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Good housekeeping

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141156/636d03449c7e80680e0a36c2jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="835" height="330"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>In the days of the absolute monarchy, every government appointment, promotion in the civil service, and ambassadorship had to be approved by the Royal Palace. Powerful secretaries in Narayanhiti decided all important matters, while Singha Darbar was tasked mainly with carrying out orders.Nepal became a constitutional monarchy after the 1990 People’s Movement, but not much changed. Instead of the king making decisions, many mini-kings competed for power and influence – political appointments in the bureaucracy, public sector enterprises, and diplomatic assignments became the norm.The Nepali Congress and the UML were such fierce rivals in the 1990s that it was mandatory for one party to cancel and declare null and void all decisions made by the other. That tradition has not just carried on to this day, but has been honed into a fine art.The most glaring example of this was the axe that fell last week on 12 of Nepal’s ambassadors politically appointed by K P Oli while prime minister. Among them were envoys to India, China, the United States, and Britain – countries most important to Nepal.Among those being recalled are former finance minister Yubaraj Khatiwada in Washington DC last year, Mahendra Bahadur Pandey in Beijing, Lok Darshan Regmi in London, and Nilambar Acharya in New Delhi.Oli rigged the system to reward loyalists, and the coalition government of Sher Bahadur Deuba wants to do the same. This is taking partisanship and vendetta to extreme levels.Deuba also needs these diplomatic postings to appease coalition partners who have not got powerful ministerial portfolios they were angling for. Two months after it took office, Deuba has not even been able to form a full government because of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/government-in-installments/">tussles within the coalition for key ministerships.</a>Deuba appointed Narayan Khadka as foreign minister last week, only because someone had to lead the Nepal delegation to the United Nations General Assembly. It is clear that the recalled ambassadors will not be replaced with career diplomats, which is what should be the practice.Four of the 22 ambassadors are being recalled at a critical foreign policy juncture for Nepal. Nilamber Acharya has been in Delhi through the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/lines-on-a-map/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">turbulent Limpiyadhura dispute</a> and his contacts in the Indian government would have been useful when so many bilateral issues are pending. Recalling our ambassador in China at this time sends the wrong message to Beijing as well.Yubaraj Khatiwada was a staunch supporter of the American <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/sino-nepal-ties-in-the-post-afghan-era/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) project</a> when he was the finance minister under K P Oli. Despite regime change in Nepal, Prime Minister Deuba would have needed an MCC-backer in Washington while the clock ticks on the project’s ratification by Parliament. Deuba has also removed Nepal’s ambassador in London just before he goes to Glasgow in November to attend the Climate Summit.Prime Minister Deuba may have thought he could mute criticism of his ambassadors recall because he also called back his mother-in-law Prativa Rana from Tokyo. Her term had run out, and she was returning anyway.Among the 12 ambassadors being recalled are three <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-women-envoys-make-a-mark/">other women ambassadors</a> who have played important roles during the Covid-19 crisis ensuring the welfare of Nepalis abroad, mobilising aid for Nepal during the deadly second wave earlier this year, and projecting the country’s image abroad.Ambassador Sarmila Parajuli Dhakal in Oman has earned effusive praise from Nepali migrant workers in the Gulf not just for organising the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-struggles-to-make-repatriation-easier/">repatriation of stranded Nepalis</a>, but also bargaining with airlines for air fares even cheaper than those negotiated by the government in Kathmandu.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/demand-grows-for-nepali-caregivers-in-israel/">Ambassador Anjan Shakya</a> in Israel negotiated the agreement for 1,000 new caregiver jobs – most of them for Nepali women. She was working on a Nepal-Israel agricultural cooperation agreement.  Last year, Shakya was the first Asian envoy in Tel Aviv to be named ‘Ambassador of the Year’ by the Ambassadors’ Club of Israel.Ambassador Dawa Phuti Sherpa in Spain <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/aid-pours-into-nepal-but-where-be-vaccines/">mobilised one of the first relief flights</a> in May to bring oxygen concentrators and cylinders, ventilators, and medical kits through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. She was preparing for a post-Covid revival of tourism in Nepal.A <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/man-power/">patriarchal state</a> that is so self-obsessed that it cannot appreciate the role of these remarkable women ambassadors does not deserve respect from its citizens, nor from the international community.

Swapping ambassadors midway

<figure><img width="3264" height="1515" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109151116/636bb67f9c7e80680e07bc66jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>Nepal has a female president and a Constitution that reserves positions in government and legislatures to women, and in the foreign service women diplomats make up more than half the ranking staff. Five of Nepal’s 25 currently serving ambassadors are women.During the Covid-19 crisis, Nepal’s women ambassadors have shown that they are as good as, if not better than, their male colleagues in ensuring the welfare of Nepalis abroad as well as projecting the country’s international image.  "Society must stop judging women simply for their gender. We are not men, and we shouldn't be compared to them. Our inherent femininity, sensitivity, nurturance, emotional temperament, are our best qualities," says Nepal’s ambassador to Oman Sarmila Parajuli Dhakal, who has been praised for ensuring the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-struggles-to-make-repatriation-easier/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-struggles-to-make-repatriation-easier/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1601438786286000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE-Yy7EfX3HzeIRLPKulyLgPl3mqA">repatriation of stranded Nepali workers</a>, and bargaining with airlines to get them cheaper air fares than those negotiated by the government in Kathmandu.In June, Dhakal personally went to Muscat airport to see off the first batch of returning workers. As of this week, the embassy had arranged seven rescue flights, repatriating 1,178 stranded workers. Between 10% to 30% of migrant workers in various Gulf states have lost their jobs, and Nepal’s embassies in other Gulf countries are struggling with the sheer numbers who want to return.Last month, Ambasador Dhakal and the Oman Ministry of Foreign Affairs signed an agreement to lease land for construction of a permanent Nepal Embassy in Muscat, a diplomatic milestone for a Gulf monarchy that is emerging as a major destination for Nepali workers, as well as source of tourism and investment. <figure><img width="827" height="1145" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109151116/636bb6819c7e80680e07bc67jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Anjan Shakya, Nepal’s ambassador to Israel, has also been making inroads into ensuring well-paying jobs for Nepalis, and has just negotiated an agreement with Israel to provide openings for 500 more Nepali caregivers."It takes a woman to understand better the problems of women. They must be brought into politics, and in policy and decision-making positions,” Shakya says. “Female political participation is crucial in addressing gender issues and bringing about gender equality. Our 2015 constitution has ensured gender balance in politics. We must abide by it.”Ambassador Shakya is also pushing an agreement with Israel to set up Centres for Excellence in Agriculture in each of Nepal’s seven provinces as part of Nepal’s goal of food self-sufficiency. Recently, Shakya was the first Asian envoy to be named ‘Ambassador of the Year’ by the Ambassadors’ Club of Israel.She says: “Just like a chariot needs two wheels to move, Nepal cannot move ahead if half our population is left behind. So we have to engage and involve women.”   <figure><img width="1600" height="1200" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109151116/636bb6849c7e80680e07bc68jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Even though five of Nepal’s ambassadors abroad are women, only one of them, Sewa Lamsal the out-going ambassador in Pakistan, is a career diplomat. Prativa Rana, Nepal’s long-serving ambassador to Japan, is from the RPP party and mother of Arzu Deuba, wife of NC leader Sher Bahadur Deuba. Anjan Shakya and Dawa Futi Sherpa are said to be close to Prime Minister K P Oli. And as with foreign services of other countries, there is some tension between careerists and those named ambassadors by political parties.But political appointees do have their advantages. Ambassador Dhakal, for instance, has been able to use her connections in the labour recruitment sector to focus on migrant issues. And Ambassador Sherpa, who grew up surrounded by mountaineers and tourism entrepreneurs, has used her background to organise promotional events and hopes to further strengthen cooperation between the Madrid-based World Tourism Organization and Nepal Tourism Board.   <figure><img width="482" height="995" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109151116/636bb6879c7e80680e07bc69jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>"Nepali women have fewer economic assets, less access to finance, higher rates of illiteracy, and little knowledge of their legal rights,” says Ambassador Sherpa. “We are generally bound to responsibilities at home and have fewer opportunities than men for earning income and participating in decision making and governance."She adds: “To attract and include more women in politics, we need to start at the very beginning: more opportunities and access to education, information, empowerment and mentorship. And while promoting gender equality in politics, we also must be aware of ethnic diversity and representation at the table." <figure><img width="3500" height="2333" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109151116/636bb6899c7e80680e07bc6ajpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/2072-constitution,2173" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/2072-constitution,2173&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1601438786286000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGuxAMh7GJQGQjn1Jh2-uQyImKMdw">Nepal's constitution</a> does guarantee female representation and reservation for disadvantaged castes and ethnicities. Political parties are required to have women in one-third of positions in  federal and provincial assemblies, and half the proportional representation seats are reserved for women. If a mayor or municipality chair is a man, the deputy has to be a woman.In 2019, all four of the national political parties Nepal Communist Party (NCP), Nepali Congress (NC), Federal Socialist Forum Nepal (FSFN), and Rastriya Janata Party (RJP) failed to meet the criteria that one third of their members be female. In line with the constitutional requirement that the president and vice-president must be of different gender or ethnicity, President Bidya Devi Bhandari made history in 2015 as Nepal's first female head of state. She is currently one of the only 22 female heads of state worldwide. However, the constitution has not been able to make Nepal's political sphere completely inclusive. Traditional patriarchal values persist in Nepal, most glaringly in its citizenship laws, and senior politicians and legislators often make misogynist remarks in public. Currently, only three out of 17 ministers in the cabinet are female. A recent <a href="https://www.ifes.org/sites/default/files/the_cost_of_representation_a_study_of_womens_representation_and_political_finance_in_nepal.pdf" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.ifes.org/sites/default/files/the_cost_of_representation_a_study_of_womens_representation_and_political_finance_in_nepal.pdf&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1601438786287000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFNtVMvSjgn8QW7Jqrp-NBYHTwNzQ" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); letter-spacing: 0.01em;">report</a> shows that across Nepal, most-primary leadership positions in local governments are held by men, while most secondary-leadership positions are held by women. <figure><img width="960" height="640" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109151116/636bb68c9c7e80680e07bc6bjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Indeed, as per a <a href="https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/32639/9781464815324.pdf" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/32639/9781464815324.pdf&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1601438786287000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEZgywpErzYZ5LE2DEnffB-sCU8oA">2020 World Bank report</a> on economic empowerment of women, Nepal scored merely 73.8 points out of 100- lagging behind the global average of 75.2 points. The report examines factors such as legal rights, equality of pay, access to assets pension, etc. The <a href="http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2020.pdf" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GGGR_2020.pdf&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1601438786287000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHuud-H3Sb1vvb5lICCNacAVnA_Tg">2020 Global Gender Index</a> ranks Nepal 133rd in terms of educational attainment- only 59.7% Nepali women are literate, in stark comparison to 78.6% Nepali men.Patriarchal norms manifest themselves in all spheres of life in Nepal: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19627#.X2-OLpMzY6C" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D19627%23.X2-OLpMzY6C&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1601438786287000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGfCOIf8idOYvh3k0r_a69wEtkq2w">femicide</a>, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/child-marriage-in-nepal-eloped-at-13-mother-by-17/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/child-marriage-in-nepal-eloped-at-13-mother-by-17/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1601438786287000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFC0RfISrmd_zr2lO1R662nh-GKVQ">child marriage</a>, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/epidemic-of-online-sexism/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/epidemic-of-online-sexism/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1601438786287000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHYnRe5tmqXVkB21pOs5l0OBm_Y-w">online harassment</a>, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/GUEST-COLUMN/blood-sisters-menstruation,839" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/GUEST-COLUMN/blood-sisters-menstruation,839&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1601438786287000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHOG_XD3wjYqAZ5KXCsINJ5kJ5NcA">period stigma</a>, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/3-nepali-mothers-still-die-daily-at-childbirth/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/3-nepali-mothers-still-die-daily-at-childbirth/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1601438786287000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFajz-DEtfVeHCL-IRCTIbk7G7fnQ">high maternal mortality rates</a>, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19596#.X2-RFpMzY6D" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D19596%23.X2-RFpMzY6D&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1601438786287000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEERo3vPaurueQiQOhGg-kXykyU1Q">illiteracy</a>, and <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/epicentre-trafficking-migration,3256" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/epicentre-trafficking-migration,3256&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1601438786287000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFLFXkYe4_IiyhIjWmmLwSQXXEOVQ">trafficking</a>. Some of these problems have become more serious with the Covid-19 restrictions.The persistent gender gap in Nepal has been hard to eradicate despite laws and quotas. Studies and public opinion polls show that women in politics encounter more barriers, are subjected to more stereotyping and objectification, and are held up to greater scrutiny than men who are in similar positions of power.  <figure><img width="3360" height="2240" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109151116/636bb68e9c7e80680e07bc6cjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>One example of this was Lucky Sherpa, who was named Nepal’s ambassador to Australia in 2017, but resigned on moral grounds after her own Nepali driver, whom she had fired, accused her of human trafficking. The former member of the Constituent Assembly was appointed by the then Maoist party, and her supporters said she had been framed. Sherpa herself has said she was the target of a witch hunt. Despite quotas, therefore, Nepali women find it difficult to maneuver in the labyrinths of a male-dominated government machinery, which is often run like an old boys’ club. Many resign, either because of mistreatment, out of frustration at being passed over for promotion, or for family reasons.Ram Krishna Tiwari, head of the Political Science Department at Tribhuvan University, says that even among Nepali women, some are more disadvantaged than others because there are also overlapping class, caste and ethnic hierarchies.“In the high mountains and the Tarai livelihood is more difficult, so women are more focused on putting food on the table, and surviving from day to day, than participating in politics,” he explains. “Women in the mid-mountains have a greater reach in politics, so they are more active."

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Nepal’s women envoys make a mark

<figure><img width="1869" height="1246" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101116/636b702d9c7e80680e060064jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>US airstrike early Friday morning killed Inranian Maj Gen Qassem Soleimani when the missile hit the vehicle outside Bagdad airport. Photo: IRAQI PRIME MINISTER PRESS OFFICE</figcaption></figure>As the sabre rattling between the United States and Iran escalates into open tit-for-tat violence, there are fears that a war in the Persian Gulf will, besides causing major death and destruction in the region, will affect South Asian countries like Nepal whose economies are heavily dependent on migrant workers.A new West Asian war could easily suck in regional rivals Saudi Arabia and Iran, as well as other countries in the region allied on either side with them. For example, the UAE, Egypt, are with Saudi Arabia, while Iran, Turkey, Russia and to a certain extent Qatar are sympathetic to Iran.Economists have said a potential conflict would have worldwide repercussions on energy prices, and cause a domino effect on the economies of South Asia, including Nepal which is among countries most dependent on remittances from the Gulf.Together, South Asian countries have nearly 20 million of their nationals working in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, UAE, Oman and Bahrain who sent home $131 billion in remittances last year. Nepal alone has 1.5 million of the 4 million of its nationals working abroad in the Gulf region.Simmering tension between Saudi Arabia and Iran escalated this week after Iranian-backed protesters attacked the US Embassy in Baghdad. In retaliation a US airstrike early Friday morning killed Maj Gen Qassem Soleimani, a prominent Iranian general in Baghdad who belongs to the Revolutionary Guard.  <a href="https://apnews.com/7c75c5067d0acb8857e52d98e17dbe97">Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the deputy commander of a militia in Iraq known as the Popular Mobilisation Forces</a> and five others were also killed. Soleimani was a key figure in Iran’s military presence in Iraq, Syria and Yemen and has been seen as a charismatic figure. Militia that he backed have attacked US forces in Iraq and Syria for the past decade. Iran warned that it would respond and a “harsh retaliation is waiting”.  Tensions have been high in the Strait of Hormuz through which most of the world’s oil import passes after two oil tankers were attacked in May and set on fire and an airport attacked. The Saudis immediately blamed Iran and the Houthi rebels in Yemen that it backs. The Houthis were also blamed for a missle attack on an Aramco refinery in Saudi Arabia in November.One of the ships attacked in May was the Japanese tanker Kokuka Courageous, which was struck even as Iranian leader was meeting Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Teheran.The United States is already involved in the region, with its navy including aircraft carrier Dwight D Eisenhower patrolling the strategic Straits of Hormuz. Washington has sided with Saudi Arabia in the conflict, and has been piling pressure on Iran with international sanctions.West Asia has been polarised by the dispute, with the UAE and Israel taking Saudi Arabia’s side against Iran, while Qatar which is still being blockaded by Saudi Arabia and the UAE being much more sympathetic to Iran.Qatar is the country with the highest number of Nepalis, with nearly 600,000 workers. Saudi Arabia has 350,000 Nepalis, and the rest are scattered in other Gulf countries.If open hostilities did break out between Saudi Arabia and its allies against Iran, Nepal would be hit indirectly by soaring oil prices. The government raised oil prices on new year’s day in Nepal, as global prices went up with tensions rising in the Gulf.Nepal spent Rs131 billion last year in petroleum imports from the Gulf via Indian refineries, and the amount doubled in the last five years. More than 15% of Nepal’s total import bill is made up by petroleum which is sourced in the Gulf.However, experts say, South Asian economies will be hit much more directly if remittances take fall due to a future conflict. Of the South Asian countries, Nepal is the most dependent on remittances with the $6.5 billion it earns annually from overseas workers coming mostly from the Gulf. Remittances are worth 31% of Nepal’s GDP, the highest proportion in the world – even higher than labour exporting countries like Kyrgyzsan and Haiti.Remittances to South Asian countries from the Gulf region grew 12% in 2018, double the growth rate for the previous year, according to the World Bank. Remittances to India alone grew by 14%, while Bangladesh saw an increase of 15%.There has been an increase of numbers going to Qatar in the past year as the country prepares for the 2022 World Cup, as well as an increased demand for dairy and agriculture workers as Qatar has tried to be more self-sufficient in food production after the Saudi-led blockade two years ago.However, the number of Nepalis going abroad has gone down in the past year, mainly as a result of the freeze on workers to Malaysia because of delays in implementing a new bilateral labour deal between the two countries.Any conflict in the Gulf would also directly affect tourism as Nepal prepares to welcome 2 million tourists in Visit Nepal Year 2020. All the air routes to Nepal from the west pass through the Gulf region, and these links have already been affected by other tensions: the closure of India-Pakistan air space for through flights, and flights to and from Qatar having to fly over Iran to bypass the Saudi-UAE blockade.

US-Iran war could wreck Nepal economy

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

Most Nepalis thought they had seen the last of it after <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/11-56-25-april-2015-wkc9q2an">the 25 April 7.8 magnitude </a>earthquake ten years ago. But the Himalaya had more surprises in store. On 12 May, another 7.3 magnitude tremor that some said was an aftershock, but was strong enough to itself be a major earthquake, struck Dolakha.&nbsp; Not many people had heard of Singati till then — a cluster of houses by the Tama Kosi River along a narrow gorge that is the roadhead to Rolwaling Valley.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_57b6e316656851f71eca56ca6f98d9bbcc820c1a00d62af3c990725b4361244d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250508110520_57b6e316656851f71eca56ca6f98d9bbcc820c1a00d62af3c990725b4361244d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_016534fb2b6a79957402281cda768efb83a146786377e39e11df3e251d37159e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20250508110520_016534fb2b6a79957402281cda768efb83a146786377e39e11df3e251d37159e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> </figure>  It was here that dozens were killed on 25 April in the first earthquake. Hundreds of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Singati-rising-from-rubble-rebuilding,3703">Singati survivors</a> had lined up for food and relief supplies in the morning of 12 May when the second earthquake triggered a rock slide that buried a nearby camp. At least 50 people were killed. &nbsp; Three hours later, a US Marine Corps UH-1Y Venom helicopter landed in a nearby cornfield to pick up the wounded, and flew off. The aircraft lost contact with air traffic control in Kathmandu and its wreckage was located high on Kalinchok four days later. Six American servicemen, two Nepal Army soldiers, and five wounded civilians from Singati were killed. Today, Singati bears little physical scar of the multiple tragedies that struck the town ten years ago. Most <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/bungamati-builds-back">houses have been rebuilt</a> as urban-style concrete structures, and Singati has become an economic hub on the road leading up to several hydropower plants and a<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/off-the-beaten-trek-in-nepal"> popular trekking destination</a>.&nbsp; The town looks less like a village and more like a suburb of the Dolakha district headquarter of Charikot, 47km away.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_196f341d1df1403ba133e5dfeb837eec20d7cbcb4c8c56b17cc5598810de5df2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250508110520_196f341d1df1403ba133e5dfeb837eec20d7cbcb4c8c56b17cc5598810de5df2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110524_ae66c4a92430f67db51b5e11e017059eedfbac4cb18c8e073f2a50cca1fe904e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20250508110524_ae66c4a92430f67db51b5e11e017059eedfbac4cb18c8e073f2a50cca1fe904e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> </figure>  “The demand for construction material, cement, iron rods and bricks peaked after the earthquakes,” says Suresh Khadka, who owns a hardware business here and now supplies material to the 456MW Upper Tama Kosi hydropower project that is undergoing repairs after it was damaged by a landslide last year. The demand for cement boomed since most residents believe, not necessarily correctly, that <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/in-a-disastrous-state">cement houses are safer</a>. Although Khadka did well selling construction material after the earthquake, he worries that most new structures do not follow seismic-resistant building codes.&nbsp; The construction boom financed by bank loans has in turn forced many from Singati to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/making-overseas-migration-better">migrate overseas for work</a> so they can service their debt.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110524_50caa4530bd5ff9120cf7ab70a62173846d337ef448ff8bac339f3faa375a9e2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20250508110524_50caa4530bd5ff9120cf7ab70a62173846d337ef448ff8bac339f3faa375a9e2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> <figcaption>Suresh Khadka</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_ef8b7d3993fc3b5df852bbf952feb3fbabc96d6883b0d5eb74ee5c60f4123b83.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20250508110520_ef8b7d3993fc3b5df852bbf952feb3fbabc96d6883b0d5eb74ee5c60f4123b83" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> <figcaption>Phu Doma Sherpa (right)</figcaption> </figure>  “My family had no choice but to borrow money to rebuild our home since the government compensation was not enough, and ten years later we are still paying off the loan,” says Phu Doma Sherpa, 60. Because of the shortage of qualified masons and proper seismic engineering, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/structural-problems">many of the buildings are of questionable building standards </a>and the traditional architecture has been abandoned, admits Kul Bahadur Budathoki, deputy chair of the municipality. “But these buildings were more expensive than what the government grants could cover, many people here are heavily in debt and the men have <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/every-day-is-closer-to-pay-day">migrated to the Gulf to pay their loans</a>,” Budathoki says.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_32f89e97b7e757fc9286c0bbb671f48ea8d4468e9634fa646d7247c650ad8480.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="20250508110520_32f89e97b7e757fc9286c0bbb671f48ea8d4468e9634fa646d7247c650ad8480" data-rendition-name="original" width="1501" height="1079" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> <figcaption>Kul Bahadur Budathoki</figcaption> </figure>  Singati is in a multi-hazard zone. The <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Singati,3091">12 May 2015 earthquake </a>could have led to the collapse of Nepal’s largest glacial lake, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/stairway-to-heaven">Tso Rolpa</a>, upstream. Due to global warming, the glacier has turned into an expanding lake 3.5km long, and its collapse would have unleashed a catastrophic Himalayan tsunami down the Tama Kosi Valley, with Singati directly in its path. Singati has literally risen from the ashes of 2015, with its residents beginning to recover from the trauma and financial toll. But it is not out of danger as <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/climate-breakdown-linked-to-thame-flood">climate breakdown </a>magnifies the risk from future earthquakes.