We all knew that the populist surge in India would impact on Nepali politics at some point, especially as the great neighbour across the open border to the south nears elections this year.&nbsp;
But the saffron that has begun to pigment the Nepal Tarai is different from India’s saffron wave. Events in India do colour Nepali politics, but it is important to make a distinction between India’s Hindu-tva and Nepal’s Hindu-ism.
India and Nepal both have Constitutions that guarantee the separation of politics and religion. However, at least in India, that has become a relic of the dim past. The lines between faith and ideology are becoming blurred.
Is the attraction to faith-based politics in Nepal affected by religio-cultural needs, or is it the political agenda of some political parties? There are different strands of Hindu right politics in Nepal, and we have to see the distinction.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/crimson-saffron-and-green">Crimson, saffron and green</a>, Chandra Kishore
The Shah dynasty that was removed after the abolition of monarchy in 2008 is attempting to ride India’s saffron wave. The irony is that it was a Centre-Left government in India at the time that pushed for Nepal to adopt a federal republican structure.
But at the people’s level, Hinduism transcends religion--it is a way of life and its concepts of tolerance (बसुधैव कुटुम्बकम ) or equity (सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिन) touch the everyday lives of communities on both sides of the border.
Hindutva politics in India is not new; it has a long history that goes back to the independence struggle against the British. But today, it has become a part of mainstream politics. It has latched on to many contradictions and regressive ideas, but has become a political ideology of the ruling party, sidelining other secular and regional parties.
However, in Nepal, Hindutva as a political ideology is still nascent. Its seeds have been planted on a soil fertilised by democratic decay. There was an attempt to push the Hindutva agenda during the 2006 People’s Movement, but it did not take root in the desiccated post-war polity. &nbsp;
Read also:<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/faith-in-tolerance"> Faith in tolerance</a>, Editorial
But today, mainstream parties (even avowed Communist ones) are competing with each other to cloak themselves in saffron. Old, new, democratic, communist, reactionary--all kinds of parties are on the bandwagon.
Even though Nepal was till recently a Hindu monarchy, religion was never overtly the basis for politics in democratic Nepal. But because the political parties post-2006 have failed so miserably to address the people’s basic needs, they wave the saffron flag to maintain their base.
To the south, Hindutva ideologues have already identified who the ‘Others’ are. India’s minorities feel they are being targeted, and those who believe in secularism have been declared enemies of the state.
Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/india-s-hindutva-politics-influencing-nepal">India’s Hindutva politics influencing Nepal</a>, Santa Gaha Magar
Some of Nepal’s parties want to use faith-based politics to turn the clock back on republicanism and inclusion while others just want to delete secularism from the Constitution. Others want federalism scrapped. It is not just domestic disillusionment that is driving this--the wind is also blowing from the south. &nbsp;&nbsp;
India’s Hindutva forces have been involved in a decades-long strategy to influence literature, Bollywood, think tanks, the mass media, and other sectors of national life. However, in Nepal, the parties that espouse Hindutva have borrowed it for political expediency, not because they actually believe in its relevance or have a clear plan. &nbsp;
Simmering discontent with secularism was fanned by India’s Hindutva forces over time to turn it into a raging blaze. The Indian Congress and regional parties appear powerless to challenge this juggernaut at the national level. Some of them have gone soft, while others have also fallen into the trap of communalism.
In Nepal, reactionaries are using faith-based politics to jumpstart their failed careers. They do not understand that this can lead to a fluid situation with unintended consequences as we have seen with recent communal tension along the Tarai.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/religiously-following-politics">Religiously following politics</a>, Chandra Kishore
The same social media symbols and tropes that are being pushed in India are also being spread in Nepal. In India, there is just the BJP that is the locomotive of Hindutva, but in Nepal it is every opportunistic party either in the fringes or mainstream. And they are all competing with each other to be more saffron.
Even the RPP and king Gyanendra have not been able to prove themselves as the main driving force. Which is why the secular parties are sanguine that Hindutva ideology does not have widespread support. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
But it is essential to sort out whether Hindutva is just using Nepal’s open and pluralistic politics, or if it really has a larger following. There is an attempt at historical revisionism, and to a certain extent it is impacted by regional political alignments in India. &nbsp;
Whatever happens during India’s election year, Nepal’s politics has its own dynamics even if it may echo slogans heard from across the border. But this is a train they are climbing on to without knowing which way it is headed. &nbsp;&nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/long-leave-the-king">Long leave the King</a>, Alisha Sijapati
Chandra Kishore is a Birganj-based media commentator and writes this monthly column Borderlines for Nepali Times.
@kishore_chandra

Chandra Kishore

original

674x448

610x380

500x500

400x266

400x240

400x203

301x200

1250x600

1084x550

The south wind blows

Fifteen years after a post-conflict Constituent Assembly abolished Nepal’s monarchy, growing public discontent with the successive governments is fuelling a drive to restore the country’s Hindu monarchy. There were last-ditch attempts to retain the monarchy in some form, but the assembly voted on 28 May 2008 to turn Nepal into a federal, democratic and secular republic. King Gyanendra held a chaotic press conference at Narayanhiti Palace and drove off to his residence, where he has remained a private citizen since. It was Nepal’s own ‘velvet revolution’--the country went from monarchy to republic without the king being hounded into exile or executed. And Gyanendra, till recently, has not made any overt political statements. But with the rise of the Hindu-right in BJP-ruled India, the ex-king has been attending large pro-monarchy rallies by the RPP possibly thinking that the time is now ripe to sit on the Serpent Throne for the third time.&nbsp; Journalist Kiran Nepal attended Gyanendra’s last press conference at the palace in 2008, and remembers how the palace guards abandoned their posts and media colleagues rowdily wrestled to sit on the royal chair to take photos. “The chaos after the king left the room was a striking illustration of what was to come, and I remember thinking--is this the country’s future under republicanism?” Nepal recalls. Indeed, although there have been 13 governments since the abolition of monarchy, most of the politicians are the same. Pushpa Kamal Dahal is Prime Minister for the third time, his coalition partner Sher Bahadur Deuba has been premier five times, the opposition UML’s K P Oli has also led the country three times. &nbsp; Most Nepalis say there is little to show for Nepal becoming a federal, secular republic. War crimes and high-profile corruption cases go unpunished, the president pardons a murderer serving a life sentence. Nepalis have one of the lowest per capita income in Asia, and half of all Nepalis in the 20-45 age group are working abroad--yet the government does not want to give them the right to vote.&nbsp; Besides those who genuinely feel that Nepal should have never abolished the monarchy, there are unsavoury characters who have also latched on to the bandwagon. A pro-monarchy demo last week in Kathmandu was organised by a bank defaulter who rallied others like him. Gyanendra kept away from this protest, travelling instead to attend the installation of a statue of Prithvi Narayan Shah in Jhapa organised by Rajendra Lingden of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP). Lingden and former journalist Rabindra Mishra of the RPP believe Nepal needs a strong symbol of national unity embodied by a king. They point to the long queues at Gyanendra’s tika ceremony this Dasain, comparing that to the few who attended the President’s ritual down the road.&nbsp; While keeping in the background, Gyanendra manages his social media presence to appeal to young Nepalis with clips of himself dancing to nationalistic songs at popular nightclubs. Even in Communist strongholds like Bhaktapur, there are large flag-waving crowds coming out to welcome him.&nbsp; Read also:<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/street-politics"> Street politics</a>, Shristi Karki “I strongly believe in preserving the institution of the monarchy because the country's future might be jeopardised without it,” the RPP’s Rabindra Mishra told us. “Prachanda’s ideology is taking the country into decline.”&nbsp; Although past public opinion polls have shown that a majority of Nepalis would want Nepal to revert to a Hindu state, it is not clear if there is similar support for the restoration of the monarchy because of the persona of Gyanendra and his son, Paras. Support for a Hindu state is due to most Nepalis taking the Nepali translation of secularism (धर्मनिरपेक्षता) to mean atheism, as well as the perception that there is rampant proselytisation by evangelical Christians. Into this mix, add geopolitics. Nepal’s federal, secular republican Constitution was guided by India’s centre-left parties. But since then New Delhi has seen regime change, and while foreign policy architects there may not necessarily want Nepal’s monarchy back, the BJP (with an eye on elections next year) may not be averse to erasing ‘secular’ from the Constitution. &nbsp;&nbsp; Gyanendra has been visiting India often, and on his last trip had a meeting with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who is also the high priest of the Gorkahnath monastic order linked to the kingdom of Gorkha, the seat of the Shah dynasty. &nbsp; Even though nearly 80% of Nepalis say they are Hindu, says Kiran Nepal, it is different from the political Hindutva spreading in India. Secularism was added to the Constitution to defuse ethnic tensions that arose while demarcating and naming the new provinces. Reverting this process may lead to instability in Nepal.&nbsp; Perhaps the person most responsible for Nepal becoming a republic is Gyanendra himself. Historians have noted that before 2008, Gyanendra was presented with various proposals under India’s ‘twin pillar’ policy to retain a ‘cultural monarchy’ or under a ‘baby king’ formula.&nbsp; Rabindra Mishra concedes: “His refusal to accept those options undeniably led to the end of the monarchy, influencing the current trajectory of our nation. But the former king is someone who has love, passion and aspiration for his country and its people, he is not hungry for power and money. He should return.” One of the foremost proponents of a secular republic was Maoist ideologue and one-time Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai. He is increasingly worried that the political trends in India will affect Nepal, and wrote on X: ‘The return to a Hindu monarchy will plunge Nepal into a quagmire of counter-revolutionary instability which will also impact India.’&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/crimson-saffron-and-green">Crimson, saffron and green</a>, Chandra Kishore &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;***** An excerpt of the interview with Rabindra Mishra of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party:  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231201041248_6bde4ca2084865c26374cc0fde3cbc6d74676744eeb5da4b6e4895959421f700.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20231201041248_6bde4ca2084865c26374cc0fde3cbc6d74676744eeb5da4b6e4895959421f700" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Rabindra Mishra"> </figure>  Nepali Times: You didn't have any problems with the Constitution until you joined the RPP party. How come? Rabindra Mishra: Yes, until that time I was also ‘Prachandised’. We formed the joint party Sajha Bibeksheel in 2017 but I already had problems with the 2015 Constitution. The 12-point agreement only pertained removing an authoritarian monarchy and in agreement with the king, we agreed to keep the monarchy as an institution. The Constituent Assembly in its very first meeting on 17 April 2007 had also considered the eldest daughter as an heir to the throne. Secularism was neither the demand of the Madhes movement, of 12-point agreement, nor the People’s Movement. It came out of nowhere. Even with federalism, it was the Madhes that wanted it but the whole of Nepal wasn’t even asked about it. When all these new issues entered Nepali politics, I started having my reservations. It just was not done properly. I entered politics with the belief that Nepal can be saved with good governance, corruption control, equitable prosperity and development. But after three or four years I realised we were on the wrong road.&nbsp; Along with that, the relations between castes, languages and religions of Nepal have become very weak, bitter and sensitive. If I were to do politics only for you and my generation, I could easily become a minister, an ambassador or an MP? All my life I worked for myself, but politics must be about the country, and preparing for the challenges Nepal will face 30-40 years from now.&nbsp; Due to the country's geopolitical and internal sensitivities, I decided that it would not be in the interest of this country to follow the politics of Prachandapath in a Prachandised society. What do you mean exactly by Prachandaisation? The Maoist party is on the road to failure. But personally, Prachanda has been quite successful, he took the entire society and politics down his Prachanda "path". If he changes course, there may be some redemption, but at the rate it is going the Maoists will shrink further if they fight elections alone. However, he must take the entire responsibility for bringing federalism, republicanism and secularism to Nepal.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/faith-in-tolerance">Faith in tolerance</a>, Editorial <div class="embed-block"><div><div style="left: 0; width: 100%; height: 0; position: relative; padding-bottom: 56.25%;"><iframe src="//cdn.iframe.ly/api/iframe?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fembed%2FArMSoMvZ_6E%3Fsi%3Debvic9U8XLE3grSH&key=87ca3314a9fa775b5c3a7726100694b0" style="top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; border: 0;" allowfullscreen scrolling="no" allow="accelerometer *; clipboard-write *; encrypted-media *; gyroscope *; picture-in-picture *; web-share *;"></iframe></div></div></div> But secularism was agreed upon by two-thirds of the elected Constituent Assembly. First of all, you should not see elections as representing the will of the entire Nepali people. It is just an electoral vote. Now, when the king (former King Gyanendra Shah) goes to Janakpur, the centre of federalism, when he goes to Jhapa, the hub of Nepal's leftist movement, even if he goes to Bhaktapur, the stronghold of the Communist Nepal Majdoor Kisan Party, or Nepalganj, or Surkhet, or Dhangadi, wherever he goes, tens of thousands of people come out to welcome him. But why do they not vote in elections? No matter where you go to village teashops, temples or anywhere else, everyone says, 'This was a Hindu nation. By turning it into a secular republic everyone became a Christian.’ But they still vote for the secularists and republicans. Why? Federalism has become a problem, we have to support 40,000 people's representatives. Instead of one king, we now have a thousand kings. Still the people vote for federalism. In Nepal's context, there is a distinction between the electoral results and public opinion. Vote banks are captured by political parties, so that nothing can be changed. I have a counter question for you, is it the responsibility of journalists to protect the Constitution? Journalists say that this Constitution should be saved, the news is therefore one-sided. Opinions are also of one sided, and even if it is called a debate in a newspaper, they all take the same side. Is this allowed? For example, Nepal's media ignored the crowds that greeted King Gyanendra when he visited the bastion of the Newar community in Bhaktapur because they said it was the same king who censored the press at gunpoint in 2005. There is a tendency to do mission journalism. Rather than serving a thousand corrupt and incompetent leaders, I am ready to serve a king who saved this country even in difficult times, kept the country's honour high at the international level and contributed to the rapid development of the country in a certain period of time. In 2007-08, Nepal's leaders changed course, and the people were forced to follow suit. Now the entire country and the majority of the people have changed course, but the leaders have yet to change. When people demand change, change will come one way or other.&nbsp; What do you think of Durga Prasai and his rally? I appreciate the popular support that has been seen in favour of the monarchy. In whatever form and wherever it came from, it was for the return of the monarchy. The rally that was seen in Jhapa, Nepalganj, Itahari, Bhaktapur were more in favour of the monarchy than any individual's efforts.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/india-s-hindutva-politics-influencing-nepal">India’s Hindutva politics influencing Nepal</a>, Santa Gaha Magar

Alisha Sijapati

Long leave the King

It looks like the whole country is demonstrating on the streets. Ex-king Gyanendra has been attending rallies for the restoration of a Hindu monarchy in Kathmandu, teachers are on the warpath against federal control, striking doctors are protesting gang attacks on hospitals, activist Iih stood for 11 days outside Kathmandu City Hall protesting the mayor’s high-handedness. Meanwhile, on Monday in Birganj there was a different kind of street demonstration – for tolerance and harmony.&nbsp; The municipality took out the rally to douse communal clashes that flared up in Malangwa of Sarlahi district for four days this week, serious enough for a curfew &nbsp;to be clamped. &nbsp; In Birganj, businesses, intellectuals and politicians including Mayor Rajeshman Singh and Deputy Mayor Imtiaz Alam rallied for religious coexistence. Instead of saffron or green, they waved Nepal’s crimson double triangle. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/religiously-following-politics">Religiously following politics</a>, Chandra Kishore Madhes Province borders the Indian state of Bihar, and bonds of kinship, language, culture and trade bind communities in the two countries together. As India prepares for general elections next year, growing persecution of minorities there is starting to infect Nepal as well. Hindus and Muslims in Nepal have lived peacefully for centuries. My own ancestral home is in the village of Balara near Malangwa. My 80-year-old mother still lives there and remembers the Muslim woman who sold her glass bangles.&nbsp; Despite untouchability at the time, she was allowed right inside the house to fit bangles and give blessings to the family.&nbsp; Malangwa itself derives its name from Malang Baba, revered by both Hindus and Muslims. The frontier town is therefore a symbol of the age-old solidarity between the two communities. Its message: do not spread division and strife.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/secularism-and-sectarianism/">Secularism and sectarianism</a>, Indra Adhikari  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230929050940_e60a2fe1d15bd66a7181c733b2d10c42ad8a420a6e27a04301bfaac1418f6e1a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20230929050940_e60a2fe1d15bd66a7181c733b2d10c42ad8a420a6e27a04301bfaac1418f6e1a" data-rendition-name="original" width="3000" height="2000" loading="lazy" alt="Page 1"> <figcaption>A rally in Bhaktapur on 24 September was attended by a flag-waving crowd, but in contrast, was for restoring Nepal's Hindu monarchy. Ex-king Gyanendra attended the event. Photo: SULAV SHRESTHA/DESH SANCHAR </figcaption> </figure>  I have just returned from Malangwa which is limping back to normal. But the clashes have opened new fears that the attempt to ignite religious tension could spread to other border districts.&nbsp; We know from other sectarian conflagrations that the initial spark is from rubbing religion and politics together to create friction. This is a volatile mixture, and can be fanned by exclusionary populism -- especially in the age of social media. Sadly, no religion has a monopoly on extremism, even ones that preach compassion. &nbsp; The strategy of religious zealots is to propel themselves to power by neutralising symbols of tolerance, and discredit those who stand for togetherness. The tactic is to weaponise social networking sites to drive a wedge, and divide society into ‘us’ and ‘them’.&nbsp; Economic problems, joblessness and disillusionment with politicians is prompting new forces to stoke religious animosity.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/india-s-hindutva-politics-influencing-nepal">India’s Hindutva politics influencing Nepal</a>, Santa Gaha Magar The wind is blowing from the south this monsoon, and it is infusing ideas of majoritarian communalism. Let those who are fanning these flames be warned that they may well reap the whirlwind.&nbsp; The press should be playing a moderating check-and-balance role, but local media is itself spreading hate speech and extremism. In every crisis, there will be some brave souls who will act on their conscience. But we did not hear those voices amidst the extremist din in Malangwa.&nbsp; An ideological vacuum is turning Madhes Province into fertile ground for the religious right, and a laboratory against federalism and secularism. Nepal with its diversity cannot be a theocracy-- the state has to be a protector of all peoples and faiths. Secularism means the freedom of each Nepali to practice their religion.&nbsp; Such acceptance is anathema to those who want to mix religion and politics: they want us to distrust and hate each other. There is a lot of flag-waving going on, but at least the rally in Birganj showed that crimson is the new saffron and green. &nbsp; Read also:<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/faith-in-tolerance"> Faith in tolerance</a>, Editorial Chandra Kishore is a Birganj-based journalist who writes this monthly column Borderlines in Nepali Times. @kishore_chandra

Crimson, saffron and green

Dharan’s Bijayapur is home to both Hindu and Kirat places of worship, one of which is the Balgopal Temple. But in May, residents woke up one day to the arrival of Holy Trinity Believers Eastern Church across the street.&nbsp;
Various religious groups wrote to Dharan’s firebrand mayor Harka Sampang to urge him to relocate the church, saying it was built illegally. The Christian community also reached out to the mayor, defending the site.&nbsp;
Mayor Sampang instead of trying to defuse the situation, washed his hands off the matter and referred it to the courts. The city had already been on edge after the 2022 local election campaign when Sampang and his rival accused each other of stoking ethno-religious tensions. &nbsp;
Matters came to a head earlier this month when a gathering of indigenous communities dined on beef and live-streamed it. Killing cows is still punishable by law because it is Nepal’s national animal. The video ignited a wildfire of ethnic tension not just in Dharan, but across the country and in the diaspora.&nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/india-s-hindutva-politics-influencing-nepal">India’s Hindutva politics influencing Nepal</a>, Santa Gaha Magar
Radical Hindu groups in neighbouring districts of Jhapa, Morang, and Sunsari began to mobilise, organising a save-the-cow rally on 26 August. On social media, the discourse became extreme with threats of violence. Mayor Sampang had to declare a curfew to douse the flames, but continued to post inflammatory remarks on social media.
Sampang was elected in 2022 on a populist anti-establishment wave just like Kathmandu’s Mayor Balen Shah. But he has been on the defensive ever since a decade-old video emerged in which he appears to support conversion to Christianity.
Fortunately, Dharan’s former mayors who are from all ethnicities came together to call for de-escalation, describing Dharan as a culturally, linguistically, ethnically and geographically, religiously tolerant and diverse city. This has defused the situation somewhat, but the root of the problem lies in politicians of all hues using religious populism for support.&nbsp;
Dharan is now calm, but there is concern that it could be calm before the storm. There is also concern that outsiders are trying to keep tensions high by whipping up Hindutva nationalism and identity politics.
In Kathmandu, leaders from across national political parties released a joint statement expressing concern. Shekhar Koirala, who leads a rival faction of the Nepali Congress (NC), accused Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal of plain identity politics.&nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/india-s-faith-in-politics">India’s faith in politics</a>, Shrijan Pandey
To stanch a possible conflagration that could spread across the country, the national parties need to reaffirm Nepal’s secular status to mean religious freedom and inclusion and the leadership must go beyond joint written statements.
But with the end of ideology in Nepali politics and winds of intolerance blowing from the South, Nepal’s politicians are falling back on populism and bigotry. Politicians should be worshipping at shrines dedicated to all religions, not just their own. It is not enough to give speeches from the pulpit saying they “respect all religions”.
A sitting MP and Nepal’s supposedly richest man invited a self-declared Indian godman who has repeatedly expressed misogynistic, casteist and Islamophobic sentiments and openly called for violence against minorities. He has been given a VIP welcome and politicians of all hues, including the Home Minister, lined up to pay respects.
Dharan’s troubles are a continuation of the ongoing debate about whether to name the province Kosi (based on geography) or Kirat (based on identity). This debate can easily be resolved if moderate politicians on both sides are more vocal, and not let the hotheads whip up tensions.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/red-to-saffron">RED to SAFFRON</a>, Shristi Karki
The royalist-right Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) wants secularism expunged from the constitution, and the re-establishment of Nepal as a Hindu monarchy.&nbsp;
Nepal’s public sphere, disillusioned with establishment politics, has seen a shift to pro-Hindu discourse corresponding with Hindutva in India and its growing influence in Nepal. The political leadership and aspirants have taken notice, and weaponised social media to appeal to the voter base.&nbsp;
Nepal has long prided itself as being a ‘garden of many castes and ethnicities’ and for its religious tolerance and harmony. But often, ethnic and caste-based bigotry, discrimination, and violence are swept under the rug.&nbsp;
Nepal’s ethnic, cultural, and religious mosaic is our strength. Diversity is the basis of our national unity. Freedom of religion also means respecting the faith of others.
TikTok beefeaters were provocative, but so were the demonstrators who were disrespectful of the customs and culture of fellow-Nepalis.
Separation of powers also means keeping religion out of politics, that is the true essence of secularism. At any other time, the co-existence of a temple and a church next to each other could be a fitting symbol of the tolerance that Nepalis are supposed to espouse.&nbsp;
Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/religiously-following-politics">Religiously following politics</a>, Chandra Kishore
Shristi Karki

Faith in tolerance

When he was still leading the Maoist insurgency as Prachanda, guerrillas under his command executed priests, desecrated temples, burnt Sanskrit books. But even after being elected prime minister as Pushpa Kamal Dahal, he tried to replace priests from Kerala at Pashupati with Nepali ones. Indian priests resigned, and the move angered Hindus in both countries. During the insurgency, Dahal exhorted his fighters to wage war against India, even while he and other leaders were in a safe house in a New Delhi suburb.&nbsp; Fast forward to 2023. Prime Minister Dahal visits the Mahakaleswar Temple in Ujjain &nbsp;during his official visit to India, where he offers prayers clad in saffron, holy thread, and sacred ash smeared on his forehead. Faced with criticism from his own comrades, Dahal defended his temple run an act of “cultural diplomacy”. On the home front, the cultural diplomacy continued with Dahal visiting Pashupati for the first time with his finance, foreign and tourism ministers in tow. The irony was not lost on the public, at a time when opposition leader K P Oli of the UML is on the spotlight for 11kg of gold that went missing during redecoration of the sanctum sanctorum three years ago. Then on Wednesday, Dahal attended a graduation ceremony at the Nepal Sanskrit University in Dang, the same institution his cadre set fire to in 2002, destroying ancient texts in the library. He said the university was important for Nepal’s “cultural reawakening”.&nbsp; Nepal’s Maoist leader is overseeing a cultural revolution in reverse. It was a matter of time before India’s Hindutva supremacist politics would influence Nepal, but few expected it to be as dramatic as the 180 degree turn by Nepal’s prime minister. &nbsp; To be sure, Dahal is not the first Communist leader to visit a temple. UML chair K P Oli visited Pashupati and declared that Lord Ram was born in Nepal, amidst much criticism from secularists.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-india-power-play">Nepal-India power play</a>, Ramesh Kumar  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20230616040648_7a0da5a063d4d24f1528cde2ffbb2c12dfcb7f99c24c4a89aa1435b6d84c6ae7.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20230616040648_7a0da5a063d4d24f1528cde2ffbb2c12dfcb7f99c24c4a89aa1435b6d84c6ae7" data-rendition-name="original" width="960" height="657" loading="lazy" alt="PM in Pashupati"> </figure>  As for Dahal, he has dabbled in Hindu rituals before. In 2010, he was ridiculed when he worshipped a buffalo in Sunsari to “ward off bad luck” per an astrologer’s suggestion. Dahal has not even tried to hide why he is suddenly a born-again Hindu. With Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi probably headed for re-election next year, he may have thought it expedient to be on the BJP’s good books by shedding his Communist skin even if it means risking radical saffronisation of Nepali politics.&nbsp; Dahal’s party is the third largest in Parliament, and he has a hush-hush deal to hand over rotational prime ministership to Madhav Nepal of the CPN-US and the NC’s Sher Bahadur Deuba. To shore up his popularity, he could be courting support from a majority of Nepalis who past polls have shown want to dump secularism and declare Nepal a Hindu state. He could also be trying to take the wind out of the sails of the RPP, the party which was trying to use the Hindu card for the reinstatement of the monarchy. In fact, the RPP’s Rajendra Lingden dismissed Dahal’s new Hindu avatar as mere optics, and said the real test would come when the RPP brought a proposal to Parliament to remove secularism from the preamble to Nepal’s Constitution.&nbsp; UML leader Bhim Rawal said Dahal would have saved the country from much grief if he had visited Pashupati in 1996 instead of starting a war, and wondered if the prime minister’s volte face was a result of his one-on-one with Modi in Delhi. &nbsp; Dahal’s one time comrade-at-arms, Baburam Bhattarai tweeted obliquely: ‘One cannot question someone else’s decision to visit a religious place, that is a matter of personal faith. But when it is a Cabinet that makes the visit together, there are questions as to whether this is politically motivated.’ Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/news/super-hit-or-super-flop">Super-hit, or super-flop?</a> <div class="embed-block"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">नयाॅ ‘सांस्कृतिक क्रान्ति’ र ‘सांस्कृतिक नक्सा’??एक्लै कोही कुनै धार्मिक स्थल जाॅदा प्रश्न उठउन मिल्दैन;त्यो उसको निजी आस्थाको कुरा हो। तर जब पूरै मन्त्रीमण्डल एकैसाथ जान्छ तब त्यो राजनीति हुन्छ र प्रश्न उठ्छ! <a href="https://t.co/tzr346eyQY">pic.twitter.com/tzr346eyQY</a>&mdash; Baburam Bhattarai (@brb1954) <a href="https://twitter.com/brb1954/status/1667575738302869504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 10, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div> All this does not seem to be deterring Dahal, who is trying to kill multiple birds with one stone. Even Nepalis critical of the Maoists have said it is better that the former guerrillas are now visiting temples instead of destroying them. Dahal also wants to keep Modi and the BJP happy, given their aggressive Hindu-right agenda having a ripple effect in Nepal. Having Modi’s backing will be beneficial if Dahal faces another power struggle within his coalition. On the other hand, the BJP seems more comfortable with a rebranded saffron Maoist leader in Nepal rather than the RPP whose agenda it may consider too monarchist and nationalistic. &nbsp; Political analysts and insiders have attributed the Maoist party falling to third position to a lack of institutional structure and the abandonment of its anti-status quo ideology. Using a Hindu card may be too tempting to forego for Dahal, who must have noticed the support among young Nepalis for populist personas like mayors Balen Shah and HarkaSampang, or new technocrats in the RSP.&nbsp; Dahal faced criticism back home that he did not raise the issues of the Akhanda Bharat map in India’s new parliament building and the Kalapani dispute. Balen Shah and Harka Sampang immediately hung their own ‘Greater Nepal’ maps ” including territory lost to British India in 1816 in their offices. NC leader Gagan Thapa also called for Nepal to issue its own “cultural map. Dahal must have expected criticism for his Pashupati visit, and whatever his intentions might be, it remains to be seen if the prime minister will make rounds of monasteries, mosques, churches, and other places of worship across the nation to show that he supports Nepal’s constitutionally guaranteed religious freedom.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/borderlines/nepal-pm-to-india-to-reboot-ties">Nepal PM to India to reboot ties</a>, Chandra Kishore

Shristi Karki

RED to SAFFRON

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114131128/637234c49c7e80680e0c4950jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="960" height="640"/><figcaption>Illustration: RABINDRA</figcaption></figure>In the 1760s, Prithvi Narayan Shah raised one rupee from each household and travelled down to Banaras to buy weapons for his military conquests. While there, he saw that the Hinduism practiced even in the holiest place in India was different from what he was used to in the mountains of Gorkha.He felt that 250 years of Mughal rule and two centuries of British colonialism had ‘contaminated’ the faith. It was nowhere like the ‘Sanatan Dharma’ way of life that he was used to back home, and said as much in his Dibyopadesh text in which he called Nepal ‘Asal Hindustana’ (The Real Hindustan).Moghul invaders tried to uproot Hinduism and Buddhism by razing temples, shrines and monasteries in the subcontinent. They burnt religious texts, and forced priests, monks and sages to flee. Most of them escaped into the remote Himalayan fastness of what is now Nepal.They brought with them their scriptures and religious books, and passed down the holy mantra and chants from one generation to the next, thus preserving them in their pure form for posterity.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/secularism-and-sectarianism/">Secularism and sectarianism</a>, Indra AdhikariBut that was not the only reason this land was deemed to be the ‘genuine Hindustan’. Most sacred sites of Hinduism and Buddhism, the holiest pilgrimage places were located in the original Gorkha Empire. Even after 1816, many of these shrines like Pashupati, Muktinath, Gosainkunda, Damodar Kunda and Lumbini were within modern day Nepal’s boundaries.Even among Hindus in India, there was a feeling that perhaps Hinduism in its untainted form existed in Nepal, the dwelling of Lord Shiva and the place of meditation for the sages, explains cultural historian Govinda Tandon, the former head of the Pashupati Area Development Trust.“When I myself go to India on pilgrimage and meet holy personages, they ask me why I travel to India when Nepal is such a special place where the real Hinduism has been preserved,” Tandon adds.The other aspect of Hinduism in Nepal is its Tantric element. A thousand years ago the Pal and Sen dynasties of Bengal fled to what is now Nepal to escape invaders together with their priests, holy texts and their esoteric Hindu and Buddhist traditions. The assimilation of these practices evolved into the  syncretic blend of Hinduism and Buddhism in Nepal, and especially Kathmandu Valley, giving the culture its unique character.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/opium-of-the-masters/">Opium of the masters</a>, EditorialIn fact, the same Hindu gods and goddesses in India and Nepal are worshipped differently. In Maharastra, there are no sacrifices to Lord Ganesh as there are in Nepal. Similarly, animals are sacrificed to goddess Kali in Nepal, but not in Bengal during the Navaratri festival. Dasain and Dushhera are not similar. Tihar and Diwali are observed differently. Janai Purnima and Raksha Bandhan are unlike each other in Nepal and India. Nepali and Hindi may use the Devnagari script, but the languages are distinct.  Hinduism as practiced in Nepal and India are therefore different, despite what many like to think.The Hindu nationalist Vinayak Damodar Savarkar while being imprisoned by the British in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in 1922 wrote a declaration titled ‘Essentials of Hindutva’ in which he defined Hindutva as a political ideology, and different from the Hindu religion. If Hindutva was the trunk of a tree, Hinduism was its branch. India was not a nation but a race. He wrote: ‘We are all Hindus of one nation because it is the blood of Indian heritage that flows in our veins.’Savarkar’s Hindutva has now been adopted by the RSS and its political wing, the BJP, in India. And with the wind of this ideology blowing across India, Nepal is also feeling the breeze. It is tempting for some political parties to try to also cash in on this wave in a majority Hindu country that used to have the world’s only Hindu monarch.But Hinduism in Nepal has a relatively more tolerant tradition, and whether Nepal should revert to being a Hindu state or not should depend entirely on Nepalis themselves, and not on who is in power in New Delhi. In fact, Nepal should be a country where there is a freedom of religion and followers of all faiths are free to practice their culture and tradition. And that is the essence of what Prithvi Narayan Shah understood as ‘Asal Hindustan’.Either during the Malla period or later under Shah rule, there were no strictures against conversion, but forced proselytisation was banned. Through the centuries, Nepal’s Muslims were accepted into the fold. Why import the seeds of intolerance now? India itself is a vast nation with a rich diversity of cultures and faiths, all protected under its Constitution.The New Delhi establishment looks at Nepal not through a religious lens, but a security one. It is therefore unlikely that, although some Nepali politicians may be tempted to whip up a religious vote bank, it will happen just because some entities in India back them. The Hindutva ideology is quite different from the liberal Sanatan way of life and tradition that exists in Nepal.Read also:<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/saffron-surge-politics,3619"> Saffron surge</a>, Om Astha RaiTranslated from the <a href="https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/127653">original</a> in Nepali in Himal, Poush 2078

Tolerating Nepal’s religious tolerance

<figure><img width="2250" height="3149" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114091156/637203509c7e80680e0b2800jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Illustration: SWORUP NHASIJU</figcaption></figure>On 26 January, Nepal will elect 20 members to the National Assembly to replace those  retiring from the Upper House following the end of their four-year terms, marking the beginning of the second series of elections under the federal system. Leaders of the governing five-party coalition have already divided up the 19 electable seats amongst themselves, and appointed their nominees – making it certain they will win. The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/tis-the-season-of-conventions-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">general conventions </a>of three of Nepal’s biggest and most influential parties in the last months, which were mini elections unto themselves, marked the beginning of campaigning for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/all-eyes-on-2023/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">local and federal elections</a> in the coming year. All major parties including the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepali-congress-party-time/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepali Congress</a> (MC), <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/post-convention-uml-eyes-set-on-elections/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">UML</a> and the Maoist Centre (MC) retained their gerontocracies.Preparations are now underway for local elections, which the Election Commission has recommended should be held on 27 April across the country. Nepal conducted its first legislative assembly elections as a multiparty system in 1959. Since then, there have been 10 elections for the National Legislature, with the 2017 general elections being the first of its kind after the country ushered in federalism. The year also marked the first time sub-national elections were held in 20 years.There were 14.2 million ballots cast during local elections in May 2017. However, the number jumped to 15.4 million in provincial and parliamentary elections in November the same year. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/all-eyes-on-2023/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">All eyes on 2023</a>, Mukesh PokharelIn March 2021, the Election Commission stopped voter registration and published an updated list of 16.2 million voters after former Prime Minister <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/oli-sweeps-uml-party-polls/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">K P Oli</a> dissolved Parliament and announced early elections. The registration process resumed after the Supreme Court reinstated the house in July.And right after the Election Commission announced the National Assembly polls in November, it also announced the beginning of a month-long special voter registration program during which an additional 600,000 Nepalis registered.  As elections approach, Nepal’s political discourse is already dominated by <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/volatile-mix-of-politics-and-religion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">parties stoking nationalistic and religious fervour</a>.  This has made for surprising political partnerships, with the Hindu-right and leadership from self-proclaimed ‘alternative’ parties uniting in their rejection of federalism, secularism and even republicanism.And if their <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/unconventional-party-conventions/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">general conventions </a> were any indication, the parties will use this rhetoric to vilify opponents and gain voters at the expense of issues most pertinent to the people, such as education, migration, healthcare, the economy and the pandemic. <img width="960" height="640" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114091156/637203539c7e80680e0b2801jpeg.jpg" alt="">In an ideal democracy, elections force public officials to be accountable. Candidates are elected based on promise of performance. But in Nepal, the polling system itself lacks transparency -- right from election funding. But electoral reform measures like re-demarcation of constituencies based on population, polling systems and voting rights of diaspora Nepalis who cannot cast votes in person, remain neglected.There has been much back and forth about the demarcation of election constituencies. While Article 286 (5) of Nepal’s Constitution states that the delineation should be done on the basis of population and geography, Madhes-based activists have pressed for constituencies to be divided on the basis of the population only.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/battle-lines-drawn-for-nepal-elections/">Battle lines drawn for Nepal elections</a>, EditorialThe government formed a five-member Constituency Delimitation Commission to look into possible rearrangement of constituencies for the federal and provincial elections in July 2017. The commission demarcated constituencies by giving 90% weightage to population size and 10% to geography.Govind Subedi, a professor of population studies at Tribhuvan University, has argued that recent practices have gone in the ‘wrong direction’. He writes in his book Political Demography of Nepal: 'The uneven distribution of representatives … is likely to increase if we adopt a population-size only-method [of delineation] … it can have a far-reaching implication in the geo-polity of Nepal.'Subedi, who was an adviser to the Commission, continues: ‘It is more likely that the sparsely populated districts in provinces which lie in the western mountains and the far western region will feel regional imbalances in sharing of political power in the national polity, which in turn may lead to provincial conflicts in the years to come.’Furthermore, Nepal’s election laws are lax enough that the wealthiest in the country who previously bankrolled parties in exchange for personal, professional and policy favours have<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/purchasing-power/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> entered politics themselves</a>. The number of businessmen and contractors elected into leadership in 2017 proves that money, not political competency, decides who is ultimately elected to lead. Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/is-democracy-too-expensive-for-nepal/">Is democracy too expensive for Nepal?</a>, Laxmi BasnetIndeed, the First Past the Post (FPTP) system has become a hotbed for corruption by businessmen, thus undermining democracy, say election experts. Prominent leaders from across the political aisle, particularly women elected into office like Minister for Women, Children and Senior Citizens Uma Regmi, have spoken in support of an overhaul of Nepal’s current election system into a fully proportional electoral system after having experienced firsthand how the current system <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-business-of-politics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">benefits the rich, powerful and the establishment</a>, while they are burdened with election debt long after they have left office.Former Acting Chief Commissioner of the Election Commission Dolakh Bahadur Gurung says that the reform should be such that MPs are not allowed to become ministers, and term limits must be set so that the same people do not hold on to their seats until they are 90 years old. ‘Our Constitution has been amended a fair number of times,’ wrote Gurung in October, ‘it is not impossible to reform our electoral system.’Meanwhile, the debate about mailed ballots and absentee voting has gained much traction among the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/the-year-of-migrant-workers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepali diaspora</a> in recent years. An estimated 4 million Nepalis work, study and live in India, the Gulf, Malaysia, Japan, Korea, Europe and North America.The Supreme Court issued a directive to facilitate voting for Nepali diaspora across the world in March 2018. However, successive governments have shown no interest in ensuring voting rights for millions of eligible voters living overseas.And even as the government has begun to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/its-in-the-mail/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">expand the reach of its archaic postal service</a> by delivering items like passports to people’s homes, it has not considered postal voting to keep the service relevant. The political establishment seems to fear that Nepalis in the Gulf and Malaysia are fed up with the government back home, and allowing them to vote by mail will be predominantly anti-incumbent.  The Sweden-based International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) says 151 of 216 countries around the world allow voters living abroad to cast ballots in some capacity. According to the Election Integrity Project, 40 countries used postal ballots in their most recent national election before the Covid outbreak.Nilkantha Uprety, the former Chief Election Commissioner, believes there are two options to eliminate election irregularities. Firstly, there must be an improvement from within parties and candidates such that undemocratic practices are turned into fair competition during elections.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/the-business-of-politics-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The business of politics in Nepal</a>, Shekhar Kharel‘But since it is not easy to achieve that, the second option is to radically change our current electoral system, and it would be unwise to delay in choosing which of the two options is more convenient and effective,’ he warned in a<a href="https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/127010" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> recent op-ed</a> in Himal magazine.Uprety also noted that in the end, the electoral system does not matter as much as the people involved in the elections.‘Elections can be free and fair regardless of the electoral system if political parties are democratic, candidates are committed, and there is a guarantee of good governance,’ he wrote. ‘Ultimately, elections can only be successful if the majority of voters make informed choices about the parties and candidates instead of only being interested in when and where to show up to vote.’ Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-rudderless-political-leadership/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal’s rudderless political leadership</a>, Santa Gaha Magar

Clean up elections to clean up politics

<figure><img width="1750" height="919" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114091156/6372033d9c7e80680e0b27f9jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>The Election Commission has set local elections for May, with federal elections following early next year. Given the heated debate about federalism and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/secularism-and-sectarianism/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">secularism</a> the polls will be a referendum on those two issues. In 2017, Nepal held sub-national elections after 20 years. Those ward, municipal  and provincial representatives were pushed into uncharted territory, and coped the best they could. The hope was that locally-elected leaders would demonstrate more accountability than their national-level counterparts.Indeed, some ward and municipal chairs <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/women-leaders-set-example-for-rest-of-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">performed exceptionally well</a>. But many mayors are <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/from-nepali-press/Elected-contractors,4182" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">contractors</a>, and are involved in blatant malfeasance. Political devolution has decentralised corruption as well. News reports about Bagmati Province’s bloated ministries as well as the provincial governments just being reflections of the power balance in Kathmandu have given federalism a bad name. Which is why some political leaders want federalism scrapped. Local elections this year is a chance to set things right. All politics is local – or should be. And we have seen since 1990 in Nepal that decentralised political decision-making is the best way to govern.However, there are indications the polls will be a dirty political game where politicians devoid of ideology stoke <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/back-to/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">religious fervour </a>to get votes. This is dangerous, it will polarise and destabilise Nepali society.  This requires vigilance from voters who must vet candidates and cast their ballots for those who are more likely to address their most urgent needs like health, education, jobs and a streamlined administration – and not fall for extremist slogans.We need to make sure that the people at the local level, especially those who have been excluded till now in decision-making, benefit the most from federalism. Given Nepal’s diversity in ethnicity and religion, a prosperous and democratic society is not possible without the stability that secularism  guarantees. Going by the general conventions of the major parties over the last months, it looks like secularism, restoration of the monarchy and federalism will dominate the upcoming polls. <a style="font-size: 15px; letter-spacing: 0.01em;" href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/battle-lines-drawn-for-nepal-elections/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rajendra Lingden’s resounding win</a> over Kamal Thapa as the leader of the RPP means that the party will be even more aggressive in promoting the royal-Hindu line. Even self-proclaimed democratic and progressive parties that stood for alternative politics like Bibeksheel Sajha are falling back on religion and monarchy to gain popular votes.  Republicanism, federalism and secularism became the main pillars of the Constitution that was drafted after two elections following the People’s Movement of 2006. Remove any one of these three pillars and the country could be pushed back to instability. Some of the very leaders who once played a key role in writing that Constitution, like Shashank Koirala and Shekhar Koirala of the ruling Nepali Congress (NC), are in favour of a Hindu state. The main opposition UML’s K P Oli has himself been dabbling in religion. An eager gathering of former prime ministers at a recent reception for Indian guru Baba Ramdev in Kathmandu in November also showed that political leaders across the spectrum recognise the power of religion in vote mobilisation. Much of this is due to the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/a-yam-between-two-indias/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">gravitational pull that India exerts on Nepal</a>. Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has actively used Hindu nationalism to stay on in power, and he has made no secret of his desire for Nepal to revert being a Hindu state. In Nepal, some leaders are deliberately bending the definition of ‘secularism’ to mean ‘anti-faith’ to disrupt Nepal’s long-standing religious harmony and tap the majoritarian vote bank. In her article Shaping Secularism in Nepal on European Bulletin of Himalayan Research, Chiara Letizia says that secularism in Nepal will be determined by how the Hindu majority is addressed: ‘Nepal is a post-secular laboratory, where the state’s policy must walk a tightrope, upholding ‘absolute’ secular values such as equal citizenship, and yet balancing the Hindu majority tradition, Hindu fears, and the claims of minorities for social, political and religious recognition.’Rajeev Bhargava, a political theorist who has studied India's secularism, suggests a principled stand for <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/separation-of-state-and-temple-in-nepal,1444" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">secularism</a> in countries like India and Nepal which are ethnically, culturally and linguistically diverse. The state should give equal respect to all religions, but can also push universal values of tolerance and human rights.The test of a true democracy is how well it treats its minorities. Following secularism in letter and spirit makes such tolerance possible, and having it enshrined in the Constitution is not enough. It should be followed in practice. Indian historian Bipan Chandra in his 2008 book Communalism: A Primer analyses how the anti-secularism spread: ‘Communalists call themselves good nationalists and communalism as nationalism. Therefore, the good fight against communalism must be fought on the same ground of nationalism.’To prevent Nepal from falling into the same trap and keep our democracy vibrant and inclusive, we must use upcoming elections to eschew parties that espouse majoritarianism, exclusion and division.At the very least Nepal’s political leaders must adhere to <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/by-the-way/new-constitution-should-adopt-inclusive-democracy-with-federalism-republicanism-secularism,538" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">values enshrined in the Constitution</a> as their true ‘religion’.Rabin Giri

Volatile Mix of Politics and Religion

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161152/636d1e999c7e80680e0af41cjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1750" height="919"/><figcaption>Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, Ramdev and Pushpa Kamal Dahal inaugurating an unlicensed tv network on 18 November 2021. All photos: HIMAL.</figcaption></figure>The word ‘secularism’ is mis-translated into the Sanskritised Nepali as ‘धर्मनिरपेक्ष’, and has been taken by many to mean anti- or non-religion. This has created a misunderstanding about the concept among Nepal’s deeply religious people.All secularism means is <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/separation-of-state-and-temple-in-nepal,1444">separation of state and religion</a>, and in practical terms it connotes freedom of religion. An individual’s belief, faith or lack thereof are inherently personal. It is when a dominant religion is mixed with politics that <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/When-Banke-burned,1807">divisions between ‘us’ and ‘them’</a> come up.As scholars have pointed out, the Sanskrit word ‘धर्म’ also does not have an exact translation in English. When the British were in Bengal that they loosely translated ‘dharma’ to mean ‘religion’, whereas institutionalised religion has other Sanskrit synonyms like ‘पन्थ’ or ‘मार्ग’. Hinduism, as Gauri N Rimal points out in Himal, is a ‘dharma’ not just a religion.World history is replete with wars fought in the name of one god or another, where propagation of religion has driven conquests, and faith-based fissures have plunged countries into internecine conflict.The concept of ‘secularism’ was imported into Nepal from the post-independence Indian constitution after communal pogroms of partition in the Subcontinent cost millions of lives. India inherited secularism from its colonial ruler, Britain, which itself had a long history of mixing church and state, and of sectarian violence between Catholics and Protestants.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161152/636d1e9c9c7e80680e0af41djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1050" height="724"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>In a country with such a <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=1469#.YcBC1slBypo">diversity of dharma</a> as Nepal, it is strange for one religion to be dominant. In fact, B P Koirala mentioned in 1980: ‘Nepal is not a Hindu state, it was never a Hindu state, and it will never be a Hindu state.’ Much before in 1962, he stated that 'declaring Nepal as a Hindu State is a fraud.’Even when Prithvi Narayan Shah and his progeny unified the country that would later be called Nepal, it spread far beyond just his hilltop principality of Gorkha and its patron deities. Nepal’s later rulers found it advantageous to define the new country as a Hindu state because top-down hierarchy <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=11913#.YcBC38lBypo">made it easier to govern</a>. Perpetuating the caste system, and confining each group in its place and profession, made it easier to divide and rule.Even though the concept of ‘Sanatan Dharma’ denotes ordained collection of practices and duties regardless of caste, sect or class, in actual practice most festivals and rituals in Nepal today are derived from Hinduism. They have continued in Nepal’s so-called ‘secular’ state where the traditional caste and sect divisions are perpetuated in the name of tradition and heritage.This means that although Nepal is now supposed to be a secular republic, decisions of the state including the observance of religious holidays of dominant groups, participation of politicians in rituals, and the fall-back on populism, are anything but secular.Religion is a matter between an individual and their god, but rulers use it as a strategy to come to power and retain it. Marx called it ‘the opium of the masses’. The big historical wars of the Subcontinent were usually about territorial conquest, not based on religion. The colonial period used divide-and-rule tactics, and thereby laid the seeds of communal violence.Some of these same methods are being used by India’s rulers today. After partition, the religious extremism in the Subcontinent within India, between India and Pakistan over Kashmir, and the AfPak-Iran region, now also have geo-strategic ramifications.It is because religion is so personal that it <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/opium-of-the-masters/">should not be mixed with politics</a>. We see where this can lead to in India today, where people have been killed because of disputes over what is deemed sacred by some. Nepal should learn lessons from this, since certain ethnic groups eat animals that others regard as holy, while some do not eat other animals.The way to peacefully resolve these issues is by not allowing one religion or dominant group to direct what is lawful and what is not. One indicator of a truly democratic state is how well it <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/Southerly-wind,3610">protects the rights of its minorities</a>. When a country’s leader is seen as the protector of only the majority group or faith, it can invite conflict. Leaders who create <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15246#.YcBCv8lBypo">divisions based on religion</a> among citizens, and incite them to violence against each other, may call themselves ‘nationalists’ but they are anti-national.When Nepal became secular, we thought it would finally liberate women from entrenched patriarchy. Most of the burden of rituals and festivals still fall on the shoulders of women, and many are still treated as non-citizens.Nepal is not yet secular. We still have a long way to go.Indra Adhikari is a political analyst specialising in international relations and security issues. This opinion is extracted from a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yv8gf53m2cM">Himal Sambad</a> discussion on 16 December.

Secularism and sectarianism

<img width="1400" height="840" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109111152/636b86e59c7e80680e06787cjpeg.jpg" alt=""/>Ever since Nepal emerged as a nation-state nearly two-and-half centuries ago, one of its guiding principles has been to socially distance itself from empires to the north and south. 
As these powers rose and fell, Nepal’s rulers adjusted. We fought, lost, and learnt to live with the British in India. When India became independent in 1947, the anglophile Rana regime also faded away. 
Kathmandu maintained a difficult neutrality during the Sino-India war of 1962 because Nepali soldiers were at the frontlines, fighting and dying on behalf of one neighbour against another friendly neighbour. 
Throughout the Cold War, Nepal’s royal rulers walked the tight rope and even managed to take advantage of global and regional rivalries. And when China fell out with the Soviet Union, Nepal’s Communists split into little pieces. Henry Kissinger’s Beijing visit in 1975 and India’s affinity with the Soviet Bloc, meant Nepal’s kings had to keep tweaking the yam-between-stones doctrine. 
In today’s multipolar world, as tectonic forces rearrange geopolitics, Nepal is wedged once more. Last June’s deadly clash between Indian and Chinese troops in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley came just after Nepal and India also engaged in a war of words over Limpiyadhura-Kalapani.
In Kathmandu, Prime Minister K P Oli used the dispute with India to stoke up nationalist fervour. Not to needle India so much, but to blunt <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-communists-on-verge-of-split-again/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a mutiny within his own party</a>. That <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/its-broke-fix-it/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">power struggle has</a> continued non-stop through many twists and turns right up to hearings in the Supreme Court this week over PM Oli’s second dissolution of the House and call for early elections.
An increasingly isolated and cornered Oli has been trying to mend fences with New Delhi. Even while the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/is-china-now-micro-managing-nepal-politics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Chinese Ambassador</a> tried to patch up cracks in the NCP late last year, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/new-delhis-new-dealings-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">India’s spy chief, army chief,</a> foreign secretary and senior BJP advisers all <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/indias-multi-pronged-line-to-right-nepal-ties/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">jet-dashed to Kathmandu</a> in close succession. The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/oli-vs-dahal-1-upmanship/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">NCP disintegrated</a>, and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-sets-elections-in-middle-of-pandemic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the UML split.</a>
The more precarious Oli’s position looked, the more he tried to get back into New Delhi’s good books. He started waving the saffron flag, declared that <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/k-p-oli-rams-it-home/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Lord Ram was born in Chitwan</a>, draped Pashupati in a Rs330 million gold pendant, and held forth in Hindi to pro-<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/narendra-modi-nepal-india-ties,1792" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Narendra Modi</a> Indian tv channels to trace India-Nepal ties to the Vedic era. Oli was coming across not as a politician, but a theologian.
Oli is being pummelled in Nepal for <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/interpreting-article-76-5-of-nepals-constitution/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">his second dissolution of the House</a>, a move squarely denounced as authoritarian and unconstitutional. Yet, through it all, he has had the backing of the Mahanta Thakur <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/jsp-as-nepals-king-maker-party/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">faction of the JSP</a>, which is itself split between pro-and anti-BJP factions. 
The perception in Kathmandu is that <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/a-modi-fied-oli/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Oil has been ‘Modi-fied’</a>, and the elections will be a way for the Hindu-Right to rise, scrap secularism, declare Nepal a Hindu state, and perhaps even restore the monarchy.
It used to be that when it drizzled in Delhi people unfurled umbrellas in Kathmandu. It is now the other way round. In the past week there has been a barrage of op-eds in India’s English press by three former Indian ambassadors to Nepal. First, it was <a href="https://www.hindustantimes.com/opinion/in-kathmandu-a-threat-to-democracy-101621781046854.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ranjit Rae</a> in the Hindustan Times on 24 May (In Kathmandu, a Threat To Democracy), then <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/the-long-shadow-of-political-turmoil-in-nepal/article34652692.ece" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Rakesh Sood</a> wrote in The Hindu on 27 May (The Long Shadow of Political Turmoil in Nepal), after that on 29 May <a href="https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/nepal-government-parliament-dissolved-pm-k-p-oli-7334814/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Shyam Saran</a> came out in The Indian Express (India Must Engage in Nepal without Interfering). On the same day, <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/democracy-at-stake-in-nepal/article34670930.ece" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Baburam Bhattarai</a> chimed in with a co-authored comment in The Hindu.
All the pieces had similar arguments, some even had identical sentences. Shyam Saran was the most blunt, writing: ‘India cannot but be engaged politically with events in Nepal, but engagement is not the same as intervention. India and the government must firmly and unambiguously declare that it does not support the revival of the monarchy, which has already been rejected by its people.’
Saran goes on to say that ‘Kathmandu, if not the whole of Nepal’ is convinced that Oli has promised the BJP that he will restore the Hindu monarchy, and keep the Chinese out. Saran urges the Indian government not to remain silent. 
Nepal appears to be caught up in a proxy war for India’s soul between the BJP and the left-liberal secularists. Kathmandu is in unfamiliar terrain: no longer do we have to balance India vs China, or the US vs USSR, now we have to learn to tread carefully and not be sucked into India’s bitter internal ideological confrontation.
It is not just the B.1.167.2 virus variant that is coming to Nepal from India, we are also being infected by its toxic politics. It is unwise for Oli to hitch his wagon to Modi, or for his enemies with anyone else in India. Nepal’s <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/fight-amidst-the-ruins/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">internal squabbles</a> are our own, if we value our sovereignty we should keep outsiders out of it.

A yam between two Indias

One smoggy winter morning in February 2019, Ekta regretted coming to her sculpture class. It was the first day of her period, and the 19-year-old wished she was home, curled up in bed with a hot water bag to soothe her cramps.
Her class was at Kalapremi Ceramic Studio, a dark room on the ground floor of a house in Maharajganj, and Ekta’s teacher was the artist Gopal Das Shrestha ‘Kalapremi’, a noted sculptor.
Two other students were already there, using all their muscle strength to knead the sculpting clay. Ekta, now 24, recalls how Kalapremi asked her if she was feeling all right. She avoided him, as she did not want everyone to know she was menstruating.
Kalapremi repeatedly asked Ekta what was wrong. She finally muttered that she was having her period, after which he grabbed her hand and led her to a partitioned corner of the studio and sat her on a chair. Before she could stop him, he slid his hand under her dress, and started massaging her abdomen.
“I was horrified,” Ekta recalls. “I told him to stop, but he didn’t listen, asking me not to be shy, saying he knew how to relieve my pain. He stopped only after I protested furiously.”&nbsp;
The art tutor then said, “You’re like my daughter. I’m doing it out of love to make you feel better, but you’re so stubborn.”&nbsp;
“Instead of saying sorry he acted like I was the one having crazy thoughts,” remembers Ekta, adding that from April 2016 to August 2020 beginning the time she was 16, the artist sexually abused and harassed her on several occasions. &nbsp;
Now, Ekta and the artist’s other former students are finally sharing their experiences and some are pressing legal charges against him, hoping that others do not have to endure what they did.&nbsp;
Award-winning artist and teacher Gopal Das Shrestha ‘Kalapremi’ (the name means ‘Art Lover’) is known for his ceramic art, sculpture, and contemporary pottery. He was <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/review/the-house-of-kalapremi">profiled in Nepali Times after a collaborative exhibition</a>, ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ at the Siddhartha Art Gallery three years ago.&nbsp;
His pieces, titled Gaalis, featured sculpted female figures with the heads of dogs, sheep, and donkeys (pictured) to depict derogatory terms for women. Some critics said the collection was a satire on feminists.
Kalapremi started his artistic and teaching career in 1983 and over the years taught at Bhanubhakta School, Kathmandu University School of Arts, Lalitkala Campus and at his private Kalapremi Ceramic Studio. He has also lectured at Jeonju University in South Korea and recently at Tabor Academy in the United States.
Seven of Kalapremi’s former students were interviewed for this story. Five female students said he touched them inappropriately in his studio or at Kathmandu University. Two male students said they witnessed him abuse and harass the women. In all cases, the students struggled to recognise the abuse when it occurred, and the lack of reporting systems left them to cope on their own for years.&nbsp;
Earlier this year, students shared a social media post hinting at Kalapremi’s history of abusive behaviour following which more students of the artist reached out sharing similar experiences. Some students spoke of abuse that happened as long as 20 years ago.
Kalapremi, 60, has denied the allegations. He told Nepali Times: “Some years ago, there was a movement encouraging people to hug and kiss. I used to do it purely out of friendship and love. But after seeing posts on social media last year calling out my behaviour, I realised my actions may have hurt some people. I understand now that I should have been more mindful.”
He added: “I am also an auxiliary health worker, so I know the exact points to massage to relieve menstrual pain. It’s not just menstruation, I take anyone who is ill to the hospital.”
Sexual abuse is much more rampant than reported given how difficult it is to prove it in court. The law defines sexual abuse as occuring when someone touches another’s private parts, coerces them into touching theirs, uses vulgar language, shows degrading images, or behaves indecently towards them without consent.&nbsp;
Ekta and her fellow students are consulting lawyer Suneeta Regmi Pokhrel, who says they know that even if the court decides in their favour, it is difficult to survive after speaking up, and influential men defend themselves saying they are being framed.&nbsp;
“They are in a lot of pain and weep when recalling how he abused them,” Regmi Pokhrel told us. “They are angry and have filed a case against him, but they are also terrified. They know he is a powerful man and they have seen how our society treats women who speak up against abusers. Unless people speak up, perpetrators will be emboldened.”
Art and academia in Nepal simply reflect the power imbalances in society where people with intersecting identities experience worse forms of abuse. Theatre actors Raj Kumar Pudasaini, Rajan Khatiwada, and Sunil Pokhrel were called out during the #MeToo movement in the Nepali theatre scene in 2019. Even after the allegations Pokhrel went on to receive national awards, while others continued to work without repercussions.
“If you speak up against abusers, you gradually get sidelined from projects,” explained a theatre artist who wished anonymity fearing professional setbacks. “The theatre scene in Nepal is quite small, you just have to make peace with the perpetrators and work with them if you want to sustain yourself.”&nbsp;
In academia there is a history of faculty members sexually harassing students and getting away with it. After Tribhuvan University (TU) lecturer Krishna Bhattachan was accused of harassing women students, the university said it would follow Nepal’s sexual harassment law and set up a reporting mechanism. But nothing happened to the professor, who had already retired. Instead, he counter-accused the students of 'attacking the indigenous people’s movement with baseless allegations' as <a href="https://kathmandupost.com/letters/2019/01/29/bhattachan-responds">he told the Kathmandu Post in 2019</a>. He continues to be featured as a prominent speaker including at TU.
Other faculty members previously accused of sexual harassment include Jagadish Murti Koirala from TU, Bishnu Prasad Acharya from Ratna Rajya Campus, and Bodha Raj Tripathee from Lalitpur Madhyamik Vidhyalaya. A woman staff member from TU also filed a sexual abuse complaint against Dambar Chemjong from TU.
Prominent figures like <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-rise-and-fall-of-nims-purja">mountaineer Nims Purja</a> have been <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/31/sports/mountaineering-sexual-harassment-abuse-nims-purja.html">accused of sexual assault</a>, and cricketer Sandeep Lamichhane, actor <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/celebrity-rape-case-spotlights-nepal-laws">Paul Shah</a>, and former speaker of Parliament <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/mahara-arrested">Krishna Bahadur Mahara</a> have been accused of rape, but society-at-large has let off the alleged perpetrators amdist a larger debate about justice for survivors and punishment of perpetrators.&nbsp;
‘Gaushala-26’ is the court name given to the 18-year-old who accused Sandeep Lamichhane, former captain of Nepal’s national cricket team and skipper of Biratnagar Kings in the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/here-comes-the-nepal-premier-league">ongoing Nepal Premier League</a>, of rape. She left the country citing society questioning her character affecting her mental health while Lamichhane got an outpouring of support. In May, the Patan High Court overturned a prior verdict that found Lamichhane guilty of rape and had sentenced him to eight years in prison. During the 23-month legal battle to pursue justice, Gaushala-26 faced threats of gang rape and acid attacks.&nbsp;
Exhausted by the struggle, Gaushala-26 sought to “move to a new world” where she could live free without hiding her identity.
Actress Samragyee Rajya Laxmi Shah in an Instagram video now deleted detailed the harassment she faced from a filmmaker during a movie shoot. She did not name any name but veteran actor Bhuwan KC filed a defamation case against Rana, but the court ruled that the charge lacked sufficient evidence.&nbsp;
Former Kathmandu mayor <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/theytoo">Keshav Sthapit also mocked the #MeToo movement</a>, calling accusations against him by journalists Rashmila Prajapati and Ujjwala Maharjan “a rape of men’s rights”.
Serial Abuse
Back at the Kalapremi Ceramics studio, another former student, 24-year-old Rajiv, says he felt the need to speak out after seeing his female classmates being abused.&nbsp;
“He frequently kissed them on their cheeks,” he told Nepali Times. “Whenever they walked into the studio he flailed his arms like a child asking for a hug. They awkwardly hugged him from the side, but he pulled them closer, held their chin, and kissed their cheeks.”&nbsp;
Rajiv says he also saw Kalapremi pull the women’s bra straps, touch their breasts, and slap their buttocks. The young students would freeze, not knowing how to react, and if they protested, he would say it was “normal in art”. Rajiv, 19 at the time like his classmates, remembers thinking perhaps the well-respected artist was right after all.
Another student, Luna, who took lessons at Kalapremi’s studio from 2020 to 2022 did try to confront the tutor after he made an obscene proposal to her. She recalls: “One day when the other students had left the studio and it was just the two of us, he told me that God had given him special artistic talent and he could transfer those powers to me. But to do that both of us will have to be naked, inside a dark room, and have sex.”
Luna, who was 18 then, was livid and told him she did not want any of his powers, but she says he laughed at her as if he was joking. She did not tell her family about the incident because she thought no one would believe her.&nbsp;
“They were all in awe of this famous artist and felt I should be grateful that to be learning sculpting from him,” she says. “I was scared to be alone with him in case he talked about sex again. My coping mechanism was to be rude so he wouldn’t try to come close to me.”
Seeing how some classmates were standing up to Kalapremi, Ekta too tried to push back against his advances, but she said he found ways to coerce her. Since Ekta, Rajiv, and Luna could not afford Kalapremi’s Rs30,000 monthly fee for lessons, he had offered them all a stipend to assist him in the studio.
“He had spondylosis and took me to his therapy sessions to learn massage techniques, then he often made me and other students massage him,” says Ekta. Whenever she refused, he would feign pain to make her feel sorry for him. “He would insist that I put my hands under his shirt so that I could massage him better,” she adds.
The art tutor often tried to “seduce sympathy” from Ekta by sharing how he had never been loved as a child and was “sexually frustrated” as an adult.&nbsp;
“At 7PM, he would pour himself Signature whiskey and immediately go off again about how he was sex-starved. I didn’t know how to respond. It took me time to realise alcohol was just an excuse to talk about sex,” Ekta says.
If convicted, Kalapremi could face financial penalty and/or a prison sentence of up to three years according to Section 224 of National Penal (Code) Act 2017.&nbsp;
Data suggests that victims of child sexual abuse on average take nearly 24 years to tell someone about their trauma, and some may never disclose it at all.&nbsp;
“In our culture, children are rarely taught about boundaries. They often react, show anger when adults pinch their cheeks. But adults insist they did it out of love, and force the children to accept it,” says Sita Lama, a psychotherapist at Manka Kura. “And even when someone touches them inappropriately they struggle to identify and verbalise it.”
When perpetrators claim to be “acting out of love”, Lama says survivors are likely to perceive it as something safe, rather than recognising it as abuse.&nbsp;
“It may take years for them to realise they were abused,” she explains. "And even when they become aware, the power imbalance with the abuser and the associated shame often prevents survivors from speaking up."
Other former students from the School of Art at Kathmandu University have also come forward years later, saying Kalapremi sexually abused them. As young adults, they felt his behaviour was off but were uncertain if it was inappropriate, illegal, or they did not know how to respond. After having understood that it was indeed abuse, they say they are speaking out now to protect others.&nbsp;
Amina Singh, a visiting faculty member at Kathmandu University, says there is no clause against sexual abuse in contracts of teachers, and there is no formal grievance handling mechanism for the students.&nbsp;
“So the only way students can to deal with sexual abuse is approach someone they trust,” she says.
Eight other former art students of Lalit Kala Campus and Srijana College of Fine Arts of Tribhuvan University and other private art studios in Kathmandu say they were also sexually abused by their art teachers. Three faculty members interviewed from these institutions said they saw the abuse, but felt it was futile to report it given how powerful the teachers were.
In the absence of a formal system, some longtime women artists warned each other about “problematic” artists. They shared &nbsp;a “heads-up” to be more cautious when collaborating with them, and avoided responding to their calls and texts after work hours.
To ensure art institutions are safe for all, galleries, museums, artist studios, and smaller art spaces need to develop policies on sexual harassment. This would include a code of conduct or studio policies that hold the leadership accountable and outline the principles of professional ethics.&nbsp;
Students and employees should inquire about accountability mechanisms for raising concerns, both formally and informally, advocates say.
Three years after Ekta left the ceramics studio, she learnt that Kalapremi had harassed many other women. Still trying to get a footing in the art industry, she attended a workshop in Kathmandu where women artists discussed ways to stay safe in the art sector.&nbsp;
Since it was a close-knit group Ekta opened up about how she felt violated and realised she was not alone, he had been abusing underprivileged students for years, and this was common knowledge among artists in Nepal.
Ekta says that even after she quit, Kalapremi continued sending her text messages like ‘I am thinking of you’, ‘Why have you stopped speaking with me’, or ‘I am waiting for your call’.&nbsp;
But what really forced her to act was when Ekta found out that he was sending similar texts to her younger sister.&nbsp;
“I’ve had enough,” she told us. “He abused me all these years but I won’t let him abuse my sister.” &nbsp;
Ekta, Rajiv and Luna are not the real names of the students.&nbsp;

‘Art Lover’ accused of sexual abuse

It was 8:15 in the evening of 25 March 1968 when everyone in the village of Batulechaur near Pokhara heard a deafening sound like thunder as a bright flashing object hurtled down to land in a field.&nbsp; That field belonged to Kul Timilsina, and the next morning he retrieved a sheet of metal about 2m by 1m and carried it home with the help of a few others, thinking it would be useful for his buffalo shed.&nbsp; Before he died at age 83 three years ago, Timilsina had told photo archivist Sunil Ulak that the black metal sheet was not rectangular and had rounded corners. There are a few witnesses still alive who have a clear recollection of the object that fell from the sky that night.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024120707128_75cc85aac56b9cc4a77366471f058d7b3eb6868776811b0923845c2d0a61f014.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2024120707128_75cc85aac56b9cc4a77366471f058d7b3eb6868776811b0923845c2d0a61f014" data-rendition-name="original" width="1170" height="601" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> <figcaption>The field in Batulechaur belonging to Kul Timilsina where fragments of a flying object fell from the sky in 1968.</figcaption> </figure>  One of them is Timilsina’s wife Gyanu, who was 22 at the time. She had been at home, and remembers hearing the big bang and the sky becoming very bright. “We saw the thing in the field in the morning,” she told us. “It looked like a lid, a covering of some sort. The way it was stuck in the ground, it must have fallen from the sky. We thought we could use it to dry clothes on, and took it home.”&nbsp; Another witness is Kul Narayan Paudel. “I was only eight then. We ran to the field to see what had fallen. It was a four-sided metal sheet. The elders took it away, and I don't know what happened to it.” &nbsp; Ram Bahadur Baniya, a teacher at the local school, says he had heard the sheet had been brought to the school, and later handed over to the Zonal Commissioner at the time, Nanda Prasad Malla. “But that is all hearsay,” he says.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024120707128_0bf207a12063fb8155b3c8d9a00a94887b126380c9e0627527c84cf5e1101f54.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2024120707128_0bf207a12063fb8155b3c8d9a00a94887b126380c9e0627527c84cf5e1101f54" data-rendition-name="original" width="1170" height="610" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> <figcaption>Gyanu Timilsina, wife of Kul Timilsina.</figcaption> </figure>  There are two versions of what happened to Kul Timilsina’s metal sheet. One is that an American Peace Corp Volunteer teaching at the nearby Bindyabasini School took it, and another is that it was handed over to the government. Recently declassified Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and US State Department documents from the time say that the US Embassy in Kathmandu tracked down the object two years later and had it shipped back to the US. A telegram from the Department of State and Department of Defense tagged as ‘MOON DUST / Space Fragments’ dated 1 March 1972 stated: ‘1. Restored space fragment will be on board Embassy support flight 115 arriving Kathmandu on or about March 10. Fragment is packed in shipping crate (cargo no. 72-33365) marked in care of DAO.&nbsp; 2. State and Defense representatives examined fragments prior to shipment finding restoration acceptable.’  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071212_929d903ee06d41baa4f6040e981cd7c7d7bd75cc9c37c9b617d307fc8538d2df.png" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20241207071212_929d903ee06d41baa4f6040e981cd7c7d7bd75cc9c37c9b617d307fc8538d2df" data-rendition-name="original" width="856" height="568" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> <figcaption>Declassified CIA documents about the investigation into the object sighted in Pokhara. </figcaption> </figure>  The documents show that the US government, military and intelligence agencies investigated this incident thoroughly when it occurred, and have continued to revisit it ever since, as recently as five years ago. What is even more intriguing is that the object that fell in Pokhara was not the only unidentified space object that fell to earth that year. There were similar sightings of objects falling from the sky in Ladakh, Sikkim and Bhutan between 19 February and 25 March 1968.&nbsp; These mysteries were the subject of a CIA investigation in 1968 titled ‘<a href="https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP81R00560R000100070007-8.pdf">Sighting of Unidentified Flying Objects in Ladakh, Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan</a>’, and the report is part of the recent online declassification of 800,000 top-secret documents from the period.&nbsp; &nbsp;Although unidentified flying objects (UFOs) have a connotation now of being alien craft, it could be pieces of satellite, missile, rocket or even aircraft. The CIA report documents six sightings in 1968 and quotes local sources as describing all of them having similar characteristics: bright blue or red streaks in the sky accompanied by loud sounds like lightning and thunder and objects falling to the ground. Aside from the metallic object that was found in Batlechaur, there were other items also found nearby in Tallakot, Tureypasal, Armalakot and Maidan. Whatever the object was, it seems to have disintegrated even before it hit the ground.&nbsp; The CIA report records the first sighting on 19 February 1968 in various parts of Sikkim and Olangchung Gola and Ghunsa in eastern Nepal. The light was said to be ‘long and thin’ and giving out ‘green and red light’. &nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071212_c3c825027d966a2aedc846970390eebe063957503c7eacc8e01e0517843f9bbb.png" data-media-id="editor_4" data-image-id="20241207071212_c3c825027d966a2aedc846970390eebe063957503c7eacc8e01e0517843f9bbb" data-rendition-name="original" width="892" height="596" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara "> </figure>  Two days later on 21 February, a soundless blue object was seen traveling fast across the sky above Thimphu in Bhutan. Then on 4 March there were multiple daytime sightings or white streaks in the sky at Chang La Pass, Fukche and Koyul in Ladakh. There were more sightings in Ladakh on the very day fragments fell near Pokhara on 25 March 1968.&nbsp; After the sightings in Pokhara, rumours started flying in Kathmandu that these were aliens trying to land on Earth, it could be Russian or Chinese spy planes or satellites, and some even say it as a sign from heaven that the end of the world was near. This was at the height of the Cold War. The Russians and Americans were testing their thermonuclear devices as well as intercontinental ballistic missile delivery systems. The Washington-Beijing rapprochement had not yet happened, and China was making quick progress testing atomic bombs. Within two years after its first atomic test, in 1966 China exploded its first hydrogen bomb at the Lop Nur site in Xinjiang, 3,000km to the north from Nepal. After neary six decades, what is still intriguing is that all the sightings within a few months of each other in 1968 were along the Himalayan arc bordering Tibet: from Bhutan, Sikkim Nepal, to Ladakh. The US military intelligence seems to have concluded that this was not a coincidence and there were frequent research trips to the site in Pokhara by American officials in the months after the incident. With the help of the Royal Nepal Army, the region north of Pokhara was thoroughly searched.&nbsp; A confidential memo dated 25 June 1968 by Jerry C Trippy to a ‘Mr Farley’ mentions that the US Air Force’s Foreign Technology Division had decided that the debris could be important because it may be related to a Chinese missile test or a Soviet ‘Vehicle Venik’ rocket.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071216_feb5425692dc36b20187de4e4fcc2ce9fd12b6d9e1b8724398e50bcdbf9032fe.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="20241207071216_feb5425692dc36b20187de4e4fcc2ce9fd12b6d9e1b8724398e50bcdbf9032fe" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> </figure>  On 28 August 1968 the US Embassy in Kathmandu sent a letter to Washington DC saying that the object could be of Soviet origin, possibly from when the rocket carrying the ‘Kosmos 208’ satellite re-entered the atmosphere. But why were the fragments falling to earth several weeks apart, and in the same region? No one knows where the metal sheet that Kul Timilsina recovered is now. It was definitely packed in a crate and taken to the US, and although it is rumoured that it was returned that is not very likely. Archivist Sunil Ulak heard from the Timilsina family that CIA officials had returned to the site five years ago. &nbsp; Interest in UFOs peaked in the US in the 1950s, with the Cold War space race and tests of atomic weapons and delivery rockets. CIA and scientists were being sent to investigate sightings, both publicly and privately. Could the Pokhara fragments as well as the sightings in Ladakh and Bhutan actually be alien craft falling to earth? The renewal in interest in space travel in large part due to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, UFOs and sightings are again subjects of public interest.&nbsp; Even 57 years later, even if there was definitive proof about whether the Batlechaur fragment was from a Chinese missile or a soviet rocket, it has not been made public in documents declassified so far. We may never know.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241207071216_b6938795f40731e7657fd6dcbb3cf460a326186a15eb11d4f832f602201ff598.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20241207071216_b6938795f40731e7657fd6dcbb3cf460a326186a15eb11d4f832f602201ff598" data-rendition-name="original" width="642" height="320" loading="lazy" alt="UFO over Pokhara"> </figure>  Sunil Ulak speculates if the debris actually came from an American aircraft, perhaps on an intel mission upon China. “Which could explain why they were so thorough in collecting the fragments in Pokhara,” he says. But that still does not explain the multiple sightings weeks apart in 1968.&nbsp; Indeed, US military aircraft were at that time flying frequent night-time missions from air force bases in India to supply weapons to Khampa guerrilla camps in Nepal located north of Pokhara in Mustang. It could very well be that the Chinese shot down one such aircraft. The other sightings could have been contrails of US spy planes, or Chinese anti-aircraft missiles.&nbsp; There were quite a few developments regarding UFOs in 2024. In a US congressional hearing in July, former intelligence officer David Grusch claimed that the government had long been involved in a program to investigate and retrieve non-human craft crashes, and then try to reverse engineer them. However Grusch did not show any evidence.&nbsp; The UAP Disclosure Act of 2024 was signed into law by Joe Biden in December 2023. It plans to oversee the public disclosure of UFO information. However, there is a clause in it that prevents disclosure if it would cause threats to military defense, intelligence operations or foreign relations.&nbsp; It is unlikely that the declassified documents about sightings in the Himalayan will cause any real surprise about definite evidence of alien life even if it was found. It seems humanity will continue, at least for now, to wonder about curious lights in the sky and whether there is anybody out there.&nbsp;

UFO over Pokhara

When Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) president Rabi Lamichhane was arrested in October on charges of defrauding depositors of cooperatives, the party’s vice president Swarnim Wagle gifted him Fareed Zakaria’s book, Age of Revolutions.
Since then, Lamichhane has been shunted around from Kathmandu to Pokhara to Chitwan and back to Pokhara to attend police investigations and court proceedings. He was being flown to Birganj via Kathmandu on Buddha Air on Monday. There is another pending case in Janakpur.
Human rights groups and civil society have criticised the government for hounding Lamichhane with inhumane treatment that borders on physical torture. The two parties in the coalition, Nepali Congress (NC) and the UML, see Lamichhane’s RSP as a potentially formidable challenge to their power.
Even if the fraud charges against Lamichhane are true, the Nepali public is increasingly looking at the government’s actions through the police and courts as political vendetta.
Despite all the travelling, sometimes by plane and often by road at night, Lamichhane appears to be in high spirits, waving to supporters who often gather if they know he is going to be driven around. A social media video shows him giving high fives to fellow passengers on a recent flight to Pokhara.&nbsp;
In the past weeks, streets in Pokhara have erupted with parallel protests by Lamichhane’s supporters as well as depositors of cooperatives who lost their savings to the scam.&nbsp;
Although family visits are allowed, prison officials in Pokhara told Nepali Times that not many people visit Lamichhane these days. He added, “When he does get visitors, he asks them to bring him books.”
Lamichhane is currently Nepal’s most high-profile public figure in custody, and highlights the stark difference between how influential prisoners are treated compared to ordinary inmates.
There are six prison cells at Kaski District Police Office’s two-story detention centre, three on each floor. And while authorities pack prisoners into already overcrowded cells, Lamichhane has an entire room on the second floor to himself.&nbsp;
He has also been allowed to call his family every few days. Other prisoners are not permitted phone calls except for emergencies.
Meanwhile, Lamichhane’s former business partner Chhabilal Joshi, an ex-Deputy Inspector General of Police with whom he established his Gorkha Media Network, is in custody under the same charges in the prison cell next to him.
Lamichhane is accused of siphoning off depositors' money to the tv network in which he was part-owner and anchor. &nbsp;
Both Lamichhane and Joshi are able to buy food from the police canteen instead of being served the regular meal like other prisoners. Joshi has also given his statement to authorities in Rupandehi and Kathmandu for his alleged role in the scam. Lamichhane is yet to be presented in Kathmandu for questioning.
While he was in custody at the Kathmandu District Police Complex, Joshi expressed his desire to sleep in a police officer’s office, reportedly assuring authorities that he would not run away and he was entitled to certain facilities as a former officer of the law.
“He seemed to be under the impression that he is still a police officer,” says a source at the Kathmandu District Police. “We made it clear to him that as someone accused of a crime, he was not entitled to special treatment.”
Former ministers Balkrishna Khand and Top Bahadur Rayamajhi, and ex-home secretary Tek Narayan Pandey, who were arrested in connection with the fake refugee scam last year, were similarly housed in the offices of law enforcement officials instead of prison cells. Khand has since been released after six months in jail.
While there is no legal provision to keep high-ranking officials in separate detention centres when they are arrested, authorities granting them special facilities is not uncommon. Law enforcement officials say VIP detainees expect preferential treatment while in police custody.
Among those is former Kosi Province minister Lila Ballav Adhikari, who was arrested from Biratnagar on 10 November over his alleged involvement in human trafficking and brought to Kathmandu. Adhikari had flown to Japan without government approval with three individuals on 29 October to attend a cultural conference, but had been sent back to Nepal from Narita.&nbsp;
His three companions were arrested at Kathmandu airport upon their arrival, but Adhikari was able to exit unscathed from the VIP lounge. Adhikari had resigned as the Kosi Province Minister for Internal Affairs and Law when it became public that his companions had been taken into custody, and was himself arrested shortly after. He has since been cleared by the courts.
Throughout his detention, Adhikari was kept separately from other inmates. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Basant Rajouri, head of the Bhadrakali complex, says that while there is no separate detention area for VIPs, some detainees are kept separately depending on the nature of their crime.
However, sources say that arrangements were made for retired judges and others to visit Adhikari frequently worked at the office of a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) during his time in custody.&nbsp;
“He used to constantly pester the authorities to let him sit outside in the sun, and to be able to use the police officer’s shower area,” added an officer.
Adhikari was released on 25 November after the government prosecutor’s office decided not to charge him in a move that was seen to expose the government’s double standards.
Over at Kathmandu’s Dilli Bazar Prison, former Kist Bank CEO Kamal Gyawali emerges from his prison cell into the courtyard of the prison’s ‘Ka (क)’ block every morning with a thick book in his hands, ready to give his daily sermon.
With his long beard, Gyawali, who is serving a prison sentence for banking fraud, looks the part of a religious guru as he implores his rapt listeners to “walk the right path, abandon bad thoughts and turn to scripture and spirituality”.&nbsp;
Afterward, the attendees gather to discuss politics and current affairs. Inmates at his daily sermons at the prison include other high-profile detainees, including former MP Ichchha Raj Tamang, who is in jail for money laundering and cooperatives fraud, former joint secretary Chudamani Sharma, who was convicted of corruption, as well as NC leader Chandra Bahadur Lama and Krishna Bahadur Upreti of the UML both of whom are on trial for embezzling billions of rupees.
Victims of the cooperatives scam that former lawmaker Tamang was involved in have made trips to the prison and requested visits, but he has refused to meet with any of them.
“Tamang often complains that the state has prevented him from returning the money to the victims by locking him up,” says a police officer at the Dili Bazar jail.
“All you hear every day from the VIP prisoners is that they have been framed,” adds the officer. “No one admits that they were involved in misdeeds.”
But while most high-profile prisoners complain about prison conditions, one exception is former provincial lawmaker Deepak Manange, who is serving a sentence at Dilli Bazar Jail for attempted murder.
“He is the happiest prisoner here,” says a warden. “Unlike the others, he doesn’t claim to have been framed, in fact he doesn’t seem to care that he is in prison.”
Manange is detained in the ‘Kha (ख)’ block of the prison complex, which he renovated at his own expense. The block previously housed female prisoners, but Manange used his influence to transfer them elsewhere. He faces no shortage of visitors, who range from political leaders to people from the underworld.
Along with Manange, other well-known prisoners in this block include Nepal Telecom Managing Director Sunil Poudel, and former executive director of the Surakshan Printing Centre Bikal Poudel, who are serving time for corruption.
Former prisoners at Dilli Bazar prison include ex-ministers Khum Bahadur Khadka and Shyam Sundar Gupta, NC leader Ganesh Lama, Maoist MP Balkrishna Dhungel, Nagarik Unmukti Party leader Resham Chaudhary, as well as former IGs Ramesh Chand Thakuri, Om Bikram Rana, and Hem Bahadur Gurung.
Section 54 of Nepal’s Prison Act assigns each prison’s internal administration the
responsibility of governing its prisoners, which means the more favourable the jail management is, the more comfortable it is for prisoners.
Dilli Bazar prison has been the prison of choice for many high-ranking prisoners, especially those convicted of white collar crimes, due to its more accommodating administrators. The prison, which has the capacity to house 700 inmates, is also less crowded than other jails.
Anuj Bhattarai, spokesperson of the Department of Prison Management, says that there is no legal classification in Nepal for felons to be assigned prisons based on the nature of their crimes.
“That Dilli Bazar Jail has a higher number of prisoners convicted of crimes like corruption is most likely a coincidence,” says Bhattarai. “There is no provision for influential people to be able to choose where they will be incarcerated.”&nbsp;
Translated by Shristi Karki from the Nepali original published in himalkhabar.com

What Nepal’s VIP prisoners do in jail

If you were raised in Nepal, you must have picked up its unique set of vocabulary: आन्दोलन, चक्का जाम, बन्द, राँके जुलुस, आफ्नो मान्छे, हाम्रो दल, कर्फु and many more words connoting political protest.
We became familiar with the acrid smell of burning tyres, and eyes smarting from tear gas. And yet, everyone speaks of another revolution in the making. Not by desire, but by suffocation.
We heard speeches about नयाँ नेपाल, but the New Nepal never arrived. The governance system changed, but it did not reflect on people’s lives — except for those close to centres of power. The state is still unreachable and is not bothered about <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/matter-of-life-and-debt">victims of loan sharks</a>, cooperative scams and other injustices.
Politicians continue to speak in sound bites, but fail to deliver. They have mastered the game of pointing fingers towards an external enemy and convincing people that they are never at fault. The political narrative is so disconnected from the actual analysis of the problem that suffocation doesn’t go away after every revolution.
No genuine effort has been made to deliver at all, which is why there is a palpable sense of disillusionment in the air forcing us to seek another revolution, even if Nepal may not be able to afford it.
How has the current system successfully held power, even if the public is deeply frustrated? How is it that for three decades we continue to be led by the same faces, who have time and again, proved to us that they may be great politicians but not national leaders?
<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/improving-internet-governance-in-nepal">My experience at the epicentre of politics</a> has led me to identify three cultures that have enabled political parties to keep a tight hold on power: acceptance, silence and dependency.
We accept things the way they are. We use fatalistic phrases like “नेपालमा यस्तै हो” or “नेपालको कानुन दैब जानुन”. While this resilience enables us to rise back up from devastating calamities, it is also a reason for our compliance with the status quo.
Despite so many ‘revolutions’ that have led to significant reforms, these phrases keep getting reinforced, to the point that the upcoming generations have made it their lingo.&nbsp;
This acceptance is not a symbol of law-abiding citizens, but citizens living in fear of those in power, unable to ask the whys and why-nots.
Innovation suffocates in this culture of acceptance of the status quo. This is manifested in remarks like “but we don’t have any laws for this,” or “we don’t have the capacity to implement this”. An innovator or entrepreneur therefore has to spend that energy to become a political lobbyist, often educating and convincing the bureaucracy.&nbsp;
Remember when locally assembled <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/designed-and-made-in-nepal">Yatri motorbikes</a>, despite having willing customers, had to suffer to secure license numbers because of a lack of regulations? Instead of creating new laws, the government kept chanting the “We will promote Nepal-made goods” mantra, leaving entrepreneurs in a labyrinth of bureaucracy. The weight of acceptance of the law lies heavily on innovators. Fatalism is a tactic used by those in power to generate mass fear in society.
When we accept, we become silent. This is a pervasive phenomenon. We are trained to keep quiet, lest we ruffle feathers, burn bridges, or not get the help we need in future. We know, yet we don’t speak.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/bureaucratic-hurdles-in-researching-nepals-bureaucracy">Bureaucratic hurdles in researching Nepal's bureaucracy</a>, Daniel W Edwards
Here is one example: the 2021 census shows that the number of baby boys born for every 100 baby girls is 112. This is a clear indication of female foeticide because of boy preference in society.
Despite such horrifying realities, there is finger-pointing within the government between the Ministry of Health and Population with the Ministry of Home Affairs. At the citizen level, we know those who are involved in killing girls. Yet, we don’t speak up. The Nepal Medical Council reports state that despite this gender imbalance at birth, there is no indication of any action.
But why would anyone speak against one's own fraternity, no matter how vile the act is?
When we accept and keep quiet, we become dependent on those who yield power. From getting our government procedure completed on time to getting transfers, to accessing any of our legally protected rights as well, we are forced to depend on our networks of चिनेको मान्छे people we know by blood, village, relations, political affiliation.
The culture of dependency has been the established way in Nepal. If you drive a two-wheeler or four-wheeler, and you get into a small accident, you will be asked to sort it yourself, dialing up the most powerful person you know. It becomes a competition of who knows who.
Recently I was told that there were calls from the Ministry of Health and Population and another from the Prime Minister's Office for just one medical position in a private hospital. Each was pushing its own candidate. Guess which candidate got the position.&nbsp;
The dependency of people is not on the laws or the state, it is with people in power, a reliance on the network of somebody who knows somebody, including those not officially in power.
These cultures are deeply ingrained in our heads, and in society. Collectively they form a vicious circle that helps those in power to retain power. This is not the society we want to live in.
Then, what do we do as a collective to break away from this? How do we break away from the cultures of acceptance and silence that have created this dependency? What can we do to ensure that our children do not have to learn the jargon of आन्दोलन before they learn about the state?
These are the cultures political parties need to shed rather than use them to perpetuate their power. This is what <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/an-alternative-to-alternative-politics-in-nepal">alternative politics</a> needs to be about.
Sumana Shrestha is a member of Parliament’s Education, Health and Information Technology parliamentary committee and represents the Rastriya Swatantara Party.

secularism