<figure><img width="640" height="543" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141136/636bace59c7e80680e077f5djpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>As the global pandemic and shut-downs caused by COVID-19 ripple across the world, they have upset longstanding migration and employment patterns, bringing both challenges and opportunities.One major impact in Nepal is the sudden return of large numbers of migrant workers who have lost overseas employment due to the shrinkage of the global economy. Even if economies in host countries stabilise in the next couple of years, it could be another five before they invite workers back from Nepal. The government faces a major challenge as it attempts to steer returnees toward new livelihoods in Nepal. Which is why it is a good time to consider new ways of harnessing this returned labour pool.The past can inform the present. In 1959, large numbers of Tibetan refugees fleeing the Chinese takeover arrived in Nepal. Timely response to the crisis by development organisations and Nepal government led to the launch of Nepal’s <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18273" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id%3D18273&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1594484656005000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGixrG9UBfM4KVLAOWjfI4jeZV8XA">Tibetan carpet industry.</a> At its peak in 1993, the sector employed 1.2 million people and brought in one third of Nepal’s foreign currency earnings. The Swiss Red Cross and the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/So-far-so-good/a-serious-swiss-toni-hagen-nepal,888" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/So-far-so-good/a-serious-swiss-toni-hagen-nepal,888&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1594484656005000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGeujxlpuTHlcPU0o0okKcx3ZswBg">Swiss Agency for Technical Assistance</a> set up the Jawalakhel Handicraft Center to standardise designs and train weavers to provide jobs for the Tibetan refugees by building on their traditional weaving skills. Carpet centers were also set up in Pokhara, Dhorpatan and Solu Khumbu. The Swiss helped market the carpets in Switzerland, and demand for hand-knotted Tibetan carpets from Nepal spread to other European countries. In the late 1970s, upheavals in Iran and Afghanistan led European importers to source carpets from Nepal. Tibetan entrepreneurs took the lead in expanding production using refugee weavers, but it was not long before Nepali workers were trained to meet demand and Nepali entrepreneurs began to invest in the sector. How did the Tibetan refugee crisis become an economic opportunity? Perhaps this 60-year-old disruption and the livelihood opportunities for returnees it provided can be imitated as Nepal attempts to recover from the economic impacts of the pandemic, which includes an estimated 1.5 million migrants returning in the next few years.  One proposed sector is high-value agriculture on under-utilised land in the Tarai and mid-mountain valleys. A high percentage of the returnees come from farming families and are already familiar with the basics. They can acquire the skills required for high-value agriculture once they see the potential returns from growing vegetables and fruits or raising livestock. There is a large domestic market for agricultural products as well as potential for export to India. The amount of food Nepal imports from India annually provides a ready substitution market and the ecological niches provided by Nepal’s many micro-climates provide the opportunity for producing off-season fruits and vegetables which can be exported to India.  <img width="1500" height="1001" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109141136/636bace79c7e80680e077f5ejpeg.jpg" alt="">Increased horticulture production provides jobs to vegetable sellers and transporters. On the supply side, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/greens-from-nepal-in-qatars-desert/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/greens-from-nepal-in-qatars-desert/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1594484656005000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEQa3l5ql3HoZkCbvQY7J1OxU8LzQ">high-value agriculture</a> expands the markets for agrovets — small businesses which provide seeds, fertiliser and crop protection to farmers.  <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/preparing-for-nepals-returnees/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/preparing-for-nepals-returnees/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1594484656005000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEyIO43c6uQIWYUQYfZY0_40_jCOQ">Migrants returning from the Middle East and East Asia</a> have greater management and technical skills than the average population, as well as more financial resources. After living overseas for several years most <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/returnees-need-help-to-get-back-to-farming/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/returnees-need-help-to-get-back-to-farming/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1594484656005000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGtkV7y5GJnDpFLPlq2b8ww3iRQUg">migrants</a> are unlikely to be satisfied with going back to engage in subsistence agriculture in their family fields. Their limited savings will be insufficient to support their families, who have become accustomed to regular transfers of remittances, but the training they might receive from NGOs would enable them to engage in high-value agriculture. The experience of comprehensive agricultural value chain projects such as USAID’s Knowledge-based Integrated Sustainable Agriculture and Nutrition (KISAN II) demonstrates that there is plenty of room for growth in high-value agriculture in the country and there is proven capacity in-country to induct hundreds of thousands of new farmers into the sector. Well-designed development projects can leverage substantial resources from the migrants themselves. Land is currently underutilised in Nepal, with many farmers in the Tarai growing just one crop a year. With irrigation, three crops per year are possible. The government is moving forward with rules to prevent landlords from leaving land fallow and to clarify regulations around leasing of land which returnees can use for growing vegetables and other crops. In most parts of the Tarai, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/nepal-must-keep-water-on-its-land/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/nepal-must-keep-water-on-its-land/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1594484656005000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEgyOCIiZcTzfYiODi3ZF--Ouh_nA">groundwater</a> is accessible through shallow tube wells. The national grid has reached all municipalities in the Tarai and increasing numbers of farmers are able to use electricity for irrigation pumping. Farmers with small plots of up to one acre of land can purchase relatively low-cost solar pumps suitable for vegetables (typical cost is $600-$800), pay for them in monthly installments, or finance them through a 60% subsidy program of the <a href="https://www.aepc.gov.np/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.aepc.gov.np/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1594484656005000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEmzGjevzn66JziClyFuTn0efixFQ">Alternative Energy Promotion Center (AEPC).</a>We estimate that a total investment of $170 million by the Government of Nepal and donors would enable 250,000 farmers with an average of a third of an acre to generate over $2 billion in vegetable sales over five years, with $750 million in annual sales going forward. While the government’s investment of $500 per farmer would be used to reduce the cost of purchasing simple greenhouses and solar pumps, each returnee would spend around $1,540 on seeds, fertiliser, land leases and farm equipment. We anticipate that donors would need to invest around $180 per farmer for training and linkages with private companies, which can supply inputs as well as sustainably market and process what farmers produce. With such programs in place, returning workers would find it much easier to reintegrate into their communities and, if history is any guide, Nepal could find itself with a profitable new market. Bikash Pandey is Winrock International’s Director of Clean Energy. Praveen Baidya is Deputy Chief of Party/Finance of Agriculture and Volunteer Programs at <a href="https://www.winrock.org/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.winrock.org/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1594484656005000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFgo7UYC25v8nVYwsYmRUEwy5JL4g">Winrock International.</a>

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Ways Nepal can rebound from COVID-19

During the United National General Assembly in New York in September, US President Trump devoted much more time to a conference on his new initiative to set up an International Religious Freedom Alliance than to a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/climate-summit-leads-packed-un-agenda/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Climate Summit</a>.The alliance is supposed to bring together ‘like-minded countries … to defend the unalienable rights of all human beings to believe, or not to believe, whatever it is that they choose’.The person Trump handpicked to be Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, former Kansas governor Sam Brownback, was in Kathmandu this weekend to meet government officials, religious leaders, and inspect the US Embassy-funded repairs on the Krishna Mandir damaged in the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/piece-by-piece-patan-darbar-square-reconstruction,3782/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">2015 earthquake</a>.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108181140/636a953e9c7e80680e05dbf7jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2048" height="1536"/>Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback with Foreign Minister Pradeep Gyawali during his visit to Nepal. Photo: SAM BROWNBACK/TWITTERGiven the increasing <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-now-has-to-balance-not-just-india-and-china-but-also-the-west/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">polarisation between the United States and China</a>, Nepali Times asked him in an interview if his trip was more about Tibet and less about Nepal.“This visit is about Nepal. It has Tibet ties, because Nepal is a major transit point for <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/earthquake-brings-back-memories-of-camps-for-tibetan-refugees" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tibetan refugees</a>, and Nepal has historically been very good about letting them come and transit,” Brownback replied. “Some of that has slowed under pressure from the Chinese, and I had some discussions with the Foreign Minister and others about it.”Isn’t US criticism of religious persecution in rival powers like China harsher than on geopolitical allies? Brownback makes a distinction between state-sponsored persecution of minorities in some countries like China, and rising communal tensions as in <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/saffron-surge-politics,3619" target="_blank" rel="noopener">India</a>. Besides, he added, the US is critical of religious persecution in Saudi Arabia despite it being a key ally.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108181140/636a95419c7e80680e05dbf8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="800" height="534"><figcaption>From left, Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback, US Ambassador to Nepal Randy Berry, Mayor of Patan Chiribabu Maharjan and Director of Kathmandu Valley Preservation Trust Rohit Ranjitkar oversee repairs on Krishna Mandir damaged in the 2015 earthquake. Photo: RANDY BERRY/TWITTER</figcaption></figure>“We are sensitive to the criticism, and we try to make all our calls in this area factually based,” says Brownback, who was on a tour of the region that included Kathmandu, Dharmashala and Bangkok. “That is why we want to get the International Religious Freedom Alliance up because we would like a much larger group internationally that would push and establish some basic standards.”However, is it not a bit awkward for an American official to be going around the world preaching religious tolerance given what is happening back home?“I usually raise it myself,” replied Brownback, who was governor of Kansas when two Indians were shot in his state. “I have had Jewish people killed, or white supremacists come after <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/naples-bound-somalis-find-themselves-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Somalis</a>, but in each case I went out of my way to be assure those communities this does not represent American values. Religious freedom is in our DNA, we were founded by successive waves of people fleeing religious persecution.”Brownback admitted that the United States is serious about protecting religious freedom, learning lessons from its own history: “We are an example of how difficult this is to do. We have own tragic past in the way we treated minorities. And if you get it wrong, religious differences are a real rocket fuel to propel angry mobs.”A recent international Pew survey showed that 80% of the world’s population lived in a religiously restricted environment. Religious persecution, intolerance, as well as manipulation of religion is on the rise around the world.“We believe that everybody everywhere is entitled to do with their own soul what they want to do. This is their fundamental right,” Brownback said, “and a government’s role is to protect religious freedom not to manipulate religion.”Brownback was appreciative of Nepal being an open society compared to other countries in the region. “I want to really tip my hat to the Nepali people who have fought to maintain this openness.”However he added: “The erosion of the practice (of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/four-year-itch/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the constitution</a>) is concerning to us. You want religious freedom, but also social harmony. Religion is a fundamental human right. If you are qualifying it, that is when I start raising questions, this is not a long-term sustainable path given how much integration is taking place in the world.”Brownback does not like the word ‘<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2016/02/03/rethinking-secularism/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">secularism</a>’, and being a person of faith, says he is prefers to work for a society where there is the freedom to practice all religions peacefully.He also has no patience with conversion using coercion and inducements, and says he has told officials in India and Nepal bribing people to convert is a no-no. “If you know of groups doing that, I hope you will tell us about it,” he said.But what Brownback said he is most worried about is those in power using religion to fan populism. “Faith can be wonderful, but it can be manipulated, and that can be very dangerous. Religion has not declined as a flashpoint, in fact it has increased. Why should a government protect a faith? Shouldn’t a government protect a right? It is your choice what you decide with your soul.”

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US pushes international religious freedom alliance

Fenerbahçe Beko won the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague finals in Abu Dhabi, held 23-25 May, defeating Monaco 81-70 in the final. Olympiacos, who defeated Panathinaikos 97-93, finished the series in third place. The Most Valuable Player (MVP) of the final match, Nigel Hayes-Davis from Fenerbahçe Beko, received a prize of 1,000,000 Miles&amp;Smiles from Turkish Airlines’ Chief Commercial Officer Ahmet Olmuştur. The carrier has been the title sponsor of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, a top tier tournament, since 2010.

Turkish Basketball

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

The Last Days of the Khampa

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

Turkish to Seville

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

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