<figure></figure>										<img width="2184" height="1378" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110111124/636cd1e79c7e80680e08f8e0jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Illustration: DIWAKAR CHHETRI</figcaption>												Prime Minister K P Oli was half way through his one hour delivery to the Upper House on Sunday, defending his move to dissolve the lower chamber of Parliament, when he spat from the rostrum.The Prime Minister was figuratively spitting at Parliament, but in doing so live on television it became a symbolic demonstration of his attitude towards the Constitution and democracy itself.The clip of Oli’s audible spit went viral on YouTube and Facebook, with the prime minister once more coming under blistering attack. Cartoonists had a field day on the front pages of national dailies. But none of this has so far deterred Oli from getting back at his detractors by trying to take his party down with him.   Three weeks after he abruptly <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=1610442955396000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFRDu6i83PA45eTnObLCKkPIcMEXA">dissolved the Lower House</a> and called for elections in five months, Oli has been increasingly on the defensive, mounting spirited attacks on party rivals, and flying to far corners of the country as if he is already out on the campaign trail.Oli has had a double kidney transplant, and is on heavy medication, but has not let the Covid-19 pandemic deter his movements. His speech to supporters in Dhangadi on Saturday was a vitriolic attacks on those who opposed his move.   Oli is increasingly <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/over-the-edge-again/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/over-the-edge-again/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1610442955396000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFMGKNw9G3FuurnYu2DhVFfxX4rXw">isolated</a> with only his core allies now standing by their man. The Nepal Communist Party (NCP) faction led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Madhav Kumar Nepal have formed a parallel leadership, and claimed the former UML Sun election symbol.Even as the Supreme Court resumes debate on 13 writ petitions against the House dissolution on Wednesday, former chief justices, lawyers, some civil society members and editors have united against Prime Minister Oli’s move, denouncing it as unconstitutional and anti-democratic.Street protests have continued nationwide, and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-communists-on-verge-of-split-again/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-communists-on-verge-of-split-again/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1610442955396000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFa5pM085_qKUygIPJgYxzCZGj4iA">the split in the party</a> between the Oli and Dahal-Nepal factions has affected provincial assemblies, permeating right down to the ward level. For all practical purposes the NCP has already <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-1-party-2-central-committees-system/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-1-party-2-central-committees-system/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1610442955396000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHrCsXW_8Lt2yT1Qf6DJQm8TYx45g">split</a>, it just has not been formally announced yet.The real question is: who benefits? Whichever way the Supreme Court goes, either to reinstate the Lower House or endorse the prime minister’s move, it is the NCP that will be the loser. And what a fall from grace it will be for a unified party that commands a 65% majority in Parliament, and leads six of Nepal’s seven provincial governments.And all this because the two top comrades in the NCP could not get along. Indeed, the greatest gripe that the Dahal-Nepal faction had against Prime Minister Oli is that he did not listen to them. Dahal waited halfway into Oli’s tenure, and was impatient to be party Chair or Prime Minister, while Nepal just wanted more respect from his erstwhile colleague.Prime Minister Oli’s biggest political failure is <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-pm-shuffles-ministers-around/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-pm-shuffles-ministers-around/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1610442955396000&amp;usg=AFQjCNECj3AYrbyymKQdjyOSwX0r0luHhA">politics</a>. It is the art of give-and-take, but for Oli politics during this two-and-half tenure, became take-and-take. Any other leader would have smoothed out ruffled feathers, accommodated rivals to make his own position more secure. But he chose full <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/i-had-no-other-option-pm-oli/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/i-had-no-other-option-pm-oli/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1610442955396000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHOobX46UuIWnzc_amNaPP3NsMigg">confrontation</a>.Oli’s argument is that he took the united NCP to a landslide in 2017, but that the Dahal-Nepal side tried to undermine him from day one. Actually that exposes his own inability to find a compromise and blunt the internal threat.As has often happened before in post-1990 Nepali politics, each faction now sees the other as more of an enemy than the opposition parties. Speaking of which, the Nepali Congress (NC) is dealing with a widening rift between Sher Bahadur Deuba and Ram Chandra Poudel. The unending power struggle between the two almost mirrors what is happening in the NCP, and this time they are divided over whether to support Oli’s call for elections or not.The second echelon of NC leaders, however, realise that their party can reap the benefit of a divided NCP if snap polls are held in April-May. There is also a strong grassroots push in the party for polls that leaders like Gagan Thapa and others cannot ignore.Even if the Lower House is re-instated, the NC stands to benefit as kingmaker since there is so much bad blood between the NCP’s rivals that the Communists are as good as split. With its 60 voting MPs, the NC will carry the swing vote if it sides with either the Oli or the Dahal-Nepal faction in forming a coalition government. That is when the real horse-trading will start.If the Supreme Court decides to back the dissolution and pave the way for elections, the NC will once again see it as an opportunity to come out of its political hibernation and make up for the loss it suffered in 2017. That will not be so difficult, since by then the NCP will most certainly have formalised a split.There is also geopolitics. The Chinese have made it no secret that they prefer a united NCP, and are believed to be the main architects of the unification of the UML and Maoists. A slew of Chinese visitors and Chinese Ambassador Hou Yanqi herself have been trying to get the leaders to settle their personal differences to keep the party united.Logically, then, China’s regional and global rivals would not be too disappointed to see the NCP split, whether there are elections or not.   Even if the unthinkable happens and the Oli and Dahal-Nepal factions patch up, the two will be trying to undermine the chances of each other’s candidates even if it means sealing a secret pact with the NC.If elections do go ahead, there will be other wild cards. The RPP has demonstrated some public backing for its anti-secular, anti-federalism, and anti-republican plank. This support may represent disillusionment with the present government, and not necessarily full endorsement for the return of a Hindu monarchy.The JSP and other Madhes-based parties are also trying to establish their credentials as ‘national’ parties, and could also benefit from an anti-incumbent wave.All eyes are now on the Supreme Court, and there is a lot also resting on the Election Commission’s decision on which faction of the NCP will get the party name and symbol.

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Zero-sum game for Nepal’s ruling Communists

<img width="1500" height="1610" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101124/636b71f29c7e80680e0600fbjpeg.jpg" alt=""/>A Nepali photojournalist formerly with the Maoists is now documenting <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepalis-caught-up-in-hong-kong-protests/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the protests on-going in Hong Kong</a>, and says the demonstrations seem to follow him wherever he goes.Jagat Ambu Gurung, 53, (pictured right) says he has not missed a single protest. He even leaves his job during working hours to follow the street demonstrations.“I have always been a risk-taker and there is still a bit of rebellion in me from my days as a youth in the andolan for democracy back home,” says Gurung. “My 13-year-old son, who speaks Cantonese, updates me regarding the protests, helping me to be in the right place at the right time. I documented the 2014 Umbrella Movement as well.”Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepalis-caught-up-in-hong-kong-protests/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepalis caught up in Hong Kong Protests</a>, Will Patterson<a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/two-nepalis-held-in-hong-kong-protest/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Two Nepalis held in Hong Kong protests</a>, Irtika BajracharyaGurung was born in <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/young-Nepalis-eager-to-come-home,2686" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hong Kong</a> to a British Gurkha father, but spent much of his youth in Chitwan with his grandparents. During the Panchayat period, he worked as a reporter for Chalphal weekly and also wrote for Bimarsha.After the first Jana Andolan of 1990-91 brought democracy to Nepal, Gurung worked in South Korea for four years as a reporter and photojournalist, documenting the lives of Nepali migrant workers for a local newspaper.In 1995, he decided to move to Hong Kong and later started working for the Nepali paper Everest. It was after joining the online news portal HK Nepal that he decided to focus primarily on photojournalism.“The protests here are different from back home. Nepal has a longer history of rebellion; people in Hong Kong are just beginners,” says Gurung. “The demonstrations here are still relatively safe in comparison, even though there are now crackdowns on the press.”Gurung became a member of Communist Party of Nepal (Masal) in 1985 and then Ekata Kendra, before joining the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/fire-in-the-belly-2/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Cultural Wing of the CPN (Maoist)</a> during the conflict years. He remained with the party until 2008, when he became disillusioned with the sycophancy and nepotism.“We fought a war but not much has changed,” says Gurung who describes himself as a straight-shooter who does not kowtow to anyone for favours. Like many descendants of Gurkha servicemen, Gurung now <a href="https://nepalitimes.atavist.com/tunnel-vision" target="_blank" rel="noopener">works in construction</a>. He is employed by HK Electric, a power project on Lamma Island.When <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/two-nepalis-held-in-hong-kong-protest/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the pro-democracy demonstration</a> reached Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Gurung came across some Nepali students who had not left the campus compound for days. He found that they had joined the movement against their families’ wishes and under peer pressure.“I tell them not to be involved in it and if they are, first and foremost to be safe,” says Gurung, who himself has been to both the Ninja and pro-Beijing demonstrations and says the Nepali community in Hong Kong is worried about the stability of the island.He adds: “Many Nepalis are concerned that they might have to return back home but I think that unlike the hospitality industry, the impact of the protests will hit us in about two years’ time when we Nepalis have to renew the contracts for our construction jobs.” Sonia Awale

Sonia Awale

Hong Kong’s Jana Andolan

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110813110/636a45739c7e80680e04d386jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="4032" height="3024"/><figcaption>Protests against the proposed Guthi Bill in Lalitpur on Thursday. Photos: Sanu Raj Maharjan</figcaption></figure>Foreigners are often puzzled why Nepalis never take to the streets despite the chronic failure of the government to provide basic services. It is true, Nepalis are a tolerant lot. But this week, something snapped.Citizens have been gathering on the streets, braving water cannons and tear gas to oppose a bill in Parliament that would dismantle the centuries-old tradition of guthi community trusts to manage religious sites and festivals.Coming soon after the Media Council Bill, and detention by police of a YouTuber for posting a satirical review of a bad movie, the slew of recent street protests reflects growing disillusionment with and defiance of a powerful Nepal Communist Party (NCP) government that is perceived to be corrupt to the core and uncaring of the public interest.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/scripted-arrest/">Scripted arrest</a>, Masta KC<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/nepal-has-press-freedom-but-no-freedom-after-press/">Nepal has press freedom, but no freedom after press</a>, Shashank Shrsethahttps://youtu.be/uf2W5I3r9hoIn the past months, citizens of Chapagaon, Baudhha and Thali have spontaneously risen up to blockade roads, demanding that they be repaired. Journalists took to the streets last month to protest provisions in the draft Media Council Bill that could lay hefty fines on journalists found to be violating officials guidelines.But the most organised protests so far have been against the Guthi Bill, and clips of Police attacking demonstrators with batons, kicks and water cannons have gone viral on the very media that the government seems intent on controlling.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/suppressed/">Suppressed</a>, Om Astha Rai<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/gagging-the-press-in-installments/">Gagging the press in installments,</a> Sewa Bhattarai<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110813110/636a45779c7e80680e04d387jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1333" height="2000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>There are more than 2,000 guthi all over Nepal, and they collectively own nearly 150,000 hectares of prime real estate. The management of such entities is traditionally passed down from one generation to the next.The Guthi Bill would create a central government authority to manage community trusts all over the country. It would have more executive powers than Guthi Sansthan, the current body that oversees trusts. Guthi members and heritage conservationists say the government is working with the land mafia to take over Guthi property.“The government doesn’t understand how the guthi system works,” said activist Alok Tuladhar, “it just want to usurp the land. The government’s intention is total control, not just the guthi but also free speech and other rights enshrined in the Constitution.”The protests that began on 9 June have snowballed with more groups and activists joining in. In Parliament, the opposition Nepali Congress halted proceedings on Tuesday, calling for the bill to be scrapped.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022110813110/636a457a9c7e80680e04d388jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2129" height="1419">Minister for Land Management and Cooperatives Padma Kumari Aryal defended the Bill in Parliament, saying it was intended to bring uniformity to guthi administration in order to protect heritage and culture. She says many trusts do not keep proper accounts and are not answerable to anyone.Minister for Home Affairs Ram Bahadur Thapa said the government accepted moral responsibility for the street violence, and promised to investigate. But protests escalated Thursday with a large demonstration in Patan’s Mangal Bazar (pictured above).Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/long-shadows/">Long Shadows</a>, Sewa Bhattarai<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/creeping-control-over-the-press-in-nepal/">Creeping control over the press in Nepal</a>, Ajay Pradhan

Culture Revolution

Devprakash Tripathi in Ghatana ra Bichar, 29 JanuaryNCP Co-chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal recently expressed strong support for the sovereignty of Venezuela’s elected communist government, and denounced foreign intervention, particularly that of the United States. This is ironic because his own political trajectory has depended on foreign intervention and support. As a rebel, Dahal sought shelter abroad while perpetrating violence in his home country. His signing of national agreements while in foreign land was already an open invitation for interference. Even when he was in power, Dahal pursued the agendas of foreign powers to support his own power.Historically, Dahal has shown no respect for Nepal’s sovereignty. He was involved in demolishing statues of Prithvi Narayan Shah, was irreverent of poet Bhanubhakta Acharya and other figures regarded as Nepal’s national heroes. Yet, Dahal is in effusive admiration of Marx, Lenin, Stalin and Mao who in no way contributed to Nepal’s development. Dahal’s statements are hypocritical, and inconsistent with his own past.There is speculation that Dahal issued the statement to regain China’s diminishing trust in him after his India visit. This was evident in the way the Chinese snubbed him on a recent trip to China. This latest statement calling for international support of Venezuela’s communist government may be intended to convince China that his communist stance is still intact.

A conflicting stance

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101144/636a252e9c7e80680e0439b4jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1000" height="507"/><figcaption>Photo: YOYOKHABAR</figcaption></figure>Nagarik, 31 JanuaryDoctors across the country have taken to the streets to protest the government’s inaction on Govinda KC’s demands and his deteriorating health. The House of Representatives passed the Medical Education bill on 25 January, amidst opposition, without addressing KC’s demands of reforms in medical education. Doctors, united under the leadership of Nepal Medical Association, have begun a relay hunger strike to pressurise the government.KC is on his 16th fast-unto-death at the TU Teaching Hospital at Maharajganj. His health is said to be critical after not eating for more than three weeks and he has difficulty breathing due to chest pains. Decreasing white blood cell count has put his life at grave danger. The amount of oxygen, glucose, and potassium in KC’s body has also decreased, he has trouble sleeping and is vulnerable to infections. KC needs to be treated in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) but has refused to go to there.KC has been fasting since 10 January, asking the government to implement the agreement made with him after his 15th fast. But after the government prepared the Medical Education bill in contradiction of the agreement, KC began his current fast. The government claims that the bill fulfills KC’s demands.Nepal Medical Association says that doctors in major cities like Biratnagar, Dharan, Janakpur, Chitwan, Birgunj, Butwal, Pokhara, Nepalganj, Dhangadi and others have carried out protests in support of KC, and medical professionals working in Primary Health Care Centers have joined them.On Wednesday, former Chief Justice Sushila Karki visited KC and expressed her solidarity with his movement. “Not fulfilling Dr. KC’s demands would be a loss to the entire nation, and his victory is the victory of 30 million Nepalis,” she said as she asked the government to fulfill his demands.

Doctors solidarity with Govinda KC

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108101132/636a22579c7e80680e041783jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1400" height="878"/><figcaption>Bhim Chapagain/Nagarik</figcaption></figure>Bhim Chapagain in Nagarik, 10 JanuaryGovinda KC, who has been on 15 fast-unto-death protests to demand reforms in medical sector, began his 16th protest in Ilam on Wednesday after Parliament’s Education and Health Committee passed the Medical Education Bill in violation of the agreement made with him.He has begun a new phase of protests with six demands, asking for the Medical Education Bill to be amended before it is passed by the full Parliament. KC reached Ilam on Tuesday, and organised a press meet on Wednesday evening to announce his  protest at a private home near the Tundikhel.“By violating the agreement, the Parliamentary Committee has prepared a bill that is not oriented towards the people but the mafia,” he said. Hundreds of people attended to express solidarity with his protest.Some of KC’s previous demands have been fulfilled by this bill. For example, the bill restricts opening new medical colleges in Kathmandu for the next ten years, requires that medical colleges should be non-profit, and has provisions for scholarships to make medical education accessible to all.However, many previous demands remain unfulfilled, and KC has asked that the bill be amended to reflect word for word the agreement made with him on Aug 26 of this year. Besides that, he has also made the following demands:<ul><li>Tribhuvan University officials found guilty by the Gauri Bahadur Karki investigation committee should be sacked immediately. The Institute of Medicine should be restored with the rights taken over by TU. Planned affiliations through Agriculture and Forestry Ministry that defy the cabinet decision should be cancelled and the culprits punished.</li> 	<li>Medical Colleges should be opened in all seven provinces.</li> 	<li>The culprit of Nirmala Panta’s rape and murder case should be apprehended and punished, and those colluding in hiding the evidence should also be punished.</li> 	<li>Wartime crimes should be processed and the guilty punished according to international laws. Victims should be heard and transitional justice process should be concluded.</li> 	<li>Kathmandu University should roll back the high fees it is charging in defiance of the government’s decision, and those responsible be punished.</li></ul>KC began his protest by drinking a glass of water, and said he will only drink water during his protest. He added: “I am fighting for 30 million Nepalis, so I don’t care whether I live or die.”

Govinda KC fast-unto-death in Ilam

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107141112/636904509c7e80680e037d17jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1800" height="1050"/><figcaption>Photo: RSS</figcaption></figure>The Kanchanpur rape case should go down in history books as a landmark that brought long awaited changes to Nepal’s justice system, how it is implemented and delivered, and how rape is reported in the media.In early 1900s when women all over the world were waking up and rising up against the patriarchy and were demanding their right to vote, in Britain some <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34425615" target="_blank" rel="noopener">women started to train in jiu-jitsu</a>.It came in handy while dealing with male vigilantes who believed women should be harassed or beaten to submission, and the police who did the same to protesting women. The Women's Social and Political Party (suffragettes) was formed in 1903, and two decades later, finally women over 21 won the right to vote.See also: <a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/republic-of-rape/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Republic of rape</a>We are in 2018 now, and it is not just women fighting for women, but <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-roots-of-rape/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">men are also joining the marches for justice</a>. Rapes do not only happen to women. And in a land where we have to fight to even register a case, the chances of abuse of an irreversible penalty like capital punishment is high.Let us demand fast track courts, a well-funded and well-trained prosecution arm of police, safe houses for women, compensation for victims, and (not or) harsh punishment for the perpetrator. Let us also call for <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2015/03/11/kalaiya-protest-rape/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">counselling services for rape survivors</a>, and efforts to remove stigma of rape. There should also be stricter punishment for those who obstruct justice regardless of their political clout or position in the police or bureaucracy. Here is what each sector can do:Major opposition partyIt is shameful to politicise the rape of a minor on the street to try to get some airtime and harass the government. Each party has <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/four-fold-increase-in-reported-rape-in-10-years/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">served in government when there were rape cases</a>. You did very little then, so if you really want to be in the news, then fight it out in Parliament to which you were elected. If you want to join the protests in the streets, leave your political baggage and flags  behind. Fight for the right as a citizen, not as a party hack.Ruling government party <a style="background-color: #ffffff; font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/justice-for-sale/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A compensation of Rs1 million is not what the victim is looking for</a>. Ask yourself: is that your price tag on the life of a child? Where can they go to heal? What is the Ministry of Women and Child Development really doing? What is the Home Ministry doing in Kanchanpur? If you believe the opposition party is fanning the flames, why weren’t you quick off the mark to address the problem? Why did you let it drag on to the point where it could be politicised?Development agenciesExamine which activist group or government agency you fund and ask for a statement of solidarity from each of them for better implementation and delivery of justice and stricter and swifter laws. Your mandate doesn't need to explicitly state that you will be an ally of the rape victims and survivors. It is assumed.Nepali citizensRapes do not only happen to Nepali women, men are also raped. You don't need to have a mother, sister, daughter, aunt to empathise with the cause. If someone needs to be shot dead to demand justice, then we really have no hope of expecting swift and stern action against perpetrators of other crimes as well. If you do not like 'dollar wallas’ then create a rupee funded organisation that will fight for the cause. The culture needs to stop objectifying women, and releasing block-blusters in which women have no role except to play a love interest of the ‘villain' or ‘hero’, with no will, no voice, no part at all in a plot in which men are rewarded with love and marriage for stalking a woman. Fight for women not because you think they (we) are weak, but because we want a just society. We want a society that will take responsibility for safety for everyone at all hours.MediaC<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/how-does-the-nepali-media-cover-rape/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">over this as a trend, not an event to be forgotten</a>. Keep following up.Protestors and activistsWomen in Britain 100 years ago were beaten, force-fed when they went on hunger strikes, and it took them almost 25 years to get equal voting rights. They passed the baton to a new generation of leaders, and kept fighting. In Nepal, it may take more petticoat protests, but the next generation of leaders must be groomed. Civilisation always progresses, but in the meantime, Nepali women may also need to learn martial arts to protect themselves.

Sumana Shrestha

Turning outrage into justice

<figure><img width="1400" height="726" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107121148/6368f0d29c7e80680e0359f5jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Bikram Rai</figcaption></figure>The Oli administration is arguably the strongest government Nepal has had since 1990. It wields de facto control over the legislature, executive, the judiciary and the security agencies. In addition, the constitutional organs are heavily influenced by the Prime Minister’s Office. With a two-thirds majority, the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) is virtually oppositionless.Which is why, given<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/towards-a-police-state/" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> its stranglehold on power</a>, it is surprising the government is behaving like it is a fragile coalition on the verge of collapse. Recent actions and pronouncements by the Prime Minister and his supporters to lash out at critics show that the Communists have a low tolerance for criticism. Instead of being two-thirds full, the government is behaving like it is running on two-thirds empty.This week, at a close-door meeting of a media club loyal to the government, both Prime Minister Oli and Prime Minister-in-waiting Pushpa Kamal Dahal blamed the messenger: exhorting reporters to go all out against detractors, enticing them them with government advertising as reward.Information Minister Gokul Basnet, a former journalist himself, axed an NTV talk show after the anchor grilled him on live television. When Bhaktapur was inundated earlier this month, ruling party MP Mahesh Basnet in Parliament denounced those poking fun at the Prime Minister on Facebook, threatening to book them under the cyber crime law. Government lackeys have unleashed trolls, and spread fake news on social media to discredit critics.The NCP started it all last month by leaning on the President to grant a Republic Day pardon to convicted murderer Bal Krishna Dhungel. The state is thumbing its nose at war <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/rocky-transition-to-justice/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">victims seeking truth and justice</a>, and establishing impunity as the new order of business.The PMO then went on to ban all demonstrations in so-called ‘restricted areas’, reversed appointments made by the previous Nepali Congress government, stopped the vice-chancellor of the Sanskrit University from travelling to Canada and bundled him to the PMO for interrogation, and ex-guerrillas kidnapped a doctor at the Trauma Centre who refused to sign a letter certifying them for handicap compensation, on Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa's orders.When <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/red-rice/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Govinda KC took his hunger strike to Jumla</a>, the local government fired rubber bullets and teargas inside a hospital. And when a policeman was hit in friendly fire, Police deliberately spread fake news that he was dead -- as a pressure tactic to force Govinda KC back to Kathmandu.To be sure, the government is behaving no differently than all previous ones in shifting the blame, faulting anyone but themselves, and smearing hunger strikers by accusing them of being politically manipulated. It is a national trait to play victim, after all.This is a pity because PM Oli was given an overwhelming mandate as a prize for having stood up to the Indians. Since then, he has united his party with the Maoists, won infrastructure deals with China, patched up with New Delhi, raising hopes that he would be as statesmanlike domestically. Half a year on, that euphoria has nearly evaporated.All is not well within the NCP, either. Former UML leaders have expressed misgivings in private that the ex-Maoists are out to trip up the Prime Minister. Indeed, at every step from the government’s failure to rein in transportation syndicates, to the non-investigation of gold smugglers, or the unfulfilled pledge to punish the corrupt, the buck has stopped at the PMO. Dahal is in the sidelines, biding his time, and letting Oli stew in his own juice.Oli has a reputation for being a sharp-tongued and shrewd politician, and he probably knows the blame is being heaped on him. Which is why he seems to be finally acting to correct his over-reach.He convinced <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/gangamaya-breaks-fast/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gangamaya Adhikari</a> to call off her hunger strike. That crisis will not be over until the other person accused of killing her son in 2004, Rudra Acharya, is extradited from Northern Ireland. Interpol has put out a Red Corner notice, but the UK government wants reassurances he will not face torture and capital punishment if sent back.Interestingly, the UK acted much more swiftly to detain Nepal Army Col Kumar Lama at Heathrow in 2013 for wartime excesses. And no assurances on capital punishment and torture have been sought from the Americans this week for the extradition of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/27/execution-britain-populist-us-trial-isis-suspects" target="_blank" rel="noopener">two UK nationals accused of terrorism charges</a>.The government also finally became proactive in negotiating with Govinda KC, who called off his 15th fast on the 26th day of his hunger strike, on Thursday evening. Law Minister Tamang has stepped down after an outcry over his derogatory remarks about female Nepali medical students in Bangladesh.Taken together, these are silver linings in otherwise dark monsoon clouds. <h2>10 years ago this week</h2> Nepal’s first ceremonial president was elected this week ten years ago. And although the post is ceremonial, it was a bruising competition between the parties that portended what was to come. Columnist Prashant Jha <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15068#.W1q7C9Uza70" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote this in his column Plain Speaking</a> in the Nepali Times issue of 25-31 <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/issue/410" target="_blank" rel="noopener">July 2008, #410</a>:No one has come out clean from the presidency fiasco. The Maoists tried to fool all the people all the time. Girija Prasad Koirala’s ego and obstinacy held the country hostage. Upendra Yadav confirmed suspicions he is a political opportunist who wants MJF to be a kingmaker.What is certain is that the realignments spell bad news for the peace process, democracy, constitution-writing, and even Kathmandu-Madhes relationship … unless the more fundamental aspects of the peace process, governance and state-Madhes gap are addressed, it may be premature to characterise Nepal as a ‘post-conflict’ country. <img width="640" height="1016" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107121148/6368f0d69c7e80680e0359f6jpeg.jpg" alt="">

Two-thirds empty

Architecture can be a powerful agent of change, shaping not just spaces but the way people live, connect, and experience the world.&nbsp; For Nepal, which is <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/natures-fragile-gift-to-nepal">gifted by nature</a> and rich in <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/ambassador-fund-cultural-preservation-nepal,2092">cultural heritage</a>, &nbsp;reviving rural architecture with modern amenities could hold the key to more <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/what-sustainable-tourism-means-in-practice">sustainable tourism </a>that benefits local people more. “<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/bayalpata-hospital-in-nepal-wins-global-design-award">Design and architecture</a> are amazing tools to create a unique experience for visitors,” says Spanish architect Tomeu Esteva of Esteva i Esteva Architecture Studio. “Difficult destinations have beautiful hotels with design and comfort.” Esteva was in Kathmandu with his colleagues at an event organised by the Spanish Honorary Consulate at Dwarika’s Hotel last week to showcase buildings which Nepali architects can adapt with local material and design inputs.&nbsp; Rural architecture holds a unique significance: it is more than a shelter and must reflect <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/inking-an-idenity">local identity, culture</a> and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/saving-humla-from-heritage-loss">heritage</a>. An area’s natural and cultural harmony can be upset by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/protecting-protected-areas-from-infrastructure?fbclid=IwAR1wK0MDFlFST_2EYb3f54LS4-fPt6rYfLG1DJ1JaQsU3w8-ezyXIxGOqzk">poorly planned development</a>, speakers at the event said, but the environment can be improved and revitalised by well-integrated structures.&nbsp; Another Spanish architect, Belen Moneo, has designed hotels at elevations of 3,700m in her home country Spain that supply natural spring water spas. “<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/lost-in-reconstruction">Creativity in construction</a> must be encouraged. Rural architecture always shows possibilities of what we can do better,” Moneo explains, adding that designs must enhance <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-healing-power-of-nature">the beauty of nature</a> and give a natural feel at a time when steel, glass and cement dominate <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/rebuilding-kathmandu-after-the-1934-quake">urban design</a>.&nbsp; This is why the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/weaving-nature-into-craft">use of natural products</a> such as bamboo, local timber, straw and rammed earth are in demand from customers who want a fresh eco-friendly look encouraged in construction of rural architectural structures. The demand for boutique hotels has increased world over, with &nbsp;more and more tourists favouring aesthetics, experience and comfort over price. While creativity is an important part of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/architecture-for-mountains">construction and architecture</a>, incentives to build and use <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Building,370">rural construction materials</a> still remain minimal, and Moneo emphasises the significance of design and execution.&nbsp; Esteva helped design the Vana Retreat in Dehradun that kept the natural environment in focus, with the structure giving an elaborate aesthetic experience to visitors. Another example is Hotel Las Mercedes in the Dominican Republic which was designed and constructed by Moneo and the company she co-founded Moneo Brock, respecting and revaluing the traditional architecture of the area. Hotels providing such experience could attract tourists and revenue. The Spanish ambassador to Nepal Juan Antonio March Pujol said, “The role of architecture and architects in developing tourism is crucial, not only in urban areas but rural settings as well.”&nbsp; The concept of rural boutique hotels gained traction in Spain during the 1990s, particularly in regions like Majorca with economic and environmental sustainability as the main focus. In Nepal <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/12-full-opinion/guiding-nepal-s-tourism-industry">the tourism industry</a> directly employs about 1 million people, and makes up about 8% of the country’s GDP. In Nepal, the stone homes of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/reviving-himalayan-vulture-and-culture">Mustang and Manang</a>, bamboo and mud structures of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-tarai-s-shrinking-forests">the Tarai</a>, and the Kathmandu Valley’s terra cotta tile skylines, graceful temples, and tranquil bahal courtyards are all examples of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-traditional-seismic-resistant-designs">Nepal’s traditional architecture</a>.&nbsp; Nepali architect Sarosh Pradhan has been working for the past eight years on the Brakka Village project in Manang Valley north of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/municipalities-want-to-manage-annapurna">the Annapurnas</a>. Other examples of this kind of rural architecture for high-end tourism are the Shinta Mani Hotel in Mustang and Khumbu Lodge below <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/mt-everest-pvt-ltd">Mt Everest</a>. Says Pradhan, “There are places in Nepal that radiate purity and embrace simplicity. Creating projects in such settings require deep reflection and thoughtful planning.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250421030444_a07a23f6b60fa89c0f35b9dc1aaf19937da4881e6bfb2e1858f3c27dff91729f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_19" data-image-id="20250421030444_a07a23f6b60fa89c0f35b9dc1aaf19937da4881e6bfb2e1858f3c27dff91729f" data-rendition-name="original" width="4608" height="2184" loading="lazy" alt="A new architecture for Nepal's tourism"> </figure>  Rural architecture is not easy, and sometimes more expensive. Inflation, energy efficiency, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/those-who-stay">the climate crisis</a>, and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/cost-of-living-in-a-big-city">increased costs of living</a> pose obstacles to sustainable rural architecture. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/forgotten-international-starchitects-in-nepal">Forgotten international starchitects in Nepal</a>, Anne Feenstra and Varun S Bapu Esteva says faith and trust between client and architect is necessary for any project to be successful. He adds that architects must practice being humble, the process of designing always involves learning and not imposing their ideas on clients. Nepal is uniquely positioned for the growth of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/hiking-up-the-benefits-of-tourism">rural tourism</a> because of its stunning countryside as well as its internationally renowned traditions in holistic wellness. Creating infrastructure that is small, thoughtfully planned and that respects both tradition and contemporary hospitality standards is crucial. “Projects in Nepal can be made cost effective by using materials from houses that have been brought down,” says Esteva. “Pilot projects involving <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/local-government-by-the-people-for-the-people-of-the-people">local people </a>and simple designing also helps the process.” <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/vacant-homes-become-homestays-in-nepal">The growth of homestays in Nepal</a> is a step in the right direction, but they are still a bit too rustic for the international traveller who also wants comfort and is willing to pay extra for it. Upgrading the facilities in homestays and ensuring that the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/an-archive-of-nepali-heritage">architectural heritage</a> of the locality is preserved using locally sourced building material could allow owners to charge more. Says Sangita Shrestha of Dwarika’s Hotel, “Our effort is to build upon rural architecture by empowering local communities and using what is available locally. We can fine tune and encourage indigenous design and training.” The vision goes beyond just boosting the economy, it is about building a future where tourism helps villages grow in a healthy and lasting way. Instead of using up resources, it gives back to the land and the people. It supports local communities by<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/staying-in-nepal-to-create-jobs"> creating jobs</a>, improving infrastructure, and protecting natural beauty. When done right, tourism can be a tool for <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/progress-and-or-preservation">preserving culture and nature</a>, not harming them. Architects must therefore see their work as more than just designing buildings, they also need to care deeply about people and places, especially in rural areas that can benefit the most.&nbsp; With global interest in sustainable and off-the-beaten-path travel increasing, Nepal stands at the cusp of a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/missing-out-on-nepal-s-tourism-potential">tourism transformation</a> that values community-driven, eco-conscious hospitality. A mix of modern ideas and traditional knowledge could transform rural tourism in Nepal. Says Shrestha, “Young architects should spend time with <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/latest/the-unsung-heroes-of-conservation">local and indigenous communities</a>, listen to their stories, and learn from their <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/life-and-livelihood-in-remote-nepal">ways of living</a>. These communities have deep knowledge about the land, materials, and climate. If this wisdom is used in new designs, it can help create tourism spaces that truly benefit everyone.” &nbsp;

A new architecture for Nepal's tourism

Extract from an addendum to Nepal's Two Wars, Chapter 2 in the updated edition of Essays on Nepal: Past and Present by Sam Cowan, a retired British Army general with a long association with the Gurkhas. The book was first published in 2018, and republished earlier this month by FinePrint exclusively on Amazon. The addendum details a one-to-one conversation the author had in the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=8884">Royal Palace </a>with the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=8371">King Gyanendra</a> in November 2002 just after he had taken his initial steps on the road that ultimately led to <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=14681">the abolition of the monarchy</a> in Nepal in 2008. In the early evening of September 16, 2002, in my role as Colonel Commandant of the Brigade of Gurkhas, I had my second and last official audience with King Gyanendra to give him an update on the Brigade’s activities over the previous 12 months. I had some 6 or 7 such audiences with <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/preserving-king-birendra-s-family-home">King Birendra</a>.&nbsp; These were official affairs with the British ambassador of the day present, along with key <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=12233">palace officials</a> and a representative from Nepal's Foreign Ministry. The two monarchs were very different in character and temperament, but both treated me with the utmost civility and made the audiences as relaxed and easy for me as possible.&nbsp; It is, however, worth recording that when the official business had been covered, King Birendra, with a twinkle in his eye, often ended by asking, “Now General, what’s the gossip in London?” The second audience with <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=8026">King Gyanendra </a>was my last official act in uniform. We came back to Kathmandu in the first week of November (after treks) to stay for a few nights with our Defence Attaché before heading back to the UK. Waiting for me was a message from the Palace saying that King Gyanendra would like to meet me informally: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=6933">no uniform</a> and no ambassador.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250421080420_f9046f9882d4481781d14f2b64f18c7fbbea62562e1d74e3465de6d01fb43750.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20250421080420_f9046f9882d4481781d14f2b64f18c7fbbea62562e1d74e3465de6d01fb43750" data-rendition-name="original" width="1750" height="2406" loading="lazy" alt="Gyanendra crowned page 1"> <figcaption>Nepali Times Special Edition of 6-14 June 2001 with enthronement of Gyanendra. </figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250421080424_21333d6ae21828eb47fe3f849438d215fe2804460d47bb2896ef4aee4e895ad2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20250421080424_21333d6ae21828eb47fe3f849438d215fe2804460d47bb2896ef4aee4e895ad2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1857" loading="lazy" alt="Royal massacre"> <figcaption>Nepali Times 22-29 June 2001 covering the royal massacre after which Gyanendra became king. </figcaption> </figure>  Although I had no idea what the purpose of the meeting might be, events in Kathmandu since I last saw the king put me on edge. On October 4, 2002, Gyanendra had dismissed Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, allegedly for failing to hold <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/what-goes-on-in-nepal-s-elections">elections</a>. He had put in place a new prime minister and a cabinet personally selected by him. When I heard the news on my travels, the people I met were generally supportive of the king’s actions. There was a general view that something had to be done, the country was going nowhere, and the king deserved his chance, not least to solve<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/latest/14-years-after-conflict-no-closure-in-nepal"> the Maoist </a>problem. Back in Kathmandu, views were not so sanguine. The chosen prime minister, Lokendra Bahadur Chand, was a relic from <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/mob-movement-and-mayhem">the Panchayat period</a> whose party had failed to win a single seat in the last elections held in 1999. Some of the chosen cabinet ministers had, to put it mildly, dubious reputations, and others had no record of proven competence in any field. There was a fear that the king’s real motive in dismissing <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/deubas-denouement">Deuba</a> was to start to reverse the democratic gains made since 1990. I informed <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-britain-mark-centenary-of-1923-treaty">the British ambassador</a> about the invitation. He was strongly against accepting it, which was probably the clinching reason for my decision to do the polite thing and accept it. On the evening of November 7, 2002, I presented myself at the royal palace, alone and in civilian attire.&nbsp; As in the past, the Military Secretary, Major General Vivek Shah, met and escorted me into the presence of the monarch. This time, however, he was politely asked to leave the room and shut the door behind him. King Gyanendra greeted me warmly and invited me to sit down.&nbsp; Read also:<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-ghost-of-monarchy-returns-to-haunt-nepal"> The ghost of monarchy returns to haunt Nepal</a>, Shristi Karki  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250421080424_e382af945d0ad2a04ae41fabe5393f793dd10f54cb1220f111c7c9e7423eb558.jpg" data-media-id="editor_15" data-image-id="20250421080424_e382af945d0ad2a04ae41fabe5393f793dd10f54cb1220f111c7c9e7423eb558" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="993" loading="lazy" alt="Gyanendra coup"> <figcaption>Nepali Times 4-10 February 2005 after king Gyanendra's coup imposed media censorship. anendra became king. </figcaption> </figure>  I had wondered, and to be truthful, had worried, not just about the purpose of the meeting, but about how the conversation might start and develop. I reduced my resolve to two points: be polite but speak candidly. The latter resolve was quickly put to the test with the king’s opening words: “Sam, [in previous meetings it had been ‘General’, you walk the highways and byways of this land more than most, tell me what the common man is thinking?” &nbsp;“Your Majesty, I have no idea what they are thinking, but they are waiting.” “Waiting?” “Yes, Your Majesty, they are waiting to see whether what you did some weeks ago in appointing your own prime minister and cabinet ministers is going to make any difference to their lives or whether it is just going to be more Kathmandu hot air.” “Everything is going to be difficult and is going to take time, a lot of time.” “Your Majesty, time is the one thing you don’t have. You must act quickly and decisively to take advantage of the opportunity you have created. Everyone knows that you have appointed these new ministers. Why don’t you get them in here one by one and tell them that they have three months to deliver a programme in their area of responsibility that is going to make a difference to people’s lives? Most will fail to do so. Sack them! It will be a powerful signal of your strong intent to deliver real change.” I can express the opening of our conversation in this way because just about every word is still etched in my mind. The king’s response to my last quoted words was to challenge me to give an example of something that could be delivered quickly. I can give a verbatim record of what I said in response to this unexpected challenge: “Health posts, Your Majesty, there is no shortage of them throughout the country as building them has been one of the sources of local corruption, but very few have any medicine to issue at present or have skilled people to assess and meet medical needs. Your Majesty, children are dying for lack of a few pills. Given the right priority, over a period, say of six months, every health post could be fully stocked with medicine and manned with trained people. This is something I could help to lead for you as I know it would have strong international backing. At last, people would know that you mean business.” As I warmed to the theme, I could see no sign of the king having any enthusiasm for the idea, and I quickly disengaged as it dawned on me, as it had clearly dawned on the king, that the reason for the deficiencies in health posts was to prevent any Maoist combatant from gaining access to any <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/tech-away/nepal-s-health-tech-industry-is-here-to-stay">medical support</a>, and if this meant people suffering, so be it. The subject of the Maoist insurgency inevitably came up, and I took the opportunity to elaborate on what is written in the final four paragraphs of the article above. I advised King Gyanendra that, self-evidently, since there were three parties in the conflict—him, the Maoists, and the political parties—it was imperative that he form an alliance with one of them, preferably the political parties; otherwise, he would find himself isolated, as the other two parties would inevitably, at some stage, form their own alliance. However, it quickly became apparent that the king’s mind was on a totally different track. On the Maoists, he told me that he had channels open to them, but he was scathing about the political party leaders. He made it clear that they would be waiting for a very long time before he gave any power back to them, and that is a polite way of expressing the actual words he used, but “crawling through the door” is a phrase which has stuck in my mind.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250421080424_5403455ff6168f0d202a96cb53edea69136d74d59b989cfcc7cc4a1d57672cb5.jpg" data-media-id="editor_17" data-image-id="20250421080424_5403455ff6168f0d202a96cb53edea69136d74d59b989cfcc7cc4a1d57672cb5" data-rendition-name="original" width="2000" height="1317" loading="lazy" alt="fall of monarchy"> <figcaption>Nepali Times 28 April-3 May 2005 with cover image by Ajay Joshi of jubilant protesters after street demonstrations sidelined king Gyanendra, paving the way for a ceasfire and restoration of democracy. </figcaption> </figure>  As the conversation developed, it became ever clearer that King Gyanendra had decided to go in alone, relying on the misleading assurances he was constantly receiving from <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=14954">the army</a>, and no doubt his close advisers, that the Maoists could and would be quickly defeated militarily, and taken out of the equation. This would obviate the need for him to do any deal with the political parties.&nbsp; Thus, the way would be clear for him to establish a version of his father’s Panchayat system, under a constitution that would be granted to the people by him, their sovereign, as his father and brother had done in 1962 and 1990. As in those constitutions, ultimate power would have remained in the sovereign’s hands. This proposed direction of travel was very clear from what the king said to me. In sum, King Gyanendra was motivated by a desire to emulate his immediate predecessors by granting his people a constitution that would restore his father’s Panchayat system in a modern form and give him a central role in decision-making. What was particularly dispiriting was that beyond this single objective he had no plan worthy of the name, nor demonstrably did he have the people with the skills to implement an appropriate plan even if one had existed. Crucially and depressingly, there was little or no indication from the king that he realised that such a course of action could put Nepal’s monarchy into serious jeopardy, as indeed proved to be the case. <h2>King Twice</h2>  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250420110436_315d519fe3d68d2406ebe1480fed54720fbf21b8907a4da5cde751fdc623d445.jpg" data-media-id="editor_19" data-image-id="20250420110436_315d519fe3d68d2406ebe1480fed54720fbf21b8907a4da5cde751fdc623d445" data-rendition-name="original" width="1302" height="632" loading="lazy" alt="“Tell me what the common man is thinking!”"> </figure>  <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=8371">Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah has been king twice</a>. In 1950 he was enthroned briefly as a child king (left, above) by the Rana Prime Minister Mohan Shumsher when his grandfather, King Tribhuvan, fled to exile in India. In 2001 he was crowned king again after the massacre in the royal palace in which his brother King Birendra and nine other members of his family were killed by Crown Prince Dipendra.&nbsp; During his second reign, Gyanendra gradually asserted power by sacking Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba in 2002, and then taking full control after the 1 February 2005 coup. He was sidelined after the ceasefire in April 2006, and became a commoner after the Constituent Assembly finally <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/from-nepali-press/Ftnp-abolishing,624">abolished the monarchy in 2008</a>. In the past year, Gyanendra has tried to exploit public dissatisfaction with the political parties to restore the monarchy.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250421080432_26ef4a4b0e3cee9fdc6794446702efe16550d293904b4f6dd46fe35d4d10c788.jpg" data-media-id="editor_22" data-image-id="20250421080432_26ef4a4b0e3cee9fdc6794446702efe16550d293904b4f6dd46fe35d4d10c788" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="Essays on Nepal by Sam Cowen"> </figure>

“Tell me what the common man is thinking!”

“It's Kathmandu.” Just as the family was sitting down for one of its extended lunches, that jubilant cry was from François Driard’s grandfather announcing the next posting for his diplomat parents.&nbsp; Driard (pictured) was 18 in the summer of 1996,<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/suburban-tales/chasing-a-nomad"> a bit of a hippie</a> already, and his life was about to change forever with the magical word “<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/time-capsule-of-kathmandu">Kathmandu</a>”. “I was awed with that information from my grandfather, nothing else mattered … In France <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/tales-of-courage-and-suffering-cx95f89e">in the 1990s</a>, Kathmandu had a mythical aura,” Driard recalls. He came to Kathmandu for Christmas that year to visit his stepfather, the French Ambassador Michel Lummaux. It was to be the first of many visits during school holidays, before he decided to permanently settle down in Nepal. “Kathmandu, and Nepal, were very different then, it was magical, I liked the nature, the people, civilisation, temples, trees,” says Driard, who explored the country sitting on the top of buses. “Visitors talk about the crazy <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/cost-of-living-in-a-big-city">urbanisation</a>, traffic jams today, and all that is true. But Kathmandu has not <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/loss-of-soul-and-soil">lost its soul</a>.” After his stepfather’s tenure in Nepal ended, Driard worked as a business reporter for international publications but decided he did not want to be anyone’s employee anymore. In 2007 he landed in Kathmandu with €20,000 in savings to invest.&nbsp; He knew a few crucial things about himself: he liked food and nature, which is very much tied up with his upbringing--full of lively conversations during lunch and dinner at the family table between <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-yak-cheese-is-on-world-map">abundant cheese, wine and cigars</a>. So he decided it would be cheese, and registered Himalayan French Cheese and went to the French Alps for a month to learn how to make Tomme de Savoie. “<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-story-of-langtang-cheese">Cheese making is such an ancient craft </a>and so I thought I won’t need much money or studying which I hated and indeed, if you have a tamako bhado and fire you are set,” explains Driard. But Nepal’s temperature and humidity were not ideal, even at higher altitudes. The first customers for his cheese were the Hyatt Regency and Nina and Hager. But he needed to create a market for cheese in a country which only knew hard churpi in the north and soft paneer in the south. He started selling his cheeses at the Summit Hotel weekend market, expanding to his own 1905 Farmer’s Market which later moved to Le Sherpa in Maharajganj, where it is now, and also a market at Labim Mall in Pulchok. He had cow dairies in Nuwakot and Dhulikhel, and finally a yak cheese unit at 3,379m in Ramechhap. It was the yak blue cheese from here that went on to win a Gold Medal in France, putting Nepal’s French cheese on the world map. “People come and try our cheese at the market, they ask questions. There is a lot of education to be done about cheese,” adds Driard, who also has three cheese shops in the Valley. Driard now makes 25 types of cheese. The products are being noticed and every year he has French students coming to Nepal to learn the art of yak cheese making. “In France, one family or company makes one kind of cheese for generations. In that I’m very unique as a cheese artisan,” he says. “The students come in to learn but I tell them to also teach us something too, add another cheese to my collection.” Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/langtang-after-10-years">Langtang after 10 years</a>, Sonia Awale Being a foodie, Driard is now also dabbling in meat with his own charcuterie at Meatini with bacon, ham, sausage and pâtés. All of this is now served at his Emilio’s Pizza, a leafy hideaway in Lazimpat. His South Side in Moksh is probably the smallest wine bar in the world. “I call the process sublime,” says Driard of his ventures, which have grown organically. “You need the same temperature and humidity of 12°C and 80% for cheese, meat and wine.” Emilio’s speciality is the eight-cheese pizza (which has eight types of cheeses), and a pizza with bhutan topping (not the country but fried intestines and organs Nepali-style). He has opened a small branch at Courtyard in Pokhara.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250426070456_bacae302c040dc18eeecdeafda72ddf06a6d2cec138ea9be7e45fe94cdf8b5b3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_8" data-image-id="20250426070456_bacae302c040dc18eeecdeafda72ddf06a6d2cec138ea9be7e45fe94cdf8b5b3" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1125" loading="lazy" alt="8 cheese pizza"> <figcaption>Eight-cheese pizza</figcaption> </figure>  With two artisanal cheese units, two farmers’ markets, a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-meat-of-the-story">meat processing unit</a>, a bakery, and wine bar he now envisions a vineyard so he can add Nepali wine to his repertoire. Another future plan is to start up an agri-tourism business where customers can drink, eat and work in peace. In the past 20 years in Nepal, Driard has not always succeeded in his ventures but this hasn’t curbed his enthusiasm. He is learning as he goes, and like an old wine, Nepal is growing on him. Its slowness suits his French art de vivre with eating slowly outdoors, having conversation, importing less.&nbsp; “I have proven that with even a little money you can do a lot of things in Nepal,” adds Driard. “In the West, they easily invest half a million euros on a cheese factory, I invested 10 times less.”&nbsp;

Fromage, vin et charcuterie Népalais

Bhuthan भुठान starts with Bishnu Bahadur KC played by <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/dhuwa-smoke-telefilm,2671">Hari Bansha Acharya</a> on a call, requesting to speak to the visa officer. By this point, he had <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-should-now-allow-visa-on-arrival">applied for a visa </a>to Bhutan 10 times, but was denied each time. KC was a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-women-excel-in-sports-in-2024-z9ramyct">national football player </a>in Bhutan in 1988 before he and other Nepali-speaking Lhotsampa people were forced out of the country in the 1990s as part of the Druk regime’s ‘One Nation One People’ campaign. Over 100,000 Bhutanese Nepalis were forced out, driven across India and dumped in Nepal where they lived in seven<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/elderly-left-in-bhutan-refugee-camp"> refugee camps</a> supervised by the United Nations and other charities until they were resettled in the United States, Australia, New Zealand and some European countries starting in 2007. In the fictional movie with the satirical English title The World’s Happiest Man, KC has resettled in the state of Ohio in the US but wishes to visit his home country once before he dies. Between flashbacks, we learn KC has died without having fulfilled his wish. &nbsp; The drama then focuses on KC’s two families from two marriages as they debate whether to cremate him as per <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/from-nepali-press/muslim-hindu,2996">Hindu rites </a>or give him a Christian burial. A mediator played by Hollywood actor Bruce Dern urges them to take a firm decision before it is too long.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250430140420_b398a08091b866da2b0b8f6c1e6e26781609749aba896bfd2c68a10a519295c3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20250430140420_b398a08091b866da2b0b8f6c1e6e26781609749aba896bfd2c68a10a519295c3" data-rendition-name="original" width="945" height="945" loading="lazy" alt="Bhutan, the movie"> </figure>  There are drawn out scenes of KC being baptised and when he is confronted by his first wife from Darjeeling played by Anuradha Majumdar, he says he changed his religion in the hope that he will be <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/bhutan-s-refugees-between-hope-and-despair">allowed back in Bhutan</a>.&nbsp; We find out KC has a second wife, a Christian Nepali played by Puja Chand. Dayahang Rai as the younger son doesn’t have much screen time to flex his acting chops. &nbsp; Acharya competently portrays a man that is equal parts haunted by the memories of and longing for his home country. KC’s pain and loss is acute when he is teaching football to Gungun but between mid-scene, he freezes, perhaps lost in memories of being in Bhutan’s national team. &nbsp; In another scene, KC recalls his mother singing a lullaby in Dzongkha. He also has a box filled with medals, photographs and a football which he deflates with a knife in a powerful depiction of his <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/searching-for-a-homeland-away-from-home?fb_comment_id=1506516030025634">complicated emotions about his homeland</a>. KC keeps checking his mailbox in the hopes that his <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=4977">visa application</a> has been accepted. He says in Nepali: “If a tree that has already struck roots in one place is shifted to another, it will not survive.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250430140420_4a9c27410326489576c04dedf40016bda3825e8f9663317f54fbfec4cbda6d34.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20250430140420_4a9c27410326489576c04dedf40016bda3825e8f9663317f54fbfec4cbda6d34" data-rendition-name="original" width="1422" height="2048" loading="lazy" alt="Bhutan, the movie"> </figure>  Dern’s character says that the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/nepal-s-transitional-justice-and-the-west-s-recalibration">western world</a> has become “lonely in pursuit of happiness”, another reference to Bhutan’s obsession with its Gross National Happiness index. Scenes shift quickly throughout making the story difficult to follow at times. The use of symbolism is a trite overdone. Nonetheless, भुठान is a nuanced depiction of raw pain and agony of losing one’s homeland. But one cannot help but leave the theatre feeling deflated. KC dies without having visited <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/small-bhutan-dreams-big">Bhutan</a>, but perhaps he does in his afterlife. It is up to the audience to create its own ending to this sad story of exile. भुठान Mad Monkey Films, 2025 Directed by Binod Paudel 102 minutes In cinemas in Nepal