<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

In the black and white photograph, General Wangdu smiles broadly in front of the dusty cactus garden in Kathmandu’s Annapurna Hotel. With an ill-fitting jacket and shaggy hair he looks benign enough, but this was the last leader of the Tibetan freedom fighters who led the resistance against the Chinese from their remote mountain hideouts in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/comings-and-goings-in-mustang">Mustang</a>. Five months later, Wangdu was dead. Snapped in March 1974, I had only recently arrived in Nepal. How did I meet this legendary fighter? Possibly with his devoted camp follower, Lynne Klapecki, and probably in the Om Restaurant near Freak Street which was the preferred <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/hippie-trail-nostalgia-in-kathmandu">hippie hang-out</a>. Om Lobsang and his brother Yeshe were <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/earthquake-brings-back-memories-of-camps-for-tibetan-refugees">refugees from East Tibet </a>whose cafe offered a friendly welcome and<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/momo-loco"> the best momos</a> - they became my in-laws after I married their eldest brother Tenzin, but that was a decade later.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_4573b34282b0f5395c007243d6bef12c7ba76bfd520419e994cdcea048d795a1.jpg" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="2025052403054_4573b34282b0f5395c007243d6bef12c7ba76bfd520419e994cdcea048d795a1" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1583" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Photo: LISA CHOEGYAL</figcaption> </figure>  Wangdu’s English was enthusiastically rudimentary, but even riding around town with him on the back of an aging <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandu-s-new-motorbike-museum">motorbike</a>, he was a commanding presence. Always flanked by armed outriders, impressive scars marked his forearms and a pistol hung from the cord around his neck. A charismatic guerrilla leader, Wangdu was celebrated by his followers for his tough commitment and respected for his measured pragmatism. He seemed so young to have shouldered such a responsibility of command, leading hundreds of hardened <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/50-years-after-the%20raid-into-Tibet,1012#google_vignette">Khampa combatants </a>through what had been a particularly <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/heavy-snowfall-over-nepal-himalaya">brutal winter in Mustang</a>, the last bastion to hold out against the Chinese invasion of their Tibetan homeland.&nbsp; The freedom fighters of Tibet, known as the Chushi-Gangdruk, had emerged to resist the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/territorialism">Chinese takeover</a> of Tibet during the 1950s. Estimated to be 80,000-strong at the time of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/what-or-who-after-the-dalai-lama">the Dalai Lama</a>’s final escape to India in 1959, the sheer number of Chinese deployed into Tibet eventually forced the Chushi-Gangdruk to retreat to Mustang, From this high Himalayan stronghold, they continued cross-border raids on the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) throughout the 1960s.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_8a4a935ba25ae79dc3a63bb5c14626927020e5ec098093c45ccb9a5982e009fd.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="2025052403054_8a4a935ba25ae79dc3a63bb5c14626927020e5ec098093c45ccb9a5982e009fd" data-rendition-name="original" width="1114" height="676" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Guerrillas known as the Chushi-Gangdruk emerged to resist the Chinese annexation of Tibet during the 1950s. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>  Their Kathmandu base was a small discreet lodge in a back lane near Rani Pokhari. Sipping sweet tea from a blue mug with a chipped lid, I sat bemused in a corner of the Mustang Hotel room whilst Wangdu and his cohorts received a battered brown suitcase from their CIA connection, a tousle-haired American in a leather jacket. Heaved onto the dingy bedspread that covered the thin mattress, it was clicked open to reveal piles of neatly stacked dollar bills.&nbsp; I cannot think why Wangdu allowed me to witness this handover but I was clearly no threat, a newly arrived world traveller with no understanding of the stakes nor any Nepali or <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/tibetan-music-in-nepals-sacred-valley">Tibetan language</a>. Despite armed guards in the corridor,Wangdu radiated confidence and bravado, and there was a practiced familiarity to the tense transaction. This deadly dance for many years had been funded by the Americans, tolerated by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-kingdom-within-a-republic">Mustang’s residents</a>, and permitted by King Mahendra and the Nepali authorities who it suited to turn a blind eye.&nbsp; But Mahendra died in 1972, and times were changing. Richard Nixon’s ping-pong diplomacy thawed the cold war and signalled a fresh entente with China. Nepal’s yet-to-be-crowned <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/if-birendra-was-alive-nepal-could-still-be-a-monarchy">King Birendra </a>was under pressure to curb the irritating incursions against the PLA launched from the Nepali territory of Mustang. Keen to appease his northern neighbour, on several occasions the King summoned Wangdu for peace talks but, despite increasingly overwhelming odds, Wangdu refused to surrender.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_a8efd5cfb92cd997bd7cb74296a936fef46e2f7428f9cd642b03f1ac4ea11ecb.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="2025052403054_a8efd5cfb92cd997bd7cb74296a936fef46e2f7428f9cd642b03f1ac4ea11ecb" data-rendition-name="original" width="1055" height="885" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>General Wangdu flanked by two Tibetan resistance fighters in Mustang in the 1970s. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_75969125a745847a2ef82b6fe8b9106c0b21a116d85b8efdf5d2ee89a347bb31.jpg" data-media-id="editor_15" data-image-id="2025052403054_75969125a745847a2ef82b6fe8b9106c0b21a116d85b8efdf5d2ee89a347bb31" data-rendition-name="original" width="1044" height="792" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>King Birendra with General Wangdu (right in dark glasses) taken in 1974 possibly in Mustang after one of their few attempts at negotiation. Photo courtesy: RAJRNDRA KUNWAR</figcaption> </figure>  While I naively rode pillion around Kathmandu in the spring sunshine, Wangdu was in the midst of what turned out to be his final round of negotiations with the Nepal government. Refusing to cease hostilities with the Chinese, Wangdu must have suspected the cost of his decision, making his cheerful smile in the photograph all the more poignant and brave. It was only much later that I appreciated the significance of the moment. Wangdu had been sent to replace the first resistance leader in Mustang, Baba Gen Yeshe, a much derided corrupt character who stole money meant for his troops and exploited fleeing refugees by seizing their treasures. Baba Gen Yeshe never forgave Wangdu,and sought revenge in May 1974 by betraying him and his commanders to the Nepal authorities. Renewed Chinese incursions from the north, active PLA collusion with the Nepali forces under the new King, and treachery from within the Chushi-Gangdrukranks combined to seal their fate.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_e0987a7c90d76431b0d7d5e6115ebfe3dbda7ab939e5941e079c18d722e884c0.jpg" data-media-id="editor_16" data-image-id="2025052403054_e0987a7c90d76431b0d7d5e6115ebfe3dbda7ab939e5941e079c18d722e884c0" data-rendition-name="original" width="1400" height="769" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>British television journalists George Patterson and Adrian Cowell embedded themselves with Khampa guerrillas and accompanied them from Tsum Valley on a cross border raid on a Chinese Army convoy in 1964. Photo: ESSAYS ON NEPAL / SAM COWAN</figcaption> </figure>  Mikel Dunham, renowned author of Buddha’s Warriors, writes: ‘It is possible that Wangdu was waiting for some cue from the Dalai Lama’s government-in-exile in Dharamsala, India. It is equally possible – during that last, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/the-human-cost-of-nepal-s-yarsa-gold-rush?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR31-Cqw8oyIwMPzf_35e4Skr0ululJvLf3_vDkzHn-AYG2h8uPw2rqqErg_aem_tGVn5coY1-jA7fze_xqhew">desolate winter </a>– that he made the decision to go out in glory rather than admit defeat. Over the last fifteen years, Wangdu had experienced Tibet’s organized resistance being squeezed and shoved around by every conceivable outside force.&nbsp; First they had been pushed out of their own country by the PLA; then they had been refused sanction while on <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/nepal-india-trans-boundary-bonds?fbclid=IwAR0PpJ5zUEbwdug3g_U3ar6FUugngRY0S8Tl2v_7wqzrsHmXWcXsKjvL4t4">Indian soil</a>; then they were abandoned by the Americans because, apparently, Nixon wanted to make friends with Wangdu’s mortal enemies, the communists; then they had been betrayed by the vampiric Baba Gen Yeshe – a Tibetan and, even worse, a fellow Khampa; and now, finally Wangdu’s army was being evicted by the Nepalis. One thing was certain: Wangdu was a warrior. To imagine Wangdu simply giving up and settling down in the pacific squalor of a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/elderly-left-in-bhutan-refugee-camp">refugee camp </a>was unthinkable.’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_8fc1ffef4ae751628b90ae781b66e11e51e4fdde2787207c9042efbee345ce49.jpg" data-media-id="editor_20" data-image-id="2025052403054_8fc1ffef4ae751628b90ae781b66e11e51e4fdde2787207c9042efbee345ce49" data-rendition-name="original" width="500" height="746" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>The much derided Baba Gen Yeshe, the first Tibetan resistance leader in Mustang, who betrayed Wangdu for personal gain. Photo courtesy: MIKEL DUNHAM</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025052403054_b1d833cdb00d3ac4416b844d8730475cd88c238caaaf8da69889a584eea229a3.jpg" data-media-id="editor_21" data-image-id="2025052403054_b1d833cdb00d3ac4416b844d8730475cd88c238caaaf8da69889a584eea229a3" data-rendition-name="original" width="500" height="656" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> <figcaption>Aditya SJB Rana of the Royal Nepal Army whose team ambushed Wangdu and his cohorts at the top of Tinker Pass in Darchula, West Nepal. Photo courtesy: GAUTAM SJB RANA</figcaption> </figure>  By August 1974 the game was up. Wangdu and six of his exhausted party were killed on their horses by <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=7270">the Royal Nepal Army</a> on the brink of escape. The officer in charge, Aditya SJB Rana, cleverly predicted their route into India after they failed to silence a police radio in Yari. A carefully laid ambush trapped them near the summit of the Tinker Pass in Darchula,at 5,000 meters the highest military operation of its time. Wangdu’s body was helicoptered to Kathmandu, and a big show made of the royal Nepal victory.&nbsp; The Tibetan armed insurgency against China had reached its end.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250524030520_3ff9c6fc85a65bc9a2c3afe9736d9f5f9413de752e790a5d9dca0981ea94f9b4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_23" data-image-id="20250524030520_3ff9c6fc85a65bc9a2c3afe9736d9f5f9413de752e790a5d9dca0981ea94f9b4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="The last days of the Khampa NT"> </figure>

The Last Days of the Khampa

Starting 17 September Turkish Airlines will fly daily to Seville, one of Spain’s major tourist draws. This is Turkish’s sixth destination in Spain after Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Malaga, and Bilbao. Seville is in the Andalusia region on Spain’s south coast with a rich Moor history. There are approximately 30,000 Nepalis living in Spain.&nbsp;

Turkish to Seville

The newly-formed Himalayan Art Council is set to launch Nepal’s National Art Protection Platform that seeks to preserve <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-history-of-heritage">Nepal’s unique cultural heritage </a>using<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/artificial-censorship"> AI-powered tools</a>. The Council seeks to safeguard <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepali-art-going-places">Nepali art works</a> from neglect, theft and counterfeiting as well as preserve existing artwork and celebrate living masters by giving them a cultural space to continue the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/sacred-survival">sacred art traditions</a>. "We are introducing a new digital platform designed to preserve, verify and elevate <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-new-generation-of-alternative-artists">Nepal’s art for generations to come,</a>” says a statement from the Council, adding that the digital platform will use AI told for authentication and blockchain to keep track of works of art. Artists can now be protected by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/ayo-ai?fbclid=IwAR1uwmTVq4gUB70ljfRezjzukD9ArWXPuMnUikopeQ8PoiZMjicToPSwhKE&amp;=1">AI tools</a> that detect forgeries, identify their work even when unsigned, and ensure they receive proper recognition and credit. The archives will be searchable with translated inscription and interactive guides. Says curator Meena Lama: “AI and blockchains are tools that give us the power to detect fakes and identify unsigned paintings and track every piece. With these tools we can restore trust, secure authorship and give artists the dignity they deserve.”  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250514170544_2ab58f6313c0458f75114a692b0016bd9efb3b59d5f8f07f0da72e1e37b82f53.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250514170544_2ab58f6313c0458f75114a692b0016bd9efb3b59d5f8f07f0da72e1e37b82f53" data-rendition-name="original" width="1300" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Artwork at the Traditional Art Exhibition at Patan Museum."> <figcaption>Artwork at the Traditional Art Exhibition at Patan Museum.</figcaption> </figure>  The Council is also holding an exhibition of Nepali cultural masterpieces with 50 historical <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Buzz-the-art,671">thangka and paubha </a>by past masters and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/between-the-sacred-and-everyday">contemporary works by current artists</a>. This curated collection is a living tribute to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/when-yaks-go-so-does-culture">Himalayan culture</a> with economic depictions of deities, mandala and sacred narratives. The exhibition at <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/a-portal-into-patan-s-past-and-present">Patan Museum</a> also provides an opportunity to meet painters and custodians of art and culture. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/golden-deities">Golden deities</a>, Sewa Bhattarai ‘The exhibition is only the first step in a long journey to ensure that Nepali art is no just seen but fully understood, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Narratives-of-Faith-and-Memory-Remembering-the-Lost-Sculptures-of-Kathmandu-exhibition,987">protected and remembered</a>,’ the Council says. Artist Kailash K Shrestha of Artudio has spent decades promoting thankha and paubha traditions because of their beauty and devotional meaning. But he also says artists are underpaid, exploited and ignored. He adds, “AI and blockchain are not just buzzwords, they are powerful tools that can protect Nepal’s artists from fraud, verify authenticity and build a permanent record of provenance.” Traditional Art Exhibition Till 17 May Patan Museum

Digital protection for Nepal’s art

<a href="https://www.instagram.com/prabalgurung/" target="_blank">Prabal Gurung</a> left Nepal for New York in 1999 to escape years of bullying, sexism and homophobia, and to pursue his dream of becoming a fashion designer. He <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqN0VaoAI5w" target="_blank">realised his dream</a>, but did not escape discrimination and racism in the new world. Propelled by passion for fashion, Gurung overcame everything America threw at him. He has attained <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/style/story/prabal-gurung-recalls-his-first-met-gala-when-zoe-saldana-was-at-his-side?srsltid=AfmBOooy-H0oGgxMit864FnW_Pmw8mUnV8rYrh-co-f6OyYK6m2ip5hP" target="_blank">fame and recognition</a> for his haute couture dress designs while remaining true to his Nepali roots, and is even more resolute in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dSmNauyzACk" target="_blank">fighting prejudice</a> in all its forms. Prabal Gurung’s newly-released memoir <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Audible-Walk-Like-Girl-Memoir/dp/B0DG11HCDQ?fbclid=IwY2xjawKZfpxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHuZcIJO2OXyXcRm1oq1iG6wzeoF7VJFrQ7GXOFI0YxuZZ4id_CNvSZSZZIna_aem_pG_mOKG73RTnYvN8JaC4fA">Walk Like a Girl</a> is a saga of harrowing abuse in boarding schools in Nepal and India, only finding himself facing a different kind of bullying in the US. He prevails over it all to be where he is today: an award-winning American fashion designer with his own label. Walk Like a Girl was launched last week in New York at a time when everything Gurung fought for — tolerance, inclusion and diversity — are in retreat in his adopted country because of a president who has espoused a culture of bullying. The book is a searing, raw exposé of how cruel and abusive people can be even at a young age in school. On the other hand, it also shows that there are generous, compassionate and open-minded souls out there. In his book, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4le_uWX7YE">Prabal Gurung</a> calls out those who tormented and tried to hold him back (some of their names have been altered). The moral of his story is: resist, never stop believing in yourself, do not let others define you, never lose sight of your dream, and help those who have been kept out. “Walk like a girl” was a slur used by bullies back in school in Nepal and India for Gurung’s effeminate ways. He fought back then, and he is still resisting by turning those words into something to be proud of.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250519170544_4ffc9c3f565dd2cfa754d10b224816897b82bb31ebaee91b6d79d469fc96f14e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250519170544_4ffc9c3f565dd2cfa754d10b224816897b82bb31ebaee91b6d79d469fc96f14e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1253" loading="lazy" alt="Prabal Gurung NT"> <figcaption>Prabal Gurung at home in Kathmandu in the 1990s.</figcaption> </figure>  “Living through it all was one thing, but writing about it is one of the hardest things I have done in my life,” admitted Gurung during the launch. “I broke down constantly during the six-year writing process.” He continues: “I did not want this to be a victim’s book. I did not want to burden my readers with my emotions. I wanted my struggle to be an inspiration for others facing what I faced. I am grateful to those who bullied me in school, they made me a stronger person ready to face the world.” Indeed, this book is a departure from his earlier one titled simply, Prabal Gurung (Abrams, 2019), which was a lush pictorial autobiography of his career in fashion. Walk Like a Girl is not a typical fashion book, it is an intimate tale of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=16997">Gurung’s travails and triumphs</a>, and how he willed himself to succeed. Prabal pays a lavish tribute to his mother Durga Rana. We find out she is a descendant of the first wife of the eldest son of Jang Bahadur Rana who was banished to Palpa in the late 19th century. Prabal’s father served in the Singapore Police and that is where he was born before the family returned to Nepal when he was four. Gurung relates with brutal honesty about the violence his mother endured from his father. Durga raises three children as a single mother in Nepal, and Prabal credits her for his fierce determination to resist patriarchy and injustice, which in time manifests itself in his hyper-feminine and subversive dress designs. Writing the book has been a cathartic experience for Gurung, who says he is now relieved of the burdens of his past. It no longer haunts him, and he does not have to prove anything to anyone anymore. Walk Like a Girl has life lessons not just for the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DJmOcSgxdWz/" target="_blank">fashion industry</a>, but for every other profession. How can my job serve a greater cause? Gurung tells us his work is <a href="https://asiasociety.org/blog/asia/why-designer-prabal-gurung-doesnt-want-just-stick-fashion" target="_blank">bigger than just making clothes</a>, it is about making the world a better place because it could do with a lot of improvement.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250519170544_d75296ad8bfdc00d88935f40d23543c6fea3d4d6a10e61a99d6cfc6127f2ee5b.png" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20250519170544_d75296ad8bfdc00d88935f40d23543c6fea3d4d6a10e61a99d6cfc6127f2ee5b" data-rendition-name="original" width="1516" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Prabal Gurung"> </figure>  This story of chasing the American dream may sound familiar to many immigrants: knocking on doors for jobs, rejections, trying to survive from day to day on expensive rent, and dealing with subtle racism in white America. Gurung finds racism is rife, and he is often mockingly called ‘gaysian’. He writes: ‘There was a strong hypocrisy — this idea of independence felt like a marketting ruse … and for all the talk of feminism in America, these high society women were trapped by the patriarchy just like in Nepal and India.’ After a trek to the Khumbu region in 2013, Gurung is inspired to use the colours, palette and textures of Nepal for his collection exhibited on Manhattan’s 8th Avenue. A major buyer tells him bluntly: “Stick to making pretty dresses … if I need to see a collection like this, I could buy a copy of National Geographic.” The New York Times was equally dismissive: ‘The designer tries to draw connections between blistered techo-fabric used to construct it and the topography of his homeland, Nepal. But, at the moment, he has lost his map.’ One potential investor tells Gurung he cannot design for Americana because “you do not look American”. Gurung wants to use expletives, but restrains himself. After a fundraiser in New York for the Nepal earthquake in 2015, some belittled his effort, saying: “Here comes the saviour."&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/prabal-gurung-by-prabal-gurung">Prabal Gurung by Prabal Gurung</a>, Kunda Dixit The Gurkha DNA must be dominant in Prabal Gurung’s genes because he does not take such mistreatment lying down. When asked by a fashion publicist why he was designing clothes for fat people, he snaps back: “Because of people like you.” He joins the Black Lives Matter and #MeToo movements, launches the Shikshya Foundation charity in Nepal, and has powerful allies among celebrities who wear clothes he designed: Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Sara Jessica Parker, Kamala Harris, Deepika Padukone … it is a long list.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250519150556_48a5f4211991a23fa85b64bbd5377575ca7081d97309d7542035591dda5180fe.png" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20250519150556_48a5f4211991a23fa85b64bbd5377575ca7081d97309d7542035591dda5180fe" data-rendition-name="original" width="1114" height="1534" loading="lazy" alt="Being Prabal Gurung by design"> <figcaption>Nigerian novelist Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie wearing Atelier Prabal Gurung’s design for Met Gala 2025 in which the theme was ‘Superfine: Tailoring Black Style’. </figcaption> </figure>  “I don’t dress women to look beautiful, they already are,” Gurung says. “I try to bring out their innate strength and grace.” <a href="https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17908766880140171/" target="_blank">Admirers</a> tell Gurung he makes it all look so easy, but he used to put up a strong facade to not show his own vulnerabilities in public. “I was closed because of my childhood experiences,” he says. “I was always on guard to defend myself because I never knew where the next punch would come from.” But in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPVepzPA210" target="_blank">Walk Like a Girl,</a> Gurung comes to terms with his vulnerability, and bares his soul. It has not been easy, it took sustained will power and support from his mother, sister Kumudini and a circle of close friends. “I made unbelonging my power,” he says. “Nepal is where I still have my heart and soul. Nepal grounds you. It is where people go to find themselves. But I escaped.” Recently appointed vice-chair of the <a href="https://cfda.com/about-cfda" target="_blank">Council of American Fashion Designers</a>, Gurung says: “I can’t believe I am here, it feels like it is happening to someone else. Writing this book, the healing has finally begun.” <h2>‘Everything is better in color’</h2> The Met Gala was two weeks later, and my table was an example of everything I’d been fighting for all these years as my guests represented everything I believed in: dynamic, powerful, influential women who were unapologetically original and unabashedly graceful. I was grateful to Anna for inviting me to host and dress a table that reflected my ethos—and for her guidance in doing so. I was also aware of the privilege as one of the first-­ever Asian fashion designers—not just from Nepal, but from the entire continent— to get the opportunity to do so. That fact was not lost on me. I reached out beyond the expected Hollywood celebrities and well-­known socialites to curate a table of exceptional women who inspired me. I invited Deepika Padukone and Alia Bhatt for their first-­ever Met Galas, as well as Michelle Yeoh, Mindy Kaling, Camila Cabello, Ashley Park, Denée Benton, KiKi Layne, Quannah Chasinghorse, and Grace Elizabeth. Together we checked many boxes: Asian, Black, Latinx, and Indigenous, each woman undeniably chic and powerful, a dazzling array of skin tones and experiences that proved my decades‑in‑the-­making hypothesis: everything is better in color. Excerpt from Walk Like a Girl Viking © 2025 by Prabal Gurung  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250519170520_6b91d560e9f072c37d16876901058c073a51ffa05e7ad1b9461d19e1c9c28215.jpg" data-media-id="editor_16" data-image-id="20250519170520_6b91d560e9f072c37d16876901058c073a51ffa05e7ad1b9461d19e1c9c28215" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="Prabal Gurung book details NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250519170520_345240c21be400e2ce2ec629b52bd82bb53890e5bd86fe95b48340d84b5f1748.jpg" data-media-id="editor_17" data-image-id="20250519170520_345240c21be400e2ce2ec629b52bd82bb53890e5bd86fe95b48340d84b5f1748" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="Prabal Gurung book details NT"> </figure>  &nbsp;