<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111152/636b86cf9c7e80680e067875jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1125" height="1500"/><figcaption>Photos: PRATIBHA TULADHAR</figcaption></figure>When I say, “Be safe”, I am asking you to be kind to yourself. I am asking that you remember to wear your mask right across your face without any gaps that are likely to expose you to the risks the world is now thick with.When I ask you to be safe, I am hoping you will remember that surgical masks are one-time use and that if you are using other kinds of masks, you know the extent of protection they offer, and do not stretch them beyond it.When I utter “mask” every time you step out on one of your short walks, it means I am whispering a reminder that you know to keep a safe distance from neighbours and acquaintances you might meet during your walks. It is me fervently hoping that when you run into someone, you will bring your palms together to greet them from a great distance, and keep to your side of the road and then walk away.When I say “safety”, the word is more than a synonym or a metaphor. It is a prayer. It is me hoping you will not have to repeat the experience I have had, wherein one is sequestered from the world for weeks on end, often at the end of the tether.It is a lonely place to be battling for breath and to have to be completely alone doing it, clinging to whatever remains of sanity when you are constantly in such a place— although, isn’t it true that each of us fight our battles alone?This loneliness is not the one of choice that introverts like me often make. It is layered in different moods and moments. It is mostly about staring from one wall to another, learning every single item in your room by heart. It is about thinking of friends and family and how long since you last held a hand or pressed someone to your bosom. It is about wondering if there might indeed be time for you to finish that story you were writing.It is also about learning by heart the views your room has to offer. In Kathmandu, it is the squalour, now donned in colours that range from pistachio to fuchsia. They stare back at you as you watch from the solitude of your room, observing neighbours, making a mental note of their daily activities, even though the last thing you want to do is to pry.Some nights, the solitude will come back to bite as it leaves you reeling, your lungs as if knocked out of breath. And then you grovel, your head scooped in your palms, coughing into bedclothes, sometimes cursing, sometimes reminding yourself that you cannot let the virus stay and that you’re going to do everything to exorcise it from your body. But the virus is a vicious one and it slams you down, compelling you to lie prone sucking in only as much oxygen as your lungs have the capacity for just then.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111152/636b86d29c7e80680e067876jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1125" height="1500">You listen to the sounds of the night— they become an unending sad song as you try to calm a panic attack, reach for the can of supplemental oxygen and draw some puffs in. You wonder what might be the state of someone who has no access to such a can.When I say "be safe", I am hoping that you do not have to queue up in public spaces to get a PCR test done. That you may always have the means to not risk closed spaces and long lines. But I am also hoping that the vaccination queues where you go with the hope for protection does not turn you away with the beginning of an infection.I hope you do not have to lie in bed awake all night worrying about a cousin who is in the ICU or thinking about another cousin who passed away last week after weeks of battle against the virus.The virus—how commonplace the term and its presence—threatens our very breath, making us toggle from fear to fear. It gives us a start every time a loved one sneezes or coughs.“How terrible is this? I have to shun my own children,” the mother says, as she speaks from outside a shut door, through her mask at her child who is quarantined.She wants to cradle her child in her arms, but all she can do is fill the plate with food that she believes will nurse her babe back to health. She puts it down at the threshold, then steps away quickly before the child opens the door to pick the plate and shut the door again, like some criminal.I wish to shield you from experiences like these.I wish that after picking your plate, you never have to stare at the food for an hour, wondering if your sore throat will burn as you swallow, wondering why everything tastes like nothing. And then nibble slowly, not knowing whether to love or hate the act of eating food that is now sans taste, sans fragrance, but you must eat even though you have no appetite.I wish none of these to ever be your experience.When I say “be safe”, I wish you are not in a country where the government wrestles to stay in power as people struggle to find hospital beds and oxygen cylinders and to put food on the plate. I wish you never find yourself in a situation where there is no room to isolate, or the means to buy medicines or food that will nourish you back to health.“Be safe.” I want you to always have lungs that allow you breathe without having to lean on steroids or supplement oxygen. I want you to continue experiencing rain without worrying about catching pneumonia or bronchitis. I want you to outlive me.

Pratibha Tuladhar

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"Be safe"

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181148/636be8269c7e80680e087841jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="747" height="600"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>As <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/pandemic-stress-grips-nepals-journalists/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">part of my job as a journalist</a>, I have interviewed many in the past months who were seriously sick with Covid-19. On all those occasions, at the back of my mind was always the fear that I myself might be infected one day.Our work takes us to the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-journalists-are-also-on-the-frontlines/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">frontlines of this pandemic</a>. When the lockdown was imposed, I started working out of my home in Butwal. Regardless, I had to travel to nearby regions to report. And while I tried to follow all the necessary safety measures, I never really found out where I caught the coronavirus.The infection hits patients with varying degrees of intensity. Some show severe symptoms, while others have milder ones, followed by a quick recovery. Mine were mild, and did not last long. I have since recovered.I experienced those 15 <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/kathmandu-homes-and-hotels-turn-into-hospitals/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">days of isolation</a> were different for me. As a journalist, I was constantly exposed to how the news, social media interactions and conversations with friends can affect the morale of those infected. It was on the day of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/rani-pokhari-open-for-bhai-tika/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bhai Tika</a> on (16 November, 2020) that I started feeling lethargic and weak. By evening, I was running a slight temperature. This was not unusual, I often had fevers and they passed.But these were extraordinary times, and I suspected it might be the dreaded coronavirus. So, I isolated myself at home.I took a paracetamol and managed to get some sleep, but at 3AM I was wide awake with 37.3° fever. This was not high, but I had a hard time going back to sleep.In the morning, I went to Lumbini Regional Hospital in Butwal for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/why-nepal-lags-in-covid-19-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">PCR test</a>. At around 4PM, I received my report. I was confirmed Covid-19 positive.I had been preparing myself for it mentally, so I took it well. I had no other symptoms besides fever. Once I took a paracetamol, my fever would go down, but it would return every six hours. This went on for three days.I found my CT (cycle threshold) value to be at 14, which is considerably low, so I visited the hospital to get further tests done. The reports came back normal. After the third day I no longer had fever, but a blocked nose.But it was after Day 6, that I started to experience a sore throat. Gargling with salt water and hot water steaming with a dash of sancho twice a day, helped gradually reduced the cold and the soreness by Day 8.I had heard about how a positive mental attitude builds up physical immunity. From the beginning of isolation, I was careful not to let external factors influence me. I removed Facebook and Twitter from my phone, stopped checking online portals to keep myself away from news about Covid-19 deaths.I had noticed that negative news made me anxious. It made me sweat profusely and I had difficulty breathing. Because my oxygen saturation level was normal at 97, I was clearly overthinking. It was my exposure to media that was affecting my physical recovery.So, I tried my best to forget about my circumstance by watching travel and environmental documentaries. I listened to folk music and positive discourses. I took in the sun.I asked my wife to forward to me any positive news she came across. Politician Chitra Bahadur KC’s recovery, and news about <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/when-will-nepals-covid-vaccine-turn-come/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">successful vaccine trials</a> gave me hope.Throughout my career, I have heard people complain that journalists only report negative news. As a Covid-19 patient in isolation, I realised how true this is.Positive news is like the oxygen for those who are trying to recover from the coronavirus. Positive thoughts can be half the cure.While recovering, there were many who tried to give me advice. Not all of it reassuring. “Can’t say anything with coronavirus, even the healthiest have died just like that,” said one friend. Another called to say: “You should have had severe symptoms, but you seem normal.”Take it from me: trust only the experts.Doctors confirm that the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/dont-take-covid-19-lightly/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">impact of the virus is stronger in people with weaker immunity</a>. Many acquaintances have been severely affected. But because I was conscious about my diet and fitness, it seems I was able to fight back. More importantly, I was mentally prepared.It has been a week since I tested negative, but my health is still not back to what it used to be. I feel lethargic and listless, and cannot concentrate on work. But I am getting there because to be negative you have to be positive.Mukesh Pokhrel is the Himal Khabarpatrika and Nepali Times reporter based in Nawalparasi, covering the environment and development.

Staying positive to become negative

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191116/636bef1f4b0ad905ca02ef8ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="747" height="600"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>As <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/pandemic-stress-grips-nepals-journalists/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">part of my job as a journalist</a>, I have interviewed many in the past months who were seriously sick with Covid-19. On all those occasions, at the back of my mind was always the fear that I myself might be infected one day.Our work takes us to the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-journalists-are-also-on-the-frontlines/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">frontlines of this pandemic</a>. When the lockdown was imposed, I started working out of my home in Butwal. Regardless, I had to travel to nearby regions to report. And while I tried to follow all the necessary safety measures, I never really found out where I caught the coronavirus.The infection hits patients with varying degrees of intensity. Some show severe symptoms, while others have milder ones, followed by a quick recovery. Mine were mild, and did not last long. I have since recovered.I experienced those 15 <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/kathmandu-homes-and-hotels-turn-into-hospitals/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">days of isolation</a> were different for me. As a journalist, I was constantly exposed to how the news, social media interactions and conversations with friends can affect the morale of those infected. It was on the day of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/rani-pokhari-open-for-bhai-tika/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Bhai Tika</a> on (16 November, 2020) that I started feeling lethargic and weak. By evening, I was running a slight temperature. This was not unusual, I often had fevers and they passed.But these were extraordinary times, and I suspected it might be the dreaded coronavirus. So, I isolated myself at home.I took a paracetamol and managed to get some sleep, but at 3AM I was wide awake with 37.3° fever. This was not high, but I had a hard time going back to sleep.In the morning, I went to Lumbini Regional Hospital in Butwal for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/why-nepal-lags-in-covid-19-testing/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">PCR test</a>. At around 4PM, I received my report. I was confirmed Covid-19 positive.I had been preparing myself for it mentally, so I took it well. I had no other symptoms besides fever. Once I took a paracetamol, my fever would go down, but it would return every six hours. This went on for three days.I found my CT (cycle threshold) value to be at 14, which is considerably low, so I visited the hospital to get further tests done. The reports came back normal. After the third day I no longer had fever, but a blocked nose.But it was after Day 6, that I started to experience a sore throat. Gargling with salt water and hot water steaming with a dash of sancho twice a day, helped gradually reduced the cold and the soreness by Day 8.I had heard about how a positive mental attitude builds up physical immunity. From the beginning of isolation, I was careful not to let external factors influence me. I removed Facebook and Twitter from my phone, stopped checking online portals to keep myself away from news about Covid-19 deaths.I had noticed that negative news made me anxious. It made me sweat profusely and I had difficulty breathing. Because my oxygen saturation level was normal at 97, I was clearly overthinking. It was my exposure to media that was affecting my physical recovery.So, I tried my best to forget about my circumstance by watching travel and environmental documentaries. I listened to folk music and positive discourses. I took in the sun.I asked my wife to forward to me any positive news she came across. Politician Chitra Bahadur KC’s recovery, and news about <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/when-will-nepals-covid-vaccine-turn-come/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">successful vaccine trials</a> gave me hope.Throughout my career, I have heard people complain that journalists only report negative news. As a Covid-19 patient in isolation, I realised how true this is.Positive news is like the oxygen for those who are trying to recover from the coronavirus. Positive thoughts can be half the cure.While recovering, there were many who tried to give me advice. Not all of it reassuring. “Can’t say anything with coronavirus, even the healthiest have died just like that,” said one friend. Another called to say: “You should have had severe symptoms, but you seem normal.”Take it from me: trust only the experts.Doctors confirm that the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/dont-take-covid-19-lightly/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">impact of the virus is stronger in people with weaker immunity</a>. Many acquaintances have been severely affected. But because I was conscious about my diet and fitness, it seems I was able to fight back. More importantly, I was mentally prepared.It has been a week since I tested negative, but my health is still not back to what it used to be. I feel lethargic and listless, and cannot concentrate on work. But I am getting there because to be negative you have to be positive.Mukesh Pokhrel is the Himal Khabarpatrika and Nepali Times reporter based in Nawalparasi, covering the environment and development.

<figure><img width="748" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141112/636ba73e9c7e80680e07376ejpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>After the outrage over the government’s abrupt cancellation of scheduled repatriation flights on 16 August, the Cabinet has announced conditions for passengers coming to Nepal on chartered and scheduled flights.According to a set of complicated new rules, scheduled passenger flights will be allowed from 1 September, but all passengers will have to bear the cost of one week of hotel quarantine in Kathmandu which will be added to their air ticket.These regular flights will also be allowed only from countries where PCR tests are easily available, and these include: Malaysia, UAE, Korea, Thailand, Japan, China, Hong Kong, Australia, United States and Canada. There is confusion because no mention is made of European countries in that list. Announcing the new rules, Finance Minister Yubaraj Khatiwada gave no reasons why the distinction was being made for passengers from Europe, many of which countries are less affected by the pandemic at present than the United States. The Cabinet also decided that airlines cannot mix passengers with PCR negative tests and passengers without tests.Airlines coming from countries where PCR tests are not easy to get (Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia) will be allowed to operate only charter flights, or the Nepal government will operate special repatriation flights from those destinations. Further, only passengers on lists provided by embassies in those countries will be allowed to board, and once in Kathmandu they will have to stay in government-designated quarantine centres for a week while they get their PCR tests. Returnees with PCR negative tests from those three countries can go directly to home self-quarantine for 14 days. All passengers will need PCR negative certificates before boarding, and the tests must have been taken only 72 hours before their flights. Hotel costs in Kathmandu will vary from Rs1,800 to Rs9,000 per day. Only Nepalis, diplomats and UN officials will be allowed to fly into Kathmandu for the time being. Arriving foreigners will not get visa on arrival, and will also have to quarantine in hotels for a week. Earlier guidelines had opened hotels and trekking, but on Friday Khatiwada made no mention of tourists being allowed in.Meanwhile, a Nepal Airlines Airbus is flying to Dubai on Monday  to bring back 266 Nepali workers who were left stranded when the plane flew back empty on Tuesday after the government banned reptriation flights while it was en route. UPDATE, 22 AUGUST: The government has added European states in the list of countries where PCR tests are available and from where passengers can take regular flights to Kathmandu.

Nepal to open regular flights from 1 September

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141144/636baf719c7e80680e07804fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>Photo: BIKRAM RAI</figcaption></figure>The power struggle within the ruling NCP has overshadowed the country’s COVID-19 emergency. The government has no time to listen to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/social-movement-through-social-media/">young activists</a> who have been staging their second hunger strike demanding immediate measures to control the pandemic.The ‘Enough Is Enough’ campaign is led by 26-year-old activist who calls himself Iih (pictured above) who has refused to be moved to hospital. On Thursday he was on the 13th day of his hunger strike under a tent at Kathmandu Darbar Square, and says his team members are “putting their lives at risk to save lives”.They accuse the Health Ministry of breaking its promise on 26 June, and have among their demands: 100% PCR testing, timely results, safer quarantine facilities, full protection for frontline health workers, transparency in medical procurements, increased ICU capacity.Iih and fellow-activist Pukar Bam are on IV fluid, and say they are willing to lay down their lives if need be to save the lives of Nepalis who could die from government incompetence in handling the pandemic. Another activist, Samariaa Shrestha was taken to hospital on Tuesday after 12 days of being without food and water.On Wednesday, police arrested five Enough Is Enough campaigners near the Home Ministry at Singha Darbar, where they had gone to file a Right to Information application demanding details of how money for the management of the pandemic, as well as procurement of medical supplies, are being spent.The five were briefly detained at the Mahendra Police Club, but they staged a sit in on the street outside after release, and there was another demonstration at the site on Thursday morning.This is the group’s second hunger strike. The first in Patan Darbar Square was called off after 12 days on 7 July after the Ministry of Health <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/12-point-deal-after-12-days-of-hunger-strike/">agreed to fulfill all demands</a>.Nepal’s daily case detection is going up again after the government announced <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-ends-covid-19-lockdown/">the lifting of the lockdown on 21 July</a>. While most of the case so far have been found in people travelling overland from India, in the past week there are growing numbers of positive cases among those with no travel history.The government has also started surveillance testing in some Tarai cities, and taking sample swabs from people entering Kathmandu Valley’s four entry points. The Ministry of Health still says Nepal is in the ‘cluster spread’ phase and has not yet entered the ‘community spread’.With hotels and restaurants allowed to open from 30 July, and long-distance buses and limited domestic and international flights from 17 August, public health experts fear a further surge in cases.

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Hunger strike on 13th day

The long journey back to Nepal

<figure><img width="1059" height="604" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121116/636b8cd29c7e80680e06b319jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Shekhar Golchha, Pashupati Murarka and Sudhir Mittal of Shree Airlines handing over PCR kits donated by Singapore's Temasek Foundation to Dipendra Taman Singh from the Ministry of Health on Friday after they were flown from Singapore to Kathmandu on special Shree Airlines flights. </figcaption></figure>Singapore’s <a href="https://www.temasekfoundation.org.sg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Temasek Foundation</a> has provided 10,000 PCR test kits to Nepal for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-extends-covid-19-testing-but-no-new-cases/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">detecting COVID-19 cases</a> which will be deployed to frontline health workers to test patients all across the country.Called ‘Fortitude Kit 2.0’ the kits are designed by Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*START) to detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The all-in-one 1-step RT-PCR kits come with all materials required for the reaction, which includes primer probes mix, enzyme mix, the positive control, negative control and internal control template. “In these difficult times, Temasek Foundation stands in solidarity with our friends from Nepal,” said Benedict Cheong, CEO of Temasek Foundation International. “We hope these test kits will be helpful to hospitals and medical professionals who are bravely managing the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-must-hope-for-the-best-prepare-for-the-worst/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">COVID-19 situation in Nepal</a>.”<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/why-rapid-tests-are-doing-more-harm-than-good/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Why rapid tests are doing more harm than good</a>, Ramu SapkotaThe kits were flown from Singapore to Kathmandu on a special Shree Airlines CRJ 700 flight on Friday organised by Shekhar Golchha, Pashupati Murarka and Sudhir Mittal of Shree Airlines, and handed over to the Ministry of Health for distribution to hospitals across Nepal. Vijayendra Baral at Singapore General Hospital, and in Kathmandu Ranjit Acharya and Neil Pande facilitated the process. <img width="1116" height="1280" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121116/636b8cd59c7e80680e06b31ajpeg.jpg" alt="">Temasek Foundation had also helped Nepal strengthen public schools after <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/epicentre-of-two-disasters-in-west-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the 2015 earthquake</a> and in post-disaster recovery management jointly with <a href="https://www.singhealth.com.sg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">SingHealth</a> and Ministry of Health in Nepal. The project built systems and capacity in the area of disaster healthcare training and management for the pre-hospital and in-hospital environments so as to improve preparations for future disasters. The project trained 432 specialist medical trainers and hospital leaders, 206 nurses and 38 physiotherapists in hospitals and venues across  Kathmandu, Biratnagar and Nepalganj and culminated in a mass disaster simulation droll in Kosi Zonal Hospital in November 2019. <a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-to-test-covid-19-test-kits-from-china/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepal to test COVID-19 test kits from China</a>, Ramu SapkotaA 30-member team identified by the Ministry Of Health Nepal as potential future master trainers were also travelled to Singapore in April 2019 for a 5-day training in disaster management.SingHealth has also signed an agreement with TU Teaching Hospital in Kathmandu to collaborate in Paediatrics and neonatology, liver transplants, orthopedics amongst other subspecialties. Friends of SingHealth also provided pediatric anaesthesia equipment for children having eye surgery at Tilganga Institute of Opthalmology.SingHealth is the largest healthcare cluster in Singapore with a network of acute hospitals, national speciality centres, community hospitals and polyclinics offering over 40 clinical specialities.

10,000 COVID-19 test kits to Nepal from Singapore

One smoggy winter morning in February 2019, Ekta regretted coming to her sculpture class. It was the first day of her period, and the 19-year-old wished she was home, curled up in bed with a hot water bag to soothe her cramps.
Her class was at Kalapremi Ceramic Studio, a dark room on the ground floor of a house in Maharajganj, and Ekta’s teacher was the artist Gopal Das Shrestha ‘Kalapremi’, a noted sculptor.
Two other students were already there, using all their muscle strength to knead the sculpting clay. Ekta, now 24, recalls how Kalapremi asked her if she was feeling all right. She avoided him, as she did not want everyone to know she was menstruating.
Kalapremi repeatedly asked Ekta what was wrong. She finally muttered that she was having her period, after which he grabbed her hand and led her to a partitioned corner of the studio and sat her on a chair. Before she could stop him, he slid his hand under her dress, and started massaging her abdomen.
“I was horrified,” Ekta recalls. “I told him to stop, but he didn’t listen, asking me not to be shy, saying he knew how to relieve my pain. He stopped only after I protested furiously.”&nbsp;
The art tutor then said, “You’re like my daughter. I’m doing it out of love to make you feel better, but you’re so stubborn.”&nbsp;
“Instead of saying sorry he acted like I was the one having crazy thoughts,” remembers Ekta, adding that from April 2016 to August 2020 beginning the time she was 16, the artist sexually abused and harassed her on several occasions. &nbsp;
Now, Ekta and the artist’s other former students are finally sharing their experiences and some are pressing legal charges against him, hoping that others do not have to endure what they did.&nbsp;
Award-winning artist and teacher Gopal Das Shrestha ‘Kalapremi’ (the name means ‘Art Lover’) is known for his ceramic art, sculpture, and contemporary pottery. He was <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/the-house-of-kalapremi">profiled in Nepali Times after a collaborative exhibition</a>, ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ at the Siddhartha Art Gallery three years ago.&nbsp;
His pieces, titled Gaalis, featured sculpted female figures with the heads of dogs, sheep, and donkeys (pictured) to depict derogatory terms for women. Some critics said the collection was a satire on feminists.
Kalapremi started his artistic and teaching career in 1983 and over the years taught at Bhanubhakta School, Kathmandu University School of Arts, Lalitkala Campus and at his private Kalapremi Ceramic Studio. He has also lectured at Jeonju University in South Korea and recently at Tabor Academy in the United States.
Seven of Kalapremi’s former students were interviewed for this story. Five female students said he touched them inappropriately in his studio or at Kathmandu University. Two male students said they witnessed him abuse and harass the women. In all cases, the students struggled to recognise the abuse when it occurred, and the lack of reporting systems left them to cope on their own for years.&nbsp;
Earlier this year, students shared a social media post hinting at Kalapremi’s history of abusive behaviour following which more students of the artist reached out sharing similar experiences. Some students spoke of abuse that happened as long as 20 years ago.
Kalapremi, 60, has denied the allegations. He told Nepali Times: “Some years ago, there was a movement encouraging people to hug and kiss. I used to do it purely out of friendship and love. But after seeing posts on social media last year calling out my behaviour, I realised my actions may have hurt some people. I understand now that I should have been more mindful.”
He added: “I am also an auxiliary health worker, so I know the exact points to massage to relieve menstrual pain. It’s not just menstruation, I take anyone who is ill to the hospital.”
Sexual abuse is much more rampant than reported given how difficult it is to prove it in court. The law defines sexual abuse as occuring when someone touches another’s private parts, coerces them into touching theirs, uses vulgar language, shows degrading images, or behaves indecently towards them without consent.&nbsp;
Ekta and her fellow students are consulting lawyer Suneeta Regmi Pokhrel, who says they know that even if the court decides in their favour, it is difficult to survive after speaking up, and influential men defend themselves saying they are being framed.&nbsp;
“They are in a lot of pain and weep when recalling how he abused them,” Regmi Pokhrel told us. “They are angry and have filed a case against him, but they are also terrified. They know he is a powerful man and they have seen how our society treats women who speak up against abusers. Unless people speak up, perpetrators will be emboldened.”
Art and academia in Nepal simply reflect the power imbalances in society where people with intersecting identities experience worse forms of abuse. Theatre actors Raj Kumar Pudasaini, Rajan Khatiwada, and Sunil Pokhrel were called out during the #MeToo movement in the Nepali theatre scene in 2019. Even after the allegations Pokhrel went on to receive national awards, while others continued to work without repercussions.
“If you speak up against abusers, you gradually get sidelined from projects,” explained a theatre artist who wished anonymity fearing professional setbacks. “The theatre scene in Nepal is quite small, you just have to make peace with the perpetrators and work with them if you want to sustain yourself.”&nbsp;
In academia there is a history of faculty members sexually harassing students and getting away with it. After Tribhuvan University (TU) lecturer Krishna Bhattachan was accused of harassing women students, the university said it would follow Nepal’s sexual harassment law and set up a reporting mechanism. But nothing happened to the professor, who had already retired. Instead, he counter-accused the students of 'attacking the indigenous people’s movement with baseless allegations' as <a href="https://kathmandupost.com/letters/2019/01/29/bhattachan-responds">he told the Kathmandu Post in 2019</a>. He continues to be featured as a prominent speaker including at TU.
Other faculty members previously accused of sexual harassment include Jagadish Murti Koirala from TU, Bishnu Prasad Acharya from Ratna Rajya Campus, and Bodha Raj Tripathee from Lalitpur Madhyamik Vidhyalaya. A woman staff member from TU also filed a sexual abuse complaint against Dambar Chemjong from TU.
Prominent figures like <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-rise-and-fall-of-nims-purja">mountaineer Nims Purja</a> have been <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/31/sports/mountaineering-sexual-harassment-abuse-nims-purja.html">accused of sexual assault</a>, and cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane, actor <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/celebrity-rape-case-spotlights-nepal-laws">Paul Shah</a>, and former speaker of Parliament <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/mahara-arrested">Krishna Bahadur Mahara</a> have been accused of rape, but society-at-large has let off the alleged perpetrators amdist a larger debate about justice for survivors and punishment of perpetrators.&nbsp;
‘Gaushala-26’ is the court name given to the 18-year-old who accused Sandeep Lamichhane, former captain of Nepal’s national cricket team and skipper of Biratnagar Kings in the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/here-comes-the-nepal-premier-league">ongoing Nepal Premier League</a>, of rape. She left the country citing society questioning her character affecting her mental health while Lamichhane got an outpouring of support. In May, the Patan High Court overturned a prior verdict that found Lamichhane guilty of rape and had sentenced him to eight years in prison. During the 23-month legal battle to pursue justice, Gaushala-26 faced threats of gang rape and acid attacks.&nbsp;
Exhausted by the struggle, Gaushala-26 sought to “move to a new world” where she could live free without hiding her identity.
Actress Samragyee Rajya Laxmi Shah in an Instagram video now deleted detailed the harassment she faced from a filmmaker during a movie shoot. She did not name any name but veteran actor Bhuwan KC filed a defamation case against Rana, but the court ruled that the charge lacked sufficient evidence.&nbsp;
Former Kathmandu mayor <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/theytoo">Keshav Sthapit also mocked the #MeToo movement</a>, calling accusations against him by journalists Rashmila Prajapati and Ujjwala Maharjan “a rape of men’s rights”.
Serial Abuse
Back at the Kalapremi Ceramics studio, another former student, 24-year-old Rajiv, says he felt the need to speak out after seeing his female classmates being abused.&nbsp;
“He frequently kissed them on their cheeks,” he told Nepali Times. “Whenever they walked into the studio he flailed his arms like a child asking for a hug. They awkwardly hugged him from the side, but he pulled them closer, held their chin, and kissed their cheeks.”&nbsp;
Rajiv says he also saw Kalapremi pull the women’s bra straps, touch their breasts, and slap their buttocks. The young students would freeze, not knowing how to react, and if they protested, he would say it was “normal in art”. Rajiv, 19 at the time like his classmates, remembers thinking perhaps the well-respected artist was right after all.
Another student, Luna, who took lessons at Kalapremi’s studio from 2020 to 2022 did try to confront the tutor after he made an obscene proposal to her. She recalls: “One day when the other students had left the studio and it was just the two of us, he told me that God had given him special artistic talent and he could transfer those powers to me. But to do that both of us will have to be naked, inside a dark room, and have sex.”
Luna, who was 18 then, was livid and told him she did not want any of his powers, but she says he laughed at her as if he was joking. She did not tell her family about the incident because she thought no one would believe her.&nbsp;
“They were all in awe of this famous artist and felt I should be grateful that to be learning sculpting from him,” she says. “I was scared to be alone with him in case he talked about sex again. My coping mechanism was to be rude so he wouldn’t try to come close to me.”
Seeing how some classmates were standing up to Kalapremi, Ekta too tried to push back against his advances, but she said he found ways to coerce her. Since Ekta, Rajiv, and Luna could not afford Kalapremi’s Rs30,000 monthly fee for lessons, he had offered them all a stipend to assist him in the studio.
“He had spondylosis and took me to his therapy sessions to learn massage techniques, then he often made me and other students massage him,” says Ekta. Whenever she refused, he would feign pain to make her feel sorry for him. “He would insist that I put my hands under his shirt so that I could massage him better,” she adds.
The art tutor often tried to “seduce sympathy” from Ekta by sharing how he had never been loved as a child and was “sexually frustrated” as an adult.&nbsp;
“At 7PM, he would pour himself Signature whiskey and immediately go off again about how he was sex-starved. I didn’t know how to respond. It took me time to realise alcohol was just an excuse to talk about sex,” Ekta says.
If convicted, Kalapremi could face financial penalty and/or a prison sentence of up to three years according to Section 224 of National Penal (Code) Act 2017.&nbsp;
Data suggests that victims of child sexual abuse on average take nearly 24 years to tell someone about their trauma, and some may never disclose it at all.&nbsp;
“In our culture, children are rarely taught about boundaries. They often react, show anger when adults pinch their cheeks. But adults insist they did it out of love, and force the children to accept it,” says Sita Lama, a psychotherapist at Manka Kura. “And even when someone touches them inappropriately they struggle to identify and verbalise it.”
When perpetrators claim to be “acting out of love”, Lama says survivors are likely to perceive it as something safe, rather than recognising it as abuse.&nbsp;
“It may take years for them to realise they were abused,” she explains. "And even when they become aware, the power imbalance with the abuser and the associated shame often prevents survivors from speaking up."
Other former students from the School of Art at Kathmandu University have also come forward years later, saying Kalapremi sexually abused them. As young adults, they felt his behaviour was off but were uncertain if it was inappropriate, illegal, or they did not know how to respond. After having understood that it was indeed abuse, they say they are speaking out now to protect others.&nbsp;
Amina Singh, a visiting faculty member at Kathmandu University, says there is no clause against sexual abuse in contracts of teachers, and there is no formal grievance handling mechanism for the students.&nbsp;
“So the only way students can to deal with sexual abuse is approach someone they trust,” she says.
Eight other former art students of Lalit Kala Campus and Srijana College of Fine Arts of Tribhuvan University and other private art studios in Kathmandu say they were also sexually abused by their art teachers. Three faculty members interviewed from these institutions said they saw the abuse, but felt it was futile to report it given how powerful the teachers were.
In the absence of a formal system, some longtime women artists warned each other about “problematic” artists. They shared &nbsp;a “heads-up” to be more cautious when collaborating with them, and avoided responding to their calls and texts after work hours.
To ensure art institutions are safe for all, galleries, museums, artist studios, and smaller art spaces need to develop policies on sexual harassment. This would include a code of conduct or studio policies that hold the leadership accountable and outline the principles of professional ethics.&nbsp;
Students and employees should inquire about accountability mechanisms for raising concerns, both formally and informally, advocates say.
Three years after Ekta left the ceramics studio, she learnt that Kalapremi had harassed many other women. Still trying to get a footing in the art industry, she attended a workshop in Kathmandu where women artists discussed ways to stay safe in the art sector.&nbsp;
Since it was a close-knit group Ekta opened up about how she felt violated and realised she was not alone, he had been abusing underprivileged students for years, and this was common knowledge among artists in Nepal.
Ekta says that even after she quit, Kalapremi continued sending her text messages like ‘I am thinking of you’, ‘Why have you stopped speaking with me’, or ‘I am waiting for your call’.&nbsp;
But what really forced her to act was when Ekta found out that he was sending similar texts to her younger sister.&nbsp;
“I’ve had enough,” she told us. “He abused me all these years but I won’t let him abuse my sister.” &nbsp;
Ekta, Rajiv and Luna are not the real names of the students.&nbsp;

‘Art Lover’ accused of sexual abuse

It was 8:15 in the evening of 25 March 1968 when everyone in the village of Batulechaur near Pokhara heard a deafening sound like thunder as a bright flashing object hurtled down to land in a field.&nbsp; That field belonged to Kul Timilsina, and the next morning he retrieved a sheet of metal about 2m by 1m and carried it home with the help of a few others, thinking it would be useful for his buffalo shed.&nbsp; Before he died at age 83 three years ago, Timilsina had told photo archivist Sunil Ulak that the black metal sheet was not rectangular and had rounded corners. There are a few witnesses still alive who have a clear recollection of the object that fell from the sky that night.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024120707128_75cc85aac56b9cc4a77366471f058d7b3eb6868776811b0923845c2d0a61f014.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2024120707128_75cc85aac56b9cc4a77366471f058d7b3eb6868776811b0923845c2d0a61f014" data-rendition-name="original" width="1170" height="601" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> <figcaption>The field in Batulechaur belonging to Kul Timilsina where fragments of a flying object fell from the sky in 1968.</figcaption> </figure>  One of them is Timilsina’s wife Gyanu, who was 22 at the time. She had been at home, and remembers hearing the big bang and the sky becoming very bright. “We saw the thing in the field in the morning,” she told us. “It looked like a lid, a covering of some sort. The way it was stuck in the ground, it must have fallen from the sky. We thought we could use it to dry clothes on, and took it home.”&nbsp; Another witness is Kul Narayan Paudel. “I was only eight then. We ran to the field to see what had fallen. It was a four-sided metal sheet. The elders took it away, and I don't know what happened to it.” &nbsp; Ram Bahadur Baniya, a teacher at the local school, says he had heard the sheet had been brought to the school, and later handed over to the Zonal Commissioner at the time, Nanda Prasad Malla. “But that is all hearsay,” he says.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024120707128_0bf207a12063fb8155b3c8d9a00a94887b126380c9e0627527c84cf5e1101f54.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2024120707128_0bf207a12063fb8155b3c8d9a00a94887b126380c9e0627527c84cf5e1101f54" data-rendition-name="original" width="1170" height="610" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> <figcaption>Gyanu Timilsina, wife of Kul Timilsina.</figcaption> </figure>  There are two versions of what happened to Kul Timilsina’s metal sheet. One is that an American Peace Corp Volunteer teaching at the nearby Bindyabasini School took it, and another is that it was handed over to the government. Recently declassified Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and US State Department documents from the time say that the US Embassy in Kathmandu tracked down the object two years later and had it shipped back to the US. A telegram from the Department of State and Department of Defense tagged as ‘MOON DUST / Space Fragments’ dated 1 March 1972 stated: ‘1. Restored space fragment will be on board Embassy support flight 115 arriving Kathmandu on or about March 10. Fragment is packed in shipping crate (cargo no. 72-33365) marked in care of DAO.&nbsp; 2. State and Defense representatives examined fragments prior to shipment finding restoration acceptable.’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071212_929d903ee06d41baa4f6040e981cd7c7d7bd75cc9c37c9b617d307fc8538d2df.png" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20241207071212_929d903ee06d41baa4f6040e981cd7c7d7bd75cc9c37c9b617d307fc8538d2df" data-rendition-name="original" width="856" height="568" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> <figcaption>Declassified CIA documents about the investigation into the object sighted in Pokhara. </figcaption> </figure>  The documents show that the US government, military and intelligence agencies investigated this incident thoroughly when it occurred, and have continued to revisit it ever since, as recently as five years ago. What is even more intriguing is that the object that fell in Pokhara was not the only unidentified space object that fell to earth that year. There were similar sightings of objects falling from the sky in Ladakh, Sikkim and Bhutan between 19 February and 25 March 1968.&nbsp; These mysteries were the subject of a CIA investigation in 1968 titled ‘<a href="https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP81R00560R000100070007-8.pdf">Sighting of Unidentified Flying Objects in Ladakh, Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan</a>’, and the report is part of the recent online declassification of 800,000 top-secret documents from the period.&nbsp; &nbsp;Although unidentified flying objects (UFOs) have a connotation now of being alien craft, it could be pieces of satellite, missile, rocket or even aircraft. The CIA report documents six sightings in 1968 and quotes local sources as describing all of them having similar characteristics: bright blue or red streaks in the sky accompanied by loud sounds like lightning and thunder and objects falling to the ground. Aside from the metallic object that was found in Batlechaur, there were other items also found nearby in Tallakot, Tureypasal, Armalakot and Maidan. Whatever the object was, it seems to have disintegrated even before it hit the ground.&nbsp; The CIA report records the first sighting on 19 February 1968 in various parts of Sikkim and Olangchung Gola and Ghunsa in eastern Nepal. The light was said to be ‘long and thin’ and giving out ‘green and red light’. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071212_c3c825027d966a2aedc846970390eebe063957503c7eacc8e01e0517843f9bbb.png" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20241207071212_c3c825027d966a2aedc846970390eebe063957503c7eacc8e01e0517843f9bbb" data-rendition-name="original" width="892" height="596" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara "> </figure>  Two days later on 21 February, a soundless blue object was seen traveling fast across the sky above Thimphu in Bhutan. Then on 4 March there were multiple daytime sightings or white streaks in the sky at Chang La Pass, Fukche and Koyul in Ladakh. There were more sightings in Ladakh on the very day fragments fell near Pokhara on 25 March 1968.&nbsp; After the sightings in Pokhara, rumours started flying in Kathmandu that these were aliens trying to land on Earth, it could be Russian or Chinese spy planes or satellites, and some even say it as a sign from heaven that the end of the world was near. This was at the height of the Cold War. The Russians and Americans were testing their thermonuclear devices as well as intercontinental ballistic missile delivery systems. The Washington-Beijing rapprochement had not yet happened, and China was making quick progress testing atomic bombs. Within two years after its first atomic test, in 1966 China exploded its first hydrogen bomb at the Lop Nur site in Xinjiang, 3,000km to the north from Nepal. After neary six decades, what is still intriguing is that all the sightings within a few months of each other in 1968 were along the Himalayan arc bordering Tibet: from Bhutan, Sikkim Nepal, to Ladakh. The US military intelligence seems to have concluded that this was not a coincidence and there were frequent research trips to the site in Pokhara by American officials in the months after the incident. With the help of the Royal Nepal Army, the region north of Pokhara was thoroughly searched.&nbsp; A confidential memo dated 25 June 1968 by Jerry C Trippy to a ‘Mr Farley’ mentions that the US Air Force’s Foreign Technology Division had decided that the debris could be important because it may be related to a Chinese missile test or a Soviet ‘Vehicle Venik’ rocket.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071216_feb5425692dc36b20187de4e4fcc2ce9fd12b6d9e1b8724398e50bcdbf9032fe.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20241207071216_feb5425692dc36b20187de4e4fcc2ce9fd12b6d9e1b8724398e50bcdbf9032fe" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> </figure>  On 28 August 1968 the US Embassy in Kathmandu sent a letter to Washington DC saying that the object could be of Soviet origin, possibly from when the rocket carrying the ‘Kosmos 208’ satellite re-entered the atmosphere. But why were the fragments falling to earth several weeks apart, and in the same region? No one knows where the metal sheet that Kul Timilsina recovered is now. It was definitely packed in a crate and taken to the US, and although it is rumoured that it was returned that is not very likely. Archivist Sunil Ulak heard from the Timilsina family that CIA officials had returned to the site five years ago. &nbsp; Interest in UFOs peaked in the US in the 1950s, with the Cold War space race and tests of atomic weapons and delivery rockets. CIA and scientists were being sent to investigate sightings, both publicly and privately. Could the Pokhara fragments as well as the sightings in Ladakh and Bhutan actually be alien craft falling to earth? The renewal in interest in space travel in large part due to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, UFOs and sightings are again subjects of public interest.&nbsp; Even 57 years later, even if there was definitive proof about whether the Batlechaur fragment was from a Chinese missile or a soviet rocket, it has not been made public in documents declassified so far. We may never know.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071216_b6938795f40731e7657fd6dcbb3cf460a326186a15eb11d4f832f602201ff598.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20241207071216_b6938795f40731e7657fd6dcbb3cf460a326186a15eb11d4f832f602201ff598" data-rendition-name="original" width="642" height="320" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> </figure>  Sunil Ulak speculates if the debris actually came from an American aircraft, perhaps on an intel mission upon China. “Which could explain why they were so thorough in collecting the fragments in Pokhara,” he says. But that still does not explain the multiple sightings weeks apart in 1968.&nbsp; Indeed, US military aircraft were at that time flying frequent night-time missions from air force bases in India to supply weapons to Khampa guerrilla camps in Nepal located north of Pokhara in Mustang. It could very well be that the Chinese shot down one such aircraft. The other sightings could have been contrails of US spy planes, or Chinese anti-aircraft missiles.&nbsp; There were quite a few developments regarding UFOs in 2024. In a US congressional hearing in July, former intelligence officer David Grusch claimed that the government had long been involved in a program to investigate and retrieve non-human craft crashes, and then try to reverse engineer them. However Grusch did not show any evidence.&nbsp; The UAP Disclosure Act of 2024 was signed into law by Joe Biden in December 2023. It plans to oversee the public disclosure of UFO information. However, there is a clause in it that prevents disclosure if it would cause threats to military defense, intelligence operations or foreign relations.&nbsp; It is unlikely that the declassified documents about sightings in the Himalayan will cause any real surprise about definite evidence of alien life even if it was found. It seems humanity will continue, at least for now, to wonder about curious lights in the sky and whether there is anybody out there.&nbsp;

UFO over Pokhara

When Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) president Rabi Lamichhane was arrested in October on charges of defrauding depositors of cooperatives, the party’s vice president Swarnim Wagle gifted him Fareed Zakaria’s book, Age of Revolutions.
Since then, Lamichhane has been shunted around from Kathmandu to Pokhara to Chitwan and back to Pokhara to attend police investigations and court proceedings. He was being flown to Birganj via Kathmandu on Buddha Air on Monday. There is another pending case in Janakpur.
Human rights groups and civil society have criticised the government for hounding Lamichhane with inhumane treatment that borders on physical torture. The two parties in the coalition, Nepali Congress (NC) and the UML, see Lamichhane’s RSP as a potentially formidable challenge to their power.
Even if the fraud charges against Lamichhane are true, the Nepali public is increasingly looking at the government’s actions through the police and courts as political vendetta.
Despite all the travelling, sometimes by plane and often by road at night, Lamichhane appears to be in high spirits, waving to supporters who often gather if they know he is going to be driven around. A social media video shows him giving high fives to fellow passengers on a recent flight to Pokhara.&nbsp;
In the past weeks, streets in Pokhara have erupted with parallel protests by Lamichhane’s supporters as well as depositors of cooperatives who lost their savings to the scam.&nbsp;
Although family visits are allowed, prison officials in Pokhara told Nepali Times that not many people visit Lamichhane these days. He added, “When he does get visitors, he asks them to bring him books.”
Lamichhane is currently Nepal’s most high-profile public figure in custody, and highlights the stark difference between how influential prisoners are treated compared to ordinary inmates.
There are six prison cells at Kaski District Police Office’s two-story detention centre, three on each floor. And while authorities pack prisoners into already overcrowded cells, Lamichhane has an entire room on the second floor to himself.&nbsp;
He has also been allowed to call his family every few days. Other prisoners are not permitted phone calls except for emergencies.
Meanwhile, Lamichhane’s former business partner Chhabilal Joshi, an ex-Deputy Inspector General of Police with whom he established his Gorkha Media Network, is in custody under the same charges in the prison cell next to him.
Lamichhane is accused of siphoning off depositors' money to the tv network in which he was part-owner and anchor. &nbsp;
Both Lamichhane and Joshi are able to buy food from the police canteen instead of being served the regular meal like other prisoners. Joshi has also given his statement to authorities in Rupandehi and Kathmandu for his alleged role in the scam. Lamichhane is yet to be presented in Kathmandu for questioning.
While he was in custody at the Kathmandu District Police Complex, Joshi expressed his desire to sleep in a police officer’s office, reportedly assuring authorities that he would not run away and he was entitled to certain facilities as a former officer of the law.
“He seemed to be under the impression that he is still a police officer,” says a source at the Kathmandu District Police. “We made it clear to him that as someone accused of a crime, he was not entitled to special treatment.”
Former ministers Balkrishna Khand and Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, and ex-home secretary Tek Narayan Pandey, who were arrested in connection with the fake refugee scam last year, were similarly housed in the offices of law enforcement officials instead of prison cells. Khand has since been released after six months in jail.
While there is no legal provision to keep high-ranking officials in separate detention centres when they are arrested, authorities granting them special facilities is not uncommon. Law enforcement officials say VIP detainees expect preferential treatment while in police custody.
Among those is former Kosi Province minister Lila Ballav Adhikari, who was arrested from Biratnagar on 10 November over his alleged involvement in human trafficking and brought to Kathmandu. Adhikari had flown to Japan without government approval with three individuals on 29 October to attend a cultural conference, but had been sent back to Nepal from Narita.&nbsp;
His three companions were arrested at Kathmandu airport upon their arrival, but Adhikari was able to exit unscathed from the VIP lounge. Adhikari had resigned as the Kosi Province Minister for Internal Affairs and Law when it became public that his companions had been taken into custody, and was himself arrested shortly after. He has since been cleared by the courts.
Throughout his detention, Adhikari was kept separately from other inmates. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Basant Rajouri, head of the Bhadrakali complex, says that while there is no separate detention area for VIPs, some detainees are kept separately depending on the nature of their crime.
However, sources say that arrangements were made for retired judges and others to visit Adhikari frequently worked at the office of a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) during his time in custody.&nbsp;
“He used to constantly pester the authorities to let him sit outside in the sun, and to be able to use the police officer’s shower area,” added an officer.
Adhikari was released on 25 November after the government prosecutor’s office decided not to charge him in a move that was seen to expose the government’s double standards.
Over at Kathmandu’s Dilli Bazar Prison, former Kist Bank CEO Kamal Gyawali emerges from his prison cell into the courtyard of the prison’s ‘Ka (क)’ block every morning with a thick book in his hands, ready to give his daily sermon.
With his long beard, Gyawali, who is serving a prison sentence for banking fraud, looks the part of a religious guru as he implores his rapt listeners to “walk the right path, abandon bad thoughts and turn to scripture and spirituality”.&nbsp;
Afterward, the attendees gather to discuss politics and current affairs. Inmates at his daily sermons at the prison include other high-profile detainees, including former MP Ichchha Raj Tamang, who is in jail for money laundering and cooperatives fraud, former joint secretary Chudamani Sharma, who was convicted of corruption, as well as NC leader Chandra Bahadur Lama and Krishna Bahadur Upreti of the UML both of whom are on trial for embezzling billions of rupees.
Victims of the cooperatives scam that former lawmaker Tamang was involved in have made trips to the prison and requested visits, but he has refused to meet with any of them.
“Tamang often complains that the state has prevented him from returning the money to the victims by locking him up,” says a police officer at the Dili Bazar jail.
“All you hear every day from the VIP prisoners is that they have been framed,” adds the officer. “No one admits that they were involved in misdeeds.”
But while most high-profile prisoners complain about prison conditions, one exception is former provincial lawmaker Deepak Manange, who is serving a sentence at Dilli Bazar Jail for attempted murder.
“He is the happiest prisoner here,” says a warden. “Unlike the others, he doesn’t claim to have been framed, in fact he doesn’t seem to care that he is in prison.”
Manange is detained in the ‘Kha (ख)’ block of the prison complex, which he renovated at his own expense. The block previously housed female prisoners, but Manange used his influence to transfer them elsewhere. He faces no shortage of visitors, who range from political leaders to people from the underworld.
Along with Manange, other well-known prisoners in this block include Nepal Telecom Managing Director Sunil Poudel, and former executive director of the Surakshan Printing Centre Bikal Poudel, who are serving time for corruption.
Former prisoners at Dilli Bazar prison include ex-ministers Khum Bahadur Khadka and Shyam Sundar Gupta, NC leader Ganesh Lama, Maoist MP Balkrishna Dhungel, Nagarik Unmukti Party leader Resham Chaudhary, as well as former IGs Ramesh Chand Thakuri, Om Bikram Rana, and Hem Bahadur Gurung.
Section 54 of Nepal’s Prison Act assigns each prison’s internal administration the
responsibility of governing its prisoners, which means the more favourable the jail management is, the more comfortable it is for prisoners.
Dilli Bazar prison has been the prison of choice for many high-ranking prisoners, especially those convicted of white collar crimes, due to its more accommodating administrators. The prison, which has the capacity to house 700 inmates, is also less crowded than other jails.
Anuj Bhattarai, spokesperson of the Department of Prison Management, says that there is no legal classification in Nepal for felons to be assigned prisons based on the nature of their crimes.
“That Dilli Bazar Jail has a higher number of prisoners convicted of crimes like corruption is most likely a coincidence,” says Bhattarai. “There is no provision for influential people to be able to choose where they will be incarcerated.”&nbsp;
Translated by Shristi Karki from the Nepali original published in himalkhabar.com

What Nepal’s VIP prisoners do in jail

As soon as she milks her cow, 52-year-old Punam B K is off, pedaling her bicycle furiously along the highway with a blue milk can in the front basket.&nbsp; By the time she arrives at the Jaya Shiva Ganesh Dairy Producers Cooperative in Gopalganj village, others are already there, their bicycles parked on the roadside. The farmers are all holding on to their blue milk cans, and are chatting away.&nbsp; “We keep what is needed for the family, and sell whatever remains here at the cooperative,” says B K, as the volume, fat and non-fat solid content of her milk is measured. It is then poured into a bigger vat to be mixed with milk from other farmers. B K collects her receipt with the value of her milk, and prepares to head home. The farmers are reimbursed on a quarterly basis.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/a-family-that-works-together-stays-together">A family that works together stays together</a>, Sahina Shrestha “Everyone around here has at least a cow or buffalo to provide milk for the family, the cowdung is used for fertiliser, and we can bring whatever is left over to the cooperative,” says B K who, like the others, brings her milk by bicycle twice a day, once in the morning and again in the evening.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241210081232_0df32c0f6a572aef83eca02dc7a86f75ea5dbc88dc6c2390d42a44ab3cc93395.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20241210081232_0df32c0f6a572aef83eca02dc7a86f75ea5dbc88dc6c2390d42a44ab3cc93395" data-rendition-name="original" width="1700" height="1275" loading="lazy" alt="dairy farmers in Chitwan"> </figure>  All this may seem like nothing special, just an ordinary farmer selling her milk. But it has to be seen in the context of dairy farmers overcoming subsistence and increasing household income. Nearly 200,000 dairy farmers from over 1,200 cooperatives have not been paid by the government-run DDC for their milk for a year or more.&nbsp; The DDC has fixed a quota for buying milk from cooperatives that limits production even during the peak winter months. Farmers in Chitwan are so fed up, they have staged demonstrations in Kathmandu and even poured milk on the East-West Highway in protest.&nbsp; Punam B K’s milk ends up in Bhawani Dairy, a milk processing plant in Chitwan that buys milk from various cooperatives in the district. It was established six years ago by three entrepreneur cousins Devrath Baral, Drishya Baral and Subash Paudel and is now being supported by the Commercial Agriculture for Smallholders and Agribusiness (CASA) project.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241210081232_4e3c65390b9c5345f807b10cbb8c36b006ef6d3cb972e07b5067f4b2db2be32e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20241210081232_4e3c65390b9c5345f807b10cbb8c36b006ef6d3cb972e07b5067f4b2db2be32e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1102" loading="lazy" alt="dairy farmers in Chitwan"> </figure>  This UK-funded project implemented by Swisscontact in Nepal has been supporting agro-businesses in 23 countries in Asia and Africa. They focus on improving the capacity of private dairy and vegetable farmers to find markets and build a sustainable supply chain for their produce. It helps dairies like the one in Chitwan with branding and marketing, as well to track business through a Dairy Management System (DMS) digital database.&nbsp; Bhawani Dairy also got support to conduct orientation for cooperative farmers to learn about new ways to boost productivity with breeding, cowshed management and hygiene maintenance. Many commercial farmers in Chitwan, some with up to 60 cows and buffaloes, have benefited.&nbsp; B K says she only has six cows, so not everything she hears at the orientation about increasing cowshed area is applicable. “We are just happy our milk is not wasted, and we can earn some cash from the surplus,” she says.&nbsp; Bhawani Dairy’s clientele is based entirely in Chitwan and in towns along the East-West Highway. But building on its success here, the company is looking to expand nationwide and target the Kathmandu market. Being a perishable product, the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/so-far-so-good/nepal-s-milk-heartland-rebounds">diary business is challenging</a>. Businesses also need investment and technical support to diversify into value-added milk products like cheese, yoghurt, ice cream or powdered milk.&nbsp; “For now, the best thing we as a dairy business can do for farmers is to buy their milk at a decent price and pay them in time,” says Drishya Baral of Bhawani Dairy.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241210081232_6c06efb5674dbcd8679015af543bfda87030755383a13c9269e272af28e85953.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20241210081232_6c06efb5674dbcd8679015af543bfda87030755383a13c9269e272af28e85953" data-rendition-name="original" width="1700" height="1275" loading="lazy" alt="dairy farmers in Chitwan"> </figure>  Another agro-industry supported by CASA since 2018 is Himalayan Supervores, a venture that sources farm produce to supply vegetables and other foods to restaurants and hotels in the city, and even export Halal-certified produce to Gulf countries.&nbsp; CASA helped with cold chain management system to keep vegetable produce fresh so that the products earn trust about quality in the national and international market. Himalayan Supervores is already exporting to UAE and Qatar, and is targeting other Gulf countries next. “The guidance provided by the international expert was invaluable, we could not have bought that knowledge even with money,” says Nelson Shrestha of Himalayan Supervores. “It was not about fancy hardware, but how to minimise wastage, increase productivity, save time and money.”&nbsp; Though Himalayan Supervores collects vegetables from vegetable cooperatives, it indirectly works with a network of thousands of cooperative farmers. Its catchment area therefore is enormous, and it has enhanced their knowledge about organic farming methods, bio-pesticides, and the right way to handle and package vegetables. CASA’s most recent tie-up is with Pokhara-based Poshilo Foods, which specialises in increasing the shelf-life of local nutritional food items. During the Covid lockdown <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p3bparajuli/">Prithwi Kallyan Parajuli</a> saw an opportunity to supply nutritional foods that stayed longer, and set up Poshilo.&nbsp; It took traditional satu flour made from dry-roasted pulse, added more nutrients, and packaged it. Four flavours of satu with nutrient values differentiated for various age groups now line the shelves of supermarket chains like KK Mart, Saleways. Poshilo is now exploring the export market in India.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241210081232_a8dbea8c8d45ac4eff6c37fb47da7ff461989c662ba86d207a008381101acdcf.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20241210081232_a8dbea8c8d45ac4eff6c37fb47da7ff461989c662ba86d207a008381101acdcf" data-rendition-name="original" width="1700" height="1275" loading="lazy" alt="dairy farmers in Chitwan"> </figure>  In the five years of helping Nepali agribusinesses, CASA has already teamed up with 35 established companies. Parajuli heaps fulsome praise on the catalytic support and guidance he got early on, not just for product design, but to explore market viability, branding and marketing.&nbsp; He has participated in government-led programs before, but says those are one-off and focus only on technical solutions and do not pay much attention to the important back-end work with management and sales.&nbsp; Says Devrath Baral of Bhawani Dairy in Chitwan: “We would probably have eventually got to where we are now, but it would have taken years longer without CASA. And now we can share our experience with other agribusinesses in Nepal.”

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