<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410114/6372055c9c7e80680e0b28b0jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="986"/><figcaption>Photo: SHANKAR DAHAL</figcaption></figure>Nepal’s Department of Foreign Employment (DoFE) issued more than 240,000 labour permits for migrant workers in 2021, even as the country reeled under the Covid-19 pandemic.Since 2008, the DoFE has issued<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/the-long-wait-before-flight/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> labour permits</a> to more than 4 million Nepali migrant workers. But this figure does not include Nepalis living and working across the border in India, which does not require labour approvals as per the <a href="https://mea.gov.in/bilateral-documents.htm?dtl/6295/Treaty+of+Peace+and+Friendship" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">1950 Nepal-India bilateral treaty</a>. Nor does it include workers who travel overseas through backchannels.Even the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/nepali-migration-in-the-2020s/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">2020 migration report</a> from the Ministry shows that the number of Nepali workers seeking labour approvals has steadily declined since 2013, with <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/kleptocrats-of-kathmandu-and-kualalampur/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Malaysia</a> followed by countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Qatar, UAE and Saudi Arabia being the primary destinations.Conversely, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/more-remittance-more-than-remittance/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">remittances</a> sent by migrant workers are now worth over a quarter of Nepal’s annual GDP, and the conversation is shifting to the varying degrees of access of Nepalis from different backgrounds to destination countries.‘The tendency is for the better-off to earn higher wages and to be able to send back remittances of a higher value, and for the poor to earn lower wages and to be less able to send back remittances to the family members remaining in Nepal,’ write researchers David Seddon, Jagannath Adhikari, and Ganesh Gurung in their book The New Lahures: Foreign Employment and the Remittance Economy of Nepal.‘Those from the more affluent backgrounds are in a better position to gain access to higher pay and more secure employment, while those from less affluent backgrounds are in a relatively poor position in this regard.’The book includes findings of research conducted by the authors from 1997 to 1999 on <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/south-asias-migrants-shared-problems-share-solutions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal’s foreign labour migration</a> and remittance economy, and later studies into the labour migration sector. A new edition of the 2001 book has been updated to include the changing dynamics of migration and the remittance economy in the last 20 years, especially <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-economy-already-weak-takes-direct-hit/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">during the Covid-19 pandemic</a>.The abuse and death of a Nepali domestic worker at the hands of employers in Kuwait in 1998 prompted the Nepal government to <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16350#.YfIiTeNBzOR" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ban women from going to the Gulf to work as domestics</a>. The ban was eventually lifted, but similar immigration policies that limit female mobility have been introduced in the years between, including <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/history-of-female-immobility-in-nepal/">a 2021 proposal requiring Nepali women under 40 travelling to the Gulf or Africa to present consent from a guardian and local government</a>.In August 2004, 12 Nepali labour migrants led to Iraq for work under false pretences <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=1872#.YfIi4eNBzOQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">were abducted and killed by insurgents</a>, their execution filmed and released by the extremists for the world to see. Thirteen Nepali security contractors were killed and five injured by a suicide bombing in 2016 while en route to their jobs at the Canadian embassy.A July 2021 mobile video of a Nepali security guard in Malaysia getting beaten up by his supervisor prompted Nepalis to share their own experiences of violence against migrant workers in Malaysia.The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/afghanistan-abandoned/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Taliban takeover of Kabul</a> in August 2021 brought to light the plights of potentially<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/who-will-rescue-nepalis-from-afghanistan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> thousands of stranded Nepalis</a> working to protect embassies of US and NATO countries, as well as undocumented migrants in Afghanistan.In Qatar, as many as 1,600 Nepali workers are believed to have died in the past decade <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/human-rights-referees-blow-whistle-on-world-cup-fouls/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">after the country won the bid to host the FIFA World Cup 2022</a>.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/the-days-of-international-migration/">The Days of International Migration</a>These incidents are only the highlights of Nepal’s tragic migrant history that made it to the media. Yet, there are many more success stories of workers who have done well for themselves and supported families back home, while at the same time keeping Nepal’s economy afloat.Yet, over the years, the Nepal government’s treatment of the labour export sector, whether in terms of policy-making or bilateral discussions, have not brought long-term benefits to workers. On the contrary, many Nepalis have had to resort to taking illegal channels and routes to travel and work overseas, further risking their lives.This has also made it impossible for Nepal’s authorities to pinpoint the number of undocumented Nepali migrants across Asia and the Gulf, let alone ensure their rights and safety. Preliminary data of the 2021 census released this week shows that there are only 2.6 million Nepali workers abroad, which seems to be a gross undercount (see box, below).“While economic diplomacy has been incorporated into our foreign policy, discussions about labour diplomacy have not moved forward,” said migration expert Ganesh Gurung, co-author of The New Lahures, in his keynote address at the Kantipur Migration and Remit Summit 2021.Indeed, in recent years experts have pointed out the need to diversify out-migration destinations to include better, higher paying jobs for Nepali workers seeking employment abroad. The need to ensure access to safer and better-paying labour destinations for Nepalis of all socio-economic as well as socio-cultural backgrounds have also been highlighted.Added Gurung: “We are sending Nepalis to the Gulf, Malaysia, and India —countries that earn them the least amount of income but with some of the worst human rights records in the world … We have the strength of the Gurkha reputation in the security sector, but we have not been able to use it to tap the market in Europe, or North America.”The Ministry of Labour’s 2020 Migration Report prioritised the diversification of labour destinations and employment sectors. The report read: ‘More flexible approaches such as revised time limits on employment contracts for short-term opportunities, employment in emerging sectors … and innovations in joint partnerships … should be considered.’However, into the third year of the pandemic and the third Covid wave, Nepal’s government does not seem to have learnt its lesson and has no clear short-term plans to manage Nepalis leaving for overseas jobs, even as it continues to issue labour permits. Nor has it been able to integrate returning migrants in Nepal with support.As the highly contagious variant spreads across the world, there is no clear information about when and where migrants can receive booster shots. The paperwork for workers is laborious, confusing and ridden with corruption. Recruiters blatantly exploit workers, and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/diaspora-diaries-1/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">mislead them about jobs and earnings overseas</a>.“I was told that I could get the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/boosting-booster-jabs-against-omicron/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">booster shot</a> here,” says a man waiting near a crowd of people registering for their first and second doses in front of Shahid Memorial Hospital in Kalanki this week. “I have to leave the country soon, but no one seems to know about it.”The security guard at the vaccination booth asks him what kind of frontline worker he is. He is then promptly told that booster shots are not available for those going overseas.Reading The New Lahures puts the individual everyday hassle of Nepal’s desperate migrant workers into perspective and historical context. How the government benefits by shifting responsibility for finding work for its citizens at home by driving them away, and then props up the economy with the money they send back.Yet the same government invests so little in making life easier for those very workers, ensure that they are not abused and exploited by recruiters, and getting Nepal’s embassies to look after <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/in-the-minds-of-nepals-migrant-workers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">their welfare while abroad</a>.The New Lahures: Foreign Employment and the Remittance Economy of NepalAdroit Publishers, 2021219 pages<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410114/6372055f9c7e80680e0b28b1jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="686" height="1096">Census undercount?The <a href="https://cbs.gov.np/wp-content/upLoads/2022/01/Preliminary-report-2021-final.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">preliminary date of the 2021 Census</a> that was released this week has interesting new revelations that all point to the country having defused its <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-holding-census-despite-covid-and-boycott/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">demographic bomb</a>. However, some of the growth is uneven and there are indications of possible problems in future with an ageing population.<ul><li>Nepal’s annual population growth rate dropped to only 0.93% from 1.34% ten years ago</li> <li>The proportion of Nepalis living in the Tarai grew to nearly 54%</li> <li>Two-thirds of Nepalis live in urban areas</li> <li>The male-female ratio is 95.9:100, meaning there are 600,000 more women than men in Nepal</li> <li>The fertility rate is now approaching replacement level: 2.3 children per mother</li> <li>67% of the population is made up of working-age youth, which is Nepal’s ‘demographic dividend’</li> <li>Madhes Province has the most people, making up 21% of the population</li> <li>Kathmandu district’s population is now 2.02 million</li></ul><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111410114/637205619c7e80680e0b28b2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000">However, the census data shows that there are 2,169,478 Nepalis living abroad, and experts say this is a gross undercount. There are said to be at least 3 million Nepalis working just in India, and the figure for labour permits show at least 2 million in the Gulf, Malaysia, Korea and Japan. And this does not even include the number of students who have gone abroad.Even the head of the Central Bureau of Statistic Nebin Lal Shrestha said in media interviews that he was personally surprised by the low figure. He said there could have been an undercount because households where all members were abroad were not counted.However, among those abroad, the proportion of women has increased from 12% to nearly 19%. The reason for this could be greater <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/3-4th-of-the-sky/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">gender equality in Nepal</a>, increase in female literacy, overseas demand for domestic and caregivers.

Shristi Karki

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No country for young men

<figure><img width="1100" height="560" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914110/636ba45b9c7e80680e073662jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Stills from the video of the Nepali guard being beaten mercilessly by someone identified as a Malaysian Tamil supervisor of the firm, Allied Security.</figcaption></figure>After <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepali-guard-beaten-in-malaysia-goes-viral/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepali-guard-beaten-in-malaysia-goes-viral/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1596546412704000&amp;usg=AFQjCNER9zR06N84h6qUBcjMDYvhtVuFzA">a video of a Nepali security guard being mercilessly</a> beaten by his Malaysian supervisor went viral on 2 August, police there have tried to cover up the abuse by saying that the supervisor is actually a Nepali.However, the video itself as well as a testimony by another Nepali who was  assaulted last year by the same supervisor, confirm that he is actually a Tamil Malaysian who is among three that serially abused migrant workers.Although the Malaysian police has not made any public statement, the Nepal Embassy in Kuala Lumpur has issued a press brief (below) which, despite strong evidence to the contrary, backs up a report by the umbrella organisation of the security agencies (PIKM), implicating a Nepali in the crime.Read also: <a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepali-guard-beaten-in-malaysia-goes-viral/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepali guard beaten in Malaysia goes viral</a> <figure><img width="630" height="891" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914110/636ba45d9c7e80680e073663jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>The statement by the Nepal Embassy in Kuala Lumpur dated 3 August in which it backs a claim by a security agency association as saying that it was a Nepali who beat up a Nepali.</figcaption></figure>The video that has gone viral on social media shows the Nepali guard being repeatedly bludgeoned with a club, and slapped in the face in the parking lot of an apartment block in Kuala Lumpur. The Nepali does not retaliate or say anything, while trying to evade the blows.The supervisor is overheard in the video as saying in Bahasa Melayu: “Are you flaking off? You are here to work, and you are creating trouble? Who do you think you are?”The Embassy statement names the victim as Islam Husain from Nawalparasi district, and the 'supervisor' as Ram Gopal Murau. The report that the Embassy quoted said that both Nepalis were undocumented, and it added that Murau had given himself up to police. However, reports from Malaysia say there is no Nepali involved in the incident who is in custody. The Embassy's version of the events is also contradicted by the supervisor’s facial features, language and accent, as well as his identification by several security guards, now back in Nepal, whom he had similarly abused in the past.One of them is Santosh Sapkota, who was beaten last year by the same person he identifies as a Malaysian Tamil supervisor after he failed to report for work because he was not feeling well. He was badly injured, but forced himself to go to work fearing more beatings.“I can tell you with certainty that it is the same man who beat me and he is definitely not a Nepali,” Sapkota told Nepali Times at his home in Kavre district. “The Nepal Embassy seems to be under pressure to go along with the story that it was just a Nepali beating a Nepali.” <figure><img width="1050" height="683" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914110/636ba4609c7e80680e073664jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>The complaint filed by Santosh Sapkota at the Nepal Embassy in Malaysia last year after he was beaten by the same supervisor, ‘Mannu’.</figcaption></figure>For Sapkota, this is not the first time he had to be disappointed with the Nepal Embassy. After he was beaten, he took the bold and rare step of lodging a complaint against his supervisor and his Allied Security Sdn Bhd at the Nepal Embassy in Kuala Lumpur last August.But instead of helping him, Sapkota says the embassy notified the company about his complaint. When he reported to work the next day, three Malaysian Tamils knifed him, causing a spinal injury.“The three were named Mannu, Ganeshan and Gunasekeran. Since then I have been both physically disabled as well as suffering post-traumatic stress,” says Sapkota, who had to pay for his own treatment in hospital, using RM2,600 ($400) of his own savings. Allied Security then laid him off on 3 September 2019, and cut the air fare from his own salary to send him home.He has needed more hospitalisation for his back injury, and has already spent Rs200,000, and he still needs more treatment. (See hospital report, right). This means he cannot work and cannot provide for his wife and two children. Besides his physical disability, Sapkota suffers psychological trauma from the violence. <figure><img width="700" height="945" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110914110/636ba4629c7e80680e073665jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Santosh Sapkota’s medical treatment sheet for a spinal injury he received after a knife attack by three supervisors at Allied Security in Kuala Lumpur last year.</figcaption></figure>Another Nepali security guard working in Allied Security, Sajan Shrestha, was also beaten up and threatened by the supervisor at Allied Security. He was then reportedly disappeared by the company, Sapkota said.In his complaint to the Nepal Embassy last year, Sapkota has also alleged that the supervisor named 'Gunasekeran' was also the one in the video. Earlier, he had identified the supervisor as 'Mannu'. Sapkota says beating employees for minor infractions is standard operating procedure among Malaysian security companies, and urges the authorities in Nepal and Malaysia to take action.Sapkota went to Malaysia to work five years ago under a contract with Himarav Overseas recruitment agency and was assigned a job at Allied Security Sdn Bhd. They had promised him a salary of RM2,100. But after he started working, he only got RM1,600 a month for being on duty up to 14 hours a day and no weekends. That is when he became ill from exhaustion, and was beaten for not reporting to work.“The Nepal Embassy has backed the official version of the incident and let the Malaysian off the hook, and this is getting wide play in the media. But that is not true, the supervisor is a Malaysian Tamil, and he also beat me so badly that I am disabled,” says Sapkota.He adds that Allied Security is notorious for abusing its employees, and it hired musclemen to keep workers in line so they do not complain about not getting promised salaries or about being made to work extra hours.<iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fandy.hall.3110%2Fvideos%2F10157468010285677%2F&amp;show_text=0&amp;width=261" width="261" height="900" style="border:none;overflow:hidden" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe>On Monday, Santosh Sapkota filed complaints at the Consular Section of at Narayanhiti, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Department of Foreign Employment. Sapkota says there are many workers like him in Malaysia who are mistreated like slaves, and many are tortured. But few go to the police because instead of catching the culprit, they often victimise the victim.In another video testimony sent to Nepali Times this week by another Nepali guard working at Kajang Expom Security, the person says he was beaten up after asking to go home for a family crisis. His passport was confiscated, two months of salary was withheld, and he was thrown out of the company dorm.In the video he says he went to the Nepal Embassy to complain, and again, instead of helping him, the Embassy informed the company and never followed up. He is now staying with a friend, and he says in the video: “I need to get back home, but I have neither the money nor passport. I have run out of my savings.”Migrant rights campaigner Andy Hall says the Malaysian government and employers have not adequately addressed the exploitation and abuse of Nepali workers there. “Nepali are working there as virtual slaves, and are being tortured,” he says.People’s Forum, and organisation that provides free legal advice to Nepali overseas workers says the mistreatment of Nepalis must be addressed through the Malaysian justice system, and the Nepal government should be putting pressure on the Malaysian authorities.“The abuse of Nepali workers is against international and Malaysian law,” says Som Luitel of People’s Forum. “It is the responsibility of the Nepal Foreign Minister and the Nepal Embassy in Kuala Lumpur to raise this issue with the Malaysian government.”

Malaysian police says Nepali beat Nepali

India and Pakistan are twins separated at birth. Tensions between them have been at a hair trigger ever since independence and has erupted into full scale conflict at least four times in the past 80 years.
The 22 April terrorist attack in Kashmir that killed 25 Indian tourists and a Nepali citizen, threatens to escalate tension between the two nuclear-armed nations. India has squarely blamed Pakistan for the attacks, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given his military “operational freedom” to respond. Pakistan has said it has credible intelligence of an Indian military strike and its officials have promised a “full spectrum” response — a code for a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/thinking-the-thinkable">nuclear retaliation</a>.
For Nepal, the killing of its national in the Pahalgam attack comes as another stark reminder that in conflicts from Afghanistan to Iraq, from <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/how-to-agree-an-armistice-in-ukraine">Ukraine</a> to Israel, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/10-nepalis-from-one-town-fighting-in-ukraine">Nepalis are getting caught in the crossfire</a>. The last time full-scale fighting broke out between <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/peacemongers-at-india-pakistan-border">India and Pakistan</a> on Kargil in 1999, at least 22<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/india-s-trial-by-fire-for-soldiers-from-nepal?%27%5C%22="> Nepalis fighting for the Indian Army</a> were killed in action.
Three of Nepal’s immediate neighbours (China, India, Pakistan) have nuclear weapons, and they do not have good relations. With China supplying weapons, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/war-and-warming">missile technology</a> and other support to Pakistan, this triangular friction could set off a regional conflagration.&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-022-00573-0" target="_blank">Research at Rutgers University</a> has calculated that even a week-long tactical nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan would throw up so much smoke and debris into the atmosphere that it would block out the sun for years, and lead to a collapse of the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/grow-nourish-sustain-together-world-food-day">global food system</a>. This does not take into account the radioactive fallout that prevailing winds would blow up to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/lives-on-the-line-in-the-himalaya">the Himalaya</a>, contaminating glaciers that are the sources of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/saving-what-is-left-of-himalayan-rivers">Asia’s main rivers</a>.
The impact of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/climate-breakdown-linked-to-thame-flood">climate breakdown </a>on High Asia was already ringing alarm bells about its <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/himalayan-icecap-melting-faster-than-thought">shrinking ice cap</a> reducing the dry season flow of water downstream. Water was going to be the next strategic commodity, geopolitical experts warned, and the next wars in Asia would be over water.
That water war is already happening. India retaliated to the Kashmir attack by suspending the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/24/world/asia/india-pakistan-indus-waters-treaty.html" target="_blank">Indus Waters Treaty</a> of 1960 mediated by the World Bank that has withstood at least three wars between India and Pakistan. The treaty gives India control over the three eastern tributaries of the Indus (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beas_River" target="_blank">Beas</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravi_River" target="_blank">Ravi</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutlej" target="_blank">Sutlej</a>), while Pakistan got water from the Indus and two of its western tributaries (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_River" target="_blank">Indus</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chenab_River" target="_blank">Chenab</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jhelum_River" target="_blank">Jhelum</a>.
Pakistan was assured of 70% of the annual flow, and India could use a reasonable amount of water for<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15231"> irrigation and hydropower</a>. &nbsp;Within days of its threat, India stopped water flowing down to Pakistan from the Chenab river and is reportedly preparing to do the same on the Jhelum.
The sabre-rattling has reached a crescendo. Besides threats and counter-threats there are also symbolic drills, with the Indian Air Force practicing landing on an expressway in Uttar Pradesh by its Rafale, Su-30 and Jaguar fighter jets to demonstrate ‘operational readiness’. In response Pakistan test-fired its Abdali ballistic missile that can carry a nuclear warhead and has a range of 450km.&nbsp;
The danger is that with ultra-nationalist rhetoric and the beating the war drums by both sides, India’s government and Pakistan’s military may have to ‘do something’ to appease domestic public opinion. But any tactical strike, an artillery exchange, or territorial incursion could quickly escalate out of control.
Expecting an Indian retaliation for the Pahalgam killings, Pakistan is using<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/interfaith-collaboration-for-nuclear-disarmament"> nuclear deterrence </a>and warning of “catastrophic consequences”. The two neighbours came close to a nuclear exchange in 2019 after an attack on the Indian military in Kashmir, and prompt international intervention led by the United States cooled tensions.&nbsp;
This time, the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/trump-shock-wave-hits-nepal">Trump administration</a> is too distracted and not as engaged. Pakistan has denied it was responsible for the terrorist attack and called on Washington to stop a possible Indian retaliation. India and Pakistan have stopped overflights by each other’s airlines, and some international carriers have even stopped flying over Pakistan fearing an air war.
Washington, Beijing, the UN and the EU have all urged restraint. Iran, which has good relations with both India and Pakistan has sent its foreign minister to urge both countries not to go into a tit-for-tat war. Iran has its own nuclear flashpoint to worry about with tensions in Israel, &nbsp;Yemen and Syria.
India and Pakistan both share similar problems of joblessness, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/why-nepal-s-poverty-rate-is-stuck">poverty </a>and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/climate-change-new-threat-to-nepal-s-rhinos">environmental threats</a>. Neither side needs the threat of a senseless war, and we in the neighbourhood do not need it either.&nbsp;
Kunda Dixit
This Editorial is brought to you by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/" target="_blank">Nepali Times</a>, in collaboration with <a href="https://inpsjapan.com/en/" target="_blank">INPS Japan</a> and <a href="https://sgi-peace.org/" target="_blank">Soka Gakkai International</a>, in consultative status with UN ECOSOC.

Nukes in the neighbourhood

The streets of Patan are alive this month with lavender jacaranda trees under rain-washed skies as <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-red-god-rises-again-in-patan">the chariot of Rato Matsyendranath</a> is pulled across town. This is the festival of the rain god, and inevitably the heavens opened up and pre-monsoon showers pelted the chariot as it started being pulled in Pulchok last week. Thousands of devotees, onlookers and the chariot procession organisers thronged the streets on the first day last week. The rhythmic cymbals and drums exuded a vibrant energy as the enormous four wheels turned and the chariot lurched.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025051007050_81df97744db16f732a419dc1f1579d235ce3df37642b078f50b83bd4bd026688.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2025051007050_81df97744db16f732a419dc1f1579d235ce3df37642b078f50b83bd4bd026688" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1503" loading="lazy" alt="Divine chariot"> </figure>  The<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Red-rain-god,3141"> red rain god</a> has Hindu and Buddhist antecedents, alternatively called Bungadya and<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandu-s-gravity-defying-chariot-festival"> Karunamaya</a> — reflecting Kathmandu Valley’s syncretic mixture of the two religions.&nbsp; “Bungadya is a profoundly <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/12-full-opinion/marketing-the-intangible">intangible form of heritage</a>,” explains heritage expert Monalisa Maharjan. “It embodies traditional knowledge,<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/reviving-nepal-s-craft"> artisanal skills passed down through generations</a>. Local communities and specific families have specified roles in being custodians of the heritage, ensuring their survival over the centuries.” There are many legends and stories about this annual tradition. Lichhavi king Narendra Dev is supposed to have brought Rato Matsyendranath from Assam to Kathmandu Valley to convince Guru Gorakhnath to lift a spell that created a two-year drought in Kathmandu.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250510050520_347a9a398f8a9abc4a7fb4e2774fde8264cccbdce8bdab23851ab3f0e73c3e8a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250510050520_347a9a398f8a9abc4a7fb4e2774fde8264cccbdce8bdab23851ab3f0e73c3e8a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1503" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Divine chariot"> </figure>  Matsyendranath was Gorakhnath’s mentor, and upon seeing him, the serpents were released, unleashing the rains. The chariot festival honours the return of this life-giving rain. The deity is seen as an icon for thriving agriculture, t<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/before-the-next-monsoon">he arrival of monsoon</a> showers, and the welfare of the community. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-reign-of-the-god-of-rain">The reign of the god of rain</a>, Vidhu Prakash Kayastha Till this day, the Rato Matsyendranath festival is no ordinary celebration. Patan does not sleep for a month as the chariot is pulled through various neighbourhoods. It unfolds at a state level with the president (formerly the king) attending the climax of the Bhoto Jatra in Jawalakhel later this month.&nbsp; The intergenerational transmission of tradition is unique in the world, and the reason the festival is one of the most vibrant cultural expressions that thrives despite inroads of modernity. The other unique aspect is that it is a transnational festival, binding Patan with Guwahati in the Indian state of Assam.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025051005058_8bc685ada13045d863b28e3eed91c931da2b510714586af6fd7eb5d1e298a24a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="2025051005058_8bc685ada13045d863b28e3eed91c931da2b510714586af6fd7eb5d1e298a24a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1503" loading="lazy" alt="Divine chariot"> </figure>  “Unlike Nepal, where the deity commands grandeur and devotion, many in Assam are unaware of Rato Matsyendranath,” says Khagen Sharma of Gauhati University, which convened <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-assam-connection-revived">a symposium in February in Guwahati on the rain god</a>. Attending was a delegation led by Lalitpur Mayor Chiribabu Maharjan, organisers of the festival, and builders of the chariot. After the symposium, a committee was formed to explore and revive the tradition in Assam as well. Although the team had planned to visit Nepal this month, logistical challenges delayed the trip. Still, there are plans to build a Guru Matsyendranath statue in Assam to reestablish regular worship practices in the Guwahati shrine.&nbsp; The vines used to build the chariot in Patan are sourced from the jungles of Assam. But Sharma notes that in recent years unclear regulations have blocked the official import of the vines, although they are still brought to Nepal informally. The <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/makers-of-machhindranath,2204">chariot making</a> has also had a taste of modernisation in recent times. In the past, even a single nail or piece of steel was avoided. But over time, the wooden structure, particularly the shaft between the wheels, has been replaced with bronze. When that too proved unstable, metal clamps were introduced, which have become a pragmatic compromise.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250510050524_b2a819a5791612f14c81d30fc393dbd3f99f0c64b90a9110e8b0855d944bfa93.jpg" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20250510050524_b2a819a5791612f14c81d30fc393dbd3f99f0c64b90a9110e8b0855d944bfa93" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="998" loading="lazy" alt="Divine chariot"> </figure>  Another welcome change is the focus on safety. Builders climbing the chariot’s tower now wear harnesses and there are efforts in crowd control. The most visible change in recent years has been the involvement of Patan’s enthusiastic youth in the festival — the tradition is now passing to a new generation. Says Matsyendranath expert Vidhu Kayastha: “There is more energy, the young people in red t-shirts this year were very organised, these modern touches aren’t diluting our culture, they’re keeping it alive in new forms.” He adds, “We are <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/searching-for-a-homeland-away-from-home">reconnecting with our roots</a>, we have more resources, more awareness than ever before. We must not be swept away by western values that may not serve us, and in some ways, cause more harm than good. We must revive our own culture.”&nbsp;

Divine chariot

In 2025, two seemingly disconnected acts of violence shattered the illusion of stability in the region. In March, <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/16f7f947-1e96-4206-9844-891378adc683" target="_blank">militants hijacked a passenger train</a> near the Bolan Pass in Balochistan, executing soldiers in cold blood. A month later, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/22/world/asia/kashmir-terrorist-attack.html" target="_blank">gunmen in Kashmir’s</a> Pahalgam Valley massacred tourists. 
In both Islamabad and New Delhi, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/4/25/were-cursed-kashmiris-under-attack-across-india-after-pahalgam-killings" target="_blank">the reaction was reflexive:</a> condemn the violence, <a href="https://www.economist.com/asia/2025/04/22/india-and-pakistan-could-come-to-blows-over-kashmir" target="_blank">blame external enemies</a>, declare the situation contained. But South Asia’s leaders are not fighting terrorists alone. They are fighting the consequences of their own betrayals.
Across <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26272897" target="_blank">Balochistan</a>, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-11693674" target="_blank">Kashmir</a>, <a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/asia/south-asia/india/346-finding-way-out-festering-conflict-indias-manipur" target="_blank">Manipur</a>, and beyond, decades of <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/projects/enforced-disappearance-in-south-asia/" target="_blank">enforced disappearances</a>, broken promises, and brute militarisation have hollowed out the social contracts meant to hold these nations together. The grievances that drove rebellions from the 1940s through the 1990s – demands for dignity, recognition, and political agency – were never meaningfully addressed. They were buried beneath asphalt and propaganda, paved over by development projects and security checkpoints.
States may claim victory. But their victories are mirages, dissolving the moment anyone looks too closely. South Asia’s unfinished wars are not relics of a violent past. They are live ammunition, loaded into the future.
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/24/he-only-wanted-revenge-the-bloody-insurgency-in-balochistan-gaining-lethal-momentum" target="_blank">Balochistan</a> has been at war with Pakistan for most of its modern history. Rich in gas, minerals, and coastline, the province has been plundered for decades under the language of national development. 
Projects like the <a href="https://eastasiaforum.org/2020/11/26/pakistans-three-evils-cpec-and-good-governance/" target="_blank">China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)</a> promise progress but deliver exclusion: minerals are mined, ports are secured, but Baloch homes are raided. 
The insurgency endures not because of foreign conspiracies, as Islamabad endlessly insists, but because the Pakistani state remains incapable of seeing its <a href="https://thebalochistanpost.net/2025/01/enforced-disappearances-in-balochistan-in-december-2024-tbp-report/" target="_blank">Baloch citizens</a> as anything other than a security problem to be managed.
In <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ranisingh/2016/07/12/kashmir-in-the-worlds-most-militarized-zone-violence-after-years-of-comparative-calm/" target="_blank">Kashmir</a>, the Indian government claims to have <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/08/world/asia/kashmir-village-defense-committees.html" target="_blank">“normalised” the valley</a> after revoking its autonomy in 2019. It <a href="https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/conflict-between-india-and-pakistan" target="_blank">looks a lot like occupation</a>. Soldiers outnumber local leaders, dissent is criminalised, internet shutdowns suffocate public life. Tourism campaigns and investment summits cannot erase a generation raised under curfew and surveillance.
<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-66260730" target="_blank">Manipur’s descent into ethnic bloodshed</a> in 2023 exposed another fault line Delhi prefers to ignore. Long-simmering tensions between the Meitei and Kuki communities erupted into violence that shattered any illusions of northeastern integration. The central government’s delayed, politicised response made clear what many Manipuris had always suspected: they are citizens of India only when convenient.
Even the <a href="https://msf.org.au/rohingya-worlds-largest-stateless-population" target="_blank">Rohingya, stateless and exiled from Myanmar</a>, find themselves entangled in South Asia’s ethnonationalist calculus. Fleeing genocide, they are criminalised anew in Bangladesh and India – trapped between the countries that reject them and the memories that refuse to let them go.
South Asia’s states have excelled at suppressing rebellion. But failed at extinguishing the reasons rebellions rise in the first place. And the wars South Asia tries to forget at home have found new life abroad.
Across <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-17/modis-indian-government-accused-of-spying-silencing-critics/103974414" target="_blank">Canada, Australia, Britain, and the United States</a>, diasporic communities have become memory-keepers and, increasingly, <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/world-news/khalistan-supporters-hold-protest-outside-indian-consulate-in-vancouver-123092600087_1.html" target="_blank">the agitators</a> for the struggles their home states would rather erase.
Khalistan flags fly outside Indian consulates in Vancouver and <a href="https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/perturbed-over-waving-of-khalistani-flags-at-an-event-in-melbourne-india-warns-australia-of-khalistan-separatists-and-their-links-with-terror-groups-458320/" target="_blank">Melbourne</a>. Tamil activists march through London, demanding accountability for the <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/19/grim-reminder-sri-lankas-tamils-mark-15-years-since-end-of-civil-war" target="_blank">massacres in Mullivaikkal</a>. Kashmiri protests in Washington and New York refuse to let India’s crackdown slip into diplomatic amnesia.
For host countries, these movements pose uncomfortable questions. Freedom of expression collides with fears of extremism. Clashes erupt between communities carrying wounds that their new homelands.
Meanwhile, South Asian states pursue their adversaries across borders. India faces allegations of <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/canada-says-india-home-minister-ordered-campaign-against-sikh-activist-rcna177972" target="_blank">targeting Sikh activists for assassination in Canada</a> and the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/10/27/g-s1-29561/sikh-separatist-assassination-india" target="_blank">United States</a>. Pakistan continues to court Kashmiri separatists abroad while crushing Baloch dissent at home. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/sri-lanka-tamils-civil-war-dead-5b372b0bba567837c5a4d94250040e7d" target="_blank">Sri Lanka</a> lobbies furiously to brand Tamil diaspora organisations as fronts for terrorism, even as it stonewalls investigations into its own wartime atrocities.
The old insurgencies have not been defeated. They have been globalised. South Asia’s governments have long mistaken silence for stability.
In Punjab, India broke the back of the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/06/india/india-canada-sikh-khalistan-analysis-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank">Khalistan insurgency</a> through brute force. The fields grew green again, the trains ran on time. But the wounds were never closed, the <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/why-is-indias-khalistan-separatist-movement-on-the-rise/a-65081729" target="_blank">movement’s heart beats</a> not in Amritsar but in Brampton and Surrey.
In Sri Lanka, the <a href="https://www.academia.edu/4738983/The_Man_Who_Destroyed_Eelam" target="_blank">military crushed the Tamil Tigers</a> with <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/01/17/death-of-the-tiger" target="_blank">overwhelming brutality in 2009</a>. <a href="https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3264148/we-want-our-children-back-sri-lankan-families-still-demanding-justice-their-missing-loved-ones" target="_blank">Tamil families still search for their missing</a>, still mourn their dead – and still organise across the diaspora for justice that remains undelivered.
In Kashmir, Delhi boasts of new <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/2/4/kashmir-is-bleeding-its-economy" target="_blank">highways and investment corridors</a>, showcasing the region as a trophy of unity. But when the visitors leave and the cameras are packed away, <a href="https://harvardlawreview.org/print/vol-134/from-domicile-to-dominion-indias-settler-colonial-agenda-in-kashmir/" target="_blank">the checkpoints, the raids, and the quiet despair remain.</a>
Victory parades fade. Grievance endures. Suppressing insurgency may end battles. It does not end the ideas that fueled them. In a region where <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/23/world/asia/kashmir-attack-india-pakistan.html" target="_blank">history is rarely past</a>, and memory is rarely voluntary, states that rule through repression are only ever buying time. And often, not very much.
South Asia’s unfinished wars are not accidents. They are the inevitable consequences of states that confuse conquest with consent, and erasure with reconciliation. They cannot legislate memory out of existence.
Every <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c15qyyzz89lo" target="_blank">disappeared son in Balochistan</a>, every <a href="https://medium.com/the-wvoice/the-half-widows-in-kashmir-fef80c6b88e9" target="_blank">half-widow in Kashmir</a>, every <a href="https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/what-we-do/focus/rohingya-refugee-crisis" target="_blank">refugee child born stateless in a Rohingya camp</a> carries forward the memory of betrayal – a memory that outlives soldiers, politicians, and peace accords alike.
The region’s future will not be decided by GDP figures or infrastructure projects alone. It will be decided by whether its governments can summon the political courage to face the truths they have long suppressed – or whether they will continue down a path <a href="https://theconversation.com/india-is-using-the-g20-summit-to-further-its-settler-colonial-ambitions-in-kashmir-205166" target="_blank">where forgetting is demanded</a>, and rebellion becomes inevitable.
Shyam Tekwani is a professor at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Hawaii. This <a href="https://dkiapcss.edu/nexus_articles/ghosts-at-the-border-south-asias-unfinished-wars/" target="_blank">article</a> was originally published on <a href="https://dkiapcss.edu/security-nexus/" target="_blank">DKI APCSS Security Nexus.</a> The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of DKI APCSS, the Department of Defense, or the US Government. The appearance of external hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the United States Department of Defense (DoD) of the linked websites, or the information, products, or services contained therein. DoD does not exercise any editorial, security, or other control over the information you may find at these sites.

Balochistan to Kashmir

This is the 67th episode of Diaspora Diaries, a Nepali Times series in collaboration with Migration Lab providing a platform to share experiences of living, working, and studying abroad. <h2>Alpana Adhikari, UK</h2> Back in Nepal, I had worked as a nurse for a decade, but I had my heart set to go overseas. My reason for wanting to migrate, however, was a bit different as it was for my son. He has a disability, and considering his situation from multiple perspectives—including societal attitudes, the preparedness of schools, and the availability of facilities for individuals with his condition—Nepal did not feel safe for my baby.&nbsp; I had to migrate, no matter what, for his sake. The facilities here in the UK for children with his condition are significantly better, and I am glad he and my husband will join me in a few months.&nbsp; I was applying via private routes like everyone else when the Government to Government pilot program between Britain and Nepal was announced. Even though the initial program targeted 100 nurses, only 40 of us were able to meet the criteria.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250511160536_46f6a3c05fd2d9bdac06a9a478f49079c2c69c783fcf0cc58b75da6128319745.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20250511160536_46f6a3c05fd2d9bdac06a9a478f49079c2c69c783fcf0cc58b75da6128319745" data-rendition-name="original" width="720" height="1280" loading="lazy" alt="DD 67"> <figcaption>Alpana Adhikari started working as a nurse in a hospital in the UK in March.</figcaption> </figure>  I made it to the UK &nbsp;in February 2024 without paying a single paisa to any broker. The G2G scheme was unique as we were treated with dignity and valued for our skills: they covered costs for the ticket and visa, reimbursed us for exams we had taken and costs involved in the preparation and testing of the Objective Structured Clinical Examination were also covered.&nbsp; I started work in March last year, and currently am based in the respiratory ward of a hospital. I am enjoying my work a lot. In one year, I have received 26 WOW nominations which are notes of appreciation from patients we have served. ‘Alpana is one of the kindest nurses I have seen. Awesome and talented … always smiling, never appears tired and helps everyone,’ one patient testimonial said. Another: ‘You can see clearly that she cares about her patients…She was cool amidst great stress and ALWAYS with a smile which gave me confidence.’ I am also the International Educated Nurses Advocate which means I can raise issues with management about issues facing international nurses here.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250511160536_87b959c7550bbd1272ebf840d9f24735db008307ad825e4aa15e66c1662a7fd4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250511160536_87b959c7550bbd1272ebf840d9f24735db008307ad825e4aa15e66c1662a7fd4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1590" height="1600" loading="lazy" alt="DD 67"> <figcaption>One reason Alpana Adhikari migrated to the UK was so there would be better facilities for her son, who has a disability. </figcaption> </figure>  Recruitment from NHS linked hospitals is free but when we migrate through private routes, agencies either charge upfront costs or in some cases, there is wage deduction once the nurses start earning.&nbsp; I have met Nepalis who have paid up to Rs 1 million for the same job. These costs can go even as high as Rs3 million for work in caregiving or nursing homes. I am lucky not to have to pay anyone for my posting.&nbsp; But beyond costs, I think there is also a reputational advantage of coming through the government selection process at the hospital. Such programs need to be expanded more because nurses are migrating anyway and it would save people a lot of unnecessary costs and hassles. I will always be protective about Nepal and am grateful for the experience I gained, but it is true that nurses lack dignity in the workplace back home. Nursing is laborious work and completing the education takes a fortune but the pay for nurses in Nepal, other than at a handful of hospitals, is unfairly low.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250511160540_2a483361070e6e65413cf3bcf3be7af0581044f85c3e6da25a66dc87042af9d9.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20250511160540_2a483361070e6e65413cf3bcf3be7af0581044f85c3e6da25a66dc87042af9d9" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1536" loading="lazy" alt="DD 67"> <figcaption>Alpana Adhikari while working as a nurse in Nepal.</figcaption> </figure>  It naturally makes nurses want to migrate. People often ask me what the difference in the UK and Nepal is. Work is similar but in terms of technology, there is less paperwork here as everything is digitised. Treatment is also more nurse-led and we have more say while making recommendations about medicine and discharging decisions which can be empowering. I am not sure what it is about nursing but I am always in high spirits and energetic about showing up to work every day. To be a good nurse, you have to have the passion for patient care.&nbsp; Sometimes people tell me it is because my family has not yet joined me which has freed up my time to singularly focus on work, but I do not believe that is true. Back home, too, I used to be as passionate about my job.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250511160540_47851c2c850c936b7bfb23da0f0e8a07620ea213ad929c229b6cca8711adc5d4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20250511160540_47851c2c850c936b7bfb23da0f0e8a07620ea213ad929c229b6cca8711adc5d4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1024" height="768" loading="lazy" alt="DD 67"> <figcaption>Alpana Adhikari (left) during an International Nurses Day rally in Kathmandu.</figcaption> </figure>  What fuels my passion here is the appreciation we get. It is not just about the income. Sometimes after long hours at work when it has been a particularly busy day, a phone message from my manager and colleagues appreciating me for a job well done can go a long way.&nbsp; Likewise, the WOW recommendations from my patients have boosted my confidence. One of my elderly patients who had a mental illness and I bonded, and she felt comfortable enough to open up with me. She would then refer to me as her friend with everyone.&nbsp; It is little things like this that can make a big difference. Perhaps that is why my flat mate and colleagues often question why I don’t look tired even after a long shift. <h2>Binu Gurung, Japan</h2> It has been five-and-half years since I came to Japan under the Specified Skilled Workers (SSW) visa in the nursing category. I had previously come to Japan as a language student as well.&nbsp; I grew up in Ghandruk and had just started my Bachelor’s course when a friend suggested we try to go to Japan so I just followed the trend and stayed here for three years as a student.&nbsp; Two years after returning to Nepal, I re-migrated to Japan under the SSW scheme which was at its early stages and only open to nursing initially.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250511160536_305bb5cb5095da6148911dae8b07356ece5b292148e6c8e57a39fd31d811624b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20250511160536_305bb5cb5095da6148911dae8b07356ece5b292148e6c8e57a39fd31d811624b" data-rendition-name="original" width="720" height="960" loading="lazy" alt="DD 67"> <figcaption>Binu Gurung on arrival in Japan to work as a nurse three years ago.</figcaption> </figure>  I take care of the elderly Japanese who are mostly above 80 years of age, a few even above 100. I try not to get too attached to patients but it is of course not always easy because of the nature of the job and patients we serve.&nbsp; Patients dying of age is common as it is not a care facility where patients recover to return to their homes. Just recently, an elderly lady who had been here from the day I joined 5.5 years ago passed.&nbsp; These leave you a bit खिन्न and emotionally drained. Most are dementia patients who do not &nbsp;even recognise their family members. Some elderly patients are reserved and do not feel comfortable as the work entails helping with personal care tasks like using the toilet or bathing and they can be irritable.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250511160536_c840a0b12c20c3d52d9eceec06a0bc8c90208f13e402c50f319583b1c1a93b87.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20250511160536_c840a0b12c20c3d52d9eceec06a0bc8c90208f13e402c50f319583b1c1a93b87" data-rendition-name="original" width="694" height="960" loading="lazy" alt="DD 67"> <figcaption>Binu Gurung's work involves taking care of elderly Japanese.</figcaption> </figure>  Building trust and rapport takes time, patience and familiarity. I do not think there is a way to explain how happy I feel when they are happy with the care we provide and thank us in smiles like we are their own family members.&nbsp; My own grandmother back in Nepal was in a similar situation requiring care before she passed and I am able to extend that kind of care to many patients.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250511160536_0f41ad57ae1ac5bd2f406d86cdc5f542b613cef6961d8fdf20c883ee38404b5e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250511160536_0f41ad57ae1ac5bd2f406d86cdc5f542b613cef6961d8fdf20c883ee38404b5e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="1067" loading="lazy" alt="DD 67"> <figcaption>Binu Gurung in Yokohama.</figcaption> </figure>  I know that this job is not for everyone. That is why some nurses who come to Japan because they want to just migrate overseas at any cost without considering the kind of employment realise that caregiving might not be for them.&nbsp; You have to be mentally, physically and emotionally prepared for it. If you are short-tempered by nature, for example, it may not be the best fit. However, for those who are genuinely interested in care work like I am, there are many growth opportunities in nursing which are also financially rewarding.&nbsp; While working under the SSW visa, I was able to take training classes on the side and passed the national exam for nursing. I was then able to change my visa from SSW to nursing caregiver visa. My son joined my husband and I recently in Japan and has started school.

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