Scream lies to drown the truth.
Gag free expression with free expression.
Spread falsehood faster than facts.
Sow distrust so facts don’t matter.
Jail the messenger.
That is the tip sheet of populist demagogues the world over to add a poison tip to social media. The disinformation is intended to unravel the social fabric, and dismantle trust in institutions to gain power. Blocking their way are the liberal democratic system and the press, and this is why they are targeted.
It is easy for populism to strike roots in democracies, including Nepal, because some in the established parties and the legacy media have squandered hard-won freedoms through lack of accountability and power brokering. The proximity of media tycoons to elected leaders provides grist to this anti-‘elite’ narrative.
Despots around the world are learning from each other how to weaponise social media platforms. Big Tech companies made this job easy by basing their business model on algorithmic radicalisation that manufactures outrage. Users quickly learn to exaggerate rage and magnify wrath to amass more followers. Facebook, X, YouTube reward them with digital pheromones, turning them into addicts.
In a commencement speech at Harvard University this week, <a href="https://www.rappler.com/voices/thought-leaders/full-text-maria-ressa-speech-2024-harvard-commencement-ceremony/" target="_blank">Nobel Prize winning Filipino journalist Maria Ressa</a> blamed Big Tech of coding divisions in society with hate speech, and being <a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/7dETo7ECQKc?app=desktop" target="_blank">“the accelerant to conflict and violence”</a>.
She went on: “Without facts, you can’t have truth. Without truth, you can’t have trust. Without these three, we have no shared reality, no rule of law, no democracy.”
Elected despots enabled by Big Tech spread chaos and break down trust. Which is why journalism is in the crosshairs: we stand in the way by standing for rule of law and an open society.
Here in Nepal we have survived dark periods when freedoms were crushed under the jackboots of royal-military authoritarians. The press and the political parties fought for freedom together. After 1990 and 2006, the media was often critical of those in government, exposing wrongdoing, but for the most part the main parties shared the same values -- that press freedom and democracy are two sides of the same coin.
Now, the leader of an independent party that rose dramatically in the 2022 election on an anti-incumbent platform is behaving like autocrats of yore by attacking the media. Nepal’s Home Minister Rabi Lamichhane is himself <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/after-balen-the-rabi-phenomenon" target="_blank">a former anchor</a> of a rabble-rousing tv show.
He was forced to resign during <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-rise-and-fall-of-rabi-lamichhane" target="_blank">his first stint</a> as home minister last year because of media exposures of his <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/rabi-lamichhane-is-home-less" target="_blank">US citizenship issue</a>. He deftly wriggled out of that one, and as home minister once again is charged with cheating depositors of several cooperatives of their savings and investing it in his tv channel.
The mainstream press relentlessly pursued this story, the most persistent being Nepal’s largest-circulation daily broadsheet, Kantipur. Last week, Lamichhane used the powers of his office <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepals-home-minister-vs-the-media" target="_blank">to jail the paper’s publisher Kailash Sirohiya</a>, strong-arming state agencies to detain him. A classic case of guilty until proven innocent.
The matter is in the Dhanusha court, and Siorhiya’s remand has been <a href="https://kathmandupost.com/national/2024/05/27/dhanusha-district-court-extends-kmg-chair-sirohiya-s-remand-by-three-days" target="_blank">extended by another three days.</a> There is little doubt that the publisher’s citizenship discrepancy, which could be a clerical oversight, has been used to hide skeletons rattling in Lamichhane’s own closet. The <a href="https://kathmandupost.com/national/2024/05/22/us-embassy-expects-dialogues-to-ensure-good-governance-and-press-freedom" target="_blank">US Embassy in Kathmandu</a> and international <a href="https://kathmandupost.com/interviews/2024/05/26/people-are-now-listening-to-democratically-elected-authoritarian-leaders" target="_blank">press freedom</a> watchdogs have <a href="https://www.ifj.org/media-centre/newsletters/detail/nepal-media-house-chair-arrested/category/press-releases" target="_blank">condemned the arrest</a>.
Using some of the same <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/after-balen-the-rabi-phenomenon" target="_blank">social media mobilisation</a> that got him elected, Lamichhane has unleashed troll platoons to cyber lynch anyone who dares question this vindictive abuse of office. The controversy stalled the budget session of Parliament for many weeks, as the opposition Nepali Congress (no saints themselves) demanded a house committee probe into the matter.
All top leaders of the three mainstream parties have said skeletons they use to blackmail each other and cancel each other out so nothing is ever investigated. Being the fourth largest in Parliament, Lamichhane’s RSP has the swing votes critical for this Left-led coalition to stay in power.
That is why top leaders of the Maoist Centre and the UML both looked away when Sirohiya was detained last week. They will benefit from journalists now too scared to investigate their scams. There is freedom of expression in Nepal, but not necessarily freedom after expression.
Nepal’s senior editors met Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Monday, and reminded him that this attack on the free press was happening on his watch. They <a href="https://kathmandupost.com/national/2024/05/25/21-editors-of-media-outlets-across-asia-call-on-pm-dahal-to-stop-media-intimidation" target="_blank">handed him a statement</a> that said: “There are serious questions about the manner in which Kailash Sirohiya was arrested and about the charges levelled against him, this is a direct attempt to put pressure on, and silence the independent press.’
Kunda Dixit

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Jail the messenger

When Himalaya Shumsher Rana returned to Nepal after a stint at the United Nations to establish a joint venture bank in 1983, he probably didn’t imagine that 25 years later <a href="http://himalayanbank.com/" target="blank">Himalayan Bank</a> would grow to what it is today: Nepal’s premier, pioneering financial institution, with paid-up capital exceeding Rs8 billion and <a href="http://himalayanbank.com/branch" target="blank">49 branches</a> across the country.At the bank’s 25th anniversary function this week at the Hyatt Regency, Rana was honoured for a lifetime of achievement (above). Retired, but also serving as the bank’s chief adviser, he recalled how unique it was in the 1980s to enter into a South Asian financial partnership, this one with Habib Bank of Pakistan.Chief Executive Officer Ashoke SJB Rana, scion of the founder (pictured at right, above) praises his father’s pioneering spirit and foresight. It is on the foundations laid by his father that Himalayan Bank now registers yearly growth of 12-15%.The bank receives Rs1.2 billion annually from Nepalis working abroad as remittance, and has distributed Rs6.5 billion to shareholders as dividend. It has also introduced new products, like a premium saving account, accidental death insurance and MasterCard, American Express, Unionpay and JCB credit cards.However, Nepali banks in general are facing a <a href="http://nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/guest-editorial/banking-crisis-explained,1096" target="blank">liquidity crunch</a> after the 2017 elections. The growth in real estate transactions shows that although there is money in the market, banks are not being able to lure it as deposits.“The government consistently spent less than 30% of its total capital within a six-year period. This fiscal year it showed only 14% expenditure out of the total capital, which is another reason why banks are facing deficits,” Ashoke Rana explains.Ever since Nepal Rastra Bank signed the global <a href="http://www.finra.org/industry/aml" target="blank">Anti Money Laundering protocol</a>, banks have to comply with new international regulations. This means extra budgeting is needed to hire more people to screen all accounts and to invest in anti-money laundering software.“Compliance is the buzz word in the banking sector right now,” says Ashoke Rana, “and it adds another challenge for Nepal’s financial institutions.”The Rastra Bank also introduced the <a href="http://nchl.com.np/news/view/137/Nepal-Clearing-House-launches-Interbank-Payment-System-NCHL-IPS.html" target="blank">interbank payment system</a>, under which banks are to allow customers to pay their utility bills through other banks if they wish.Himalayan Bank says it is seizing this moment to introduce a faster payment system, while at the same time expanding its physical branches in the seven new provinces to comply with the central bank’s requirements.Himalayan Bank is also increasingly involved in lending for infrastructure projects, especially <a href="http://nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/GUEST-COLUMN/nepal-future-power-house-of-south-asia,724" target="blank">hydropower and the energy sector</a>.

Himalaya turns 25

Who is accountable for teacher-student relationships?

Of the nearly 19 million eligible voters in next week’s election in Nepal, an estimated 5 million are abroad and cannot cast their ballots. Many others within Nepal must travel to their home districts, and might decide not to because of the cost.
Flights into Kathmandu these days are full of global Nepalis returning just to vote, but almost as many are leaving for overseas jobs. Most of those coming or going are in the 20-40 age group, and a majority want Nepal to see a change in leadership.
Bangladesh held an election this month in which citizens overseas could vote by mail.&nbsp;
“Bangladesh made maximum use of technology not just for campaigning but also for polling itself. We could have also managed this, so people within Nepal did not have to travel to their home districts to vote,” says Mohna Ansari, former head of Nepal’s National Human Rights Commission who was an election observer in Bangladesh.
A 3-day holiday has been declared so people can travel to their home constituencies to cast ballots. Even if there was not enough time to manage ballots for overseas Nepalis, it could have been done for Nepalis within Nepal.
Former Chief Election Commissioner Bhojraj Pokharel reckons that physical voting in countries with a large Nepali diaspora would have been a logistical nightmare, but in the PR system, using electronic voting machines or paper ballot could have been piloted in some places. It is not possible to manage the entire voting process until we introduce the internet voting system.
“First of all, there needs to be political will to bring the policy and be ready to undertake that level of investment and it is not a one-time cost,” Pokharel says. “A government formed by the GenZ could have atr least issed an ordinance ensuring this right, piloted out-of-country voting where possible, which could have built pressure for the future Parliament and the government. It would have given people hope. It is a lost opportunity.”
All major political parties called for voting rights for global Nepalis in their manifestos, but these very leaders blocked legislation allowing it despite a 2017 Supreme Court ruling out of fear that it would be anti-incumbent.&nbsp;
<h2>Why so late?</h2>
Bangladesh delivered election results in just one day, but the final results of Nepal's last local polls in 2022 including that of Kathmandu constituencies took nearly a month.
Acting Chief Election Commissioner Ram Prasad Bhandari said this week that the results of the First-Past-The-Post (FPTP) ballot counting would “likely” be published within 24 hours of the poll closing at 5PM on 5 March. But many are skeptical.
“I wonder if we lack the capacity or know-how to announce results as quickly as possible,” says Mohna Ansari.
Former Chief Election Commissioner Pokharel says manual ballot paper counting in Nepal is inherently slow because of the large numner of political parties and/or candidates on the ballot, the counting mechanism, the political behaviour of the candidates/parties and some managerial issues during counting.
“Our present policy is to count all the ballot papers at the returning officers' officies, located at the district headquarters. It requires collecting ballot boxes safetly first. This takes time, and there have been cases of ballot boxes being damaged or stolen during transport. In a few highly difficult, geographically remote polling centres, we use a helicopter or transport. But sometimes, accommodating the party and candidates' representatives remains challenging,” explains Pokharel. A solution could be counting ballots at the very booths where they are cast.
Another reason for the delay is simply the number of political parties, and the need for each ballot paper to be examined by booth representatives for consensus. In close races, the smallest difference can lead to tense situations, further delaying results, even though counting centres are protected by metal fencing so there is no disruption.
After this, then it is the turn of Proportional Representation (PR) ballots to be counted. Weeks pass by the time the results of candidates and parties are tallied and verified. But the most common delay is because election officers think ballot counting is a nine-to-five job.&nbsp;
“The efficiency of poll station officers is most important, and they are incentivised for this,” says Ansari, adding that counting can even start within an hour after voting closes.
In remote areas, local resources could be mobilised to make counting quicker, but there is a crisis of trust, adds Ansari.&nbsp;
That could be easily solved with electronic voting which the EC implemented in the 2008 polls but discontinued because political parties felt the machines could be hacked or manipulated.

Nepalis Select Who To Elect

On Saturday, Iran retaliated with missile strikes on Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bahrain and Qatar, a region where there are an estimated 2 million Nepalis working to send money home. In addition, thousands of Nepalis were preparing to board flights to Kathmandu from West Asian cities this weekend to vote in the 5 March election. Many are said to be stranded at various aviation hubs. A Qatar Airways flight from Doha took off just before the air space was closed, while Air Arabia and Kuwait Airways have diverted or cancelled flights. Nepalis in the West Asian region said things were relatively calm where they were, although some heard loud explosions at about noon local time. In Dubai, some thought they were Ramadan fireworks.&nbsp; In Kuwait, nearly 2,000 Nepalis working in the US military base as security guards and cleaners were evacuated before the strikes. In Bahrain where the US Fifth Fleet naval base is located and which was hit by two Iranian missiles, workers contacted by Nepali Times said the situation was under control and the authorities had told everyone to stay indoors and not use highways. The conflict also coincided with the beginning of Nepal’s trekking and mountaineering season, and tourists were either on their way or planning to leave European and North American cities for Himalayan hikes. Most of them transit through Doha, Dubai or Kuwait and all three airports are closed. Turkish Airlines flights via Istanbul are still operating.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260228130212_ab5e132d56da1df6a3fb1b6919648f845a168ad2c51d79f7587fb85a6e913b97.png" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20260228130212_ab5e132d56da1df6a3fb1b6919648f845a168ad2c51d79f7587fb85a6e913b97" data-rendition-name="original" width="1864" height="826" loading="lazy" alt="Qatar and UAE airspace closed"> <figcaption>Qatar and UAE airspace closed. Credit: Flightradar24</figcaption> </figure>  However, the main impact for the world could be a spike in the price of petroleum products if the strategic Strait of Hormuz is blocked. China relies on Iranian oil for their refineries, and Nepal could be affected indirectly if the economies of its neighbours are hit. Nepal imports all its diesel, petrol, LPG and aviation fuel from India which sources it mainly from the Gulf, and until recently from Russia. Petroleum makes up 25% of the value of all imports, and that is more than Nepal earns from all its exports. Saudi Arabia this year overtook the UAE as the main destination for Nepali workers, with the number now totalling 400,000. There are said to be as many in the UAE, and another 350,000 in Qatar. There are another 100,000 mostly women in Kuwait, and 50,000 each in Oman and Bahrain.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260228130220_d24ae633ff84f283835434becdb2f1351f84c415ce87ca34378bd4e2669661b3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260228130220_d24ae633ff84f283835434becdb2f1351f84c415ce87ca34378bd4e2669661b3" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="West Asia Iran conflict"> <figcaption>Iran retaliated with missile strikes on Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bahrain and Qatar on Saturday.</figcaption> </figure>  Nepal receives nearly $11 billion a year in remittances from overseas Nepalis (not counting India) through official channels, although the total is said to be much more. &nbsp;This makes up more than a quarter of Nepal’s GDP equivalent — one of the highest proportions in the world. More than half of the overseas remittances to Nepal comes from its workers in the Gulf, and it is the mainstay of the country’s economy. Nepalis in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE alone send home more than $3 billion a year, much of that helping support their families back home. An average Nepali worker in the Gulf sends home nearly $2,500 a year, and this is spent mainly for household supplies, children’s education and healthcare. There are also an estimated 7,000 Nepali caregivers and healthcare workers in Israel, and most of them are women. The Nepal Embassy has asked Nepalis in Israel to take caution and move to bomb shelters.

West Asia war and Nepalis

&nbsp;The BBC documentary <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Idv4mMGHPLk&amp;t=173s">Shot Like Enemies: Inside Nepal’s GenZ Uprising</a> set off a frenzied debate in the public sphere, highlighting how sensitive international coverage of the country still is for Nepalis despite the national media doing its job. The investigative report focussed on the massacre outside Parliament on 8 September that led to the collapse of the government and paved the way for the election on Thursday.&nbsp; There was praise from supporters of the film and scathing criticism. Raw clips and leaked conversations showed how deliberately the protesters were shot in cold blood. Others saw a sinister conspiracy behind the release of what they regarded as a one-sided documentary just a week before the election. News in the foreign media of the election from Nepal was eclipsed this week by the war in West Asia. Nepali Times brings this selection of readings from the international press. For the complete articles go online or type in the links.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260303110320_be0e1078a3563f9433e73af614fc24db7fb0d42560c88d9522a8b17e944a3e3f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260303110320_be0e1078a3563f9433e73af614fc24db7fb0d42560c88d9522a8b17e944a3e3f" data-rendition-name="original" width="759" height="412" loading="lazy" alt="international coverage of Nepal elections"> </figure>  Read the <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2026/3/2/balen-shah-rapper-mayor-nepals-next-prime-minister">full story</a> here.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260303110320_493b9bca6cd984aa0d846ee577a3ef5aadc11086f6387c6b5b3f6d1c21b087a6.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20260303110320_493b9bca6cd984aa0d846ee577a3ef5aadc11086f6387c6b5b3f6d1c21b087a6" data-rendition-name="original" width="636" height="678" loading="lazy" alt="international coverage of Nepal elections"> </figure>  Read the <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/nepali-parties-promise-big-ahead-of-polls-however-concerns-remain/article70688498.ece">full story</a> here.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260303110320_b813313c898a1addf207ee663210ae8ebc0cd2f47ba8fb088530c445a733896b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20260303110320_b813313c898a1addf207ee663210ae8ebc0cd2f47ba8fb088530c445a733896b" data-rendition-name="original" width="625" height="582" loading="lazy" alt="international coverage of Nepal elections"> </figure>  Read the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cgqgl3j5nj4o">full story</a> here.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260303110320_b643581c73d3e4babef9e1f89414b33864c2807a5488cd1c0d2de6d34755a42c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20260303110320_b643581c73d3e4babef9e1f89414b33864c2807a5488cd1c0d2de6d34755a42c" data-rendition-name="original" width="701" height="813" loading="lazy" alt="international coverage of Nepal elections"> </figure>  Read the <a href="https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/dispatches/will-nepals-long-standing-nonalignment-survive-the-first-election-after-its-gen-z-uprising/">full story</a> here.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260303110320_934a42f754451d7354407413f3eaa0fd8fff798122f7e419fdaef82dfe1895ab.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20260303110320_934a42f754451d7354407413f3eaa0fd8fff798122f7e419fdaef82dfe1895ab" data-rendition-name="original" width="631" height="759" loading="lazy" alt="international coverage of Nepal elections"> </figure>  Read the <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/in-nepal-polls-political-parties-root-for-mega-infrastructure/">full story</a> here.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260303110320_b5152c5addd7c988a4eb2bbd1dfbec78ea0113677792bf986b622dacbd9d2463.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20260303110320_b5152c5addd7c988a4eb2bbd1dfbec78ea0113677792bf986b622dacbd9d2463" data-rendition-name="original" width="961" height="803" loading="lazy" alt="international coverage of Nepal elections"> </figure>  Read the <a href="https://scroll.in/article/1090389/nepals-election-is-referendum-on-its-future-and-democracy-in-south-asia">full story</a> here.

liquidity-crunch

Jail the messenger

Himalaya turns 25

Who is accountable for teacher-student relationships?

Nepalis Select Who To Elect

West Asia war and Nepalis

International commentary on Nepal election