In yet another chapter of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/shadow-government-nepal,3838">Nepal’s promiscuous political love triangle</a> between the Nepali Congress (NC), Maoist Centre and UML, one leader has just dumped his partner to go off with his ex.
In the latest break-up -make-up political saga, the Maoists and the UML joined hands on Monday for the third time since 2017 to form a new left-led coalition.
The shotgun wedding between Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s Maoist Centre and UML Chair K P Oli means the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/deuba-5-qh371fm4">NC’s Sher Bahadur Deuba</a> is now in the opposition, together with Madhav Nepal's CPN-Unified Socialist.
Dahal and Oli have revived their power-sharing deal to rotate the premiership for two years each till the next elections in 2027.&nbsp;
Besides the UML, the new coalition also includes Rabi Lamichhane’s Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and Upendra Yadav’s Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP). CK Raut’s Janamat Party is also said to be in talks to join the government.&nbsp;
Although there had been simmering discontent between the NC and the Maoist for some weeks, few expected the breakup to happen so suddenly. The Maoists are a distant third largest party in Parliament, but were aggrieved by the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/coalition-collision-mzle2ns5">NC’s General Committee meeting last week</a> in which members called for the party to go it alone, and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/unconventional-convention">reminded the Maoists of their war atrocities</a>. Many NC delegates felt that as the largest party, it should not be letting the Maoists ride its coat-tails. But now the biggest party in Parliament is in the opposition.&nbsp;
Monday morning was marked by a flurry of meetings between Prime Minister Dahal and Oli, Lamichhane and Yadav.&nbsp;
Even as the new coalition swore in a small new Council of Ministers, Nepal’s public sphere gave a loud yawn on social media. The first phase of the new Cabinet will include three leaders each from the Maoists, UML, and RSP.
Most commentators ridiculed the three parties reshuffling the cards again to bring out the same persona, and that this change in government would not make any difference to the country’s economic and other crises.&nbsp;
UML Chief Whip and former Health Minister Padam Giri joined the Council of Ministers on Monday. The Maoist Centre sent former Youth and Sports Minister Hit Bahadur Tamang to the Cabinet. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/conflicting-interests">RSP vice-chair Dol Prasad Aryal</a>, who was briefly Labour Minister under the previous alliance between the Maoists and the RSP, was also sworn in.&nbsp;
There is already a disagreement over the choice of Home Minister with both the UML and RSP laying claim. RSP’s Lamichhane insisted on the post he once held but <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-rise-and-fall-of-rabi-lamichhane">had to give up because of the controversy over his American citizenship</a>. The RSP is the fourth largest in Parliament.
Dahal was appointed Prime Minister in December 2022 after breaking the five-party coalition led by his predecessor Sher Bahadur Deuba’s NC and with support from K P Oli’s UML.&nbsp;
Two months later, the Prime Minister got back together with NC and formed a new coalition government after forming a power-sharing deal between himself, Deuba, and CPN-Unified Socialist chair Madhav Kumar Nepal to divide up the premiership three ways for five years.&nbsp;
The partnership between Dahal and Deuba had already been fragile, but the straw that broke the camel’s back this time appears to have been the NC’s General Committee meeting in February, during which leaders of the dissident faction called for the party to forego political alliances with other parties in 2027, which Deuba agreed to.
The Maoists were already angered after the NC allied with the UML to elect Kedar Karki the Chief Minister of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/kosi-now-kathmandu-next">Kosi Province</a> after Karki and other members of NC refused to back the Maoist candidate for the position.&nbsp;
This was compounded after the coalition’s Maoist candidate from Kosi Champa Karki lost the recent National Assembly election to the UML candidate. The party was also said to have been growing uneasy about the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/unconventional-convention">increasing anti-secular sentiment within the NC</a>.
Dahal is said to have cited circumstances surrounding the Kosi and National Assembly elections as well as the discourse surrounding the NC-Maoist electoral partnership during the NC gathering as reasons for the breakup of the coalition.&nbsp;
Dahal’s newest political move might also have been a tactic to detract from criticism of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/nepal-gets-gold-medal-for-corruption">his government’s underperformance as well as the numerous corruption scandals</a> that have marked his premiership in which the guilty have got away.&nbsp;
Various members of the Cabinet including Physical Infrastructure and Transport Minister Prakash Jwala of the Unified Socialist was implicated in the Balkumari riot, Health and Population Minister Mohan Basnet of the NC in the procurement of surveillance equipment Teramocs, as well as the Maoist Minister of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Sudan Kirati in private contract agreement of Lumbini’s Ramgram.&nbsp;
Prime Minister Dahal told a program on Monday afternoon rather melodramatically: “The country will be in turmoil until the day I die … Maoists are not the kind to be content with continuity, rather, we thrive on disorganisation.”
As it stands, the new coalition will not only affect politics at home but also be consequential to Nepal’s relationships with giant neighbours India and China.&nbsp;
China has always wanted Nepal’s left parties to stick together, and the US-India bloc have opposed it. The just dissolved coalition of the Maoists-NC was said to be better suited to India’s interests.

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What just happened in Nepali politics?

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20230228150232/63fe10e59c7e80680e0da4b6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1364"/><figcaption>Photo: RSP</figcaption></figure>This week marks 27 years since the Maoists launched their armed struggle. Three decades later, and <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/20-years-wasted-in-war,2850">17 years after the war ended</a>, the leader of the revolution is prime minister of Nepal for the third time.The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/from-the-frontlines-of-nepals-war/">Maoists waged war</a> to end the monarchy, and turn Nepal into a federal, secular republic. But Prime Minister <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/pushpa-kamal-dahal-is-still-prachanda/">Pushpa Kamal Dahal</a> (aka Prachanda) shares power in a coalition with openly anti-secular, royalist and anti-federal parties.Former enemies are now the state. And while this may be a model for post-conflict reconciliation, it also means that neither the security forces and their civilian leaders, nor the Maoist leadership and their guerrilla commanders, have had to answer for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-unpunished-war-crimes/">heinous crimes</a> committed during the insurgency.The former antagonists have made sure that the two commissions mandated to deliver transitional justice remain toothless. Social science and history text books make no mention of the violent conflict that left 17,000 Nepalis dead. A whole generation of Nepalis has grown up with no knowledge of what happened between 1996 and 2006.Many of the survivors and families of victims have lost faith in ever getting justice, and have moved on because of the pressures of day-to-day survival. Time is erasing memories, and that suits the perpetrators of war crimes fine, since they want us to forget what happened.As they watch at the way the country has been run, however, the hundreds of thousands of Nepali civilians and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/ex-guerrillas-regret-the-war/">fighters who suffered</a>, were tortured, wounded, displaced or bereaved, are thinking: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/revisiting-maoist-demands,2860">what was it all for</a>?On 4 February 1996 at Singha Darbar, Maoist ideologue <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/nepals-maoist-revolution-from-the-inside/">Baburam Bhattarai</a> presented to Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba (yes, his first of five tenures in office) 40 demands. His party did not even wait for the government’s response, and on <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/13-february/">13 Feburary 1996</a> launched simultaneous attacks on police stations across the country.The conflict was never about a ‘revolution’. The war was just politics by other (violent) means. The behaviour of their leaders in government today probably <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/the-spark-that-lit-the-Maoist-revolution,2870">gives little comfort</a> to former guerrillas and comrades. In fact, like in any other party, Pushpa Kamal Dahal has purged all potential rivals from the Maoist Centre.Just like K P Oli of the UML, and to a certain extent the NC’s Sher Bahadur Deuba, Dahal’s conduct is based on the principle of ‘I am the party, the party is me.’The tragedy is that the leader of the brand new alternative party professing integrity and good governance which came out of nowhere to be the fourth largest entity in Parliament after the November election, showed himself this week to be of the same ilk.Having the coalition appoint himself Home Minister, in charge of the very Police that was investigating his citizenship, showed poor judgement and elastic ethics. Lamichhane was behaving like the very politicians he was rebelling against.His RSP won 20 seats in the House because of protest votes – a rejection by many young Nepalis of same old politics by same old politicians. But Rabi Lamichhane’s stream of consciousness rant the other day after he was refused to be reinstated as Home Minister was reminiscent of Trumpian populism – the same ‘drain the swamp’ and anti-media whataboutery.Lamichhane served as tv anchor in the established media after returning from the United States and later renouncing his citizenship, but understood the true power of social media after tens of thousands of followers showed up at a support rally in Chitwan when he was arrested after being accused to abetting the suicide of someone investigated by his tv program.His press conference on 5 February, therefore, was a demonstration of the clash between new and old media, between new and old politics.Of course, Nepal’s media is not spotless. It would be surprising if it was an island of uprightness when there is rot all around. Most tycoons who also own media are in cahoots with politicians and contractors. If we are honest with ourselves, some of Lamichhane’s supporters have a valid reason for calling journalists पत्रुकार, loosely translated as ‘presstitutes’.But it is easy to see why Lamichhane came out with all guns blazing against the media, and not the prime minister who had just refused to hand him back the home ministership. It was to divert attention from the investigation into his dual citizenship that is like a sword hanging over his head.But let who is without sin cast the first stone. Most leaders in the established parties either have dirt, or blood in their hands for which they have never faced justice. Lamichhane’s citizenship transgression was procedural – not murder or corruption which is what many in power have gotten away with.Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/rsp-quits-nepal-coalition/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">RSP quits Nepal coalition</a>, Nepali Times

Armed Conflict and Conflict of Interest

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111413118/63722fef9c7e80680e0c253ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3821" height="2788"/><figcaption>Pushpa Kamal Dahal with Jagat Prakash Nadda, national president of BJP. Photo: JAGAT PRAKASH NADDA/TWITTER</figcaption></figure>Barely days after Pushpa Kamal Dahal met the visiting head of the International Liaison Department of the Communist Party of China, Liu Jianchao in Kathmandu, he was off to New Delhi.The undisputed supremo of Nepal’s Maoists has been known to play all sides before, but this puts his balancing act on a whole new level. It also shows that Nepal’s giant neighbours are engaged in a tug-o-war as the country heads for federal and provincial elections on 18 November.Ever since Nepal was founded as a nation state, the country had to do  a tightrope between British India and the Chinese Empire. Recognising this, Prithvi Narayan Shah famously compared Nepal to a yam ensconced between two boulders, and laid out the doctrine of equidistance.Inspired by Mao Zedong, Dahal took on the mantle of ‘Prachanda’ to wage an armed struggle that killed 17,000 Nepalis. At the time, Dahal paraphrased Nepal’s founding king, to describe the country as a “dynamite between two boulders”.Here is a man who in 1998 declared a ‘tunnel war’ to prepare for an Indian invasion, but who spent eight of the ten war years at a safe house in a New Delhi suburb.After the conflict ended in 2006, Dahal has been prime minister twice. The first time, he had to resign after barely a year in power after overstretching his hand in an unsuccessful bid to sack Nepal Army chief Gen Rookmangud Katuwal in 2009, and replace him with a yes-man.It did not go unnoticed that President Ram Baran Yadav had to force him out after some critical late night intervention from New Delhi.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111413118/63722ff39c7e80680e0c253fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="600"><figcaption>Head of the International Liaison Department of the Communist Party of China, Liu Jianchao with Pushpa Kamal Dahal in Kathandu last week.</figcaption></figure>Last week’s visit by Liu Jianchao and Dahal’s sudden air dash to Delhi prove once more that Nepal’s domestic politics is, more than ever, a reflection of regional geopolitics.The Chinese, who had so far been content with letting Nepal languish in New Delhi’s sphere of influence have, since Xi Jinping, been taking a keener interest in micro-managing Kathmandu's power corridors.Beijing’s real worry is not so much about India as it is heightened American activities in Nepal, mainly vis-a-vis Tibet. The active lobbying by the Chinese against the US-supported Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), and lately the scrapped State Partnership Program (SPP) pointed to this.The Chinese have openly expressed their <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/one-party-two-countries/">desire for Nepal’s Communist parties to unite</a>, and actually fulfilled that wish with the merger of the UML and the Maoists into the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) after the alliance’s overwhelming victory in the 2017 election.And when Dahal fell out with prime minister K P Oli and the power struggle threatened the NCP, Chinese Ambassador Hou Yanqi shuttled between the Oli and Dahal residences in Kathmandu to patch up their differences.As it turned out, not only did the NCP split, but so did the UML, the MCC was ratified, and the ruling coalition in Kathmandu adopted a Indo-Western alignment.This must have unnerved the Mandarins in Beijing, who did not have to send a high level party emissary just to feel the political pulse in Kathmandu. Liu Jianchao's main aim was to reforge Communist unity ahead of November, and do a repeat of 2017.After all, the Maoists, UML and the Unified Socialists have been trying to suss things out through emissaries. So much so that it has sent off tremors within Nepali Congress (NC), where an anti-Deuba faction led by Shekhar Koirala and Gagan Thapa have been trying to get the party to contest elections on its own.Ironically, Deuba’s own position within his party is now dependent on the coalition staying intact. This in turn has made the NC almost a junior partner in the coalition, with Dahal asserting himself as heir apparent.In a meaningful <a href="https://ekantipur.com/Interview/2022/07/18/165810525150588451.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">interview in Delhi with Kantipur</a>, Dahal talked about meeting his ‘old friend’ in India’s intelligence apparatus who is Prime Minister Modi's National Security Adviser, and hinted that he had blessings on a rotational prime ministership with Deuba — just as he had with Oli.The danger in all this dalliance is that closer ties with India now means closer party-to-party ties with the BJP, and the prospect for instability in the Nepali polity that it entails.All this comes as the Deuba-led coalition completes one year of misrule and miscues. It has outdone the K P Oli administration in pushing through ordinance after ordinance to amend constitutional provisions, has drafted a bill to grant further immunity from prosecution for war crimes among the Maoist militia and the government.With these tectonic forces at play, the ruling class appears unable and incapable of arresting looming economic collapse.Read more: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/deubas-mixed-report-card/">Deuba's mixed report card</a>, Editorial

Geopolitical tug-o-war over Nepal

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111413118/63722fbd9c7e80680e0c2530jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="628" height="704"/>Thanks to our elected leaders, we finally have a solution to the problem of the unspent development budget: build statues.Great Leader Comrade Awesome got the ball rolling by garlanding a cement bust of The Late Dear Leader Prakash last week to commemorate his son’s selfless devotion to the ruling family.Not to be outdone, Mayor Balen declared that he would be erecting a statue of the late fellow-rapper Yama Buddha. This is what we need: leaders who think outside the box so that Kathmandu’s streets can have more statues than potholes.This action man is not shy about appearing inebriated and incoherent at public gatherings, or evicting tax-evading sidewalk vendors.Seriously, us voters have to ask ourselves: are we going soft and losing the fire in our bellies? Are we slacking off, allowing lethargy and ennui to undermine the gains of the 2015 Federal Constipation? The answer to both questions is: “Umm, that's a thought.”How else can we explain all this public apathy and indifference, even when the grabberment wants to tax our Dubai shopping holidays? How come the prime minister is not incinerated in effigy? How come we don’t see chukka jams, hurtalls and tod-fods?There was an entire rush hour period on Monday evening when there were no demos at Baneswor Choke, I can’t even remember the last time we had a nationwide bund, and no one blocked traffic with burning tyres at Maiti Ghar and made complete arsons of themselves.Not a single royal statue was vandalised, no government vehicle was stoned, and no one even bothered to block the Mahindra Highway for six hours when gas prices hit 199.This just will not do. If we truly value our democracy and hard-won freedoms, we have to learn from our Sri Lankan comrades who stormed the presidential palace, took selfies in Rajapaksa’s king-sized bed, worked out in his gym, and took a dip in the president's official pool.And there you all are, sitting idly reading this column, and not bothering to gherao the prime minister's residence after Sunday was declared a working day again. Why is no one standing up for their rights by bringing the nation’s capital to a grinding halt, stage relay hunger strikes, and fast unto death?Are we going to let go of the gains of the 2006 Uprising so easily? How bad do things need to get before we get off our if’s and butt’s? Will we allow the euphoria of democracy to evaporate so easily? Does god exist? Will the world end with a bang, or a whimper? What is the best cure for bromodosis? These are all vital questions if we are to protect our value-system and way of life.Myself, I am going on a relay hunger strike until the Balenistas erect a statue of The Ass at Asan intersection.

Ass s

Statue of The Ass

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101124/637209769c7e80680e0b5543jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="562" height="497"/><figcaption>Cartoon by Fu Hongge on article titled “Prachanda steps into power after Nepal abolishes 240-year monarchy” on Chongqing Wanbao (重庆晚报 News showing King Gyanendra.</figcaption></figure>In 2017, I had just started my undergraduate studies at Peking University in Beijing. One of my Chinese classmates asked me why the Nepal's communists used Mao in their party's name.She was troubled that China's revered leader had been turned into an icon for armed struggle and violence. My friend’s opinion was valid because even in Nepal, the very word ‘Maoist’ still instills fear in many Nepalis who witnessed the strikes, murders and kidnappings during the conflict decade.In fact, my classmate’s concern was in line with the Chinese government’s initial concern when the Maoist insurrection started. In early 2000s, <a href="https://www.voanews.com/a/a-13-a-2002-07-11-3-china-66291002/541200.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">China's Foreign Ministry Spokesman Liu Jianchao stated that the rebels had ‘usurped’</a> the name of Mao Zedong.Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/revisiting-maoist-demands,2860">What was it  all for? </a>  Om Aastha RaiMao had led the Communist Party of China to power in 1949 after years of violent struggle, he said, and China had no connection with the rebel group in Nepal. Ironically, the Chinese government labelled the Maoists in Nepal as ‘terrorists’ criticising them for being anti-government and bringing disorder to the country.In 2001, the Contemporary World magazine of the Communist Party of China International Department published a piece titled ‘Increasingly Active: Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist)’ which described the leaders as being solipsistic, neither able to create unity within the party nor with allies in other parties.The writer went on to claim that most Nepalis did not support the Maoists because the party was regarded as being ‘grossly out of touch with the reality in Nepal’ and even the international community hesitated to recognise it ‘because of their association with international terrorist organisations’.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101124/637209789c7e80680e0b5544jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="679" height="404"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>However, after 2006 when the Comprehensive Peace Accord was signed, the Chinese stance changed. The initial official reaction to Maoism in Nepal that used to be  fueled with skepticism and disdain, was replaced with a narrative that improved Mao’s own image.Prachanda (Pushpa Kamal Dahal) was suddenly seen as a trail- blazer against feudalism in Nepal. Some unbiased content still lives in academic literature by Chinese scholars, but the citations are not accessible anymore.The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) used Maoism as a suffix, instead of its main guiding principle. In fact, Mao Zedong himself was firmly opposed to using ‘Maoism’ as a political label for his ideology.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101124/637209799c7e80680e0b5545jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1125" height="783">In a conversation with Wang Jiaxiang, a senior leaders of CPC, Mao said: "Maoism cannot be mentioned. I am a student of Marx and Lenin. How can I rank with them? Marx has Marxism, Lenin has Leninism, I cannot be labelled ‘Maoism'. I have no 'ism'. My ‘ism’ is Marxism and Leninism. You must mention Mao Zedong Thought. Everyone has their own thoughts. We can't casually mention 'ism'. I still believe that I haven't matured as a system of thought. It's not modesty, it's true."<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="http://www.gov.cn/jrzg/2012-11/18/content_2269219.%20htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">According to the CPC constitution</a>, Mao Zedong Thought is ‘the application and development of Marxism-Leninism in China and the correct theoretical principles and empirical summary of China's revolution and construction proved by practice’.Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=7642#.Yg20ie5Bz0s">Prachanda's family calls</a>, Nepali TimesIn 2013, a Chinese student published a paper titled ’Maoism in the eyes of Communist Party of Nepal' in Liaocheng University’s Social Science Journal identifying ‘Maoism’ as the suffix of the party's name, and was only a strategic choice under certain circumstances, not all of the party's actions were guided by ‘Maoism’.Nor had ‘Maoism’ proved to be able to guide its actions in parliamentary battles, the paper elaborated, describing the Maoists’ bottomless compromise with other political parties in Nepal as a violation of the basic principles of Marxism, and the party's division had a hand in this.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101124/6372097c9c7e80680e0b5546jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="680" height="478">The paper suggested that if Nepal’s Maoists wanted to adhere to the revolutionary line in future, they must adopt the basic principles of being a proletarian party and have new theoretical guidance to ensure that it will not degenerate into reformism.If there is one person Beijing decided to give attention to among Nepal’s Maoists, it was Prachanda. Although NCP (Maoist) received its fair share of criticism from China initially, the initial interviews with him by Chinese media tell a different story.In a <a href="https://news.ifeng.com/history/4/200703/0319_338_89975.shtml" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">detailed interview</a> with Global Times in 2007 soon after the ceasefire, Prachanda (Pushpa Kamal Dahal) was asked if he would run for president. He modestly replied that he would if the people and the party required him to. But he would do so only once and and after that lay low, be a member of the Party Central Committee and “slowly retire, read, write and do research”.A year later, the Maoists swept the election to the Constituent Assembly, and Dahal was elected prime minister. Ten years later, he became Nepal’s prime minister for the second time.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/nepals-maoist-revolution-from-the-inside/">Nepal’s Maoist revolution from the inside</a>, Sahina Shrestha<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101124/6372097e9c7e80680e0b5547jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="700" height="1749">By 2008, there were articles and interviews introducing Dahal and stories of his revolution. In a 2008 <a href="http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/hqzx/2008-05/27/content_6714355.htm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">interview article featured in</a> China Daily, Dahal confessed that he was envious about how China dealt with Pu Yi (China's last emperor).He added: ‘If Gyanendra like Pu Yi becomes a commoner, it will be a blessing for the Nepali people.’The interviewer was impressed by Dahal’s simple lifestyle in Kathmandu, and the devotion of the people for him. He relates how when he arrived for the interview at 6AM there were already people waiting to see him. The interviewer says there was a ‘common phrase in Nepal that anyone can have a handshake with Prachanda’.China seems to tolerate Dahal despite his perceived incompetence because of the attachment of Mao’s name to his party, which carries China’s face. K P Oli, on the other hand, has been criticised in the Chinese media for allowing the split in the NCP and the UML.To be sure, Dahal has not tested the Chinese government’s patience like Oli has, but even the criticism Dahal receives within Nepal does not cross over to China, while Oli’s does. The Chinese government seems to be careful about any negativity towards CPN (Maoist) and manages news on him within China to save its own face.Dahal’s present predicament with the MCC in Nepal could either further improve or completely ruin his stature in China. State media here could have denounced Deuba and Dahal for their recently exposed secret letter to the MCC, but it was largely ignored.Dahal belongs to the Maoist Centre and signed the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) – this seems to have made him immune to criticism in China. However, the final decision on MCC is not only going to test Nepal’s ties with China, but also Dahal’s faithfulness to the Mao brand.Aneka Rajbhandari is a Masters student of Chinese politics at the Silk Road School, Renmin University of China.1: Author: Lin ZhiyouTitle: Historical research of Mao Zedong’s objection of changing “Mao Zedong Thought” to “Maoism”Year: 2005Journal of Henan Normal University (Philosophy and Social Sciences edition)林志友:《毛泽东反对把“毛泽东思想”改为“毛泽东主义”的历史考证》《,河南师范大学学报》(哲学社会科学版)， 2005 年第 4 期，第 102 页。Read more: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=17263#.Yg20ge5Bz0s">I love Prachanda</a>, Rajan Adiga<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19640#.Yg20e-5Bz0s">"If I were to tell you everything I know about Prachanda ..."</a>, Jana Aastha Weekly

What the Chinese think about Nepal’s Maoists

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141144/636d00c69c7e80680e0a35f6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1530" height="1018"/><figcaption>Illustration: DIWAKAR CHETTRI</figcaption></figure>Nepal’s political headlines these days are mainly about the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/old-wine-in-old-bottle-in-nepal-politics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">rift between K P Oli and Madhav Kumar Nepal </a>that split Nepal’s largest party, the UML. Somewhat sidelined is the role of Maoist chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who has been the behind-the-scenes operator.Dahal went under the nom de guerre Prachanda (‘Fierce One’) during the insurgency, was elected prime minister in 2008, and resigned after trying to replace the Nepal Army Chief. He himself is the first to admit that peacetime politics is not easy.Last month, he confessed to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/who-gets-what/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">being under “tremendous stress”</a> because most of the 49 MPs of his Maoist Centre party wanted to be ministers in the coalition government. He added that politics in Nepal does not move in a linear fashion, but has a tendency to go off on an unpredictable tangent.“I have learnt a lesson that you cannot win if you try to manipulate others too much,” he told a party meeting in April in Chitwan.As he warms up to a theme, Dahal is prone to making such self-deprecating comments that are embarrassing or even damaging to himself. After the ceasefire in 2006, he was caught on video boasting to Maoist cadre that he had tricked the United Nations into believing his highly inflated figure for militia strength to bloat the budget for cantonments.His remarks in Chitwan in April were about how he infiltrated the UML by uniting his Maoist party with it, and the goal was to ultimately take over the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN). This was the first time he publicly admitted the real reason he agreed with Oli to unite their parties.In fact, divide-and-rule has long been Dahal’s way to gain and maintain power both during the conflict, after the ceasefire in democratic politics, and right up to backing <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/deuba-5/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sher Bahadur Deuba of the Nepali Congress (NC) for prime ministership</a> earlier this year.Dahal and Oli took a bold decision with the Maoist-UML electoral alliance and unity in 2018 to form a strong two-thirds majority government. At first, the two were best buddies. But things started turning sour when Dahal suspected that Oli had no intention to hand over prime ministership half-way through the government’s term as per their “gentlemen’s agreement”.Since Oli was <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/making-up-is-hard-to-do/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">not on good terms with Madhav Kumar Nepal</a> and Bamdev Gautam, Dahal found an opening. Oli knew what Dahal was up to, and was also trying to outwit Dahal by using all kinds of tricks to stay on in power — including dissolving the Lower House in December 2020.After the Supreme Court reinstated the House, and Oli was on the back foot, Dahal formed an alliance with dissident UML members, the NC and the JSP to gather the numbers to unseat Oli.The end result was not just the disintegration of the CPN, but also the split in the UML with Madhav Nepal ultimately forming his own party, CPN (United Socialist) last month.The five party alliance is having <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/what-is-delaying-nepal-cabinet-expansion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">difficulty expanding the Cabinet</a>, but Dahal is at the meetings negotiating portfolios to divide up the spoils.All these machiavellian moves have resulted in a peculiar political outcome —  the largest party in Parliament is now in the opposition and a weak opposition NC is leading the government.Dahal steered his former underground party to electoral victory in the first Constituent Assembly election in 2008, but lost in 2013. But even then, Dahal was trying to drive a wedge in the NC-UML coalition by supporting Oli’s candidature for prime ministership against the NC.He fell out with Oli and helped bring him down to form a coalition with the NC with an agreement to rotate government leadership with Deuba, and became prime minister for the second time. However, he soon ditched Deuba and formed the electoral alliance with Oli and the UML for the 2017 polls.All this behind the scenes skulduggery was not new to Dahal. What is new is that he now publicly admits that it does not work.This is the same Dahal who as a powerful post-conflict prime minister in 2009 sacked Nepal Army chief Gen Rukmangud Katuwal and replaced him with Gen Kul Bahadur Khadka. Dahal’s intention then was to divide and capture the Nepal Army which he had fought against as a guerrilla commander. But the move backfired, Dahal had to resign after only nine months as prime minister, and he and his party had to wait long years to stage a political comeback.He was succeeded by Madhav Kumar Nepal as prime minister, but Dahal was up to his old tricks and deposed Nepal by lending his party’s support to Jhalnath Khanal that brought an open rift in the UML. Distrust was growing within the Maoists about Dahal’s ways, and after facing a mutiny from Baburam Bhattarai, Mohan Baidya and Narayankaji Shrestha in 2011, he dumped Khanal and replaced him with Bhattarai.It is the story of Nepal that the same politicians play musical chairs, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/deubas-denouement/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">becoming prime minister multiple times</a>, and remaining in party leadership for life. For the past 30 years: the same names are in the headlines: Deuba, Nepal, Oli, Dahal, Bhattarai, Gautam, Khanal.“Dahal’s character is to aspire to be a singular and powerful Communist leader, that is why he sacrificed so many lives during the conflict, for him the end justifies the means,” explains political scientist Mahadev Sah. “He does not have any affinity for democracy. It is all about power, and how to attain and retain it.”Pushpa Kamal Dahal is still Prachanda. In 2007, he had told his former guerrillas in Chitwan’s Shaktikhor camp: “During the war we machine gunned our enemies, now we sit around a table and sip tea with them. The method may be different, but the goal is the same.”Today, Dahal’s role has been to handle the same personalities he once waged an armed struggle against, and after the war manipulated from behind the scenes. While undermining Oli for the past two years, he let Nepal do most of the talking. Now, he allows Deuba to be out front.  But his own party is now so weakened that it needs alliances to win elections.The leader of the Marxist-Leninist wing of the Nepal Communist Party C P Mainali knows Dahal well, and says he has let so many people down along the way that it has become a habit, and the only way he knows how to do politics.“He is used to working in the shadows, orchestrating things from behind, he cannot operate in the open, with transparency,” Mainali says. “What he says and what he does have always been completely different."This is true not just in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-post-breakup-politics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">domestic politics</a>, but in Dahal’s dealings with leaders of neighbouring India and China, while in or out of power. He commented openly about his domestic political travails while abroad in controversial interviews. Or, he often boasted about support from leaders in Beijing or Delhi to bolster his domestic standing. In June, he said Delhi would be “comfortable” with him becoming prime minister again.After failing in his objective to capture the CPN, Dahal is now intent on being the foremost Communist leader in Nepal. He used Madhav Nepal and Khanal to depose Oli, and weaken the UML. So far, it is to Dahal’s credit and political instincts that his strategy has met with success.Dahal’s charm offensive seems to have worked on Nepal, who finds the Maoist leader a lot more trustworthy than Oli. It would not be surprising if the United Socialists and the Maoists combine forces in the 2023 elections.What Dahal is doing now is no different than what he was doing as Prachanda during the insurgency. Sometimes he cosied up to Mohan Baidya against Baburam Bhattarai, and at other times he won over Bhattarai to sideline Baidya.C P Mainali says: “That is always how he operated, to use one comrade against another, and keep himself as a key player.”Dahal has his eyes fixed on 2023, and is willing to revive the electoral cooperation that won his party 54 seats in local elections in 2017. But Mahadev Sah does not see that as likely. He says: “The Maoists could not remain united with the UML, so it is difficult to believe that an alliance with the Congress will stick. It may help Dahal exact revenge on Oli, but in fact, it may even be counterproductive to both parties and a loss of face for the Maoists.”

Pushpa Kamal Dahal is still Prachanda

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141136/636cfe6b9c7e80680e0a0c3ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1260" height="686"/>Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba took office over a month ago, but aside from six ministers he has not been able to set up a full Cabinet yet because of the need to balance the demands of coalition partners.This is despite the need to have all hands on deck to tackle the health and economic emergency caused by the Covid-19 crisis. The delay cannot just be attributed to the recently registered CPN (United Socialist) led by Madhav Kumar Nepal whose critical dissident votes forced the K P Oli government to step down in July and paved the way for Deuba to become prime minister for the fifth time.It appears that the delay has more to do with the competing g demands within other members of the five-party alliance, including Deuba’s own Nepali Congress, the Maoist Centre and the Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP).Both Prime Minister Deuba and CPN (Maoist Center) Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal had claimed that the Cabinet would be expanded as soon as CPN-UML’s senior leader Madhav Kumar Nepal’s new party (United Socialist) was officially registered. Yet, even after being recognised by the Election Commission on August 25, Cabinet expansion has not happened.Deuba has not been able to decide the next ministers from his own party, and because of the upcoming party general convention he wants to reward loyalists. So far he has appointed his trusted aides Bal Krishna Khand as Home Minister, Gyanendra Bahadur Karki as Minister for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, and Umesh Shrestha as Minister of State for Health.Deuba has announced his own candidacy for NC resident in the party’s next general convention which is scheduled for November. Deuba may be trying to decide on distributing ministerial portfolios to either reward loyal party members or buy the loyalty of dissidents.So far, Deuba wants to appoint only those who have expressed their support for his re-election with ministerships. But he may find that he will have to compromise and take in key figures from the Bimalendra Nidhi and Ram Chandra Poudel factions so they will vote for his party presidency.Another reason for the delay comes from the Maoist Center. Currently, former guerrilla commander Janardan Sharma has been appointed Finance Minister and Pampha Bhusal has been made the Energy, Water Resources, and Irrigation minister. Both are close to party president Pushpa Kamal Dahal.Dahal himself publicly admitted last month that he was finding it difficult to select from his 49 Maoist MPs aspirants for ministerships. He said: “At most, we will be given only 7 portfolios. It has now become common practice to criticise the party if one is not made minister. I am under immense stress from all the demands. I wish I was able to make all 49 members ministers.”Within the Maoist Centre, voices have been raised that leaders from the Ekta Kendra and the CPN (United Socialist), who have been with the Maoists since the war and integrated with the Maoists after the peace process, should be included in the government.Even the JSP has split, and not been able to finalise the names of those who will join the government. Unable to strike a Mountain-Tarai balance, the Rastriya Janata Party led by Mahanta Thakur has been unable to finalise names either. The other member of the alliance, Rastriya Janamorcha, which has only one MP in Parliament has already announced that it will not participate in the government.Deuba has not forgotten the role Madhav Nepal’s CPN (United played in getting him to office and apparently wants to reward it with 5-7 portfolios. And it could be that Nepal will also need time to decide on a list of ministers to give Deuba.  Translated by Aryan Sitaula from the Nepali language original in Himal Khabar: <a href="https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/125640" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/125640&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1630376494617000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHzH53P7H76MS467An-uvZMV9i_UQ">https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/125640</a>

What is delaying Nepal cabinet expansion?

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121152/636b94b49c7e80680e06f218jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1644" height="912"/><figcaption>The then chief of the NCP’s Foreign Affairs Department Madhav Kumar Nepal signed an MoU with the Chief of International Liaison Department of CPC Song Tao to formally establish fraternal relations between the two communist parties in September 2019. Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Prime Minister K P Oli look on.</figcaption></figure>On 1 July 2021, Beijing will be marking the centennial of the establishment of the Communist Party of China (CPC) amidst signs that cooperation with Nepal’s communist parties may gain momentum in future.While China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs handles state-to-state relations, the International Department of the CPC manages relationships with fraternal parties in other countries, and there have been some high profile interactions with Nepal’s communist parties.There had been a record of <a href="https://docs.aiddata.org/ad4/pdfs/Silk_Road_Diplomacy_Report.pdf" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://docs.aiddata.org/ad4/pdfs/Silk_Road_Diplomacy_Report.pdf&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624955244648000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEK6hVu5OvbEqJuBpWEibpiE5N0aw">114 political visits and 15 party exchanges</a> between Chinese and Nepali communist leaders between 2000-2017, the highest number among any country in South and Central Asia. After Nepal signed the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/bri-and-trans-himalayan-connectivity/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/bri-and-trans-himalayan-connectivity/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624955244648000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGZUkW821vTo1iK-6jvwGytHRAVzg">Belt Road Initiative (BRI)</a> pact in 2017, the level of exchanges became even more visible.China had made no secret of preferring to deal with a single communist party in Nepal, and is thought to have encouraged the formation of the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) by <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/nepali-times-search/?q=Dahal+oli" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/nepali-times-search/?q%3DDahal%2Boli&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624955244648000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGTSclwn4ND8Zi2RhFMjwNFGilyDg">uniting the UML and the Maoist-Centre</a> in 2018, and the formation of a strong majority government.And when a power struggle between Prime Minister K P Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal threatened the NCP’s unity last year, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/nepali-times-search/?q=hou+yanqi" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/nepali-times-search/?q%3Dhou%2Byanqi&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624955244648000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGfo5fcvq_YXCL0ItGaTVhUB8D_CQ">Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Hour Yanqi</a> actively, and quite openly, lobbied to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/nepali-times-search/?q=Dahal+oli" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/nepali-times-search/?q%3DDahal%2Boli&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624955244648000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGTSclwn4ND8Zi2RhFMjwNFGilyDg">prevent a break-up.</a>The two ruling parties, NCP and the CPC,<a href="https://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/mou-signed-between-ncp-ncp-and-cpc-establishing-bilateral-ties" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://thehimalayantimes.com/kathmandu/mou-signed-between-ncp-ncp-and-cpc-establishing-bilateral-ties&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624955244648000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHhX27IGuTa6cxE1CEGaQKl5qiYTQ"> signed an MoU in 2019</a> to establish fraternal relations, and this allowed smoother high-level exchanges and visits. Prior to President Xi’s official visit to Nepal in October 2019, the CPC conducted a session on ‘Xi Jinping thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics’ for 200 NCP leaders in Kathmandu.This raised eyebrows because it was a direct display of preference by one country’s ruling party to the ruling party in a neighbouring country, ignoring other political parties like the opposition Nepali Congress, with which the NCP only possesses a ‘sisterhood’ relationship.This visibility is the result of an increased level of engagement for sustaining Sino-Nepal cooperation. With both CPC and NCP (till recently) being ruling parties, the party-to-party relationship helped to leverage dialogue with influential political actors that can be decisive in matters of economic cooperation and in geostrategic considerations.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121152/636b94b79c7e80680e06f219jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1402" height="760"><figcaption>Prior to President Xi’s official visit to Nepal in October 2019, the CPC conducted a session on ‘Xi Jinping thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics’ for 200 NCP leaders in Kathmandu.</figcaption></figure>China <a href="http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-11/07/c_138535703.htm" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-11/07/c_138535703.htm&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624955244648000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG02E3gjkKSkPBoDyHazKH_W1ZVKw">remains</a> Nepal’s main partner in foreign direct investment, and opening up new markets for Chinese goods is an important economic agenda to help keep its <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/protect-the-party-chinas-growing-influence-in-the-developing-world/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.brookings.edu/articles/protect-the-party-chinas-growing-influence-in-the-developing-world/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624955244648000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGn-aZXV3_FMO838WpahfQTWFLqgg">indebted state-owned enterprises (SOEs) afloat.</a>On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the CPC, Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal  <a href="https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/Urgrb-7nOw4XhJmSUh6XtQ" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/Urgrb-7nOw4XhJmSUh6XtQ&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624955244648000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGiadTzq5ZmN9Svr5nCKU9MRYCZ7g">recently penned an article</a> for World Socialism Studies (世界社会主义研究) WeChat page highlighting party-to-party relations between Nepal and China as an important factor ‘to coordinate development strategies of two countries, promote and facilitate the launch of major infrastructure projects’.At the same time, <a href="https://kathmandupost.com/national/2020/12/27/chinese-vice-minister-arrives-on-a-four-day-visit-to-assess-the-political-situation-in-nepal" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://kathmandupost.com/national/2020/12/27/chinese-vice-minister-arrives-on-a-four-day-visit-to-assess-the-political-situation-in-nepal&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624955244649000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH4wCZerD85xtNypimWisfQQrkGwg">high-level CPC visits </a>to help NCP to settle its internal dispute last year showed China’s strong preference for the ruling party’s stability.  This not only has strengthened party ties, but also removed constraints due to diplomatic protocol – serving as a ‘fast track’ for CPC leaders to promote its economic interests in Nepal.The CPC and NCP tie-up, although being party-to-party, therefore formed an integral part of larger bilateral ties between two countries. This is despite the CPC mandating contact with non-Communist parties as well, and fostering good working relations with all parties.After training NCP leaders on Xi Jinping Thought, China held a virtual conference with Nepal’s major parties for the first time in October 2020. Unlike the CPC-NCP ideology training, the session was mostly to ‘seek commitment from Nepali political parties’ on the Trans-Himalaya Multidimensional Connectivity Network.Similarly, a <a href="http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/asiapacific/2021-05/27/c_139971509.htm" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/asiapacific/2021-05/27/c_139971509.htm&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624955244649000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG0MofYYG-vGI-TR7k4mLvHRz99og">virtual meeting</a> hosted by the CPC International Department in May on jointly combatting Covid-19 <a href="https://www.toutiao.com/i6966916194880356901/?tt_from=weixin&amp;utm_campaign=client_share&amp;wxshare_count=1&amp;timestamp=1622654934&amp;app=news_article&amp;utm_source=weixin&amp;utm_medium=toutiao_ios&amp;use_new_style=1&amp;req_id=2021060301285401021207009730193670&amp;share_token=86CEF9EC-B88A-4A1B-87D6-E0301D19C21F&amp;group_id=6966916194880356901" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.toutiao.com/i6966916194880356901/?tt_from%3Dweixin%26utm_campaign%3Dclient_share%26wxshare_count%3D1%26timestamp%3D1622654934%26app%3Dnews_article%26utm_source%3Dweixin%26utm_medium%3Dtoutiao_ios%26use_new_style%3D1%26req_id%3D2021060301285401021207009730193670%26share_token%3D86CEF9EC-B88A-4A1B-87D6-E0301D19C21F%26group_id%3D6966916194880356901&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624955244649000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHvfS50dq7PR10qB1QiwtS3eC_3AA">through inter-party channels</a> preceded China’s announcement of a further grant of 1 million doses. That meeting included leaders of both the UML and Maoist Centre, the Nepali Congress, the Janata Samajbadi Party, and others.The CCP started as a small meeting between 53 students and journalists in the French quarter of Shanghai in 1921, and 100 years later has gone on to become the most dominant political party in the world.The transition from a revolutionary party to a ruling party, then the founding of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1949, and now its emergence as a world economic power has been shepherded by the CCP and leaders like Mao and Deng Xiaoping.With more than 90 million members, the CPC remains the absolute power and is at the center of all Chinese politics and economy. The party <a href="https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/ref/college/coll-china-politics-002.html" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/ref/college/coll-china-politics-002.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624955244649000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFSgHkU_0NvjkWSzvy8IxFIhBuiCg">controls and coordinates</a> all aspects of government, its people’s congress, and foreign affairs matters.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121152/636b94ba9c7e80680e06f21ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1346" height="752"><figcaption></figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121152/636b94bd9c7e80680e06f21bjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1818" height="1042"><figcaption>CPC officials and leaders of various political parties in Nepal held a joint virtual consultation on fighting against the Covid-19 pandemic on 26 May. Source: TOUTIAO</figcaption></figure>Past record shows that the CPC remains very selective in choosing its partners and seeks to enhance relations with parties <a href="https://watermark.silverchair.com/sqaa028.pdf?token=AQECAHi208BE49Ooan9kkhW_Ercy7Dm3ZL_9Cf3qfKAc485ysgAAApowggKWBgkqhkiG9w0BBwagggKHMIICgwIBADCCAnwGCSqGSIb3DQEHATAeBglghkgBZQMEAS4wEQQMAyoSXFAENeE7Fc-1AgEQgIICTZ7GucTUBIfh6QToRlv0zmopkh10aCm1Ynt6JeNBbkyeW0sgZ5RD3vBfE6800WjJHaAPebtC_oeZOFym4zAK32Xql3pMHYPzsKcgdCjZBH0YjTD_Wjajh2hVlsRUUVOHED-wZ7DiTnPTAcjAerwNvxFoov-1c7TvKJtamq6tBcNX5TVYcaOG4WkyB8P6Igxrld2fsAAiEGTazP6dt6eNGwAH-hVrumHu1kJXbR4t21HBBsb9Je9sxsJQViC-qHK6XFU7ZB5J2Uy4Y95ZfMYHVambD9MND04Q7laHGH7LxxICg_vhh-B-WoMz-OW9SnQcDKNnecyHAneWxGar4FF-3lVZDXFMh1mL2WTZ5oVpds-hk77IyzuphwhJonZIWg3B4wUk1Qs35zIStlSLqZMgEx10U2-jP0x76UsPuTbf2Gjw1f34Qq151O4_NAjcRuz9Ssc0GpjQDeIRaiORxRb8p-MA02zjgNaaKqOnWFpVGmFhwqF1TUzZPn2qZXmFdKKJBCG1OPezN87IIDuXj2UFGBFIVwmrfoRjfeveakwvGrxp1RDW6OrViCLUCzknHuxiIqBc3AfVALSEZFFPAVPbu0pUNiTXqN4A-6VugGz84I6JfsUypH9ICvqHeoq1Ndm5TN278ewF5cOVFZzUGQH-S5m73EO7x56TBMmMQaqLCRdgBxCJ1CixuDUJhQIre7wqG4Qs1h4LogcWAYFv5O4N7m-1mzfsRdN7QEJ3TC4KPzgV0pqHPl6x0cm2HkuilvZeNFCfXFvfNK0sGd6wEaU" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://watermark.silverchair.com/sqaa028.pdf?token%3DAQECAHi208BE49Ooan9kkhW_Ercy7Dm3ZL_9Cf3qfKAc485ysgAAApowggKWBgkqhkiG9w0BBwagggKHMIICgwIBADCCAnwGCSqGSIb3DQEHATAeBglghkgBZQMEAS4wEQQMAyoSXFAENeE7Fc-1AgEQgIICTZ7GucTUBIfh6QToRlv0zmopkh10aCm1Ynt6JeNBbkyeW0sgZ5RD3vBfE6800WjJHaAPebtC_oeZOFym4zAK32Xql3pMHYPzsKcgdCjZBH0YjTD_Wjajh2hVlsRUUVOHED-wZ7DiTnPTAcjAerwNvxFoov-1c7TvKJtamq6tBcNX5TVYcaOG4WkyB8P6Igxrld2fsAAiEGTazP6dt6eNGwAH-hVrumHu1kJXbR4t21HBBsb9Je9sxsJQViC-qHK6XFU7ZB5J2Uy4Y95ZfMYHVambD9MND04Q7laHGH7LxxICg_vhh-B-WoMz-OW9SnQcDKNnecyHAneWxGar4FF-3lVZDXFMh1mL2WTZ5oVpds-hk77IyzuphwhJonZIWg3B4wUk1Qs35zIStlSLqZMgEx10U2-jP0x76UsPuTbf2Gjw1f34Qq151O4_NAjcRuz9Ssc0GpjQDeIRaiORxRb8p-MA02zjgNaaKqOnWFpVGmFhwqF1TUzZPn2qZXmFdKKJBCG1OPezN87IIDuXj2UFGBFIVwmrfoRjfeveakwvGrxp1RDW6OrViCLUCzknHuxiIqBc3AfVALSEZFFPAVPbu0pUNiTXqN4A-6VugGz84I6JfsUypH9ICvqHeoq1Ndm5TN278ewF5cOVFZzUGQH-S5m73EO7x56TBMmMQaqLCRdgBxCJ1CixuDUJhQIre7wqG4Qs1h4LogcWAYFv5O4N7m-1mzfsRdN7QEJ3TC4KPzgV0pqHPl6x0cm2HkuilvZeNFCfXFvfNK0sGd6wEaU&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624955244649000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGOQ3tTXN8YXiEKydX3oM4j0-tSuQ">‘who have been in power in the past or can be expected to attain power in the future’. </a> The important takeaway from such engagements is that it allows the CPC, in particular, to shield itself against worldwide criticisms by garnering support through its party-to-party relations.Following Deng Xiaoping’s mandate of ‘uniting our friends and isolating and attacking our enemies’, the CPC seeks constant support and friendship among its party-to-party networks and also is quick to lash out against its ‘enemies’ when it needs to.In 2007, David Shambaugh in his often quoted article on ‘Quiet Diplomacy’ <a href="https://go.gale.com/ps/anonymous?id=GALE%7CA166351069&amp;sid=googleScholar&amp;v=2.1&amp;it=r&amp;linkaccess=abs&amp;issn=02197472&amp;p=AONE&amp;sw=w" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://go.gale.com/ps/anonymous?id%3DGALE%257CA166351069%26sid%3DgoogleScholar%26v%3D2.1%26it%3Dr%26linkaccess%3Dabs%26issn%3D02197472%26p%3DAONE%26sw%3Dw&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1624955244649000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHRmVSlZhKjLVOQPArwBLG3Ft-rEQ">had argued</a> that the CPC’s relation with foreign parties was mostly to learn from advanced democracies, while power politics and propaganda was considered supplementary.But modern China is now stronger than it has ever been in history, and hence the reverse is more plausible. Elite party-to-party relations have become an integral component of the CPC’s foreign policy.Recently, President Xi Jinping replied to a friendly letter from foreign students at Peking University urging them to ‘understand the Chinese Communist Party in order to understand China today’. As the CPC celebrates its 100th anniversary, we can only infer that there will be further efforts to deepen party-to-party relations and exchanges in future.Inter-party relations will remain pivotal in sustaining overall Sino-Nepal relations, and could help Nepal in taking forward economic cooperation that Nepal desperately needs. Political leaders of all parties in Nepal, on the other hand, need to keep the national interest paramount and maintain a balanced relationship.Aneka Rebecca Rajbhandari is an undergraduate student in political science and  Raunab Singh Khatri is a Yenching scholar in China studies at Peking University.

One party, two countries?

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110111152/636cd83b9c7e80680e092e30gif.gif" alt="" width="1000" height="1000"/><figcaption>Illustration: DIWAKAR CHETTRI</figcaption></figure>Nepalis are wondering who won and who lost after the Supreme Court on 7 March effectively ruled that the Nepal Communist Party revert to its constituent elements: the UML and Maoist Centre. Even the leaders of the parties are confused.Within 24 hours of the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-supreme-court-restores-house/">court decision</a>, a party that was cleft into two factions suddenly went back to its status three years ago. Leaders who were <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/no-winners-in-latest-nepal-political-twist/">caught on</a> the wrong side had to slink back to their mother party.Despite judicial interventions to scrap the NCP on Sunday, and to reinstate the House on 23 February, Nepali politics looks as confused as ever. To be sure, Prime Minister Oli suffered a setback with the House restitution, but he got a respite with the party re-split.His erstwhile UML comrades Madhav Kumar Nepal and Jhalnath Khanal, who had defected to the Pushpa Kamal Dahal camp, have been forced to return to the fold.The biggest relief must be felt by Chief Election Commissioner Dinesh Thapaliya, who had been undecided for over a month on whether the Oli or the Dahal faction would get the NCP party name and election symbol. He sprang into action after Sunday’s court verdict and scrapped the NCP altogether.Even Dahal himself must be feeling less stressed now. The bruising <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/muscle-vs-muscle-in-nepal/">political battles</a> with an aggressive Oli was taking its toll, but he is now in sole control of his own independent party. It is like he has moved from a big house of an abusive landlord to his own small shed.The biggest, and sorest, losers must be Oli’s former UML comrades and former prime ministers Nepal, Khanal, and the firebrand MP from Achham, Bhim Rawal. The bad blood between them and Oli will surely affect the internal dynamics of the re-instituted UML.The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-takes-1-step-forward-2-steps-back/">7 March decision</a> transformed Oli from a majority prime minister to a coalition leader. It is intriguing that even though the Maoist Centre has sent feelers to the Nepali Congress (NC) and the Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) to form a coalition, it has not withdrawn its pre-unification support for the UML.Oli himself just needs to win the support of the JSP to remain prime minister, while Dahal will need both the NC and JSP. Dahal is hedging his bets: he does not want to lose a no-confidence vote since he cannot push another one for a year, and Oli may once more suddenly announce early elections.The wily Oli is already looking at the option of splitting the JSP vote to garner the number needed to stay on as prime minister. With 121 MPs in the House, Oli just needs 17 more votes to cobble a coalition, which he can get even if the rest of the JSP’s anti-Oli leaders are against joining. He can do that by agreeing to the JSP demand to free Resham Chaudhari, who is in detention for the Tikapur massacre of policemen in 2015.The key player in the formation of the next government will be the JSP and not the NC or the Maoist Centre. In fact, the JSP can even form a government with the NC and the Maoists. Within the UML, the Nepal-Khanal camp do not have the numbers any more to challenge Oli till the next party convention.Despite the involvement of the three organs of the state – the judiciary, the executive and the legislative – Nepal’s politics is more tangled than ever. When even a two-thirds majority government could not deliver on stability in the past three years, it would be foolish to expect a fragile coalition to do so now.Which is why Oli may have been right: the best option may be <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepalis-outraged-by-pm-oli-move/">fresh polls</a>. If it is overseen by an all-party election government, it could deliver a fresh mandate and restore a derailed polity.

A crucible of fragile coalitions

<figure><img width="871" height="657" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110111152/636cd82a9c7e80680e092e2ajpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Illustration: SUBHAS RAI/NEPALI TIMES ARCHIVES</figcaption></figure>There has been a lot of speculative analysis this week about the winners and losers in Nepal’s latest political upheaval, after the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-takes-1-step-forward-2-steps-back/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-takes-1-step-forward-2-steps-back/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1615441393580000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEBODxWrlYxavSW1mb4nTIQnSWhow">decision on 7 March by the Supreme Court</a> that annulled the unification of the incumbent Nepal Communist Party (NCP).
Ruling on a petition that the party name was already registered, the Bench went beyond what was demanded to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/no-winners-in-latest-nepal-political-twist/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/no-winners-in-latest-nepal-political-twist/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1615441393580000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFA9lKBadTPxClyS2Q2IZtbqCM4xQ">reinstate the NCP’s two constituent parties</a>: the UML led by K P Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s Maoist Centre.
Ever since 2018, the country has been forced to pay the price for the inability of these two leaders to overcome their oversized egos. Nepal’s policy-making and development ground to a halt as the party and government got mired in intrigue and back-stabbing between the triumvirate of Oli, Dahal and Madhav Kumar Nepal.
Then, the Covid-19 crisis struck and Singha Darbar was too distracted to launch an effective response in time. The leaders were busy at their residences in Baluwatar, Khumaltar and Balkot in back-room wheeling and dealing.
Increasingly isolated, and fighting a rear-guard action, Prime Minister Oli <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepalis-outraged-by-pm-oli-move/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepalis-outraged-by-pm-oli-move/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1615441393580000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGt3yu1ylZg8P2ZS692_FLF9owxOg">dissolved the Lower House </a>on 20 December just before the Dahal faction could register a no-confidence vote. When the Supreme Court restored the House on 23 February, there was great jubilation, with Dahal and Nepal <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/calm-before-another-storm-in-nepal/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/calm-before-another-storm-in-nepal/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1615441393580000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGZhGCDgiLR1lQwdpoErvODvGXB2A">feeding each other ladoo</a> in front of cheering cadre.
That celebration turned out to be premature because it looks like Oli had another trick up his sleeves. Sunday’s decision effectively dismantled the NCP and bifurcated it once more between the UML and the Maoists.  
If it is indeed true that <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/you-stab-my-back-i-stab-yours/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/you-stab-my-back-i-stab-yours/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1615441393580000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFRWCGtRoTgwBYmPcNl98vgmLxzKA">Oli had masterminded this all along</a>, then he is even more of a schemer than we had given him credit for. That is not necessarily good for the rule of law since it means unacceptable executive interference in the judiciary. 
The general conclusion is that Oli had nothing left to lose, and was willing to dissolve Parliament and split the party to prevent his two nemeses from gaining control of the NCP chair and prime ministership — even if it meant sacrificing his leadership of government.
As someone said this week, Oli is playing chess and Dahal is playing checkers. The coming weeks will show how the party <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/parliamentary-arithmetics/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/parliamentary-arithmetics/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1615441393580000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEMqxOiytnWcq053Om0OMguoEYsbg">numbers in Parliament</a> will play out in the formation of the next government. Both the UML and the Maoists are now courting the Nepali Congress (NC) and the Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP) to obtain the total 135 in the current 270-member Lower House.
The UML with 121 MPs will just need the NC’s 63 seats to cobble together a coalition, whereas the Maoists with 53 members will require both the NC and the JSP’s 34 to do so. All week, the two parties have been wooing the NC’s Sher Bahadur Deuba and JSP leaders, with Dahal more interested for now in unseating Oli in a no-confidence vote than in forming a government. 
All this takes us back to the bad old days of cyclical coalitions of the late 1990s and the early 2010s when the functions of government were paralysed by short-term politicking — exactly the kind of instability the 2015 Constitution was supposed to put a stop to.
Hopes that the unification of the NCP in 2018 would bring stability and put Nepal on the track to growth have also been dashed. The country has now gone back three years. To be sure, the UML and the Maoists had never really united and it remained ideologically polarised between जबज and जन युद्द (People’s Multiparty Democracy vs People’s War). 
True to the dictum that a Communist party regards the faction immediately to the right of it as a greater enemy than an <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/opium-of-the-masters/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/opium-of-the-masters/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1615441393580000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEiijHAUvZnOZmG1U2FJJ6N32uHKQ">extreme rightwing party</a>, both factions distrusted each other more than the NC. As he got more cornered, Oli was openly <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/k-p-oli-rams-it-home/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/k-p-oli-rams-it-home/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1615441393580000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFP8QkFGqrRmuWQmzNc_ChN1DxqIA">flirting with the Hindu right</a>.
The question now is which serial prime minister will be the new prime minister. Not that it matters much, these are all tried, tested and failed leaders who have had multiple chances in the past decades to prove their statesmanship.
The best-case scenario would be if the current political crisis could be turned into an opportunity by the four main parties to skip a generation and elevate a new crop of untainted younger leaders with fresh blood and energy. 
But that may be wishful thinking. We are once more seriously underestimating the egos and ambition of these superannuated septuagenarians.

It’s broke, fix it

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.”

prachanda