The fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government offers hope for a new political culture rooted in democratic values and the desire for genuine representation. However, the path forward requires much more than holding elections or restoring political processes. Healing the <a href="https://thediplomat.com/2024/08/bangladesh-must-move-beyond-the-politics-of-revenge/">deep wounds</a> left by years of authoritarian rule and a longer <a href="https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/bangladesh-finding-justice-reconciliation">history of unaddressed grievances</a> must be at the forefront of the national agenda.
As the country reflects on the legacy of Hasina’s rule, more details are emerging about the covert and repressive operations that defined her regime. Disturbing accounts of a <a href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/bangladeshi-lawyer-recounts-sheikh-hasinas-secret-jail-where-he-spent-eight-years/article68527954.ece">secret detention centre</a>, where <a href="https://thewire.in/south-asia/sheikh-hasina-disappearances-aynaghor">torture and isolation</a> was deployed to stifle dissent, are now coming to light. These revelations expose the breadth of the Awami League government’s grip on the security apparatus of the state and showcase a network of coercive control that permeated through society.
Such <a href="https://www.omct.org/en/resources/statements/bangladesh-arbitrary-detention-and-impunity-for-torture-continues-after-elections">systemic repression</a> has left deep scars on Bangladesh’s collective psyche. The pervasive climate of fear, distrust, and vulnerability has fractured the very foundations of civil society. When state power is weaponised against the people it is meant to serve, it weakens the bonds of trust that hold a society together.
Moreover, in a system where loyalty to the regime matters more than justice, process, or fairness, citizens often feel alienated and unsure of their place. In this context, survival often trumps participation, as dissent became synonymous with danger. Many traded their voices for silence and safety, while those who dared to challenge the regime often faced severe consequences. Families of those who resisted were left to endure the <a href="https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3273699/bangladesh-families-enforced-disappearance-victims-hopeful-after-hasinas-downfall">weight of uncertainty and fear</a>.
Read also: Selfies on the prime minister's bed, Guest Editorial
The Awami League, <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/bangabandhu-to-toppled-statue-mujibur-rahmans-contested-legacy-post-bangladesh-upheaval/articleshow/112802912.cms?from=mdr">once a beacon of liberation under Sheikh Mujibur Rahman</a>, transformed into an institution synonymous with oppression under Hasina. Rahman’s legacy as the hero of Bangladesh’s independence became a distorted tool, manipulated to justify authoritarian excesses. The party that had fought against domination gradually came to resemble the forces it once opposed, using Rahman’s image as a shield to silence opposition and cement its control.
Now, an <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/muhammad-yunus-heading-bangladesh-office-interim-leader-thursday-112668006">interim government</a> is tasked with the formidable challenge of steering Bangladesh through this turbulent period. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/15/world/asia/bangladesh-protest-violence.html">Restoring law and order</a> amidst widespread political violence is just one of the many pressing concerns. Equally important is ensuring the <a href="https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/80d038f7783e">continuation of public services</a>, addressing <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/inflation-rates-in-bangladesh-to-come-down-gradually-new-central-bank-chief-says/articleshow/112628176.cms?from=mdr">economic instability</a>, and safeguarding <a href="https://nusu-my.sharepoint.com/personal/iahmed_nus_edu_sg/Documents/ISAS%20Desktop/-%09https:/thediplomat.com/2024/08/bangladesh-must-move-beyond-the-politics-of-revenge/">social cohesion</a> in the face of growing tensions, particularly with respect to minority rights. But perhaps most crucially, this government must <a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/asia/south-asia/bangladesh/bangladesh-long-road-ahead">prepare the country for free and fair elections</a> that can lay the foundation for a stable democratic future.
However, the political landscape in Bangladesh remains deeply fractured. Years of repression under Hasina have entrenched seemingly irreconcilable divisions between political factions and eroded public trust in state institutions. The judiciary, civil service, and security forces— all tainted by political interference—must be depoliticised and restored to their roles as neutral guardians of justice and governance. This task is both urgent and formidable, but without it, any political transition remains fragile, susceptible to the same forces that have plagued Bangladesh’s past.
&nbsp;
Stabilising the country, therefore, requires more than just restoring order. It demands a profound rebuilding of the <a href="https://www.thedailystar.net/opinion/views/news/the-urgent-need-ombudsman-bangladesh-enhance-transparency-and-democracy-3676246">foundations of good governance, a commitment to transparency</a>, and the fostering of a political culture where dialogue, political engagement, and reconciliation can happen without fear.&nbsp;
Yet, the challenges inherent in this process are compounded by a population that has grown increasingly weary with the country’s major political parties. <a href="https://frontline.thehindu.com/world-affairs/bangladesh-student-protests-sheikh-hasina-resignation-khaleda-zia-bnp-reforms-muhammad-yunus/article68568913.ece">Corruption, political infighting, and broken promises</a> have left many sceptical of the motives and capabilities of the opposition alternatives to the Awami League.
To begin the difficult journey towards national reconciliation, it is essential to fully recognise the harm caused by Hasina’s rule. Rebuilding a democratic future for Bangladesh will require more than just a change in leadership. It will necessitate restoring the integrity of state institutions, addressing the deeper fractures in society through <a href="https://asiatimes.com/2024/08/bangladesh-needs-a-truth-commission/">truth-telling</a> and <a href="https://en.somoynews.tv/news/2024-09-10/NQNP5262">accountability</a>, and fostering a culture of democratic engagement and civic trust – values that have been long suppressed by authoritarian rule.
Indeed, reconciliation and political reform are not separate from the democratic process but essential to it. Otherwise, democratic engagement risks being superficial and short-lived. Conducting elections without addressing the deeper fractures in society may create the illusion of progress, but <a href="https://www.dhakatribune.com/opinion/specials/354330/between-truth-and-impunity">unresolved grievances and a lack of justice</a> will continue to undermine trust in the political system.
Nevertheless, <a href="https://www.southasiamonitor.org/perspective/rebuild-bangladesh-interim-government-needs-reconcile-rival-ideological-camps">political polarisation in Bangladesh</a> complicates a consensus-based approach to reconciliation and reform. Ongoing violence and economic hardships also make the focus on long-term healing challenging amidst pressing concerns. Balancing immediate and longer-term issues for the current government remains a testing task. But despite these obstacles, addressing them together remains crucial for achieving meaningful and enduring progress for democracy in Bangladesh.
Imran Ahmed is a research fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore. He holds a PhD from the University of New England, and co-edited the volume Religion, Extremism and Violence (Palgrave Macmillan, 2022).
This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and is being republished from <a href="https://toda.org/global-outlook/2024/rebuilding-trust-democratic-engagement-and-governance-in-post-hasina-bangladesh.html">the original</a> with their permission.

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Building on ruins

The scenes from Dhaka on Monday were eerily similar to the ransacking of the residences of Ferdinand Marcos or Gotabaya Rajapaksa. Protesters took selfies lying on Sheikh Hasina’s bed (pictured above), they lounged on her sofas, feasted on biryani, and looted whatever was portable.&nbsp;
As is usually the case, it only takes a spark to light a revolt when a people’s fury at ruthless rulers reaches the tipping point. Hasina’s regime cracked down brutally on demonstrators, killing more than 300.&nbsp;
After another day of bloodshed on 4 August, Hasina lost support of the security forces, and jubilant protesters watched as their <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2024/08/05/asia/bangladesh-prime-minister-residence-stormed-intl/index.html">prime minister of 15 years fly off to India</a>. Army Chief Waker-Uz-Zaman announced an interim government would be formed.
There is a vital lesson from what has happened in Bangladesh for the rest of South Asia and beyond. Rulers cannot rest on their laurels just because they were freedom fighters. If citizens do not benefit from regime change, they will sweep rulers into the dustbin of history.
History is replete with examples of despots who plunder, torture and kill opponents, but are overthrown sooner or later. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/article/2024/aug/05/why-bangladesh-prime-minister-sheikh-hasina-resigned">Sheikh Hasina</a>, was elected for the fifth time in a rigged election in January that was boycotted by the opposition BNP, and accepted only by India.
Hasina's fate is also a lesson for regional powers who back tyrants for geopolitical reasons: what they gain from such support can be tenuous and short-lived.
Nepal is presently not ruled by an elected despot, our press is the freest in the region, and the check and balance of democracy here function relatively well. Yet, the events in Bangladesh have an important lesson for our elderly rulers and mass media.&nbsp;
Are we in the media also partly to blame for increasing public frustration with politics as usual that is making Nepalis cynical and apathetic?
Nepal’s new politicians have exploited the fecklessness of old rulers by using the new media to gather populist support. Journalists are seen to be comrades-in-arms of the legacy leaders, and are collectively held responsible for Nepal’s decline.&nbsp;
In the age of citizen journalism, there is a misconception that the mass media has become redundant. However, in-depth journalism is more essential than ever to help citizens navigate information overload, disinformation and deep fakes.&nbsp;
The mobile phone and its algorithm-driven networking platforms are more for entertainment than information. And if information is a major part of content, then more often than not it is fake news and toxic trolling. Readership has not decreased, it has just migrated, and the sources of information have changed.
The main reason Nepal's politicians and journalists find themselves targetted is because they played active roles together in the people power movements of 1990 and 2006.
Indeed, journalists have been at the forefront of the restoration and protection of democracy and in upholding press freedom — through the conflict years, and after king Gyanendra’s coup in 2005.&nbsp;
But <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/stemming-asia-s-democratic-decay">when democracy fails to deliver</a>, the public and populists tend to blame not just elected politicians, but also journalists.&nbsp;
The irony is that Nepal’s leadership is reluctant to credit the mass media for helping defend democracy and making it possible for them to get to power. Instead, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/press-for-people">many politicians would like to muzzle the media</a> because of its role in holding their power to account and exposing corruption in high places.&nbsp;
The media is playing its mandated adversarial role in Nepal’s democracy, but click-bait media and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/democracy-s-discontents">populist politicians</a> see public-interest journalism as competition for public attention.
We in the legacy media therefore find ourselves being distrusted by old guard politicians, and as rivals by YouTubers and TikTokers.
The state itself refuses thus far to recognise the communication enterprise as an industry, and successive governments <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/gagging-the-press-in-installments">have tried to weaken the traditional mass media by laws and policies</a>. The ban on alcohol ads on grounds of public health, even though such goods can be openly bought and consumed, is part of that strategy.&nbsp;
New leaders like Kathmandu mayor Balen Shah were propelled to power by new media. The <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepals-home-minister-vs-the-media">RSP’s Rabi Lamichhane</a> also fanned cyber-populism to get elected, which is why he is so dismissive of the ‘Dirty Dozen’ (१२-भाइ एडिटर) of the legacy media that exposed his wrongdoings.
The lesson from the Bangladesh upheaval for Nepal’s rulers who have been at the helm now for decades is this: clean up your act and start delivering, or else face a similar fate.
<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/clywww69p2vo">Sheikh Hasina</a> persecuted the press, allowing social pressure to build up until it all exploded in her face. A free press is democracy’s safety valve, and it is in the self-interest of Nepal’s political parties to defend it.
Gunaraj Luitel is the Chief Editor of Nagarik Daily in Kathmandu.
@gunaraj

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Selfies on the prime minister’s bed

Fast-moving developments in Bangladesh on Monday are a lesson for political leaders in Nepal and the region that lack of accountability and violent suppression of dissent cannot contain popular anger. Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of Bangladesh’s founding leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who was elected for the fifth time in controversial elections earlier this year, is said to have been airlifted to India as protesters stormed her official residence in Dhaka. Hasina presided over the country with an iron hand, using the government’s security agencies in the past month in a harsh crackdown that left at least 300 people dead. In the past 17 years after she came to power, she had been targeting opposition parties, persecuting independent journalists and civil society leaders, including Nobel-prize winning Muhammad Yunus.&nbsp; The student protests were sparked off by an increase in a government quota for civil service jobs that favoured supporters of Hasina’s parties. But it soon escalated into a nationwide mass movement that was fuelled by economic woes as well as the increasing authoritarianism of Hasina’s Awami League party. The lessons for other authoritarian regimes in the region are clear: leaders can use force to suppress dissent, dismantle press freedom, and protect their powers but not for long. And when frustration boils over, live bullets cannot stop a people power uprising.&nbsp; But there is also a warning from the events in Bangladesh to elected politicians in countries like Nepal who lack accountability, and have shielded themselves from prosecution from corruption. Nepal’s own politicians also came to power after massive street protests against an absolute monarchy in 1990 and 2006 that ultimately turned the country into a republic. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-bangladesh-tinderbox">The Bangladesh tinderbox</a>, Shahidul Alam  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20240805130812_c1c25ff63aa5f3eb685168676ba7bd43f5023619542795afb4162142b87abccf.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20240805130812_c1c25ff63aa5f3eb685168676ba7bd43f5023619542795afb4162142b87abccf" data-rendition-name="original" width="1280" height="854" loading="lazy" alt="Bangladesh solidarity protests NT"> <figcaption>Civil society activists had protested in Kathmandu last week in solidarity with Bangladeshi protesters. Photo: SUMAN NEPALI</figcaption> </figure>  Hasina used the police and her dreaded intelligence agency to deploy indiscriminate violence against the students, and later the general public, leaving hundreds dead — 90 of them on Sunday alone. This was the worst bloodshed Bangladesh had seen since the country’s liberation war in 1971. “We have been liberated for the second time,” Rumeena Farhana, former MP from the opposition Bangladesh National Party (BNP), told Al Jazeera. &nbsp; Hasina was said to be getting ready to address the nation after meeting with the Army Chief when protesters started storming her residence and looting furniture. The Army Chief’s own address scheduled for Monday afternoon was also pushed back as hundreds of thousands of people poured out into the streets to celebrate.&nbsp; The Army Chief is reported to be working with political leaders to discuss setting up an interim government to defuse the situation and oversee elections. Hasina and her party were regarded as being close to India, although she also maintained close economic ties with China.&nbsp; Hasina’s father and entire family were assassinated in a coup in 1975, and she narrowly survived a grenade attack on her election rally in 2004. Since then, Bangladesh has had frequent military coups, and several generals have made a transition to civilian politics. She had been prime minister since 1996. Civil society activists had protested in Kathmandu last week in solidarity with Bangladeshi people power protesters suffering the violent crackdowns. Nepali students had been airlifted from Dhaka in the past weeks, and dozens of journalists, bloggers and activists had fled to Nepal in the past decade to escape the government's crackdown on media and democracy. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/comment/the-death-of-democracy">The death of democracy</a>, Aditya Adhikari

People power removes Bangladesh leader

<figure><img width="1500" height="990" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108151116/636a655c9c7e80680e059925jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Alam gagged by police officer. Photo: SUVRA KANTI DAS</figcaption></figure>On Day of the Imprisoned Writer 2018, Indian author <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/arundhati-and-shahidul-write-to-each-other/">Arundhati Roy penned an open letter to Shahidul Alam</a>, the renowned Bangladeshi photojournalist who had been incarcerated for over 100 days. ‘Dear Shahidul,’ Roy wrote, ‘I believe the tide will turn. It will. It must. This foolish, shortsighted cruelty will give way to something kinder and more visionary.’Shahidul Alam replies in his book, The Tide Will Turn, a photography and text collection lovingly named after Roy’s letter. Combining sketches from fellow inmates, historical work by Bangladeshi photographers, reflections and political commentary, The Tide Will Turn does more than document Alam’s time in jail and his views: it serves as a curated collection of political art and writing, acting as a critique of autocracy.Alam was arrested and detained on 5 August 2018, shortly after a televised Al-Jazeera interview where he criticised Bangladesh's Sheikh Hasina government for its response to protests by young students demanding road safety. The months after saw a worldwide campaign for his release with mass exhibitions, petitions, demonstrations and letters from prominent figures. <figure><img width="1698" height="1254" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108151116/636a65609c7e80680e059926jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>In Nepal, journalists and students <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/freeshahidulalam/">protested in front of the Bangladesh Embassy</a> in Kathmandu and lit up the city’s walls with projections of quotes and photographs by Alam during the visit to the Nepal capital by Sheikh Hasina for a South Asian leaders’ summit.Alam, still imprisoned, was awarded the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/shahidul-alam-photo-kathmandu-award/">Photo Kathmandu Award of Excellence</a> on 26 October 2018, both to celebrate the immense impact he has had on generations of Nepali journalists and photographers and as a clear sign of solidarity with one of South Asia’s most prominent photojournalists.‘There is a Bangla saying – “Apnake dhonnobad janie choto korbo na” (I will not belittle you by thanking you),’ Alam writes in his preface. ‘This book is my way of making amends.’Alam dedicates the first part to the prisoners in Keraniganj Jail in Dhaka. Without a camera to document his stay, he uses vivid writing to capture images of his detainment: the surroundings, the guards, his inmates and their stories, and the sparrows he made friends with.The chapter also includes notes, sketches, a mural and even a radio made by inmates who were concerned that Alam ‘a journalist, did not have access to news’. The chapter can almost be read as a standalone, a poignant reflection on <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/shahidul-alam-100th-day-in-jail/">his 107-day incarceration</a>.The longest section of the book provides a detailed historical commentary on Bengali photography, touching on artists who have captured some of the most striking images to come out of Bangladesh, as well as on Alam’s own work. It includes one of his earliest series, which focuses on former sex worker Hazera Beagum.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108151116/636a65639c7e80680e059927jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="978">When Shahidul Alam first met Hazera Beagum in 1996, she was a sex worker. Beagum at her orphanage in Adabor Market in Dhaka in December 2014 (pictured right). Photos: SHAHIDUL ALAM<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108151116/636a65669c7e80680e059928jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1185" height="1140">The photographs show Beagum first in 1996 and then in 2014, now running her own orphanage and ensuring that all her children receive an education. With photospreads of select iconic images, the chapter also makes for a stunning collection of Bangladeshi art over a century.The third section of The Tide Will Turn centres entirely on Bangladeshi politics. Alam uses the 1971 Liberation War as a starting point to discuss identity, secularism and the failures of the government, detailing his own experience with the 2013 Dhaka garment factory collapse and the killing of Bangladeshi-American secular blogger Avijit Roy. There is an underlying critique of autocracy running through the book, but it is this chapter that really reveals to us <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-death-of-democracy/">Alam’s commitment to free speech and democracy</a>.The Tide Will Turn is best summed up by Alam himself in his letter to Arundhati Roy: ‘The tide will turn, and the nameless, faceless people will rise. They will rise against the entire state machinery.’ This deep conviction that underlies his stunning photography makes for a book that leaves readers with much to ponder.The Tide Will TurnShahidul AlamGöttingen, Germany, Steidl, 2019184 pages, 111 images, Hardback€ 28.00ISBN: 978-3-95829-693-0www.steidl.de<a href="https://steidl.de/Books/The-Tide-Will-Turn-1224303445.html"><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108151116/636a656a9c7e80680e059929jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2328" height="3030"></a>

A photojournalist's powerful portrait from prison

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107141112/636904a49c7e80680e037d34jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>Photo: MONIKA DEUPALA</figcaption></figure>That the fourth <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/connecting-Bangladesh-China-India-Nepal,2966">BIMSTEC</a> summit would be declared a “success” was a foregone conclusion because there wasn’t really much expected of the sub-regional economic grouping.The two-day conference concludes on Friday with the signing of a charter on regional cooperation by the leaders of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Burma, Nepal and Thailand in Kathmandu. This is the first time after 2015 that Nepal is hosting such a high level summit, and the NCP government sees it as a feather in its cap, pulling all stops to spruce up the capital.“It is an honour for Nepal to host the Summit, and BIMSTEC has great potential, we just need to cooperate on poverty alleviation through closer economic cooperation and connectivity,” Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali said.But will Nepal really benefit? The proof of the pudding will be in whether BIMSTEC can go where SAARC has not because of the India-Pakistan rivalry. It also links South Asia to Southeast Asia, and it is now up to member countries to look beyond bilateralism.“We are going step by step, but have made good progress on cooperation, including the energy grid,” BIMSTEC Secretary General Shahidul Islam told Nepali Times. This could be important for Nepal, with its hydropower potential.However, only a day before the Summit, China’s Three Gorges indicated it may pull out of <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2012/04/02/green-light-to-west-seti/">the long-delayed 750MW West Seti project</a> designed to export surplus power to India.SAARC countries, five of whom are BIMSTEC members, already have a framework agreement on energy cooperation, signed at the Kathmandu Summit in 2014 that should have allowed power trading if there was political will.But India issued its<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2016/12/09/indian-power/"> energy trade guidelines</a> in 2016, declaring that it will import hydropower from Nepal and Bangladesh only if it is produced by companies that are at least 51% Indian owned. That effectively killed Nepal’s chance of getting the Chinese involved.Ex-Energy Secretary Dwarika Nath Dhungel says: “Regional energy agreements mean nothing unless India revises its cross-border energy trade policy.”In August, Kathmandu and Dhaka signed an MoU to export electricity to Bangladesh. Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina made that request during a visit to New Delhi in April 2017, but there was no mention of it in the joint communique. Nepal has never bothered to raise it with India.Nepal aims to generate 15,000MW more electricity in the next 10 years, and could export the surplus to Bangladesh and beyond to Burma and Thailand.There are also fears BIMSTEC may jeopardise Nepal’s relations with China. India has persuaded BIMSTEC members to conduct a  joint military exercise shortly after the summit. Foreign Minister Gyawali clarified Nepal will not join any military alliance, but China and Pakistan are unlikely to be convinced.

Bimstec facelift

<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107141112/636904739c7e80680e037d23jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/>On 5 August, <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/best-years-of-their-lives-migrant-workers,3722" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bangladeshi artist, writer and organiser Shahidul Alam</a> was interviewed on Al Jazeera about <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/05/bangladesh-pm-urges-teen-protesters-to-go-home-amid-violence" target="_blank" rel="noopener">student protests triggered by the deaths of schoolchildren run over by a public bus</a>.Alam said that the anger of the protesting youth were not just with the transportation sector but the dire situation of the country as a whole. He outlined a litany of everything that was wrong in Bangladesh: “The looting of banks, the gagging of the media, the extra-judicial killings, the disappearances, the need to give protection money at all levels, bribery at all levels, corruption in education.”That very day, security personnel in plainclothes arrived at Alam’s Dhaka home in the middle of the night and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2018/08/06/bangladeshi-photographer-shahidul-alam-arrested-over-provocative-comments/?noredirect=on&amp;utm_term=.9b6c0afa5357" target="_blank" rel="noopener">took him away without any explanation or warrant</a>. When he was presented before court a few days later, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEeyhQNU8fg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he was limping and had to be held up as he walked</a>.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/freeshahidulalam/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">#FreeShahidulAlam</a>He had obviously <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/08/world/asia/bangladesh-photographer-shahidul-alam.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">been tortured in custody</a>. Soon after, he was charged with Section 57 of Bangladesh’s Information and Communications Technology Act (ICT) for ‘spreading propaganda and false information against the government’. Alam was denied bail. If convicted, he could face a seven-year sentence.The blatantly unjust and politically motivated arrest of Shahidul Alam <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/08/the-guardian-view-on-shahidul-alam-bangladesh-should-let-him-go" target="_blank" rel="noopener">has been widely condemned</a> and there have been petitions <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/08/calls-grow-release-bangladeshi-photographer-shahidul-alam-180811145247788.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">for his release from all parts of the world</a>. The attention this case has received partially has to do with Alam’s extraordinary achievements and his international fame.As a photojournalist, he has received widespread acclaim for revealing that the marginalised are active agents rather than victims and his visceral depictions of state brutality. But Alam is equally known as an institution builder and a mentor for younger photojournalists. He founded the Drik Picture Library photo agency, the ChobiMela, one of South Asia’s most prestigious photo festivals, and the Pathshala South Asian Media Institute which has trained hundreds of photographers, including from Nepal.But the case has far-reaching implications that go beyond Shahidul Alam as an individual, and even beyond Bangladesh. The arrest has to be seen in light of worrisome trends that have begun to afflict large sections of the world, including many countries in the South Asian region.Broadly speaking, this has to do with the attack by the state upon what is often called ‘freedom of expression’.In recent months, governments in South Asia have tried to criminalise all criticism of the government, both by publicly prominent personalities and by private citizens expressing themselves on social media.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/suppressed/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Suppressed</a>, Om Astha RaiIn Bangladesh, several people have been arrested for posting or sharing comments critical of the government on Facebook. The government there is planning to replace the notorious ICT act with even more draconian legislation. In Myanmar, journalists reporting on the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/living-on-the-margins/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rohingya crisis</a> have been arrested and charged with violating the Official Secrets Act.In the past week, several high profile activists and intellectuals have been arrested in India in what is clearly a vendetta on the part of the government. And in Nepal too, the government has <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/suppressed/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed legislation that would prevent journalists from reporting on state activity</a>.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/strongman-rule/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Strongman rule</a>, Om Astha RaiGovernments have claimed that such measures are necessary to preserve national security. In order to maintain their power, rulers in the region have tried to instigate nationalist sentiments among the population. Organisations campaigning for greater justice have been vilified as tools of foreign countries.The intention behind these efforts is clear. Governments want to establish their own interpretation of history and current events as the only legitimate one. They want to be left free to bulldoze decisions without having to confront independent civil society groups. And in the process, they are trying to create populations that are fearful, inward looking and xenophobic.The campaign for the release of Shahidul Alam is not just about an individual who has been unjustly persecuted. More broadly, it is a campaign to resist the steady encroachment upon democratic space across the region. It is a campaign against a narrow-minded nationalism and the arbitrary use of power. A campaign that stands for tolerance, the rule of law and the rights of the most marginalised people.During her visit to Kathmandu for the BIMSTEC conference, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/freeshahidulalam/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">would do well to realise that her government has only lost international legitimacy by arresting Shahidul Alam</a>. His immediate release will be an important first step towards restoring the Bangladesh government’s credibility.Other heads of government visiting Nepal should similarly recognise that attacks on journalists and members of civil society only serve to increase hostility and anger towards the ruling authorities. Dismantling legislation that impedes the right to free expression will be necessary if states are to regain the trust of their populations.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107141112/636904759c7e80680e037d24jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1019"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107141112/636904799c7e80680e037d25jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1021"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107141112/6369047c9c7e80680e037d26jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="997" height="1500"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107141112/6369047f9c7e80680e037d27jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1007"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107141112/636904829c7e80680e037d28jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="640" height="961"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>

The death of democracy

<figure><img width="1667" height="2500" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107141112/636904619c7e80680e037d1ejpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>All photos: Sagar Chhetri/photo.circle</figcaption></figure>As Kathmandu welcomes several heads of states and governments for the fourth summit of the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/On-the-way-up/Different-regionalisms-SAARC,987" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation</a> (BIMSTEC) on Thursday and Friday, the city's walls and streets have been lit up with projected images and slogans calling for the release of noted Bangaldeshi photographer Shahidul Alam. The aim is to draw the attention of Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who arrives on Wednesday to attend the Summit.Alam is a <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/best-years-of-their-lives-migrant-workers,3722" target="_blank" rel="noopener">world-renowned Bangladeshi photographer, writer and activist</a> who was <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2018/08/06/bangladeshi-photographer-shahidul-alam-arrested-over-provocative-comments/?noredirect=on&amp;utm_term=.c2f07f839123" target="_blank" rel="noopener">arrested from his home in Dhaka on 5 August following an interview on Aljazeera</a> in which he was critical of the Bangladeshi government's crackdown on student protests. Alam has been charged under Section 57 of draconian Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act for 'spreading propaganda and false information against the government'.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-death-of-democracy/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The death of democracy</a>, Aditya AdhikariShahidul Alam was produced before the magistrate on 5 August, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEeyhQNU8fg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he could not walk unaided, and was barefoot</a>. He stated before the magistrate that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/08/world/asia/bangladesh-photographer-shahidul-alam.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">he had been tortured in police custody</a>, that he had been blindfolded, his hands had been handcuffed behind his back, verbally abused; at the place where he had been interrogated, a heavy weight had been placed over his head and he had been asked whether he could feel its weight, he had been punched on the face, his clothes had become bloodied, it had been washed and dried and ironed before he had been produced in court, he had been accused of being a Mossad agent, had been threatened that Rahnuma Ahmed would be abducted, and that "pins" would be used the next time. Witnesses say he showed clear signs of physical abuse. However, the magistrate did not record his statement and did not arrange for his medical examination, although this is required under Bangladesh law.There have been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/aug/08/the-guardian-view-on-shahidul-alam-bangladesh-should-let-him-go" target="_blank" rel="noopener">appeals for his release from around the world by journalists</a>, academics, human rights actors and organisations such as Amnesty International, Committee to Project Journalists (CPJ) and the Pulitzer Center among hundreds of others. Most recently, Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen issued a statement, saying: 'Freedom of expression, including through photojournalism, is extremely important for democracy.  We have good reason to admire the work that Shahidul Alam has been doing with great skill and courage for many years. His work should receive praise and appreciation, rather than being ground for harsh treatment.' Alam's has been assaulted in custody, denied proper medical treatment, and denied proper access to his lawyer and family. Bangladeshi PM Hasina is attending BIMSTEC alongside Indian PM Narendra Modi, and heads of states of Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Bhutan and Nepal will be in Kathmandu till Friday.These images are from projections on walls and buildings of Kathmandu to coincide with the BIMSTEC Summit this week. <img width="2500" height="1667" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107141112/636904659c7e80680e037d1fjpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="640" height="427" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107141112/636904689c7e80680e037d20jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="2500" height="1667" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107141112/6369046c9c7e80680e037d21jpeg.jpg" alt=""><img width="640" height="427" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221107141112/6369046f9c7e80680e037d22jpeg.jpg" alt="">

#FreeShahidulAlam

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

The Nepal Premier League T20 men’s cricket tournament is a culmination of much progress in the sport in Nepal over the past decade, and a thrilling first step into higher level sports events in the country. Adding to the excitement is the international talent taking part. The tournament features eight teams made up of Nepali and international cricketers, including Shikhar Dhawan, one of India’s greatest ODI batsmen over the 2010s, and an IPL stalwart for the Delhi and Mumbai franchises. Dhawan is playing for the Karnali Yaks at the NPL. Other eminent imports include Kiwi batsman Martin Guptill, Indian-American Unmukt Chand, and Trinidadian fast bowler Anderson Philip. The NPL franchises are named for Nepal’s provinces and cities. Beside the Yaks, there are the Biratnagar Kings, the Chitwan Rhinos, the Janakpur Bolts, the Kathmandu Gurkhas, the Lumbini Lions, the Pokhara Avengers, and the Sudurpaschim Royals. The franchises have a wide variety of backers, including Kantipur Publications behind the Gurkhas, Chitwan Medical College behind the Rhinos, and Himalayan Builders for the Yaks. These entities are paying the international stars salaries rumoured to be in the Rs5 million range ($37,000) for the 21-day contest.&nbsp; The teams will play each other first in a round-robin league, after which the best performers will progress to playoffs. There will be 32 games in total, all to be held at the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur which is being spruced up, including additions of an expanded boundary, digital scoreboard, new sight screens, and practice pitches.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241129041152_9236da646959b888a8635b10bd46b9f9e08f0068ab031a4b8ad736a185288164.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20241129041152_9236da646959b888a8635b10bd46b9f9e08f0068ab031a4b8ad736a185288164" data-rendition-name="original" width="1080" height="1080" loading="lazy" alt="NPL"> </figure>  “Holding all the games at the same stadium makes sense logistically for this inaugural season,” says Chhumbi Lama of the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN). “Future editions will see matches happen across Nepal.”&nbsp; Another benefit of the tournament in future is that it may expedite the completion and upgrades of stadiums across the country, such as Mulpani Cricket Stadium in Kathmandu, the Gautam Buddha International Stadium in Bharatpur, and the Fapla Cricket Ground in Kailali. The main benefit of the tournament is said to be the development of Nepali cricket talent. The rules are also made up to favour this with each 16-player squad having no more than four foreign players. One Nepali ‘marquee’ player was selected by lottery, and others were signed through auctions for as high as Rs1.5 million. “Each team will have the marquee player from the province they represent,” says Lama, although this does not seem to be the case in practice. The 24-year-old leg spinner Sandeep Lamichhane, for example, is captaining the Biratnagar Kings, although he comes from Syangja district in Gandaki Province. “NPL’s goal is to support the development of cricket and our players,” says ex-captain and CAN secretary Paras Khadka. Players who are not usually selected for the national team will have the chance to show their cricketing skills. This has proved very beneficial in similar domestic leagues around the world. The Indian Premier League, for instance, led to the discovery and improvement of players like fast-bowler Jasprit Bumrah and batsman Suryakumar Yadav, who not only have become regular starters for the Indian national team, but also are now some of the top-ranked cricketers in the world, contributing to India being the best team in both T20s and ODIs. Nepal’s excellent run in the T20 World Cup this summer, with stellar performances against The Netherlands, South Africa and Bangladesh showed the world that the country could compete at the highest level in cricket. This has added to the legitimacy of the NPL and also promises longevity through future editions: the titular sponsor of the tournament, Siddhartha Bank, has committed to this role until 2029. Ncell is also involved, as the ‘Powered by’ sponsor, continuing the telecom company’s support for cricket, football, volleyball, golf and paralympic athletes. Another sponsor for the Kathmandu Gurkhas, is Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD. Adding weight to the NPL is that it is being broadcast live on Star Sports, giving it a global audience. Perhaps the eyes on the tournament that will have the added benefit of discouraging match fixing which has been a problem in past attempts to organise cricket leagues in Nepal.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2024112905110_d1817c8e82f476c20081dae3ba820c7f7305b8cfb095a97264915c6af50f3d60.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2024112905110_d1817c8e82f476c20081dae3ba820c7f7305b8cfb095a97264915c6af50f3d60" data-rendition-name="original" width="1440" height="1080" loading="lazy" alt="Nepal Premier League NT 3"> </figure>  The 2022-23 Nepal T20 league, sold to Indian sports management company Seven3Sports by CAN, saw individual cricketers approached by sports bettors to ‘spot-fix’ by getting out quickly or conceding a lot of runs when bowling. The large sums of money offered to the athletes by fixers is tempting, especially considering that salaries are not only low but sometimes unpaid. This led to an investigation from officials from the International Cricket Council, and cases filed against cricketers by the District Attorney’s Office in Kathmandu. The much wider coverage of this tournament should do better at discouraging corruption. Ticketing partner Khalti reports that tickets for the opening game are quickly selling out. The winning trophy was revealed at a ceremony at Dharara on Saturday. Marquee Players including Lamichhane, Rohit Paudel, Dipendra Singh Airee and Sompal Kami flanked Prime Minister KP Oli as he presented the cup: a large silver piece with an engraving of Mt Everest, topped by a stone from Kala Pattar (pictured).&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20241129041152_f37ca66b9e68f28ad9bf1ab6f7dc74314e71345b8b3a02794c62be9357fb08be.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20241129041152_f37ca66b9e68f28ad9bf1ab6f7dc74314e71345b8b3a02794c62be9357fb08be" data-rendition-name="original" width="1080" height="720" loading="lazy" alt="Nepal Premier League NPL NT 1"> </figure>  The tournament kicks off at 12:15PM on Saturday 30 November, with a game between the Biratnagar Kings and the Janakpur Bolts. Two games are scheduled almost every day until 16 December, with the first starting at 9:15AM and the second at 1:15PM. Playoffs start on 18 December with teams that end up third and fourth playing first, with the loser eliminated. The first and second play next, with the winner advancing to the final. The loser then plays the winner of the first match for a place in the final. This format, compared to a straight semifinal-final approach, rewards teams for having done better in the group stages, as teams 1 and 2 have multiple chances at reaching the grand finale on 21 December. A team to look out for is the Sudurpaschim Royals which is well-backed, with the most Facebook followers. Captained by popular national team all-rounder Dipendra Singh Airee, the Royals also have batsman Aarif Sheikh, bowler Abinash Bohara and Scottish all-rounder Brandon McMullen in their ranks.

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