<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121112/636b8b5d9c7e80680e06b294jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1280" height="980"/><figcaption>Oliver and Farida Bennett's wedding in UK 1984</figcaption></figure>Oliver Bennet is the first person I know to succumb to COVID-19. On 11 March he cheerfully informed his Facebook followers that he was testing for the virus, then silence until on 26 March his brother posted that he had passed away that morning at St Georges Hospital London, with Farida his Indonesian wife of 35 years at his side.Our colleague Les Clark echoes my shock: ‘It has changed my thinking. I’ve not really been worried until now.’ Les writes: ‘Oliver was a hugely respected professional in international tourism planning, highly regarded throughout the world.’ I reflect that it was Oliver who recruited me for some of my most interesting and far-flung tourism roles.Always the consummate international consultant, Oliver could be relied on to assess the options, come up with an answer, his vast experience cutting to the heart of any thorny tourism matter. A Cambridge graduate with his home across from the Wimbledon tennis grounds, he single-handed ran the tourism department as Director of Deloitte in London at a time when tourism was considered the thin edge of the global accountant’s well-heeled wedge.Using an extensive network of contacts he won tourism projects for the Emerging Markets Group all over the world, including several in Kathmandu, which is where I first met him in 1990. Clad in his habitual unruly Englishness in the garden of Hotel Shangri~la, Oliver was leading an early ADB tourism development program for the Nepal government.Oliver’s most unusual appearance and demeanour belied his lightening sharp mind and razor wit with which he charmed the world. Bulbous lips, pointed eyebrows, eyes wide with perpetual surprise, steel hair sprouting in unlikely directions, and a heavy breathing nose which might have signalled fatal respiratory difficulties.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/anzacs-homeward-bound-from-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Aussies and Kiwis homeward bound from Nepal</a>, Lisa ChoegyalAlways dressed in dark suits or pinstripes with shirt, tie and lace-up leather shoes, I never saw him wear anything else even on our mountain, lake, beach and tropical island trips. Although I only ever witnessed Oliver’s corporate persona, he talked of biking, skiing and, unfathomably, disco dancing as his favourite pastimes.A highly-regarded consultant of the old school, Oliver could navigate cumbersome tourism master-planning methodologies and field multi-disciplinary teams, even before the days of mobiles and laptops. His CV testifies to his big league status, working since 1982 throughout Europe, Middle East, Caribbean, Asia Pacific and Africa -- in Namibia and Botswana he established innovative sustainable tourism policies that have stood the test of time.Oliver’s gifts included getting the job done with expediency and always knowing how to give the client what they needed, or almost always. We got into a few scrapes during the several jobs we did together.It was Oliver who saved me from one of my more uncomfortable consulting dilemmas – in Nairobi whilst preparing the marketing plan for the Kenya Tourism Board in the early 2000s – but then Oliver had dumped me into an impossible situation in the first place. The ebullient, large lady who ruled the tourism board had her own tame consultant in mind, but instead I was foisted upon her when Oliver won the EU contract.Despite admiring her extravagant African outfits and enjoying collaboration with her Kenyan team, she was consistently and elaborately devious, going to great lengths to ensure my task was made impossible. And she almost succeeded, until Oliver arrived on a rescue mission as my knight in shining armour, and our Kenya marketing strategy was accepted by the Minister. It was some consolation when the tourism board lady was later arrested for corruption.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/hanging-out-with-the-headhunters/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hanging out with the headhunters</a>, Lisa ChoegyalThe South Pacific in 1997 was my favourite assignment with Oliver, although on that one I hardly saw him. As adviser to the EU-assisted Tourism Council of the South Pacific based in Fiji, he sent me off to design a tourism marketing plan that needed the agreement of 13 far-flung Pacific member countries, most of whom disliked each other, and whose scattered island nations together accounted for about one third of the world’s surface area.Thanks to Oliver I found myself immersed in the unfamiliar exuberant embrace of Pacific culture and Polynesian dance, entranced by tattooed Tahitian serenades, Samoan transsexuals and Sunday church services in Tonga. I swam with villagers in Vanuatu, humpback whales in Vava’u, and sharks and stingrays in Bora Bora.The security in Papua New Guinea kept me in the capital Port Moresby, and in Fiji I struggled to the office as a cyclone blew palm trees horizontal and destroyed lavish resorts on offshore islands. Oliver arrived in time for our plan to be formally approved by men in skirts, official national dress in Suva.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121112/636b8b609c7e80680e06b295jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="507"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The first time Oliver asked me to work with him was 1994 in Kyrgyzstan, preparing a tourism strategy for this newly liberated post-Soviet country. The chronic shortage of fuel meant the Bishkek airport was closed. Instead, recently recovered from typhoid, I flew to Tashkent and was driven 12 hours through breathtakingly remote country by a couple of nuclear physicists – the economy was a shambles and I never met a Kyrgyz who did not long to be back in the USSR.<a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/so-far-so-good/infectious-enthusiasm-for-travel/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Infectious enthusiasm for travel</a>, Lisa ChoegyalPart of our brief was ecotourism training with the embryonic Kyrgyz private sector. Emerging from the Soviet system they struggled with the concept of capitalism, never before having been permitted to make a profit. Exploring the historic Silk Route attractions of Kyrgyzstan, the hooves of Genghis Khan’s invaders could be imagined hammering across the open grasslands.We sampled Issykul Lake mineral spa treatments, formerly reserved for the communist elite, pummelled by strong ladies in forbidding white coats. In woodland dachas, we drank vodka in fragrant saunas with friendly mountaineers trying to start adventure travel companies. We marvelled at ancient engraved marker stones, and discussed snow leopard viewing with Tien Shan mountain smugglers.I galloped through verdant valleys after milking mares with yurt-dwelling nomads. At the evening feast, squatting in his crumpled suit, as our leader Oliver had to cope with the prized sheep’s eyes. He also had trouble handling the uncompromising Russian client at the tourism Direktorat, which resulted in our plan never being fully implemented.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121112/636b8b639c7e80680e06b296jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>One assignment that went well for Oliver and I was for DFID UKAid monitoring their funding of the ground-breaking UNDP Tourism for Rural Poverty Alleviation Programme in six districts of Nepal. Extending through the insurgency from 2001 into 2005, we learned how hard it is to do tourism without tourists, but the project mainstreamed ecotourism ideals from academia into local government planning. Based in Nepal Tourism Board and led by Rabi Jung Pandey, TRPAP developed a cadre of grass-roots sustainable tourism specialists who can still be found in the industry, underpinning Nepal’s reputation as a responsible tourism pioneer.Oliver greatly admired Nepal, its scenery and its people. Although never a trekker, he proudly travelled to Mustang in 1993, and his infinite experience contributed to planning Nepal’s nascent tourism. I can hear his snorting laugh of derision if I acknowledge him as my mentor, but undoubtedly he was. RIP Olly.

Lisa Choegyal

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Losing a colleague to COVID-19

<img width="1000" height="500" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101132/636b74059c7e80680e06236ejpeg.jpg" alt=""/>The careers of many journalists of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=6041#.XjzSCi2B3-Y" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Durganath Sharma</a>'s generation spanned the technology transition. We started out as reporters in the age of cold type and letter press, graduated to Linotype, then in the 1980s came photocomposition and offset printing, after that we got rid of film and went straight from computer to plate, and now there are digital presses. Us reporters filed our stories by postal mail, dictated them on landline phones, telex machines, fax, dialup, and finally email and internet apps. We saw our stories being laid out with photographs in zinc blocks. Durganath Sharma, who died at age 72 on Wednesday in Kathmandu, was a celebrated and celebrity <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=6241#.XjzZoS2B2t8" target="_blank" rel="noopener">television journalist</a>. But he started out in Gorkhapatra in the age of the letter press. He went on to the broadcast studio and his “Yo <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/nepali-radio-nepali-awaj,3728" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Radio Nepal</a> ho. Aba Durganath Sharma bata samachar sunnuhos” was the most recognised voice across Nepal as he read the morning news on the short and medium wave bands. <img width="640" height="500" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101132/636b74079c7e80680e06236fjpeg.jpg" alt=""><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101132/636b740a9c7e80680e062370jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1184" height="284"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101132/636b740c9c7e80680e062371jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1184" height="622"> <img width="640" height="454" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101132/636b740f9c7e80680e062372jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="640" height="453" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101132/636b74119c7e80680e062373jpeg.jpg" alt="">Later, when Nepal Television started relatively late in the 1984, he was the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=3591#.XjzSEC2B3-Y" target="_blank" rel="noopener">chief news anchor</a> and set the standard for camera presence and audience connection. The joke then was that he should say “Aba Durganath Sharma bata samachar hernuhos”. Durganath Sharma travelled across Nepal, often accompanying King Birendra on his annual inspections of development in remote areas. Because of his frequent reportage from the field, close friends had given him a moniker ‘Durgam Kshetra’ (Remote Area) by playing on his name. But even in radio, Sharma presided over a rapidly changing technology from analog shortwave, to AM (amplitude modulation) and witnessed the spread of FM (frequency modulation) and finally satellite radio and digital broadcasting. He worked through the evolution of television technology from the age of video parlours to terrestrial broadcasting, and on to cable to direct to home dish. From cameras that were so large and heavy they had to rest on burly shoulders to the Sony Handycam and finally mobile phones that could take videos.   <img width="602" height="1122" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101132/636b74149c7e80680e062374jpeg.jpg" alt="">Durganath Sharma was the screen persona telling Nepal what was happening around the world. This was the age of Panchayat, so domestic news had to be taken with a pinch of salt. The democrat in Durganath Sharma valued the freedom of press, but it was just a job. He later used his reach on Nepal Television to start Biswa Ghatana (World Events) program that catapulted him to stardom.In the age before Twitter provided instantaneous notifications about what is going on, Biswa Ghatana became a window on the world for a whole generation of Nepalis. As anchor, he did not just list the news line-up but also explain the background and context that drove events like the Israel-Palestine conflict, Chernobyl, Security Council debates and the fall of the Berlin Wall. <img width="640" height="403" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101132/636b74169c7e80680e062375jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="640" height="558" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109101132/636b74199c7e80680e062376jpeg.jpg" alt="">In later years he taught media studies and penned several handbooks for journalists. He had a bypass surgery 15 years ago, but continued to teach and write columns in Kathmandu newspapers. He died of cardiac complications on Tuesday, and with him we lose a media practitioner with institutional memory of Nepal’s political transitions and the evolution of information technology over the past decades.

Kunda Dixit

Durganath Sharma, 72

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108181148/636a96c39c7e80680e05dc87jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1125"/><figcaption>In the lap of Himalaya: Takashi Miyahara is cremated below Everest on Wednesday, 26 November 2019. Photo: SONIA MIYAHARA</figcaption></figure><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takashi_Miyahara">Takashi Miyahara</a> who died on 24 November at age 85 first came to Nepal in 1962, and never left. He saw vast potential in this country, invested in many landmark hotels, married a Nepali woman, became a Nepali citizen, and when he saw politicians ruining the country he contested the 2008 elections to try to change things.He lost that election, but never lost hope. He was always brimming with ideas, and listening to this tenacious Nepali of Japanese descent, one wished he would one day become Prime Minister of his adopted country.Miyahara’s office had a map of Nepal that was a blueprint for the country’s infrastructure-led development. An east-west electric railway artery linked to north-south feeder roads with tunnels, and cable-cars to hilltop tourist sites. He wanted to shift Nepal’s capital to Chitwan to reduce the pressure on Kathmandu Valley. He had master plans for hydropower, tourism and water supply.These perfectly do-able plans were in the manifesto of the <a href="http://nndposix.com/">Nepal National Development Party</a> that he founded. The party failed to win even a single seat in the 2008 Constituent Assembly elections, but Miyahara kept trying to change Nepal’s fatalistic culture by setting an example with hard work and putting the national interest first.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-Y0qMkClzw&amp;feature=youtu.beOver the course of his life, the jovial Japanese trekked across most of Nepal’s 77 districts, and got to know Nepal better than most Nepalis. He felt Nepal’s challenges were not insurmountable, and with vision and hard work they could be overcome. He felt the older failed politicians should give way to younger blood, and he tried to mentor the next generation of politicians through his party.Miyahara set up <a href="http://transhimalayantour.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Trans Himalayan Tour</a> and built the iconic <a href="http://www.hoteleverestview.com/">Hotel Everest View</a> at 3,880m in 1975, even getting permission from the government to hew out an airstrip in Syangboche. He established the <a href="http://www.hotelhimalaya.com.np/">Himalaya Hotel</a> in Patan, and was already bringing 1,000 high-end Japanese tourists to Nepal in the 1970s. He was working on his other dream project, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/business/everest-to-annapurna,4201">Annapurna View Hotel in Sarangkot</a>, till his last days.He always felt that tourism held the key to Nepal’s development, and told this paper once: “Tourism will not only increase national income but also help Nepal become self-reliant. This means using Nepal’s natural resources like rivers and forests and moulding them for tourism purposes and also harnessing their potential through hydropower generation and transportation.”<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108181148/636a96c69c7e80680e05dc88jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="427"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Miyahara dreamt big, and tried to get often apathetic Nepali officials excited about tourism, infrastructure, energy and nature conservation. He was met with disinterest, but that never deterred him.He told Nepali Times <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Takashi-Miyahara-2020-vision,2540">in another interview</a> in 2015: “The public must be aware of the political failure that led to this. Bureaucrats don’t take decisions and just shift responsibility. There is greed, and society lacks a moral compass.” Takashi Miyahara’s attempt to change Nepal’s political culture remains unfinished. But there are many young Nepalis whom he inspired who will build the future of new Nepal.He is survived by his wife and daughter. Miyahara’s body will lie in state in a gumba in Chuhepati and will be cremated on Wednesday in Syangboche. Said his daughter Sonia Miyahara: “My father wanted to be cremated near Mt Everest. The Himalaya is where his heart is.”

Miyahara-san: a life devoted to Nepal

Nepal won the first two matches, clinching the T20 series in the UAE, making history: this is the country’s first ever win, and series win, against a Test-playing country.&nbsp; On Tuesday night, Nepal lost the last game by 10 wickets. The West Indies easily met Nepal’s 122 runs in 19.5 overs. Despite that, Nepal had beaten the two-time T20 World Champions which is currently number 6 in T20 rankings. It is important to note that the West Indies are fielding a significantly weaker and younger team than they could. Caribbean heavy hitters Nicholas Pooran, Andre Russell and Shimron Hetmyer are currently resting or playing in domestic leagues. But that does not take away from the fact that, after two narrow misses against South Africa and Bangladesh at the 2024 T20 World Cup, Nepal has now beaten a Test-Playing nation, and done so convincingly.&nbsp; Nepal won the first match of the series on 27 September by 19 runs. Batting first after winning the toss, Nepal put up 148 for 8 after losing openers Kushal Bhurtel and Aasif Sheikh early.&nbsp; Rohit Paudel’s 38 and Kushal Malla’s 30 steadied the innings, and 148 was a reasonable target to defend on the tricky Sharjah pitch. The young Windies dropped a series of catches.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251001031052_5f24273f6da2f52f6414b7ecc485938a4c726431bfa7c2ba435bded3debe9f5a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20251001031052_5f24273f6da2f52f6414b7ecc485938a4c726431bfa7c2ba435bded3debe9f5a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1440" height="960" loading="lazy" alt="Nepal defeats West Indies NT 1"> </figure>  Nepal’s fielding, in contrast, was excellent as it held the West Indies to 129 for 8. Dipendra Singh Airee and Kushal Bhurtel both had run outs, and the team held on to tricky catches throughout.&nbsp; The last ball of the match, with it already won, saw Bhurtel catch Fabian Allen off of Airee’s bowling, throw the ball in the air before stepping outside the boundary, before jumping back in to complete the catch legally.&nbsp; Head coach Stuart Law, former Australian Cricketer, was pleased with the performance. “We deserved it, we played a really good game of cricket. I thought our fielding in the first 15-17 overs was outstanding,” he said, predicting, “the West Indies will be hurt, they’re a proud nation. They’ll come out red-hot on Monday, so we got to be better than tonight.”&nbsp; Bhurtel was ecstatic at having beaten the two-time T20 World Champions. He pointed to the team’s versatility as a big strength. “We have a lot of players who can both bat and bowl. Gulsan (Jha) and Kushal Malla did not bowl at all, and Lalit (Rajbhansi) did not bowl out all of his overs.” And the team still used seven bowlers.&nbsp; If the first match was a surprise, then the second match was a shock. Nepal put up 173 for 6, with Aasif Sheikh hitting 68 not out and Sundeep Jora 63, the two putting up a hundred run fourth wicket partnership.&nbsp; They then bowled out the West Indies for a humiliating 83, with Mohammad Aadil Alam taking 4 for 24 and Kushal Bhurtel 3 for 16.&nbsp; There was more excellence in the field, with the Nepali team taking seven catches, many of them very tricky ones right on the edge of the ropes. This second win sealed the series victory, also a first for Nepali cricket. The margin of victory and the team’s overall dominance were both very obvious.&nbsp; Nepalis in the UAE showed up at the Sharjah Stadium in full support for the Rhinos, wearing jerseys, flags, and dhaka topis, raucously cheering on the team’s performance.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251001031052_217ceb7078e9c253f8db6fec57911eb8e56822e3fc20d520d39e06f475fd6d65.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20251001031052_217ceb7078e9c253f8db6fec57911eb8e56822e3fc20d520d39e06f475fd6d65" data-rendition-name="original" width="1440" height="960" loading="lazy" alt="Nepal defeats West Indies NT 1"> </figure>  Fresh on their minds must have been recent protests back home. The Cricket Association of Nepal dedicated the series to those who lost their lives. Captain Rohit Paudel also dedicated his man of the match award from the first T20 to the 74 people killed last month in Nepal.&nbsp; “Since last one month has not been that great for us, so slowly we are getting better. It is great to give a little happiness to the people of Nepal,” said Paudel.&nbsp; Leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane was notably absent from both matches, having excused himself from the squad for personal reasons.&nbsp; “It is what it is,” said coach Law. “we are a very competitive team and someone has to stand up in his place.”&nbsp; The wins also open the possibilities for further series, with countries such as Bangladesh, Pakistan or Zimbabwe.&nbsp; CHASING TESTS  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20251001031048_70fed823c34d91dfefc078cb5786c2ea04ad70387fbf09424a5304b926cc3e3c.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20251001031048_70fed823c34d91dfefc078cb5786c2ea04ad70387fbf09424a5304b926cc3e3c" data-rendition-name="original" width="1600" height="995" loading="lazy" alt="Nepal defeats West Indies"> </figure>  In international cricket, a ‘Test-playing nation’ is a country that is authorised to play Test Matches by the central governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC). Test Matches are the longest format of the sport, lasting up to five days, and are the most prestigious.&nbsp; Currently, this exclusive group is made up of Australia, Bangladesh, England, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, West Indies, Zimbabwe, and Afghanistan.&nbsp; Nepal has a ways to go. To become a Test-playing nation, it must first become a full member of the ICC. To do this, they must consistently qualify for ODI and T20 world cups over eight years, and have at least two ICC-accredited venues for hosting matches — currently only the Tribhuvan University Cricket Ground qualifies.&nbsp; Nepal must also have significant youth development infrastructure, a good domestic setup, and a recognised governing body that is financially stable and not corrupt.&nbsp; With the current development of stadiums across Nepal and innovations such as the Nepal Premier League, and performances such as these, Nepal seems firmly on the way.&nbsp;

2-1 for Nepal against The Windies

Harry Jackson was on an epic adventure ‘from Thailand to the UK on 2 wheels’ when he ran into the ultimate sidequest. Having just visited Zangla in Ladakh, Jackson had only landed in Kathmandu when he found himself in the middle of GenZ protests earlier this month. ‘<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Slq6zWu9o9w">Arriving in Nepal - Chaos, Protest &amp; Curfews</a>’ is the title of his first video (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/@wehatethecold/videos">wehatethecold on YouTube</a>) about the protest. He shoots police as they shoot at protesters outside Parliament. Jackson is riding a Honda CT125, a retro lightweight motorbike with off-road capabilities. Strapped to the bike is his sparse luggage, flute, and a faded Union Jack. People are rioting on the streets and there is a heavy armed police presence as he makes his way to his hostel in Thamel. His vlog the day after on 9 September has 29 million views. In ‘<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IyxSqeFrlp0">The side of Nepal the media won’t show you</a>’, Jackson rides his bike straight at the crowd just past the Parliament building into Old Baneswar.&nbsp; He parks it and walks among the protestors, documenting it all: from the police firing capsules of tear gas into the crowd to the burning Parliament building as well as the jubilant, victorious crowd in the premises as they destroy police vehicles and dance. “I’m shocked at the scenes I’ve witnessed here today. I have truly witnessed history on a stupid trip from Thailand to England on a f***ing moped!” exclaims Jackson as he leaves the scene for the day, heading back to his hostel to edit the footage. The hostel is in direct contrast to the raucous scenes of the protest, as tourists and Nepalis sit and lounge at tables. ‘KUIRE VLOGGER’ Nepalis quickly called him the ‘kuire vlogger’, and attribute his skin colour to his popularity. Objectively, the videos are well made. Jackson goes full gonzo journalist, putting himself right in the heart of the action, talking directly to the people, all while narrating the events as they unfold. Despite being cut together in an entertaining way, the footage retains a raw, unpolished quality that outdoes what most professional journalists with a heavy duty camera crew could do. At a time when legacy media has been seen to be pushing biased narratives, Jackson wants to see for himself what happened, and make up his own mind.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250925120956_f7141e06c72655502fc4b2e56120d084b0f5ae111078d66df4fd0415adf8d376.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20250925120956_f7141e06c72655502fc4b2e56120d084b0f5ae111078d66df4fd0415adf8d376" data-rendition-name="original" width="2880" height="1604" loading="lazy" alt="WehateTheCold"> </figure>  This kind of video journalism takes a lot of skill and a certain personality. Many people, almost everybody, had their phones out at the protests, but only a handful were like Jackson. He interviewed people firsthand, edited the clips and uploaded them the same day. Jackson continued his vlogging over the next few days as the curfew was first put in place and then lifted. He explores the city as the Valley rebounds. By this time, Nepalis recognise him everywhere he goes. Jackson had achieved moderate fame as a 23-year old DJ in Birmingham, but what he has done in Nepal is something else. Almost everyone he talks to has already seen his vlog, and they are all eager to interact. He has been on multiple podcasts in Nepal too, and most videos online on the protests reference his vlogs. Before his Nepal blogs, Jackson had a modest 16k subcribers on YouTube, but after Nepal figure is now almost 700k, gaining over 100k each through 11-13 September. Most of them are Nepali viewers. “I’m just a regular dude who just did what he wanted to do,” says Jackson on a podcast. “I wanted to go on an adventure, learn about history, and learn languages. And I wanted to film it, document it, and have a wicked film for my life to show future generations.” &nbsp;

The accidental journalist

Nepal is still reeling from the short but violent GenZ moment, and the reverberations are being felt around the world.&nbsp;
As news from the killings and rampage from Nepal on 8-9 September spread through the wire services and social media, in the Philippines, East Timor and even faraway Peru, banners on the streets last week referred to ‘learning lessons from Nepal’. In Ladakh last week, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/9/25/bloodiest-day-how-gen-z-protest-wave-hit-indias-ladakh-killing-four">protesters set fire to the ruling BJP party office</a> and four people were killed in police firing.&nbsp;
Nepal’s GenZ was praised by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/19/opinion/asia-protest-youth-nepal-bangladesh.html">international commentators</a> for rising up against chronic corruption and impunity, and for achieving the fastest regime change in history. But the youth were also blamed for the arson and vandalism even though the groups said they had no part in it — most &nbsp;foreign media also did not highlight enough the infiltration by radical groups.
“We were not expecting the protests to turn so violent and deadly. On the second day, things escalated so quickly it became difficult to keep track. We were rushing on the groud and making calls to confirm what was happening,” recalls Paavan Mathema of Agence France-Presse (AFP) in Nepal.
The GenZ protest this month was a lesson on the mechanics of social media. Hashtags like #youthagainstcorruption and #nepobaby from Indonesia inspired Nepal’s youth to take to the streets, but events here in turn triggered protests elsewhere. The international news agencies and mainstream global tv channels were not as important in this information cross-pollination.
The movement was organised online and spread quickly in no time, but it was disinformation and fake news that spread faster than facts. The over-simplification by international media was because it had to explain 30 years of political evolution in a country that they mostly ignored in the past, this sometimes tended to be misleading.&nbsp;
While the Oli government’s social media ban of 26 platforms starting 5 September poured oil on the fire that had already been lit by a disparate group of desperate youth, their outrage over decades of corruption and impunity was reaching a breaking point. There was extreme disenchantment with serial politicians recycling themselves in power.&nbsp;
“The ban on social media definitely triggered the protest, but we put a high priority on accuracy and speed during reporting in such times,” explains the Nepal correspondent for Associated Press (AP) news agency in Nepal Binaj Gurubacharya. “Our own safety also becomes a prime concern in times like these, but should not be at an expense of accuracy.”
CRISIS REPORTING
But headlines everywhere including in The New York Times, The Guardian and others that used wire service content initially highlighted the social media ban as the main reason for the protest. They were soon called out by protesters, while <a href="https://institute.aljazeera.net/en/ajr/article/3358" target="_blank">Al Jazeera</a> and its <a href="https://institute.aljazeera.net/en" target="_blank">Media Institute </a>were applauded for more nuanced coverage.
Another positive example of international media supplementing the stories by local journalists was <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/" target="_blank">France 24’</a>s detailed <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20250915-nepal-police-protests-violence-kathmandu" target="_blank">forensic analysis</a> of the security forces firing live ammunition at protesters at Parliament on 8 September.&nbsp;
What really went far and wide around the world were dramatic YouTube videos about the violence, and memes on social media. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-accidental-journalist" target="_blank">A British tourist</a> who filmed street protests did the work of an on-the-ground journalist and got millions of views globally for some of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Slq6zWu9o9w" target="_blank">his YouTube videos</a>.&nbsp;
But some of the misinformation or fake news on social media was also picked up by the mainstream press, like the <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/south-asia/nepal-violence-ex-pm-khanals-wife-dies-after-house-torched-president-urges-calm-dialogue/articleshow/123791004.cms">wrongly reported death of former Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal’s wife</a> in an arson attack on their home. A video of the Finance Minister Bishnu Poudel being <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/video-nepal-finance-minister-chased-through-street-kicked-attacked-9243749">chased and beaten</a> by protesters also turned out to be someone else.&nbsp;
Some international outlets, mainly in India, also fell prey to a fake video that K P Oli had fled to Dubai. Even this newspaper’s online edition had to correct it after wrongly reporting it without verification.&nbsp;
Indian tv channels which did &nbsp;extensive coverage of events in Nepal, with many Nepalis relying on them and believing their content — especially during the protests when Nepal’s main channels went off air as they were being attacked.
All this got out of hand, and protesters in the week after the violence started ridiculing and harassing Indian tv correspondents as they tried to interview talking heads outside the charred Parliament building, or on the streets.
<a href="https://www.newslaundry.com/2025/09/09/foreign-hand-gen-z-data-addiction-5-ways-indian-media-missed-the-nepal-story">Indian media</a> were also the first to accuse US involvement in sparking a ‘colour revolution’ in Nepal. They later claimed that former Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) chief and now Energy Minister Kulman Ghising and even Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah have been appointed interim prime minister in Nepal. These were rumours in Nepal, but were reported as news.&nbsp;
“Fact checking is crucial while covering such movements, and since we are telling an important story about Nepal to the world, double checking becomes important as it sets the international narrative,” says Mathema. “We were constantly double checking with concerned authorities as so much misinformation was being spread.”
“We were constantly double checking numbers and information with concerned authorities and parties to make sure we were accurate, especially as misinformation was rampant,” she adds.
Apart from Indian media, international news agencies got reinforcements of reporters, photojournalists and editors from the region, and other foreign correspondents also flew in when Kathmandu airport was opened after 48 hours.
Adds Mathema: “Sometimes foreign reporters can give a fresh perspective or an angle which we could not see or cover. So their inputs are always helpful.”
In the aftermath of the violence, there were plenty of jokes and memes, clips of protesters dancing, in weird poses and performing martial arts, showcasing the light hearted side of the protests while also <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-s-meme-revolution">reaffirming the resilience</a> of people able to bounce back from something so traumatic.
The GenZ clean-up campaigns, neighbourhoods helping restore burnt out police stations and local people’s emotional reaction to the burnt out hulks of government buildings at the city centre also <a href="https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3325635/nepals-gen-z-protesters-lead-clean-campaign-after-violent-clashes">made news</a>.
“After the protests, people were quick to gather and clean up public spaces and paint police stations. This is a scene which may not be so common in other countries with similar violence,” adds Gurubacharya. “So it became an important story to also tell the world.”&nbsp;
In less than two days, the world saw a dramatic toppling of a democratic government. With the interim government led by former chief justice Sushila Karki, there is much hope. She has expanded her ministerial cabinet, and the election has been announced for 5 March 2026 but between then and now, a lot remains uncertain.&nbsp;
And Nepal will continue to be watched by national and international media alike until then and after. AP’s Gurubacharya sums it up: “For now, we are taking it one day at a time.”

International spotlight on Nepal

From the echo chambers of social media to neighborhood tea shops, the hot topic two weeks after the GenZ revolt toppled Nepal’s government is whether the country should now have a directly elected prime minister. Although this has been proposed before as a way to end the instability in heads of government chosen by the biggest party or coalition in Parliament, it has found supporters and critics in the aftermath of the protests. As democratic as it sounds, a directly elected executive is not that simple.&nbsp; Nepal’s 2015 Constitution does not allow it, but for a young generation impatient for change, this demand raises critical social, political and constitutional questions. Nepal has seen a multiplicity of systems in the past 45 years: from a partyless absolute monarchy to a constitutional one, a parliamentary democracy and then a federal republic. But they have repeatedly failed to bring stability, good governance or an end to corruption in Nepal. But even though lately they have ensured civil liberties, the public was losing hope for the future, especially the young who could air and amplify their outrage on social media. Unbridled corruption and ideologically mismatched fragile coalitions acting with impunity, led many to conclude that a directly elected prime minister would ensure stability and accountability. ‘We have repeatedly trusted the same political parties, but they have repeatedly broken that trust, so it is no longer possible to trust that system anymore,’ says Miraj Dhungana, popular for the TikTok videos asking young people to go out into the streets to rally against corruption, and seen by many as the ‘original’ representative of Gen Z.&nbsp; In interviews he has stated that it has become necessary for Nepal to have a directly elected executive head through constitutional amendment. Dhungana himself did not participate in the protests after his meeting with pro-monarchist businessman Durga Prasai on 7 September sparked controversy that he as a lackey. Binod Deuba Thakuri of the Nepal Student Union who also participated in the GenZ protests thinks Nepal is institutionally not ready for directly elected prime minister: “Our democracy is not mature yet, our institutions are not strong, and we are vulnerable to social media induced populism.”&nbsp; CONSTITUTION AMENDMENT Amending the Constitution would also open a pandora’s box, with other demands, and should be left to the next legislative body, he adds. In her address to the nation on Friday, Prime Minister Sushila Karki who is a former chief justice also clarified that her interim government does not have the mandate to amend the Constitution to make way for a directly elected head of government, and it should be up to the new legislature and government after the 5 March election.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250919130956_799b2d43dccca73b3bff96e435efc0752203117b2cb219d0073994c0e6f2ee25.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20250919130956_799b2d43dccca73b3bff96e435efc0752203117b2cb219d0073994c0e6f2ee25" data-rendition-name="original" width="4160" height="2774" loading="lazy" alt="Constitution Day NT"> <figcaption>Constitution Day address by Prime Minister Sushila Karki on 19th September earlier this month.</figcaption> </figure>  The demand for a directly elected executive head was first raised by Maoist leader Pushpa Kamal Dahal after the 2006 ceasefire. He proposed himself as Nepal’s first executive president ahead of the 2008 Constituent Assembly elections. While the UML did not strongly oppose the idea, the Nepali Congress (NC) stuck to a parliamentary framework. The 2015 Constitution ultimately clinched it for the current parliamentary system. The Constitution stipulates that the process of selecting a prime minister is based on parliamentary strength: the President appoints the leader of the party with a majority in the House of Representatives, or, in the absence of such a majority, a member who can demonstrate majority support. If these efforts fail, provisions exist for coalition or minority governments, and ultimately for the dissolution of the House and fresh elections. The Constitution currently makes no provision for a directly elected prime minister, which means that any attempt to introduce a directly elected executive would first require the careful design of a democratic mechanism to amend the Constitution and set out the procedures for such an election.&nbsp; “There is no legal legitimacy to have the directly elected executive head of the country in the March election, except if political legitimacy surpasses legality but that would mean a new constitution,” explains senior advocate Surendra Kumar Mahato. “Many other institutional arrangements like the appointment of the judiciary, the role of the president, and other check and balance mechanisms would need to be restructured.” Mahato says: “Nepal’s Constitution itself is not at fault — it is the political actors, who have failed to uphold good governance within its framework. Changing systems does not ensure better governance.”&nbsp; Changing the Constitution also needs a broad political consensus, the institutional capacity of the state must be carefully considered to ensure such a new system can function effectively in practice and not simply in theory. Empowering an executive head through direct elections should not come at the expense of accountability or parliamentary oversight, and there should be checks and balances in place. LESSONS FROM ABROAD Sri Lanka’s 2022 Agralaya was fuelled by the anger that the directly executive head turned out to be an authoritarian who backslides on democracy. Under Sri Lanka’s 1978 Constitution, the country adopted a directly elected executive presidency with sweeping powers over the cabinet, appointments, dismissal of parliament, and control over key institutions.&nbsp; Over the years, President Mahinda Rajapaksa removed term limits via the 18th Amendment in 2010, centralised appointment powers, including judges and heads of independent commissions, and used constitutional changes such as the 20th Amendment (2020) to reverse safeguards that limited presidential authority, thereby subordinating the legislature, weakening oversight, and enabling authoritarian control.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250914060932_a96e1046d0b148982b33f2dcbe56f349dc0c20a087e358360eb2dddcfe0b5072.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250914060932_a96e1046d0b148982b33f2dcbe56f349dc0c20a087e358360eb2dddcfe0b5072" data-rendition-name="original" width="4640" height="2610" loading="lazy" alt="GenZ and Aragalaya"> <figcaption>Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka on 13 April 2022 in front of the Presidential Secretariat. Photo: WIKIPEDIA</figcaption> </figure>  Nepal’s multiparty framework upholds an institutional balance where both the governing party and the opposition have defined roles. This parliamentary setup prevents power from being overly concentrated in one individual and ensures accountability through parliament and competing parties. Beyond the neighbourhood, the United States has a directly elected executive system. Donald Trump exemplifies how direct electoral mandate can fracture institutional check mechanisms. He has leveraged his power to attack judges, frame political opponents, turn legal defeats into rallying points for his supporters, often using pliant media platforms to reinforce the idea that institutional checks impeded the popular will. In Nepal, there is a risk that a directly elected prime minister could bring up a populist media savvy messiah who could use public grievances to get to power and consolidate it. Social media can be mobilised and easily saturated with posts to fuel a political narrative of choice.&nbsp; In the past, former prime minister K P Oli’s ‘digital army’ has been lobbied on his behalf on social media. Even without an ‘IT sena’, it is not unusual for governments to collaborate with social media platforms as seen in the US and India.&nbsp; In Nepal, a directly elected prime minister would raise the stakes, turning the battle for votes into a battle for attention online, where a leader who wins the algorithm also wins the elections, just as Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah demonstrated in 2022 with support from groups like MRR and RONB. The Balen Phenomenon started in social media trickled to the ballot box.&nbsp; The digital space mas ensure that it is not trendy to dislike Balen. Comments that are critical of the Kathmandu Metropolitan City’s treatment of street vendors or of the mayor himself are met with backlash from supporters. Or, if the comments did not get any likes, the algorithms filtered them out as ‘not relevant’.&nbsp; The conversation of Shah often centred on his emotive responses and sentiments, generating strong engagement online. Meanwhile, policy debates received comparatively less attention.&nbsp; “Choosing a leader directly through an election means that we are vulnerable to populism and undermining of the democratic process, accountable institutions,” says Thaukri. Political activist Pradip Gyawali admits that the GenZ revolt was an example of how social media is a powerful tool to organise and disseminate information. But there are risks posed by disinformation and fake news online.&nbsp; “More media and political literacy among the people before the election in March is crucial to control the damage social media could do to influence voter behaviour,” he says.&nbsp; Beyond social media, online news increasingly relies on sensational, click-driven headlines to attract readers in a competitive digital market. A recent survey showed that 82.6% of GenZ (16- 24) rely on Facebook for news and 51.4% on YouTube.&nbsp; Nepali people with higher education seemed to engage with news more (99.1%) than illiterate individuals at 52.1%. Byte-sized headline-only journalism is leaving readers to their own devices, and vulnerable to media infiltration by IT cells.&nbsp; With social media actively shaping the course of elections, and news consumption, debates about changing the Constitution or the system of governance yet again may not ensure the demands for corruption free governance is met. Instead, strengthening media and political literacy among voters is key to prepare for the elections in March. Ayusha Chalise is a communication and development scholar specialising in how politics is experienced in the digital space.