<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191112/636bee404b0ad905ca02ef35jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1044" height="1384"/>The brutal murder of school principal Rajendra Shrestha in the remote village of Miklajung of Morang district this week is a cruel reminder of the decade of insurgency in this country. And that was perhaps the intention of the Maoist-inspired Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) that claimed responsibility.The CPN led by Netra Bikram Chand is not to be confused with the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP), formed after the fusion of the erstwhile UML and mainstream Maoists led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal in 2017.Chand split from Dahal in 2012 and vowed to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/its-a-crime-not-to-call-it-terrorism/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/its-a-crime-not-to-call-it-terrorism/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607660186469000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEcJ9tyv5dkJd6SzXiZglSI6JTECw">continue the armed struggle</a>. After arson attacks, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/extortion-in-a-federal-state/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/extortion-in-a-federal-state/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607660186469000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEjw54mDpWgu7dejBAOKfr-EpOdeA">extortion</a> and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/yes-we-put-that-bomb/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/yes-we-put-that-bomb/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607660186469000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHjKpZ3ELYaH5c98_Ey3ionYaT3Pg">explosions</a>, the CPN was banned two years ago. Today, almost exactly a quarter of a century after the insurgency began, and fifteen years after it ended, the message from the Morang murder is that the revolution never ended.Indeed, several commentators have drawn parallels between the murder of Rajendra Shrestha, and the summary execution of another headmaster – <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=17894#.X9GFqS8RoWo" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D17894%23.X9GFqS8RoWo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607660186469000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG1Cw3RC7y-zVnGRtYHqo7BqIDNKw">Muktinath Adhikari in Lamjung on 16 January 2002</a>.Both were abducted, taken nearby and killed. The intention was to <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16781#.X9GFry8RoWo" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D16781%23.X9GFry8RoWo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607660186469000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFO9zXvfECI8gaABZFqiVUzWVAOeg">strike terror</a> in the population, and make an example of someone who refused to be cowed down by violence. Besides being a teacher, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=12522#.X9GFuS8RoWo" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D12522%23.X9GFuS8RoWo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607660186469000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGYySG0R-KeC9nFSbaxcS8_yJzNBA">Adhikari was a human rights activist</a>. Shrestha is accused of being a police informant.Rajendra Shrestha’s killing is murder. It is not a war crime, because no war has been declared. It cannot be labelled ‘revolutionary justice’, it is a criminal act. It is not a reaction to structural violence, such crimes have no place in politics. Like any other killing, it must be investigated, perpetrators apprehended and tried in a court of law.What is Netra Bikram Chand trying to achieve anyway? There are plenty of avenues available to him within Nepal’s current dispensation to launch a political career.In fact, the field is wide open to mount a political challenge against Dahal and his former Maoist associates who have failed miserably to deliver on the utopian promises of the revolution in the past 15 years despite being at the helm of the party and government. That is, unless they are being egged on by other forces at a time when royalists are on the march, and geopolitical tensions are rising.Re-igniting a conflict now would not just be ruinous for the country, it would force Nepalis to relive the sorrows of the decade of war. The violence is also counterproductive for Chand’s own cause, if indeed there is a larger cause he is fighting for.We doubt it, though. Chand’s divergent path was a result of a falling out with Dahal, and a failure to reach agreement on sharing the spoils of war. Chand felt he was not rewarded a position commensurate with the sacrifices he made during the conflict. And there are quite a few in the rank and file who still think the revolution was abandoned halfway, and their contributions were never recognised.Chand is also trying to tap into growing public disenchantment with the government, even though he probably knows that most Nepalis now have no stomach for violence. In that sense, the murder, extortion and terrorism spree is just a bargaining chip to propel him to the corridors of power.There is precedent, after all: many of the comrades Chand fought shoulder to shoulder with during the conflict are now ministers or senior party functionaries, power brokers, or beneficiaries of state facilities. The message is that if you kill enough people you can leapfrog to power, and will not have to <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/No-justice-yet-for-the-victims-of-peoples-war,2984" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/No-justice-yet-for-the-victims-of-peoples-war,2984&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607660186469000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGL-C71hgYbCf0u9sEzu4rpWbE4ow">answer for your crimes</a>.The driving force of most crime in this country today -- corruption on a grand scale, abuse of power, and even the epidemic of domestic violence, rape, abduction and homicide – is <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/state-of-impunity,2976" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/state-of-impunity,2976&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607660186469000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGoVQuW85VhVQzHZ1rJkVT7fRV6rQ">impunity</a>. If people can literally get away with murder, there is no deterrent anymore.Netra Bikram Chand and his followers are also encouraged by the failure of the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-runs-out-of-excuses-to-address-war-crimes/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-runs-out-of-excuses-to-address-war-crimes/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607660186469000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFu9Gtkg_kThaShH-8b7KVuVJ_r5Q">transitional justice process</a>. Dahal openly and publicly admits to being responsible for “only 5,000” of the 17,000 killed during the conflict, and yet nothing happens to him. No one was ever arrested or tried for <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=12522#.X9GFuS8RoWo" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D12522%23.X9GFuS8RoWo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607660186469000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGYySG0R-KeC9nFSbaxcS8_yJzNBA">Muktinath Adhikari’s murder</a>, or the tens of thousands of other <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/One-To-Many/victims-waiting-for-justice,698" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/One-To-Many/victims-waiting-for-justice,698&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607660186469000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHcDmN_H5VpDDONQZbCCaMt6LcwEA">killings and disappearances</a> by both sides.The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-transition-to-peace-needs-justice/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-transition-to-peace-needs-justice/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607660186469000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEhIZms_cEpsTli0TuAX_cm8V_QHQ">Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and the Commission on the Investigation of Enforced Disappearances</a> are just for show. History is repeating itself. But it is a farce. Nepalis have no wish to return to the barbarism of war.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/its-a-crime-not-to-call-it-terrorism/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/its-a-crime-not-to-call-it-terrorism/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607660186469000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEcJ9tyv5dkJd6SzXiZglSI6JTECw">It is a crime not to call it terrorism</a> by Kunda Dixit

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History on replay

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181144/636be73c9c7e80680e0877ecjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1044" height="1384"/>The brutal murder of school principal Rajendra Shrestha in the remote village of Miklajung of Morang district this week is a cruel reminder of the decade of insurgency in this country. And that was perhaps the intention of the Maoist-inspired Communist Party of Nepal (CPN) that claimed responsibility.The CPN led by Netra Bikram Chand is not to be confused with the ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP), formed after the fusion of the erstwhile UML and mainstream Maoists led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal in 2017.Chand split from Dahal in 2012 and vowed to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/its-a-crime-not-to-call-it-terrorism/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/its-a-crime-not-to-call-it-terrorism/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607660186469000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEcJ9tyv5dkJd6SzXiZglSI6JTECw">continue the armed struggle</a>. After arson attacks, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/extortion-in-a-federal-state/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/extortion-in-a-federal-state/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607660186469000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEjw54mDpWgu7dejBAOKfr-EpOdeA">extortion</a> and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/yes-we-put-that-bomb/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/yes-we-put-that-bomb/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607660186469000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHjKpZ3ELYaH5c98_Ey3ionYaT3Pg">explosions</a>, the CPN was banned two years ago. Today, almost exactly a quarter of a century after the insurgency began, and fifteen years after it ended, the message from the Morang murder is that the revolution never ended.Indeed, several commentators have drawn parallels between the murder of Rajendra Shrestha, and the summary execution of another headmaster – <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=17894#.X9GFqS8RoWo" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D17894%23.X9GFqS8RoWo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607660186469000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG1Cw3RC7y-zVnGRtYHqo7BqIDNKw">Muktinath Adhikari in Lamjung on 16 January 2002</a>.Both were abducted, taken nearby and killed. The intention was to <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16781#.X9GFry8RoWo" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D16781%23.X9GFry8RoWo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607660186469000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFO9zXvfECI8gaABZFqiVUzWVAOeg">strike terror</a> in the population, and make an example of someone who refused to be cowed down by violence. Besides being a teacher, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=12522#.X9GFuS8RoWo" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D12522%23.X9GFuS8RoWo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607660186469000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGYySG0R-KeC9nFSbaxcS8_yJzNBA">Adhikari was a human rights activist</a>. Shrestha is accused of being a police informant.Rajendra Shrestha’s killing is murder. It is not a war crime, because no war has been declared. It cannot be labelled ‘revolutionary justice’, it is a criminal act. It is not a reaction to structural violence, such crimes have no place in politics. Like any other killing, it must be investigated, perpetrators apprehended and tried in a court of law.What is Netra Bikram Chand trying to achieve anyway? There are plenty of avenues available to him within Nepal’s current dispensation to launch a political career.In fact, the field is wide open to mount a political challenge against Dahal and his former Maoist associates who have failed miserably to deliver on the utopian promises of the revolution in the past 15 years despite being at the helm of the party and government. That is, unless they are being egged on by other forces at a time when royalists are on the march, and geopolitical tensions are rising.Re-igniting a conflict now would not just be ruinous for the country, it would force Nepalis to relive the sorrows of the decade of war. The violence is also counterproductive for Chand’s own cause, if indeed there is a larger cause he is fighting for.We doubt it, though. Chand’s divergent path was a result of a falling out with Dahal, and a failure to reach agreement on sharing the spoils of war. Chand felt he was not rewarded a position commensurate with the sacrifices he made during the conflict. And there are quite a few in the rank and file who still think the revolution was abandoned halfway, and their contributions were never recognised.Chand is also trying to tap into growing public disenchantment with the government, even though he probably knows that most Nepalis now have no stomach for violence. In that sense, the murder, extortion and terrorism spree is just a bargaining chip to propel him to the corridors of power.There is precedent, after all: many of the comrades Chand fought shoulder to shoulder with during the conflict are now ministers or senior party functionaries, power brokers, or beneficiaries of state facilities. The message is that if you kill enough people you can leapfrog to power, and will not have to <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/No-justice-yet-for-the-victims-of-peoples-war,2984" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/No-justice-yet-for-the-victims-of-peoples-war,2984&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607660186469000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGL-C71hgYbCf0u9sEzu4rpWbE4ow">answer for your crimes</a>.The driving force of most crime in this country today -- corruption on a grand scale, abuse of power, and even the epidemic of domestic violence, rape, abduction and homicide – is <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/state-of-impunity,2976" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/state-of-impunity,2976&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607660186469000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGoVQuW85VhVQzHZ1rJkVT7fRV6rQ">impunity</a>. If people can literally get away with murder, there is no deterrent anymore.Netra Bikram Chand and his followers are also encouraged by the failure of the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-runs-out-of-excuses-to-address-war-crimes/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-runs-out-of-excuses-to-address-war-crimes/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607660186469000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFu9Gtkg_kThaShH-8b7KVuVJ_r5Q">transitional justice process</a>. Dahal openly and publicly admits to being responsible for “only 5,000” of the 17,000 killed during the conflict, and yet nothing happens to him. No one was ever arrested or tried for <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=12522#.X9GFuS8RoWo" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D12522%23.X9GFuS8RoWo&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607660186469000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGYySG0R-KeC9nFSbaxcS8_yJzNBA">Muktinath Adhikari’s murder</a>, or the tens of thousands of other <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/One-To-Many/victims-waiting-for-justice,698" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/One-To-Many/victims-waiting-for-justice,698&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607660186469000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHcDmN_H5VpDDONQZbCCaMt6LcwEA">killings and disappearances</a> by both sides.The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-transition-to-peace-needs-justice/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-transition-to-peace-needs-justice/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607660186469000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEhIZms_cEpsTli0TuAX_cm8V_QHQ">Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and the Commission on the Investigation of Enforced Disappearances</a> are just for show. History is repeating itself. But it is a farce. Nepalis have no wish to return to the barbarism of war.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/its-a-crime-not-to-call-it-terrorism/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/its-a-crime-not-to-call-it-terrorism/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1607660186469000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEcJ9tyv5dkJd6SzXiZglSI6JTECw">It is a crime not to call it terrorism</a> by Kunda Dixit

There was sharp and widespread condemnation of the bomb terror unleashed by the Biplav-led Communist Party of Nepal this week on the Nepali cybersphere. However, Baburam Bhattarai of the newly-formed Nepal Samajbadi Party was greeted with a barrage of criticism over his perceived double standard in denouncing the bombs. Baburam Bhattarai’s original tweet:<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121148/636a42289c7e80680e04a6b7jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="606"/>The difference between revolutionary violence and terrorism is that the first attacks known enemies in order to fulfill a political goal and to defend itself, while the second attacks unknown / uncertain targets in order to terrorize the populace. The serial blasts in the valley fall under the second category! Everyone should know that!Baburam Bhattarai @brb1954<h2>Comments and replies to the tweet</h2>According to the definition of the all knowing Dr. your dear friend Biplav is a terrorist. But then how come you, who committed more heinous acts in the past, are a revolutionary? According to your own definition, can we call you murderer, former terrorist, foreign agent, and a rascal?Medani Prasai @MedaniPrasai4<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121148/636a422a9c7e80680e04a6b8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="393"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121148/636a422c9c7e80680e04a6b9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="634" height="328">Great logic! “If I bomb it is revolutionary, if you bomb it is terrorism.”Rajendra Dahal @Rdahal62A nice way of trying to clear the blame from your own mistakes: make your own definition of your mistakes. Did you ever admit that you killed civilians and ‘terrorized the people’? Let me tell you – there is no difference between the two. We can argue about this all day.Manish Prasai @manishprasai46<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121148/636a422e9c7e80680e04a6bajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="421"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121148/636a422f9c7e80680e04a6bbjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="375">This is a continuation of things you taught. You got close to power and received many facilities. They are not in power and couldn’t take anything.Santosh Panta @sdpata_pantaThose who killed, cut down, looted, and made thousands of families bereft, and rose to power on the basis of those acts, are the ones acting all ‘good’ and criticising violence now. The country can never benefit from those who play the politics of violence in a democratic country.Rabindra Mishra @RabindraMishra<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121148/636a42329c7e80680e04a6bcjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="438"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108121148/636a42349c7e80680e04a6bdjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="439">The government has reacted very irresponsibly to this event, implying that since it was the party cadres who died, there was no harm done. No matter who, what, and where, it is Nepalis who are dying. Instead of criticising or arresting Biplov party cadres, the government should go about creating jobs for the youth.Babita Basnet @babita_7

Revolutionary violence, or terror?

<img width="800" height="924" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811114/636a29d09c7e80680e0458e9jpeg.jpg" alt=""/>After being lampooned for extravagant, but empty, promises and criticised for having nothing concrete to show for his first year as prime minister, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/olis-1st-year/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">K P Oli</a> has moved quickly to address two lingering legacies of the conflict and the constitution-writing process: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/only-genuine-devolution-will-douse-separatism/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sign a deal with C K Raut</a> to get him to abandon secessionism, and outlaw the hardline <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/its-a-crime-not-to-call-it-terrorism/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Netra Bikram Chand (Biplav)</a> faction of the Maoists. Despite misgivings and cynical comments on social platforms, the Oli administration has also won applause for its new assertiveness and a renewed sense of purpose. Read also: '<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=23156&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">No closure</a>'In the 11-point agreement signed with Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa on 24 March, Raut has committed to accept Nepal’s sovereignty and unity as well as enter the democratic mainstream. That declaration has removed the threat of ethno-separatism from plains politics, meaning that moderate Madhesi parties can now no longer fall back on Raut’s secessionist rhetoric as a bargaining chip with Kathmandu.With his Cambridge education and work in IT, Raut brings with him international exposure and perhaps a cleaner, meaner brand of politics. Anger in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/from-rebels-to-rulers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Province 2</a> runs deep, and the mistrust of K P Oli may have grown among Madhesi parties because of last Sunday’s deal. As David Seddon reports from Province 2, unless there are real moves towards autonomy and devolution, there may very well be other Rauts. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/only-genuine-devolution-will-douse-separatism/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Only genuine devolution will douse separatism</a>, David SeddonThe surprise announcement last Sunday was not easily digestible to the opposition NC and other parties who accused Oli of a sellout. But the most vocal critic of the 11-point agreement were Oli's rivals within the NCP itself: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-ship-of-state/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">party co-chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal</a> did not show it but was privately miffed that Oli had not kept him apprised, and Bhim Rawal’s main gripe was also that he was not consulted.However, we give Oli a thumbs up on this even if it is only for keeping the sensitive negotiations under wraps in the leaky corridors of Singha Darbar. Oli has shown that he likes to surprise people by pulling rabbits out of hats. For example, the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/a-two-party-state,3968" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pre-electoral alliance in 2017</a> between the Maoists and the UML was also a bolt from the blue when announced.The agreement with Raut followed close on the heels of the Kailali District Court sentencing Resham Chaudhary to life imprisonment for the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/ground-zero-in-Kailai,2538" target="_blank" rel="noopener">massacre of policemen in Tikapur</a> in August 2015, and his party the RJP-N subsequently pulling out from the governing coalition in protest. There also seems to have been some behind-the-scenes winks and nods between Baluwatar and the Supreme Court for Raut to be released from jail a day prior to the agreement.The wily Oli seems to have killed several birds with one stone with the agreement: he countered his public image of being <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/communist-capital/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">only talk and no walk</a>, neutralised the fallout of RJP-N leaving his government, and depending Raut’s future role, laid the groundwork for the next general election which will be won or lost in the Madhes.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/its-a-crime-not-to-call-it-terrorism/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">It's a crime not to call it terrorism</a>, Kunda DixitOn Biplav, although the government split hairs by saying it was not a ban on the party, only on its criminal activities, the action essentially drives the Maoist faction underground. There could be two reasons for this: the ruling NCP wants to keep the door open for negotiations, or ex-Maoists in the ruling party used to be buddies of Biplav and just want to pretend to go after him. After all, Biplav is now using the same tactics of extortion and violence they used at the beginning of the insurgency in 1996. Even so, by publicly calling the Biplav party a “gang of looters” Prime Minsiter Oli has thrown the gauntlet.The Maoists were already semi-underground, and owned up to three bomb attacks in the capital last month that <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/innocent-life-lost/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">killed one person</a>, and set fire to more than a dozen Ncell towers across the country. The government was challenged, and there was no other way for it to respond but warn that criminal activities will no longer be tolerated.With both the Raut deal and the warning to Biplav, the government now needs to show that it means business. A ruling party that can bring a separatist force to the negotiating table should easily be able to convince former comrades-at-arms to give up violence. While doing that, the government should also try to win the hearts and minds of the people of Province 2, expedite political devolution and remove grievances that feed extremism.As far as the Maoists are concerned, they are cashing in on disillusionment among the people with the NCP’s poor governance and corruption. The root cause of extremism is <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-great-income-divide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">extreme inequality</a>, and unless there are moves towards social justice, Nepal will continue to be unstable. <h2>10 years ago this week</h2> The week that the NCP government made up of ex-Maoists signed an agreement with Madhesi activist CK Raut to renounce separatism, is as good a time as any to look back at <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/issue/442" target="_blank" rel="noopener">issue #442 of 13-20 March 2019</a> which dealt the beginnings of unrest in the Madhes for more autonomy. Excerpt from <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15746#.XJSGlCIzaUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Editorial</a>:‘The continuing Tarai unrest, brewing discontent among groups demanding self-determination, intractable tension within the party leading the coalition, the inability of the state to protect its citizens and improve their lives -- these are just some of the crises Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal faces. And all the time, he has to prevent the peace process from being derailed and keep to the timetable on the constitution. The job would have been difficult even if there was a consensus government, the coalition partners loved each other, the bureaucracy was clean and efficient and there was no looming global depression. What makes Dahal’s job immensely more difficult is that his party is still behaving like it is in the jungles, and Kathmandu’s politicians act as if they are still in the era of self-centred coalition politics of the 1990s.<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/issue/442"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811114/636a29d39c7e80680e0458eajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="510" height="815"></a>

Two  extremities

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811114/636a29cc9c7e80680e0458e8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="933"/><figcaption>Bikram Rai</figcaption></figure>Just as the government was defusing one crisis by getting Madhesi activist <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/only-genuine-devolution-will-douse-separatism/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">CK Raut to renounce separatism</a> last Sunday, it was faced with another explosive situation created by breakaway Maoist radicals.The ruling Nepal Communist Party (NCP) is made up of ex-UML and erstwhile Maoists, but the faction that enforced a nationwide shutdown on Thursday calls itself the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN). Its leader <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/extortion-in-a-federal-state/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Netra Bikram Chand (Biplav)</a> was mentored by NCP co-Chair and Maoist supremo Pushpa Kamal Dahal, and was once comrade-in-arms of Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa. Biplav is now using the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/its-a-crime-not-to-call-it-terrorism/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">same tactics of violence and extortion</a> that the Maoists perfected at the start of the war in the 1990s.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=23164&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Two  extremities</a>, Editorial<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/only-genuine-devolution-will-douse-separatism/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Only genuine devolution will douse separatism</a>, David Seddon Thursday’s shutdown affected movement on highways, closed schools and industries throughout the country, although the impact was not felt on traffic in Kathmandu Valley (pictured above). The closures were enforced with terror, but a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/innocent-life-lost/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">fatal bombing at Ncell earlier</a> this month had already convinced the public that Biplav meant business. The party has been openly extorting businesses as well as local governments across the country.Security sources told Nepali Times they had shared intelligence about CPN recruitment drives and militia training, and had warned the government about the group’s preparations ahead of the recent arson and bombing spree.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/its-a-crime-not-to-call-it-terrorism/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">It’s a crime not to call it terrorism</a>, Kunda DixitNow, the NCP is finally taking the CPN seriously. On Tuesday the Cabinet outlawed the activities of the party, saying that it was a criminal entity, not a political party. Ministers said they were forced to take the step after the semi-underground group refused the government’s offer of talks. Dahal even declared that he faced a threat to his life from his former protégés.Biplav brushed off the ban, calling it ‘ridiculous’ and adding in a statement on Wednesday that ‘extortion was a fundamental right … necessary for the nation and people’.  Security forces have in the past month seized assault rifles and other weapons from CPN cadre in Dharan and Rupendehi, tracing them back to former guerrillas who absconded from UN-supervised camps with weapons after the ceasefire.By attacking a Malaysian telecom company and threatening Indian hydropower projects in Nepal, Biplav has thrown a direct challenge to the government ahead of the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/nepal-inc/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepal Investment Summit 29-30 March</a>, during which the government hopes to attract <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/Comment/making-nepal-fdi-friendly,853" target="_blank" rel="noopener">foreign investments</a> on hydropower projects.With the CK Raut deal and the warning on Biplav, the government is trying to show that it is willing to negotiate, but will not tolerate violence. Some within the ruling party are asking why if Prime Minister Oli can bring a separatist force to the negotiating table, it is taking so long for him to tame the NCP.After mainstreaming Raut, the government now needs to expedite political devolution in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/from-rebels-to-rulers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Province 2</a>. The root cause of extremism is exclusion and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-great-income-divide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">inequality</a>, and Nepal will continue to be unstable as long as these injustices are not addressed.

1250x600

1084x550

No closure

<figure><img width="1400" height="934" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811110/636a28bf9c7e80680e04588cjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: SETOPATI</figcaption></figure>The terror attack on the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/supreme-court-weighs-in-on-ncell-tax-dispute/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Ncell</a> head office in Lalitpur that cost the life of Sing Prasad Gurung and seriously injured three others on the night of 22 February proved that the Nepal conflict never really ended.The ten year war cost 17,000 lives, left tens of thousands injured, and 1,400 disappeared. Thirteen years after the war ended, one more innocent civilian was killed last week. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/innocent-life-lost/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Terror attack leaves tragedy in its wake</a>, Sonia AwaleA hardline faction of the Maoist party led by Netra Bikram Chand (Biplav) has <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/yes-we-put-that-bomb/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">owned up to the attack</a>, and said the death was ‘unfortunate’. Chand used to be close to the current Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa and Pushpa Kamal Dahal, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2017/06/20/ballot-power/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">but never took part in elections</a>, accusing his former comrades of ditching the revolution.On the night of the attack on Ncell, the party also set fire to a dozen of the Malaysian-owned company’s cell phone towers across the country, causing damage worth millions and cutting off communications to a large swathe of the country. There was shock and dismay in the Nepali cybersphere following the attack, with a lot of the scorn heaped on the government for not bothering to issue a statement or commiserate with the bereaved Gurung family. Read also: <a style="background-color: #ffffff; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=22173&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stop the extortion</a>, From the Nepali Press<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/extortion-in-a-federal-state/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Extortion in a federal state</a>, From the Nepali Press<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/yes-we-put-that-bomb/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“Yes, we put that bomb”</a>, From the Nepali Press‘A foreign ambassador condemned the terroist attack, but our own prime minister did not utter a word. He hasn’t visited the family to offer his condolences,’ wrote Salokya in a <a href="http://www.mysansar.com/2019/02/35013/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">hard-hitting blog</a> in the portal mysansar.com  ‘We often wish that others would not comment on our internal affairs, but what do we do when we ourselves do not speak up at a time like this.’   <img width="1250" height="1367" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811110/636a28c29c7e80680e04588djpeg.jpg" alt="">Journalist Girish Giri, whose father was killed while mayor of Birganj in 2004 for ignoring a Maoist ransom demand for Rs500,000 attached a copy of the extortion letter, and wrote in a Tweet: ‘Don’t those who are barking ‘I will whack you for extorting’ now have to answer for killing my upright father precisely for not coughing up five lakhs? Or are these rulers going to keep on barking?’ (See screenshot above)Indeed, Nepal’s social media has erupted with accusations against the Biplav group attacking Ncell as part of a nationwide extortion racket that to many is reminiscent of the war years. Some have wryly noted the similarity between the Nepali word for ‘donation’ (chanda) and the surname of Netra Bikram Chand. In a BBC Nepali interview, Maoist leader Hemanta Oli said this week: “A life was lost, but little things like that happen in revolutions. We do not deliberately target people. It was an accident.”Many have also remarked that the ex-Maoists in the unified Nepal Communist Party (NCP) cannot really blame the Biplav faction of extortion and terror because those were very tactics they themselves used in the past. Although Biplav’s former bodyguard was reportedly detained on Wednesday, the NCP’s former Maoist home minister has shown no real inclination to go after a group that has unleashed a wave of terror nationwide.  By their silence, the former UML members of the NCP have shown they are also complicit in not going after the perpetrators. Although the UML is probably the least guilty of human rights violations during the war, its members have lost moral standing by not even condemning the attack.Many senior UML leaders had thought that uniting with the Maoists would moderate the former guerrillas, but it is now looking more and more like the UML itself has been subsumed by the Maoists. Pushpa Kamal Dahal earned legitimacy from the unification with the UML, returned to a position of power after elections in 2017 that he would have lost if the Maoists had contested alone, and he managed to muffle accusations of war crimes.  For its part, the UML by uniting with the Maoists has sacrificed its social democratic credentials, and its silence in not condemning last Friday’s terror bomb speaks louder than words. The UML’s strong party structure has been compromised, its local committees are in limbo.Meanwhile, the Maoists within the NCP are not socialised into democratic functioning and essentially remain a sub-party taking orders only from Dahal and not from Oli. In fact, the ex-Maoists are doing everything in their power to embarrass the former UML, and have let Oli be their lightning rod.  The Home Ministry which should have been the first-responder in last week’s bomb attack and arson on telecom towers is run by a Maoist commandant-turned-minister who used to be Biplav’s buddy. He is the last person to go after the one who gave the order to bomb Ncell and kill Sing Prasad Gurung.It is time Prime Minister Oli defended the social democratic values his party once stood for, reshuffle his Cabinet to get a minister with cleaner democratic credentials, and if need be, start thinking about post-nuptial arrangements.

Kunda Dixit

It’s a crime not to call it terrorism

<figure><img width="1250" height="932" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811110/636a28b69c7e80680e045889jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: NAGARIK</figcaption></figure>Editorial in Nagarik, 26 FebruaryThe Nepal Communist Party Maoist led by Netra Bikram Chand (Biplav) has resorted to violence in over a dozen locations to set fire to Ncell towers. A civilian has already lost his life, and two more are wounded. These incidents cannot be taken lightly. The government must strongly stop this violence. The Biplav faction has tried to justify its action by claiming that it wants to punish Ncell for failing to pay capital gains tax. But the reality is different. This is a repeat of the Maoist conflict during which people who refused to pay up could be killed.Netra Bikram Chand was close to the current Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa who may still have a soft spot for him. It remains to be seen if the Home Ministry will prosecute this case strongly. So far, the government seems to be hurt more by a few bitter words in social media than by such heinous acts.Read also: <a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/innocent-life-lost/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Terror attack leaves tragedy in its wake</a><a style="background-color: #ffffff; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=22190&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">It’s a crime not to call it terrorism</a><a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="http://extortion%20in%20a%20federal%20state/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Extortion in a federal state</a>“<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=22189&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yes, we put that bomb</a>”

Stop the extortion

<figure><img width="1400" height="931" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811110/636a28b99c7e80680e04588ajpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: SETOPATI</figcaption></figure>Kantipur, 26 FebruaryThe Nepal Communist Party Maoist led by Netra Bikram Chand (Biplav) has been sending letters to all rural municipalities of Province 5, demanding 2% of their development budgets. The letters claim to spend the money to install ‘scientific socialism’ as an alternative to parliamentary democracy.Many local level elected representatives are said to have already paid up, some from their personal coffers, others using their development budget. In a public hearing in Rupandehi recently, a municipality chief admitted to having paid Rs50,000 to the Maoists. The Biplav faction has been asking for three different types of donations: 2% of the development budget, up to Rs500,000 lump sum from the salaries of elected representatives, and a tender worth Rs10 million.Many local administrations in Gulmi have been extorted. After rising pressure, municipality chiefs have got local administration officers to pay off the Maoists. Read also: <a style="background-color: #ffffff; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/innocent-life-lost/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Terror attack leaves tragedy in its wake</a><a style="background-color: #ffffff; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=22190&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">It’s a crime not to call it terrorism</a>The party has also demanded 2% of the development budgets from six municipalities and two rural municipalities of Bardia. Party sources reveal that teachers and contractors have also been approached for donations.Although the problem is rampant in Dang, officers there do not want to talk about it. Some are giving what is asked, while others are trying to bargain it down.Mim Bahadur Gharti Magar of Rolpa municipality said the Maoists demanded a month’s salary from him, and half the infrastructure budgets from other local governments.Businesses in Banke are also being extorted. Said one trader: “We got a letter demanding money, it is sad that we are facing extortion and threats once again.”Read also: <a style="letter-spacing: 0.01em; background-color: #ffffff; outline: 0px; font-size: 15px;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=22173&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stop the extortion</a>“<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=22189&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Yes, we put that bomb</a>”

Extortion in a federal state

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110811110/636a28bc9c7e80680e04588bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="1222"/><figcaption>Photo: SETOPATI</figcaption></figure>Interview in BBC Nepali service, 24 FebruaryThe Nepali Communist Party Maoist led by Netra Bikram Chand (Biplav) hs owned up to the Ncell bomb that killed one person in Lalitpur on Friday. The party’s central committee member Hemanta Prakash Oli spoke to Gani Ansari of BBC Nepali Service on Sunday evening. Excerpts:BBC Nepali: Why did you set off the bomb?Hemanta Prakash Oli: The blast was a retaliation against the company evading capital gains tax. A life was lost, but little things like that happen in revolutions. We are sad.How can you call that little? A man lost his life.No, we did not say this was a little incident.But that is exactly what you just said. I said such things might happen. But we do not target people, it was an accident. We are very sad about the loss of life, and have already expressed our condolences.Can you bring back this person’s life by saying sorry?The lives of thousands who died in Syria cannot be brought back either.Read also: <a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=22190&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">It’s a crime not to call it terrorism</a><a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="http://Extortion in a federal state" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Extortion in a federal state</a>Instead of violence there are other ways to address tax issues.No government agency has paid any attention to this looting. The judiciary is itself tainted. We have declared a parallel government because this one is unjust.The state has threatened to come down heavily on your party.If the government reacts to injustice with injustice, the Nepali people will retaliate strongly. We will demolish the state and establish a new state structure.How many more innocent people will have to die to fulfil your political ambition? This is a question that we should ask Prachanda, Baburam and Badal as well. They took 17,000 lives unnecessarily. They should be punished. And we will be more careful that such accidents do not happen again.Why could you not wait for dialogue before resorting to violence? The government does not want to negotiate with us. What we want to talk about is that 17,000 people sacrificed their lives for the revolution and we controlled 80% of Nepal. We had a strong army of 40,000. We want to reinstate the revolution. We are ready to negotiate on these terms. We wanted revolutionary change, but instead of class struggle, we had class reconciliation. Our leaders joined with reactionaries and rose to power.People also say this is all about extortion.Do not believe these rumours. We did not take up this risky path of revolution for a few donations.Read also: <a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/innocent-life-lost/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Terror attack leaves tragedy in its wake</a><a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=22173&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Stop the extortion</a>

“Yes, we planted that bomb”

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

netra-bikram-chand

History on replay

History on replay

Revolutionary violence, or terror?

Two extremities

No closure

It’s a crime not to call it terrorism

Stop the extortion

Extortion in a federal state

“Yes, we planted that bomb”

Turkish Basketball

The Last Days of the Khampa

Turkish to Seville

Digital protection for Nepal’s art