<figure><img width="1236" height="737" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107121148/6368f0779c7e80680e0359d6jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>onlinekhabar.com</figcaption></figure>Keshav Sharan Lamichhane in Annapurna Post, 17 JulyYouth in Pokhara have shown the way to recycling plastic by paving a section of road with the non-biodegradable waste (pictured, above).  Plastic wrappers from noodles, biscuits, milk packets and tobacco were used to blacktop 100m of Anupam Marg in Pokhara-14, and the section was inaugurated by Pokhara Mayor Man Bahadur GC. Green Road Waste Management introduced plastic into the traditional bitumen mixture, reducing the amount of expensive asphalt concentrate to make cheaper, longer-lasting and environmentally friendly roads.The plastic waste is first processed into pellets, then boiled at 160 Celsius with other components including asphalt. Of the 2,475 litres of bitumen used in the blacktopping of Anupam Marg, up to 16% was plastic and cost only Rs20,000. “The use of plastic saves Rs200,000 per km of road. This means if we are to pave 200km of road, it will save us Rs20 million,” said civil engineer Rajiv Subedi of Green Road Waste Management. Subedi spent a week in Bhutan learning about the technology, first introduced in India in 2001. So far, 100,000 km of roads in India and 200 km in Bhutan have been blacktopped using plastic. Kathmandu can learn from Pokhara, given how much plastic is piling up in garbage on the streets. “Using plastic to pave roads is an appropriate alternative to the Valley’s growing plastic pollution,” said Sanjeev Bastola, founder of the Green Road Waste Management. “Roads blacktopped with plastic have higher load-bearing capacity, are water resistant, and durable.”Also read: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/plastic-money/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Plastic money</a>, Samuel Johns<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/making-money-from-garbage-in-kathmandu,2055" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rupees from rubbish</a>, Sahina Shrestha

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Pokhara's plastic road

<img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107121140/6368ef139c7e80680e03595bjpeg.jpg" alt=""/>As human beings, we are creatures who measure. We count. We quantify. We love numbers even more with every passing year with the 'Decade of Data' now well underway.Money is no different. We count and calculate it. We measure and monitor. We consider our spending and contemplate new income streams. But money doesn't grow on trees. So where does it come from?Nepal has been the rich beneficiary of strong governmental relations with Western countries like the US, UK, Germany, for over seven decades since joining the Colombo Plan in 1952. Today, foreign aid to Nepal accounts for around $350 million per year making up a sizeable chunk of Nepal’s total GDP.But in his book Kathmandu, Thomas Bell warns: 'The agents of development rather than the targets, have benefitted financially … thousands of man-hours of expert advice have failed to upskill or incentivise the indigenous workforce significantly.'Aid often fails to breed a sense of dignity, responsibility and ownership. Social entrepreneurship is a better option. A growing group of business-minded, socially-interested stakeholders from both within and outside Nepal are now reframing the debate on aid. What if enterprise took the place of aid? What if micro-loans and micro-financing replaced the '<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/gigantism/">gigantism</a>'  of macro-projects in Nepal?The ultimate, good and true purpose of business is to increase human wellbeing. When people create wealth themselves, however, they are empowered, and benefit from a sense of dignity, ownership, and responsibility. The imbalance in relations between the 'West' and the 'Rest' too often results in positions of power and paternal stances of support.The wealthy then typically see their responsibility towards the poor in terms of chairty. Not only can this breed dependency and irresponsibility, but it is also liable to corruption and misuse. Further, such aid rarely pays respect to local norms, indigenous cultures and practices.Enterprise, or more specifically social enterprise, focuses on enabling, creating, and facilitating long-term indigenous enterprises. These foster 'independence, dignity, and ownership...rather than breed dependency, these approaches encourage responsibility’, notes the British thinker on business, Peter Heslam.Social enterprises are coming up all over Nepal. Visit the Village Cafe in Pulchok and taste the fantastic Newari yomari. This is an initiative of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/review/The-Village-Cafe,120.">the SAARC Business Association of Home Based Workers (SABAH)</a> Operating on a model of dispersed ownership, SABAH runs as a social enterprise with a flat hierarchy.Not only does this mean every voice is listened to (helpful in cottage industries and with <a href="https://nepalitimes.atavist.com/the-kingdom-of-cardamom">home based workers</a> in particular) but more importantly responsibility &amp; ownership are divided amongst all members. Learn more <a href="http://sabahnp.org/">here</a>. A trip to Baglung district, west of Pokhara, will show you social enterprise in action with educational institutions. Bhimsen Higher Secondary School (HSS) based in Bihun of Baglung runs a social enterprise arm in partnership with <a href="http://www.psdnepal.org">PSD Nepal</a>, where initiative is fostered. Local staff, students, and teachers pitch for ideas of extra-curricular support whether sporting events, musical instruments, new ICT equipment or smart-screens, and the like. PSD Nepal helps partner with funders to make these initiatives happen. All the responsibility is at the local, grassroots level, and initiatives for new ideas stems from the school itself too.<a href="http://himalayanlife.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Himalayan Plastic</a> in Pokhara featured in this newspaper <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/plastic-money/">(18-24 June 2018, #910)</a> works to get street children into employment. Training and apprenticeships from carpentry to mechanics, metal-making, and plumbing serve not only to give valuable skills to ex-street children, but also lead into careers and jobs with Himalayan Plastic recycling based in Pokhara Industrial Park -- another brilliant example of social enterprise fostering local, applicable, practical skills.Interestingly, <a href="http://www.hiddenjourneysnepal.com">Hidden Journeys Nepal</a> works to connect these dots. Show-casing meaningful projects with meaningful impact across Nepal, they share success-models and inspire future entrepreneurs. As they put it – there are 'intelligent solutions that improve people's lives' all across Nepal.From SABAH to Himalayan Plastic in Pokhara, to Baglung, and many more initiatives across Nepal, social enterprises are promoting grassroots leadership, local solutions, circular economies, and resourcefulness. A move from aid to enterprise would foster responsibility in Nepal. Enterprise demands ownership, a training-ground for integrity, trust and honesty. Enterprise lasts.Samuel Johns studied geography at the University of Oxford and UBC in Canada and writes about the Himalaya in the anthropocene.Photo: Yuvaraj Shrestha

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Nepal moves from aid to enterprise

<h4>The government’s plastic bans have been repeatedly sabotaged by</h4>big businesseshttps://youtu.be/VP-vD3sJbXUTwo years ago, just after the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2015/03/23/plastic-free-valley-in-new-year/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">government announced a ban on plastic bags</a> thinner than 30 microns, the newly-appointed joint-secretary at the Ministry of Environment, Durga Prasad Dawadi, had visitors.They were plastic bag manufacturers, and were shown in. They bluntly warned Dawadi that if the ban went ahead, their investment would be lost and tens of thousands of workers would be out of their jobs.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d6849c7e80680e03148bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="640"/>“I told them the main source of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/a-load-of-rubbish-kathmandus-garbage-problem,4039" target="_blank" rel="noopener">garbage</a> on the streets is plastic waste, and we cannot measure the damage to the environment and human health in rupees,” Dawadi recalls. However, he said there first needs to be a law to apprehend and punish plastic bag manufacturers.Sunil Manandhar was Environment Minister at the time and says the lack of legal provisions is being used as an excuse to allow the plastic industry to function without hindrance. He says the Environment Conservation Law of 1996 clearly spells out conditions under which a violator can have its license revoked.It has been 20 years since the production and use of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Buzz-plastic-wars,612" target="_blank" rel="noopener">plastic bags</a> has seen exponential growth. Now, there are 250 factories converting imported raw material in pellet form into bags and other goods.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=6130&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Plastic money</a>, Samuel Johns<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d6889c7e80680e03148cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="933"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Another former Environment Minister Ganesh Shah admits that he tried but failed to implement the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/plastic-free-new-year,2174" target="_blank" rel="noopener">plastic ban</a> in 2008. While being involved in a Bagmati solid waste cleanup campaign, Shah realised that plastic bags constituted a large portion of the city’s non-biodegradable waste. In fact, Kathmandu Valley today produces more than 500 tons of plastic waste a day.Former ministers, secretaries and other bureaucrats in the Environment Ministry interviewed for this article all confirmed that their initiatives to ban the production of plastic bags were sabotaged by industrialists who enjoyed political protection.“They used all kinds of pressure and inducements to ensure that the plastic ban was not implemented,” says former minister Manandhar. “I experienced the coercion myself during my tenure.” He suspects that officials of his own ministry involved in formulating a plastic bag ban directive in 2011 were conspiring to allow loopholes.Durga Prasad Dawadi, who is now Director General of the Department of Environment, says every time a minister started talking about a plastic ban to reduce the garbage burden, somehow the businessmen would get wind of it and arrive at the ministry with large delegations. He says the pressure also came from political party leaders.Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=6137&amp;elementor" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Virtuous cycle</a>, Yuvaraj ShresthaJust a fortnight ago, four businessmen came to his office with a recommendation from the Maoist Minister of Forests and Environment Shakti Basnet to clear 16 truckloads of waste cotton from Bangladesh stopped at Jhapa customs.“I said I could not clear something harmful to the environment, and they threatened me. They said they would teach me a lesson for not obeying the minister,” Dawadi recalls. He says similar tactics were used to revoke plastic bans in the past.https://youtu.be/SGhXMvSkzhAAnother former Environment Secretary Krishna Gyawali says there is no excuse for the bureaucracy to let businesses off the hook: “If the law is weak, it is their job to make it stronger.”A notice in the gazette announced a ban on bags below 30 microns effective Nepali New Year on 14 April 2015. As with all previous directives, this one was never implemented. This time, the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/kundadixit/2015/05/27/a-month-that-felt-like-a-year/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">earthquake</a> was used as the excuse, but ex-minister Ganesh Shah is convinced industrialists were again behind it.Plastic bag manufacturers petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn the ban in 2015. However, the court ruled in favour of the government, saying that plastic bags were harmful to human health and the environment, and that the ban had legal basis.Last year’s budget once again announced a ban on plastic bags. That decision was also soon forgotten. Towns like Pokhara, Biratnagar and Dharan have also tried to implement plastic bag bans without success.Dawadi says the government’s policy itself is contradictory: “How can the Ministry of Industry give licenses to plastic factories on the one hand, and the Ministry of Environment ban them?”Read Also:  <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/plastic-free-new-year,2174" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Plastic-free new year, not easy</a>,  Sahina ShresthaShard Sharma, Chair of the Nepal Plastic Producers Association, says it is natural for his industry to lobby against the ban. “We have invested billions with permission from the government, we have been paying taxes, you cannot ban plastic just because some NGOs oppose it,” he told Nepali Times. “If you want to close us down, we have to be compensated.”Environmentalists say the excessive use of one-time-use plastic bags clog up drains, spoil river banks, and release carcinogenic dioxin into the air when it is burnt. Thin plastic bags are blown about by the wind into farmlands and affect harvests.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d68a9c7e80680e03148djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="400" height="346">The public is used to the convenience of plastic bags, however, and not enough has been done to raise awareness about its hazards. Affordable alternatives to plastic bags and water bottles are also absent. Future bans must also include foil wrappers and smaller instant noodle and candy packs, Dawadi says.One way to reduce plastic use would be to tax it, or to put a price on plastic waste, as has been done in the Langtang National Park (see adjoining article).Shopkeepers can also pay a role, as shown by Bhatbhateni and Big Mart which do not give away plastic bags. But the volume of plastic waste can be reduced if household and street garbage are sorted at source.There is also an initiative to turn plastic bags into diesel by Rabindra Dhakal at the Nepal Academy of Science and Technology (NAST). Although proven, it has to be upscaled from a lab experiment to industrial production. On Monday, Kirtipur announced that it would discourage plastic bags, and is distributing 10,000 cloth bags as alternative. Lamahi of Dang has banned plastic cups and plates, and will soon ban bags. However, noodle and biscuit wrappers are still a problem.Says environmental campaigner Bhusan Tuladhar: “Yes, plastic waste is a huge problem. But with big store chains banning it and rising public awareness, it is not all a flop.”Read Also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/a-load-of-rubbish-kathmandus-garbage-problem,4039" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A load of rubbish</a>,  Sahina Shrestha

Industrial scale litter

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d69d9c7e80680e031495jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="1050"/><figcaption>Discarded PET bottles trucked in to Pokhara from as far away as Langtang National park.</figcaption></figure>When Daniel Burgi first came to Nepal to work for United Mission to Nepal’s hydropower projects, he travelled all over Nepal and decided to dedicate his life for the education of Nepali children.He set up the non-profit group, Himalayan Life Nepal and to pay for its work, Burgi and Nepali colleague Chanman Srimal spent most of their time fundraising from donors. There must be a self-sustaining way to pay for a children’s charity, they thought.What could be a social entrepreneurship activity that could raise money for children? At first they thought of making chemical-free soaps for Pokhara’s hotels, and while planning for it noticed mountains of plastic waste piled high along streets in the scenic city.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=6124&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Industrial scale litter</a>, Mukesh Pokhrel<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=6130&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Plastic money</a>, Samuel Johns<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d6a19c7e80680e031496jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="934"><figcaption>Workers sort the bottles, selecting transparent ones.</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d6a49c7e80680e031497jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="934"><figcaption>Labels and caps are removed. Coloured bottles are sold to other recyclers.</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d6a79c7e80680e031498jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="934"><figcaption>Bottles are machine-shredded into flakes to be processed into plastic pellets.</figcaption></figure>Six years ago, no one had really thought you could make money <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/recycle-reuse-reduce-garbage-kathmandu,1279" target="_blank" rel="noopener">recycling plastic</a>. But Burgi and Srimal came up with a feasible plan and registered Himalayan Life Plastic Pvt Ltd in the Pokhara Industrial Estate with an initial investment of Rs60 million.The factory now employs 65 workers to buy discarded PET bottles collected from Kathmandu, Pokhara, Syangja, Tanahu and Langtang (see story, above) and recycle them into pellets for reuse.The business model is quite simple: discarded transparent PET bottles are bought for Rs35 per kg, processed into pellets and sold to other plastic industries for reuse at Rs115 per kg, which is much cheaper than the raw material they import for Rs200 per kg of pellets.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d6aa9c7e80680e031499jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="1050"><figcaption>The Chinese-made machines can recycle 3,000 bottles in every 8-hour shift.</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d6ad9c7e80680e03149ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="1050"><figcaption>Pellets are weighed and filled into sacks before dispatch to customers all over Nepal.</figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d6b09c7e80680e03149bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="1050"><figcaption>Sacks of pellets ready for transport from Himalayan Life in Pokhara.</figcaption></figure>“Using recycled pellets means there is less plastic garbage in the environment, plastic industries have cheaper raw materials, and it reduces Nepal’s import bill,” says manager Prabhat Pratik of Himalayan Life.Ironically, one of the biggest problem is competition from Indian recycling companies who source plastic trash from Nepal in bulk and have the advantage of an economy of scale.There is criticism that the plastic is being recycled to make other plastic, but that overlooks the fact that the environment is rid of plastic trash. Pratik calls this "upcycling, not recycling".Ashok Sapkota of Green Society Nepal agrees: “Ventures like these need government support. They clean up the environment, reduce the import bill, create employment, pay taxes, and still make a profit that they plough into children’s welfare.”<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d6b39c7e80680e03149cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="640">Read also:<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/recycle-reuse-reduce-garbage-kathmandu,1279" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Recycle, reuse, reduce</a>,  Donatella Lorch<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/making-money-from-garbage-in-kathmandu,2055" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rupees from rubbish</a>,  Sahina Shresthahttps://youtu.be/VP-vD3sJbXU

Virtuous cycle

<h4>Conservation group pays Rs 1 for every discarded plastic bottle in Langtang to upcycle them</h4><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d68e9c7e80680e03148fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="1318"/>Langtang Valley is just beginning to recover from the earthquake three years ago, but another disaster looms large here in the high Himalaya: The Plastic Crisis.As the region rebuilds, tourists are flocking back to this stunningly scenic region, 7-hour drive north of Kathmandu. Every year, about 15,000 trekkers visit the Langtang National Park, using up and leaving behind 200,000 plastic water bottles. A conservative estimate puts the number of discarded bottles in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-reincarnation-of-a-holy-valley/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Langtang Valley</a> alone at 5 million.It takes just three seconds to throw away a water bottle, but it will take 450 years for it to biodegrade. The plastic will be around for seven more generations of Nepalis by the banks of the Bhote Kosi (picture below).But here in Langtang survivors of the earthquake are building a new beginning, they have understood the importance of keeping this jewel clean and safe. These mountains are an asset in the richest sense of the word, with huge aesthetic and environmental value which, if protected, can also provide economic benefits from trekking.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d6909c7e80680e031490jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="640">The <a href="http://www.psdnepal.org" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Partnership for Sustainable Development</a> (PSD) is a Nepali advocacy group involved in the retrieval and recycling of plastic trash in cooperation with the Kyanjin Gompa Langtang Society. PSD is also partnering with <a href="https://sustainablemountainarchitecture.tumblr.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sustainable Mountain Architecture</a> to build a model pavilion entirely of plastic bottles in Rasuwa to raise public awareness. It supports the work of Nepali scientists to turn plastic waste into diesel. All this may seem like a drop in the ocean compared to the 1,000 tons of solid waste daily, much of it plastic, that <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/a-load-of-rubbish-kathmandus-garbage-problem,4039" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Kathmandu</a> produces. But <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/everest-garbage-caravan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">every drop counts</a>.Read also:<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=6124&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Industrial scale litter</a>, Mukesh Pokhrel<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=6137&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Virtuous cycle</a>, Yuvaraj Shrestha<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d6929c7e80680e031491jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="934"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>In 2017 PSD launched a simple scheme to pay Rs1 for every PET bottle. About 15,000 bottles per month collected from <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/langtang-destroyed-in-earthquake,2205" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Langtang</a> are dispatched to Himalayan Plastic in Pokhara where they are recycled to make educational material. The whole enterprise is funded and fuelled by the economics of recycling and providing desperately needed employment, vision, and long-term support in Langtang, where 400 people lost their lives in the earthquake.Cultivating a circular economy around waste, especially plastic, is one way to tackle the impact of the quake on tourism. It creates jobs, local employment, and local responsibility for waste that would otherwise litter the environment.https://youtu.be/VP-vD3sJbXUThopden Sonam has been hard at work for the past seven months collecting, sorting, cleaning, and storing the 500kg of<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/recycle-reuse-reduce-garbage-kathmandu,1279" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> plastic bottles</a> a month that are trucked to Himalayan Plastic. The 1000-litre drums are full to the brim with sorted plastic, ready for the next shipment. Thopden stores the leftover mix of sugar-soda bottles and mineral water bottles supplied to trekkers in the valley. You name the brand and they have all been salvaged from the banks of rivers in Langtang Valley: Bailley, Natural Nepal Water, Kinley, Aqua, Coke, Sprite.Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/making-money-from-garbage-in-kathmandu,2055" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rupees from rubish</a>,  Sahina Shrestha<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/everest-garbage-caravan/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Everest garbage caravan</a>,  Sonia Awale<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d6969c7e80680e031492jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="933"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Our slogan ‘Langtang Himal, Ramro Himal’ seeks to spread environmental consciousness and clean trails, and help the tourism economy. Convincing the locals is no easy matter, and sometimes things move slow.Recycling is not only an option for keeping the Himalaya clean, but can also be a modest income stream for local people.The 100 tons of plastic thrown away actually represents Rs 7 million, if it can be collected for recycling.Slowly, the message is spreading: why throw bottles in the river, if you can recycle them? Even better, why recycle them if you can upcycle?Samuel Johns studied geography at the University of Oxford and UBC in Canada and writes about the Himalaya in the anthropocene.Read also:<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/a-load-of-rubbish-kathmandus-garbage-problem,4039" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A load of rubbish</a>,  Sahina Shrestha<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-reincarnation-of-a-holy-valley/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The reincarnation of a holy valley</a>,  Clara Bullock<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107101156/6368d6999c7e80680e031493jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="366" height="571">

Plastic money

One Friday night last month, we were swapping stories about Vipassana, a rigorous <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/practicing-mindfulness-in-schools?fbclid=IwAR2X1T9SNG1tWe61UPqMUgHjOWNZ4U1foJyURLJMrjYAsUdr4u_mz1rmC1U">meditation</a> technique of silent observation, over dinner. We spoke of its ten days of noble silence, of respiration, observation, and sensation.&nbsp; I told them about my first retreat in Lumbini last year when my mind kept getting distracted: ‘What is happening in the outside world? Is <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/those-were-the-days-knea0341">K P Oli still prime minister</a>? When I emerged ten days later, he was still PM. During my second Vipassana in February this year, I reassured my mind that nothing dramatic could unfold in ten days. Still, my gut knew this country was always one headline away from <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/trial-by-fire">revolution</a>. By my third retreat, I was confident, even cocky.&nbsp; At that dinner, I joked: “What could possibly change? If Oli survived my first two meditation retreats, the world can hold steady for a third.” I should’ve known better. On 1 September, I was back at Shivapuri for the second time, my third retreat, with no expectations — only hope that ten days of noble silence would peel yet another layer from my mind.&nbsp; Vipassana is a paradox: brutally difficult, yet infinitely generous. It is the tool needed to tame and know your unconscious mind, and to know yourself even a little through it is a profound achievement. My room at Z House had the best view of the Kathmandu Valley. I developed a ritual: press my hands against my cheeks and stare down at the city. The city below looks chaotic, but somehow beautiful in its stubbornness, where pollution and pride coexist. From up there, it looked like no one was free, trapped in their egos, pettiness and misery.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250913090920_9e77930ed911289c05a731605157f402c06249347e33964dc59c58d32dc2a6d6.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20250913090920_9e77930ed911289c05a731605157f402c06249347e33964dc59c58d32dc2a6d6" data-rendition-name="original" width="3000" height="1300" loading="lazy" alt="Vipassana during Nepal revolution"> <figcaption>Those undergoing Vipassana in Sundarijal had no idea of the chaos and mayhem the country was undergoing. Photos: AARSALA ADHIKARI(Photo: Sonia Awale)</figcaption> </figure>  Then, softer thoughts of Metta and compassion would emerge. If only every single person could sit in silence and know their breath, just once. Blessed with ten days of Dhamma teachings on universal law, I imagined our 334 patriarchal parliamentarians and the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/house-of-cards?%2F">Oli, Deuba, Prachanda trinity</a>. UNSEEN CHAOS On the seventh and the eighth days of Vipassana (8–9 September) there was <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/kathmandu-burns-despite-pm-resignation">black smoke rising from the Valley </a>below. Why were people burning all that garbage? There was no traffic on the straight road down from Budanilkantha. There were gunshots, and I assumed locals were shooting at marauding monkeys. I mistook the sound of helicopters at night for flights circling after takeoff.&nbsp; On the ninth day and in the morning of the tenth, it rained heavily. I tried to spot Dharara like I did every day, but the city was shrouded in a blanket of thick black smog. Even after two days of heavy rain, the smoke had not been washed down. This did not make sense, but my mind had returned to the safe harbour of my meditation. Nothing to see here. On the morning of 9/11, the tenth day, as we emerged from silence, the hall outside filled with chatter. Many people left, weeping, overwhelmed by the experience of the past ten days. We joked about our hardships and dreamt of delicious food, feeling a wave of accomplishment after a documentary about how Vipassana had transformed Tihar Jail in New Delhi.&nbsp; The hall radiated with inspiration and hope. Then, as the film ended an assistant teacher made an announcement: “There are serious protests going on in the Valley. K P Oli has resigned as prime minister. There are no cabinet ministers. The military has taken over, and a curfew has been imposed.”&nbsp; The news hit like a lightning bolt. Mental tranquility gave way to gasps of “What the f**k?” In the main Dhamma Hall, some women erupted in applause. We had spent ten days cultivating Metta, only to step out and realise the world had erupted into chaos. We huddled, trying to piece together fragments of what was happening. The Valley was <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-turmoil-will-hit-tourism">still covered in black smoke</a>, the main road was still quiet. A neighbour turned up the radio, reporting deaths, destruction and curfew.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250913050944_ce09e04207ef5eb72ea55800b76df0c16a9d46a3eea957a4ecb0d67e978c2595.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20250913050944_ce09e04207ef5eb72ea55800b76df0c16a9d46a3eea957a4ecb0d67e978c2595" data-rendition-name="original" width="1440" height="1200" loading="lazy" alt="Meme doing the rounds on social media"> <figcaption>Meme doing the rounds on social media. </figcaption> </figure>  A first-time meditator, Shivani Karn, overheard a neighbour from wall cross telling his son that people had been shot and that he should not go to school any more. She had wanted to flee the Centre, but stayed on. Stranded foreigners from Argentina to China were bewildered and terrified. Volunteers debriefed us, recounting the shocking details: buildings burning, ministers’ houses ransacked, Oli fleeing, Deuba and his wife beaten up. The leaders were all in the Shivapuri barracks up the mountain. Over 15,000 inmates had broken out of prison. It was a catastrophe unfolding in real time. The city felt ripped out from a nightmare. In the common space, people complained about <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-s-gen-z-protest-turns-deadly">corruption and the ban on social media</a>. But an understanding emerged: both those in power and those who grant it are bound by the law of cause and effect. Driving down from Shivapuri on the morning of 12 September, my heart sank. The smog I had seen was smoke from still smouldering buildings. It was not garbage burning, but the rage of the people. Those were not people scaring away monkeys, but guns that killed innocent lives. The sound of aircraft were actually helicopters rescuing politicians.&nbsp; We drove past Singha Darbar, a charred ruin. Another Vipassana meditator, Anjali Baidya, shared a chilling memory. She recalled being 12 years old in 1973, watching from her home in Makhan Tole as Singha Durbar first caught fire. History had repeated itself 52 years later.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250910140912_e6bf05bfe95f519e05ab8d9016587211b241340fd23a0f9ae728e74747fc5f29.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20250910140912_e6bf05bfe95f519e05ab8d9016587211b241340fd23a0f9ae728e74747fc5f29" data-rendition-name="original" width="8064" height="6048" loading="lazy" alt="Nepal in ashes"> <figcaption>Singha Darba, the seat of the government, set ablaze on 9th September. Photo: KAMAL PRASAI</figcaption> </figure>  One Bhatbhateni supermarket after another were scorched, police stations, government offices, once symbols of everyday life. There were soldiers everywhere, not police. &nbsp;Amidst the devastation, a deeper truth settled in. This, too, was Anicca — impermanence. Anicca teaches us that all things are constantly changing, including our thoughts, emotions, and physical sensations. Political systems, power structures, national crises are all transitory. This understanding is crucial for healing. When we cling to the idea that a leader, political system or ourselves are permanent, we set ourselves up for disappointment and anger when it inevitably changes. The Dhamma teaches that responsibility is shared. The anger and fear on the streets are similar to feelings many carry inside. We Nepalis have intergenerational trauma. What I saw was not an abstraction: the gunshots and chaos echoed the terrifying nights of 1 February 2005 in Panauti, a grim replay of the fear I knew as a child at Malpi school, huddling with friends for safety.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/what-next-nepal">What next, Nepal?</a>, Shristi Karki Our national history is a series of ruptures that become personal landmarks. I was nine years old at my aunt’s birthday party on 1 June 2001, when the celebration was abruptly called off and we were sent home into the silent shock of a royal massacre.&nbsp; This pattern must be broken, and it starts now. The path to national healing must begin with individual healing. We can learn from the story of Angulimala, a violent figure who was transformed by the Buddha’s compassion. The Buddha walked steadily toward him and said, “I have stopped, Angulimala. You must stop too.” Angulimala realised the truth, renounced violence, and was enlightened. Cycles of anger and conflict can be softened and transformed. Nepal’s long-term well-being depends on our ability to approach the Dhamma as a pragmatic tool. Inner calm can help us process collective trauma. By cultivating forgiveness and compassion, we can create a stability that begins within. True healing begins when we stop externalising our pain or intellectualising our emotions, and start nurturing our own inner peace. As the dust settles, the true noise begins: the roar within. We are left with a stark choice: remain trapped in this endless loop of rage, or we can deliberately choose to stop. The Dhamma is not some philosophy for a meditation centre; it is the raw truth of our applied wisdom. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/madam-prime-minister-of-nepal">Sushila Karki, Nepal’s first female prime minister</a>, may have emerged as a new ‘messiah’ but we must begin to take responsibility and accountability. Change cannot come from chaos, it is a conscious effort we must make precisely when it feels most impossible.&nbsp; The path forward is not through the streets, but inward — into the ruins of our own self-righteousness. The disparity and deep-seated grudges are the quiet kindling that have brought this new revolution. The rage on the streets is about suppressed dignity, and a burning hunger for justice.&nbsp; It is time to check the recesses of our minds and hearts, sit down, breathe, and to ask: “When do we stop running, and when do we start healing?”&nbsp; Alisha Sijapati is a writer specialising in cultural heritage, and a former Nepali Times correspondent.

Vipassana during a revolution

After prolonged negotiations over the weekend, Nepal’s new <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/madam-prime-minister-of-nepal">Prime Minister Sushila Karki</a> on Monday appointed three members to her Council of Ministers, but the youth group that put her in power does not like her choice. The GenZ group that initiated the movement that toppled Nepal’s government accused Karki of not being consulted about the choice of Om Prakash Aryal, a lawyer who was helping with negotiating with the Army, as the Home and Law Minister.&nbsp; GenZ’s purported leader <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/who-or-what-is-hami-nepal">Sudan Gurung</a> led a group of his supporters and families of youth killed in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/raising-nepal-from-the-ashes">last week’s demonstration</a> at a midnight protest outside the prime minister’s residence, demanding Karki’s resignation unless she listened to them. Aryal is also a legal adviser to Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah, who has supported the GenZ movement but refused their offer to lead the interim government.&nbsp; The other two ministers include former Finance Secretary Rameshore Khanal as Finance Minister, and the popular former chief of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) Kulman Ghising as the Energy Minister, Urban Development Minister, and Minister of Physical Infrastructure and Transport. They were sworn in on Monday. While Prime Minister Karki has said she wants competent and honest technocrats in the Council of Ministers, GenZ has been pushing for candidates that do not seem to meet her criteria — including a military officer and Mayor Balen Shah’s candidate.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025091511090_f7db633bbf56c5e2a43b6cd248e522365f56cd34578d65cdeca243c65d807f6d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2025091511090_f7db633bbf56c5e2a43b6cd248e522365f56cd34578d65cdeca243c65d807f6d" data-rendition-name="original" width="2048" height="1365" loading="lazy" alt="new ministers being sworn in"> </figure>  Karki’s list is said to include retired Lt Gen Balananda Sharma, &nbsp;Magsaysay Award winner Mahabir Pun of the National Innovation Centre, former Education Minister Sumana Shrestha who quit RSP on Sunday and Dharan Mayor Harka Sampang. Karki met the government machinery on Sunday at her Singha Darbar office. Speaking without a prepared text, she admitted that there had been a “huge loss” not just to government buildings but also to official and court records during the 9 September arson attacks. “I am ashamed to say that there has been a systematic targeting of sensitive and essential government institutions, we will track down the perpetrators and investigate them,” she said. Karki also assured officials that she had no intention of staying on as prime minister beyond 5 March, the date she has set for early elections. She added: “The destruction by criminal elements has added to our challenges, but we have to choose but to unite and rebuild. This movement was about ending corruption, improving governance and equality. Help me achieve those goals.” <h2>KNOW YOUR MINISTERS</h2> Om Prakash Aryal Home Minister, Minister of Law  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250915110916_6bbaa39c523979ea1a3e85bd496232fa0dcb6152718ede106078bb5f3d069c3c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20250915110916_6bbaa39c523979ea1a3e85bd496232fa0dcb6152718ede106078bb5f3d069c3c" data-rendition-name="original" width="960" height="955" loading="lazy" alt="Om Prakash Aryal"> <figcaption>Om Prakash Aryal</figcaption> </figure>  Back in 2016, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/do-gooders-to-watch-out-for,3435">Om Prakash Aryal</a> filed a writ petition against the appointment of all powerful Lokman Singh Karki to the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), paving way for the impeachment of the head of the anti-graft body together with Prime Minister Sushila Karki, who was then Chief Justice. An advocate at the Supreme Court, Aryal gained widespread fame for his work in Public Interest Litigation. Most recently, earlier this year he filed a petition against then Prime Minister K P Oli and Minister for Land Management Bala Ram Adhikari, among others, for their alleged role in the non-implementation of Supreme Court order in the Giribandhu tea estate land scam in eastern Nepal. Aryal came from Gulmi to Kathmandu to be a singer, but ended up pursuing a career in law instead. Aryal also served four years in the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), and was based in Geneva with the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ). Rameshore Khanal Finance Minister  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250915110916_1655aeec3a17a048663b95c0dec3ab302300c51d61f6aed682b17fe5c1532c58.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250915110916_1655aeec3a17a048663b95c0dec3ab302300c51d61f6aed682b17fe5c1532c58" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="666" loading="lazy" alt="Finance Minister"> <figcaption>Rameshore Khanal</figcaption> </figure>  Former Finance Secretary Rameshore Khanal has over 30 years of experience in the civil service, and led reforms in government accounting and reporting, public procurements, tax policy and administration. He also served as Chair of the Board in Agricultural Development Bank and was Board Director in Nepal Rastra Bank, Rastriya Banijya Bank, Nepal Telecom Company, and Nepal Airlines. He also served as an economic adviser to Baburam Bhattarai when he was prime minister in 2013. In October last year, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-in-the-red">he led the government formed</a> the High Level Economic Reforms Recommendation Commission. The 440-page recommendation released last month included review of the fixed exchange rate with India and the provision for national political parties to receive grants so candidates did not have to depend on business donors at election time. He has announced that he is not going to take a salary, official residence, body guard or official car for himself. Kulman Ghising Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Minister, Urban Development Minister, and Minister of Physical Infrastructure and Transport  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250915110920_7704ba4dd27f06d423852bc9792610cc89acdbee6ff0b380904479c095d328ab.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20250915110920_7704ba4dd27f06d423852bc9792610cc89acdbee6ff0b380904479c095d328ab" data-rendition-name="original" width="1057" height="769" loading="lazy" alt="Kulman Ghising"> <figcaption>Kulman Ghising</figcaption> </figure>  The man credited for ending 18-hour-a-day loadshedding in Nepal was also considered for the post of Prime Minister before Sushila Karki was chosen by the GenZ movement on Friday. Ghising is a two-time CEO of Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) before <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/sacking-of-nea-chief-exposes-cronyism">his tenure was cut short</a> by the Oli-led governing coalition earlier this year and replaced by Hitendra Dev Shakya. Ghising’s removal was seen as being politically motivated, and outraged the public and commentators. Many expected Ghising to open his own party ahead of the 2027 elections two years later, but is seen to be close to the Maoist-Centre party. After being appointed NEA chief in 2016, Ghising cut off the dedicated electricity feeds to industries, and redistributed the saved power to the public — ending long power cuts. But he also imported electricity from India to ensure 24-hour supply during the winter dry season to meet demand. Several new hydropower plants came into operation during his tenure, and today Nepal had an electricity surplus.&nbsp; OTHER APPOINTMENTS Elsewhere, Sabita Bhandari Baral has been appointed Nepal’s first female Attorney General.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250915110920_4d60704a1e69309fdfb49a195f538c32159f27748fd2be88693c609ddb98d380.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20250915110920_4d60704a1e69309fdfb49a195f538c32159f27748fd2be88693c609ddb98d380" data-rendition-name="original" width="730" height="506" loading="lazy" alt="Female attorney general"> <figcaption>Sabita Bhandari Baral</figcaption> </figure>  By Sunday, total casualties of the nationwide GenZ protests has reached 72. Prime Minister Karki has declared that bereaved families of those killed in the protests will be compensated while hundreds of those still receiving treatment in hospitals will be treated for free. &nbsp;

Nepal interim government faces first hiccups

While protesters were torching the Special Government Attorney Office at Mandala on Tuesday, they shouted slogans <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-s-gen-z-protest-turns-deadly">denouncing government corruption</a>. They did not seem to know that in reality the Government Attorney’s office was carrying out active investigations and prosecuting multiple cases of government corruption. Their case files have now been reduced to ashes. While attackers ransacked the building room by room and and burnt it down, they said they were protesting the government’s inability to catch the person who raped and murdered of 13-year-old <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/justice-delayed-and-denied">Nirmala Panta </a>in Kanchanpur seven years ago.&nbsp; In reality, the District Government Attorney’s Office has been carrying out and directing<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/justice-eludes-many-rape-survivors"> investigations against rapists and abusers</a> whose victims were even younger than Nirmala. As an ordinary Nepali citizen before joining the Government Attorney’s Office, I had read about &nbsp;Nirmala’s story in the media. It was a major case that shook the nation, and the biggest rape case I had heard about.&nbsp; But once I was behind my desk as a Government Attorney myself, not a day went by when there was at least one new rape investigation file. This was a serial horror on a nationwide scale. The <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/incest-sex-abuse,2547">rapists were not faceless strangers</a>: many were fathers, brothers, stepfathers, teachers, drivers who knew the survivors. I found all age groups from all parts of Nepal on those charge sheets. And every file I carried to the courtroom was in the hope of at least someone who wanted the crime against them recognised and the perpetrator punished. Now, all those files are gone. The news from Singha Darbar that the government’s data centre was saved from arsonists this week was a relief. But we lost all our records. The evidence was never digitised, there were no backup files. They lived only on paper, in ink, in fragile white file folders with green strings.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250914120920_353c6e03fa2f4cea8992c5c02ede101b4ad9ccc102f5af8407f333f518ef7200.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20250914120920_353c6e03fa2f4cea8992c5c02ede101b4ad9ccc102f5af8407f333f518ef7200" data-rendition-name="original" width="5000" height="3333" loading="lazy" alt="The day justice died"> <figcaption>Photo: HEMANTA SHRESTHA</figcaption> </figure>  When the building burned, so did the only record of those crimes and the identity of the criminals.&nbsp; Imagine entire basements filled with such files: each representing a victim, a face, a life. More than 10,000 such cases are now smouldering heaps of ash. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/kathmandu-burns-despite-pm-resignation">Kathmandu burns despite PM resignation</a> Singha Durbar can be rebuilt brick by brick, just as it was after the earthquake. Who is going to rebuild these case files?&nbsp; The social media is cruel: it shows homes of politicians stashed with cash and charred dollar bills. But the media did not show an entire building full of criminal case files going up in flames. The smoke that filled Kathmandu’s sky on Tuesday carried away with it the hopes of<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-s-chance-on-transitional-justice"> justice of thousands of victims</a>, mostly young women. Our duty as Government Attorneys is to direct criminal investigations, prosecute criminal cases, plead in courtrooms, make appeals. On a normal busy day we prosecute at least five criminal cases involving survivors and perpetrators. THAT DAY On <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-s-8-september-massacre">8 September</a>, when the GenZ protesters were gathering at the Mandala outside, we were at the Police Club, attending the first ever Women Government Attorneys’ Conference. We wore our brightest blue sari uniforms and pressed blouses. Our heads held high, we celebrated our success as government attorneys who had led the prosecution of the highest number of cases involving <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/not-just-16-days-against-gender-based-violence">violence against women</a>. But the day had other plans for us. By 4 pm the program was halted after protesters were shot outside Parliament. The Attorney General directed us to go home immediately. As the hall emptied, a small group of us young women officers and one senior female advocate walked together through Bhadrakali towards our office. There was an angry mob approaching us. The moment they saw us in our official dress, they turned on us with verbal abuses — words so horrendous that it would have been enough to prosecute a slander suit.&nbsp; Heads and eyes lowered we walked on. They started spitting on us. Obviously, they were pouring out their <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/genz-and-aragalaya?amp=1">anger against the government</a> on us civil servants. But they had no idea that the senior female advocate on whose coat they spat had pioneered the law granting Nepali women equal property rights. To us, she was not just a lawyer, she was a hero and a figure we had worshipped in our law books. Her name appears across Supreme Court documents for setting a precedent.&nbsp; We ran to save ourselves from their wrath and reached our Special Government Attorney Office. The mob stayed outside. We waited two hours in silence, praying fervently until the street was calm enough for us to slip away and find our way home. The next day, 9 September, was much worse. The protesters had already torched Parliament, Singha Durbar and the nearby Supreme Court. Then they came to set the Government Attorney Office alight. As a Nepali, I can understand the anger. But as a Government Attorney, I carry a deep scar. There is an immense void and sorrow. This is not about the loss of a building, or being spat at. It is about the silent victims whose stories were stored in all those thousands of files. Many of the survivors do not even know that their <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/hunger-for-justice">struggle for justice</a> has ended.&nbsp; We are government employees never affiliated with any political party, doing our work honestly and independently. In the name of demanding justice, they destroyed the very place that delivered it. Mamata Shrestha is an Assistant District Government Attorney.

The day justice died

Nepal is gradually returning to normal after curfews were officially lifted on Saturday following Prime Minister Sushila Karki’s appointment as temporary executive head following this week’s violent unrest that toppled the government.&nbsp;
Karki dissolved Parliament on Friday night immediately after she was sworn-in as per the demand of youth activists who staged the nation-wide anti-corruption demonstrations this week. The date of the election has been set for 5 March 2026.
Karki made the rounds of Kathmandu’s hospitals to meet with demonstrators who were injured during the protests on 8 and 9 September in which 52 people were killed. Karki is also drawing up a list of candidates to join the Council of Ministers to be announced on Sunday.&nbsp;
Meanwhile, the four main political parties in Parliament and their leaders have been self-reflecting, admitting their mistakes and expressing the need for reform and internal democracy.&nbsp;
But they have also issued near-unanimous denouncements of the decision by the interim government to dissolve Parliament, calling for the Lower House to be restored immediately.
‘The government formed from the streets in an undemocratic and unconstitutional manner bypassing Parliament is contrary to the spirit of the movement that has demanded good governance in accordance with Nepal’s Constitution prevailing laws,’ read a joint press statement issued by eight political parties on Saturday.
The leaders of the UML, including Prime Minister K P Oli who resigned on Tuesday, the Maoists and the Nepali Congress are still in the Shivapuri National Park military base, and appear to be incommunicado.
The parties continued: ‘We strongly demand the immediate convening of Parliament to create an environment where the demands of the people and agitating groups can be addressed through an elected institution.’
The Nepal Bar Council, the country’s legal body, joined the political parties in calling the dissolution of Parliament unconstitutional. Legal experts had expressed concern about the constitutional processes to ensure PM Karki’s appointment as executive head in the lead-up to her taking office.
‘Nepal’s Constitution is the result of a broad national consensus and reflects the aspirations of its citizens,’ the Bar’s press statement read. ‘Such acts erode public trust in democratic institutions and threaten the very foundation of our constitutional system.’
The President’s move to dissolve the House of Representatives is also contrary to the Supreme Court’s previous decision on the restoration of parliament, the Bar’s stated, referring to the top court’s verdict after former PM Oli dismissed Parliament in 2021.&nbsp;
The Federation of Nepalese Journalists echoed similar sentiments in its own statement on Saturday which read, ‘The Federation believes that the unconstitutional appointment of the Prime Minister against the Constitution and the dissolution of the House of Representatives, which is contrary to the previous precedent set by the Supreme Court, show ill will towards democracy.’&nbsp;
Meanwhile, the GenZ youth who had voted in favour of Karki to lead the transitional government welcomed the dissolution of Parliament, and continue to demand that the interim government investigate the shooting of demonstrators this week. They also want mechanisms to ensure accountability and zero-tolerance against corruption.
‘We call for an open, sustained, and participatory national dialogue with the Interim Government and all political actors, one that ensures the meaningful presence of indigenous youth and structurally marginalised communities whose voices are not only heard, respected, and embedded but are also actively consulted in the shaping of the policies, institutions, and decisions that will define Nepal’s democratic future envisioned by us,’ read a statement issued by the Indigenous GenZ collective on Saturday.&nbsp;
Across the country, authorities have also begun to launch investigations into the vandalism and looting during the protests, urging citizens to return stolen goods. A former lawmaker from the Nepali Congress, which was a part of the coalition with the UML has filed a complaint against Oli alleging that he personally issued the order to security forces to fire at protestors on 8 September.

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