increase the number of repatriation flights since Saudi Arabia had one of the highest numbers of workers who wanted to go home, and no carrier (except Nepal’s Himalaya Airlines) operate regular flights from Saudi cities to Kathmandu.The Nepal government has <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/flights-to-nepal-limited-by-airport-capacity/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/flights-to-nepal-limited-by-airport-capacity/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1599722630367000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHi1rviPPwKe7a4QdPytranLsRicw">put a cap of 800 arriving passengers per day</a> at Kathmandu airport after limited regular flights were allowed on <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-allows-limited-international-flights/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepal-allows-limited-international-flights/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1599722630367000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFf85Bt0Gp97ihl_e-wgv0nKcrA3A">1 September</a>, which means the number of repatriation flights are restricted.Because of this quota, the Nepal government turned down a request by the UAE to fly 1,120 stranded Nepali workers home for free on Etihad Airways. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/to-many-stranded-nepalis-not-enough-flights/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/to-many-stranded-nepalis-not-enough-flights/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1599722630367000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHXTov8AyEBJ5RNs3ct-M2_n0l0Kg">Transguard in the UAE</a> has also not been able to get permission to charter flights to transport its Nepali employees home.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110915114/636bb3d39c7e80680e07bb67jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="455" height="259"><figcaption>The crowded hall where many Nepali workers in Saudi Arabia have spent the past months to get on flights home. Although regular flights have resumed, Kathmandu airport can only take 800 arriving passengers a day.</figcaption></figure>“They say the daily quota at Kathmandu airport is because of quarantine limitations, but if we are going home with PCR negative reports how does the 800 cap make sense?” asks an exasperated Nepali worker with Transguard in the UAE, who like others did not want to be quoted by name.Things are going to be more difficult for foreign nationals with expired visas in the UAE after 11 September because they will be required to start paying hefty overstay fines.Another worker in the UAE who does not have employer support is worried about the high fares for flights to Kathmandu of up to AED2,500 (US$680), which is more than double the pre-pandemic flight cost. He said: “The embassy’s priority list is now useless. They are no longer deciding the passenger list like they did earlier when the most vulnerable workers were prioritised for repatriation flights. Tickets are sold to those who can pay.”Another worker added that those who had their jobs and were paid regularly also flew to Nepal on annual leave, when unemployed Nepalis like him who have been waiting for six months have not been able to because of the high airfares.“That really hurt,” he said. “It is the well-paid worker with regular salary who gets to go home on vacation. What are we to make of this?”<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/flights-to-nepal-limited-by-airport-capacity/">Flights to Nepal limited by airport capacity</a>, Nepali TimesThe government’s much touted scheme to use the Foreign Employment Welfare Fund (FEWF) to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/helping-hand-for-repatriated-nepali-workers/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/helping-hand-for-repatriated-nepali-workers/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1599722630367000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGeuCwJgcePWcSMT27uE353EFGMGw">pay for the tickets of really desperate workers</a> has not worked. So far, only 86 workers from Malaysia have received support under this scheme. The government has also not made any arrangement to use its own Covid-19 relief budget to support stranded undocumented workers who are the ones most in need of help but are ineligible for the FEWF supported scheme as they did not contribute to it.Meanwhile, undocumented Nepali workers in Lebanon who had paid US$800 for tickets home in March are still stuck there because of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepalis-in-cyprus-wait-out-cancelled-flights/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepalis-in-cyprus-wait-out-cancelled-flights/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1599722630367000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHobgME7G0fN4hn7BXrFQNQxihzqQ">cancelled flights</a>. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/repatriation-regular-flights-to-nepal-to-resume/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/repatriation-regular-flights-to-nepal-to-resume/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1599722630367000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG_SddFlOig9JmNlUwtOjtSZIrN8w">Repatriation flights</a> from Beirut by Nepal Airlines were announced, but never happened.Most of those stranded in Lebanon are female household workers, who have also been affected by Lebanon’s faltering economy, especially after <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepalis-caught-up-in-beirut-blast-recount-horror/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepalis-caught-up-in-beirut-blast-recount-horror/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1599722630367000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHrHsIYitRhvIzQMYIAGdLory50bw">the Beirut blast last month</a>.Said one of them: “As stay-out domestic workers, we do not get cleaning jobs as often anymore. And no one has come forward to help in the midst of this pandemic, the economic crisis and the blast.”The root of the problem is the high cost of the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/to-many-stranded-nepalis-not-enough-flights/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/to-many-stranded-nepalis-not-enough-flights/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1599722630367000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHXTov8AyEBJ5RNs3ct-M2_n0l0Kg">limited number of flights</a>, and the month-by-month schedule which makes it difficult for employers to organise the paperwork for returning workers. An embassy official says missions do not have a role anymore on who gets on a plane. The travel agencies and the airlines decide, based on the daily airport arrival quota in Kathmandu, which means the most desperate workers cannot get home.Some employers who were earlier willing to pay for repatriation are now proposing cost-sharing with workers because the fares are higher than normal. But many of the workers have been unemployed for six months, and have run out of savings.Says a Nepali worker involved in the protest in Riyadh on Tuesday: “We staged the protest out of desperation because no one was paying any attention to us. Our video went viral, but we don’t just want people to like and share it, we want to be rescued and brought home as soon as possible.”Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepali-workers-returning-to-india/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepali workers returning to India</a>, Upasana Khadka

Nepalis in Saudi Arabia stage protest

Fenerbahçe Beko won the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague finals in Abu Dhabi, held 23-25 May, defeating Monaco 81-70 in the final. Olympiacos, who defeated Panathinaikos 97-93, finished the series in third place. The Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the final match, Nigel Hayes-Davis from Fenerbahçe Beko, received a prize of 1,000,000 Miles&amp;Smiles from Turkish Airlines’ Chief Commercial Officer Ahmet Olmuştur. The carrier has been the title sponsor of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, a top tier tournament, since 2010.

Turkish Basketball

In the black and white photograph, General Wangdu smiles broadly in front of the dusty cactus garden in Kathmandu’s Annapurna Hotel. With an ill-fitting jacket and shaggy hair he looks benign enough, but this was the last leader of the Tibetan freedom fighters who led the resistance against the Chinese from their remote mountain hideouts in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/comings-and-goings-in-mustang">Mustang</a>. Five months later, Wangdu was dead. Snapped in March 1974, I had only recently arrived in Nepal. How did I meet this legendary fighter? Possibly with his devoted camp follower, Lynne Klapecki, and probably in the Om Restaurant near Freak Street which was the preferred <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/hippie-trail-nostalgia-in-kathmandu">hippie hang-out</a>. Om Lobsang and his brother Yeshe were <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/earthquake-brings-back-memories-of-camps-for-tibetan-refugees">refugees from East Tibet </a>whose cafe offered a friendly welcome and<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/momo-loco"> the best momos</a> - they became my in-laws after I married their eldest brother Tenzin, but that was a decade later.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_4573b34282b0f5395c007243d6bef12c7ba76bfd520419e994cdcea048d795a1.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="2025052403054_4573b34282b0f5395c007243d6bef12c7ba76bfd520419e994cdcea048d795a1" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1583" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Photo: LISA CHOEGYAL</figcaption> </figure>  Wangdu’s English was enthusiastically rudimentary, but even riding around town with him on the back of an aging <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandu-s-new-motorbike-museum">motorbike</a>, he was a commanding presence. Always flanked by armed outriders, impressive scars marked his forearms and a pistol hung from the cord around his neck. A charismatic guerrilla leader, Wangdu was celebrated by his followers for his tough commitment and respected for his measured pragmatism. He seemed so young to have shouldered such a responsibility of command, leading hundreds of hardened <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/50-years-after-the%20raid-into-Tibet,1012#google_vignette">Khampa combatants </a>through what had been a particularly <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/heavy-snowfall-over-nepal-himalaya">brutal winter in Mustang</a>, the last bastion to hold out against the Chinese invasion of their Tibetan homeland.&nbsp; The freedom fighters of Tibet, known as the Chushi-Gangdruk, had emerged to resist the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/territorialism">Chinese takeover</a> of Tibet during the 1950s. Estimated to be 80,000-strong at the time of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/what-or-who-after-the-dalai-lama">the Dalai Lama</a>’s final escape to India in 1959, the sheer number of Chinese deployed into Tibet eventually forced the Chushi-Gangdruk to retreat to Mustang, From this high Himalayan stronghold, they continued cross-border raids on the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) throughout the 1960s.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_8a4a935ba25ae79dc3a63bb5c14626927020e5ec098093c45ccb9a5982e009fd.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="2025052403054_8a4a935ba25ae79dc3a63bb5c14626927020e5ec098093c45ccb9a5982e009fd" data-rendition-name="original" width="1114" height="676" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Guerrillas known as the Chushi-Gangdruk emerged to resist the Chinese annexation of Tibet during the 1950s. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>  Their Kathmandu base was a small discreet lodge in a back lane near Rani Pokhari. Sipping sweet tea from a blue mug with a chipped lid, I sat bemused in a corner of the Mustang Hotel room whilst Wangdu and his cohorts received a battered brown suitcase from their CIA connection, a tousle-haired American in a leather jacket. Heaved onto the dingy bedspread that covered the thin mattress, it was clicked open to reveal piles of neatly stacked dollar bills.&nbsp; I cannot think why Wangdu allowed me to witness this handover but I was clearly no threat, a newly arrived world traveller with no understanding of the stakes nor any Nepali or <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/tibetan-music-in-nepals-sacred-valley">Tibetan language</a>. Despite armed guards in the corridor,Wangdu radiated confidence and bravado, and there was a practiced familiarity to the tense transaction. This deadly dance for many years had been funded by the Americans, tolerated by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-kingdom-within-a-republic">Mustang’s residents</a>, and permitted by King Mahendra and the Nepali authorities who it suited to turn a blind eye.&nbsp; But Mahendra died in 1972, and times were changing. Richard Nixon’s ping-pong diplomacy thawed the cold war and signalled a fresh entente with China. Nepal’s yet-to-be-crowned <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/if-birendra-was-alive-nepal-could-still-be-a-monarchy">King Birendra </a>was under pressure to curb the irritating incursions against the PLA launched from the Nepali territory of Mustang. Keen to appease his northern neighbour, on several occasions the King summoned Wangdu for peace talks but, despite increasingly overwhelming odds, Wangdu refused to surrender.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_a8efd5cfb92cd997bd7cb74296a936fef46e2f7428f9cd642b03f1ac4ea11ecb.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="2025052403054_a8efd5cfb92cd997bd7cb74296a936fef46e2f7428f9cd642b03f1ac4ea11ecb" data-rendition-name="original" width="1055" height="885" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>General Wangdu flanked by two Tibetan resistance fighters in Mustang in the 1970s. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_75969125a745847a2ef82b6fe8b9106c0b21a116d85b8efdf5d2ee89a347bb31.jpg" data-media-id="editor_15" data-image-id="2025052403054_75969125a745847a2ef82b6fe8b9106c0b21a116d85b8efdf5d2ee89a347bb31" data-rendition-name="original" width="1044" height="792" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>King Birendra with General Wangdu (right in dark glasses) taken in 1974 possibly in Mustang after one of their few attempts at negotiation. Photo courtesy: RAJRNDRA KUNWAR</figcaption> </figure>  While I naively rode pillion around Kathmandu in the spring sunshine, Wangdu was in the midst of what turned out to be his final round of negotiations with the Nepal government. Refusing to cease hostilities with the Chinese, Wangdu must have suspected the cost of his decision, making his cheerful smile in the photograph all the more poignant and brave. It was only much later that I appreciated the significance of the moment. Wangdu had been sent to replace the first resistance leader in Mustang, Baba Gen Yeshe, a much derided corrupt character who stole money meant for his troops and exploited fleeing refugees by seizing their treasures. Baba Gen Yeshe never forgave Wangdu,and sought revenge in May 1974 by betraying him and his commanders to the Nepal authorities. Renewed Chinese incursions from the north, active PLA collusion with the Nepali forces under the new King, and treachery from within the Chushi-Gangdrukranks combined to seal their fate.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_e0987a7c90d76431b0d7d5e6115ebfe3dbda7ab939e5941e079c18d722e884c0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_16" data-image-id="2025052403054_e0987a7c90d76431b0d7d5e6115ebfe3dbda7ab939e5941e079c18d722e884c0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1400" height="769" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>British television journalists George Patterson and Adrian Cowell embedded themselves with Khampa guerrillas and accompanied them from Tsum Valley on a cross border raid on a Chinese Army convoy in 1964. Photo: ESSAYS ON NEPAL / SAM COWAN</figcaption> </figure>  Mikel Dunham, renowned author of Buddha’s Warriors, writes: ‘It is possible that Wangdu was waiting for some cue from the Dalai Lama’s government-in-exile in Dharamsala, India. It is equally possible – during that last, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/the-human-cost-of-nepal-s-yarsa-gold-rush?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR31-Cqw8oyIwMPzf_35e4Skr0ululJvLf3_vDkzHn-AYG2h8uPw2rqqErg_aem_tGVn5coY1-jA7fze_xqhew">desolate winter </a>– that he made the decision to go out in glory rather than admit defeat. Over the last fifteen years, Wangdu had experienced Tibet’s organized resistance being squeezed and shoved around by every conceivable outside force.&nbsp; First they had been pushed out of their own country by the PLA; then they had been refused sanction while on <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/nepal-india-trans-boundary-bonds?fbclid=IwAR0PpJ5zUEbwdug3g_U3ar6FUugngRY0S8Tl2v_7wqzrsHmXWcXsKjvL4t4">Indian soil</a>; then they were abandoned by the Americans because, apparently, Nixon wanted to make friends with Wangdu’s mortal enemies, the communists; then they had been betrayed by the vampiric Baba Gen Yeshe – a Tibetan and, even worse, a fellow Khampa; and now, finally Wangdu’s army was being evicted by the Nepalis. One thing was certain: Wangdu was a warrior. To imagine Wangdu simply giving up and settling down in the pacific squalor of a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/elderly-left-in-bhutan-refugee-camp">refugee camp </a>was unthinkable.’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_8fc1ffef4ae751628b90ae781b66e11e51e4fdde2787207c9042efbee345ce49.jpg" data-media-id="editor_20" data-image-id="2025052403054_8fc1ffef4ae751628b90ae781b66e11e51e4fdde2787207c9042efbee345ce49" data-rendition-name="original" width="500" height="746" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>The much derided Baba Gen Yeshe, the first Tibetan resistance leader in Mustang, who betrayed Wangdu for personal gain. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_b1d833cdb00d3ac4416b844d8730475cd88c238caaaf8da69889a584eea229a3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_21" data-image-id="2025052403054_b1d833cdb00d3ac4416b844d8730475cd88c238caaaf8da69889a584eea229a3" data-rendition-name="original" width="500" height="656" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Aditya SJB Rana of the Royal Nepal Army whose team ambushed Wangdu and his cohorts at the top of Tinker Pass in Darchula, West Nepal. Photo courtesy: GAUTAM SJB RANA</figcaption> </figure>  By August 1974 the game was up. Wangdu and six of his exhausted party were killed on their horses by <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=7270">the Royal Nepal Army</a> on the brink of escape. The officer in charge, Aditya SJB Rana, cleverly predicted their route into India after they failed to silence a police radio in Yari. A carefully laid ambush trapped them near the summit of the Tinker Pass in Darchula,at 5,000 meters the highest military operation of its time. Wangdu’s body was helicoptered to Kathmandu, and a big show made of the royal Nepal victory.&nbsp; The Tibetan armed insurgency against China had reached its end.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250524030520_3ff9c6fc85a65bc9a2c3afe9736d9f5f9413de752e790a5d9dca0981ea94f9b4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_23" data-image-id="20250524030520_3ff9c6fc85a65bc9a2c3afe9736d9f5f9413de752e790a5d9dca0981ea94f9b4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> </figure>

The Last Days of the Khampa

Starting 17 September Turkish Airlines will fly daily to Seville, one of Spain’s major tourist draws. This is Turkish’s sixth destination in Spain after Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga, and Bilbao. Seville is in the Andalusia region on Spain’s south coast with a rich Moor history. There are approximately 30,000 Nepalis living in Spain.&nbsp;

Turkish to Seville

The newly-formed Himalayan Art Council is set to launch Nepal’s National Art Protection Platform that seeks to preserve <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-history-of-heritage">Nepal’s unique cultural heritage </a>using<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/artificial-censorship"> AI-powered tools</a>. The Council seeks to safeguard <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepali-art-going-places">Nepali art works</a> from neglect, theft and counterfeiting as well as preserve existing artwork and celebrate living masters by giving them a cultural space to continue the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/sacred-survival">sacred art traditions</a>. "We are introducing a new digital platform designed to preserve, verify and elevate <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-new-generation-of-alternative-artists">Nepal’s art for generations to come,</a>” says a statement from the Council, adding that the digital platform will use AI told for authentication and blockchain to keep track of works of art. Artists can now be protected by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/ayo-ai?fbclid=IwAR1uwmTVq4gUB70ljfRezjzukD9ArWXPuMnUikopeQ8PoiZMjicToPSwhKE&amp;=1">AI tools</a> that detect forgeries, identify their work even when unsigned, and ensure they receive proper recognition and credit. The archives will be searchable with translated inscription and interactive guides. Says curator Meena Lama: “AI and blockchains are tools that give us the power to detect fakes and identify unsigned paintings and track every piece. With these tools we can restore trust, secure authorship and give artists the dignity they deserve.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250514170544_2ab58f6313c0458f75114a692b0016bd9efb3b59d5f8f07f0da72e1e37b82f53.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250514170544_2ab58f6313c0458f75114a692b0016bd9efb3b59d5f8f07f0da72e1e37b82f53" data-rendition-name="original" width="1300" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Artwork at the Traditional Art Exhibition at Patan Museum."> <figcaption>Artwork at the Traditional Art Exhibition at Patan Museum.</figcaption> </figure>  The Council is also holding an exhibition of Nepali cultural masterpieces with 50 historical <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Buzz-the-art,671">thangka and paubha </a>by past masters and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/between-the-sacred-and-everyday">contemporary works by current artists</a>. This curated collection is a living tribute to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/when-yaks-go-so-does-culture">Himalayan culture</a> with economic depictions of deities, mandala and sacred narratives. The exhibition at <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/a-portal-into-patan-s-past-and-present">Patan Museum</a> also provides an opportunity to meet painters and custodians of art and culture. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/golden-deities">Golden deities</a>, Sewa Bhattarai ‘The exhibition is only the first step in a long journey to ensure that Nepali art is no just seen but fully understood, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Narratives-of-Faith-and-Memory-Remembering-the-Lost-Sculptures-of-Kathmandu-exhibition,987">protected and remembered</a>,’ the Council says. Artist Kailash K Shrestha of Artudio has spent decades promoting thankha and paubha traditions because of their beauty and devotional meaning. But he also says artists are underpaid, exploited and ignored. He adds, “AI and blockchain are not just buzzwords, they are powerful tools that can protect Nepal’s artists from fraud, verify authenticity and build a permanent record of provenance.” Traditional Art Exhibition Till 17 May Patan Museum

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The Last Days of the Khampa

Turkish to Seville

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