<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Tsum-valley-even-more-difficult-reach-with-earthquake-and-monsoon,2441">The sacred valley of Tsum</a> lies in the Himalayan rain shadow behind Ganesh Himal, and has set an example for harmonious coexistence between human beings and nature. Much of this do no harm philosophy emanates from the belief of the people there in Tibetan Buddhism and in particular the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/bon-voyage">animist Bön faith</a> which they share with many other secluded valleys in the Himalayas. Tsum Valley is only 60km on a straight line northwest of Kathmandu in Upper Gorkha district on the border with China. It comprises two local wards: Chumchet and Chhekampar under the Chum (Tsum) Nubri rural municipality. <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/nation-road-from-nowhere-to-nowhere,549">Tsum Valley</a> was not always a peaceful place. More than 100 years ago, legend has it, a major conflict arose between two communities and when it became impossible to resolve it internally, the Tsumpa invited a high-profile monk from Dragkar monastery in Tibet. They also summoned the Drukpa Lama Ngawang Palsang from Bhutan who at the time was also residing at Dragkar.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023101912104_216e00b87f56991be20b881b99352305716b628c093c9381cfb1859734f45c5b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="2023101912104_216e00b87f56991be20b881b99352305716b628c093c9381cfb1859734f45c5b" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Tsum Valley in Nepal NT"> <figcaption>Mani walls along the fields of Tsum.</figcaption> </figure>  The Drukpa Rinpoche resolved the conflict successfully, and is also credited for advising local people to adapt to drought, famine and pestilence which was happening frequently at the time. Locals were so pleased that they asked Drukpa Rinpoche to reside permanently in Tsum, who in return got the people to adopt a communal edict for peace and harmony with nature, thereby establishing the tradition of Shargya in 1920. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-courage-and-endurance-of-the-langtangpa">The courage and endurance of the Langtangpa</a>, Austin Lord The term Shargya means (hundreds of) commitments taken by the people or community collectively. It was put into writing on a wood block in Tibetan script and then thumb printed. They were:&nbsp; 1. No to slaughtering (of animals, or humans) 2. No setting traps (hunting) 3. No bee-keeping 4. No selling of domestic animals for commercial purpose (mostly to Tibet and lower valleys)  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2023101912108_968ea2c1199f4b4a9cc6bd007a537b4fee1fa6c57721eafef9bd880a894d5562.jpg" data-media-id="editor_5" data-image-id="2023101912108_968ea2c1199f4b4a9cc6bd007a537b4fee1fa6c57721eafef9bd880a894d5562" data-rendition-name="original" width="1125" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="Tsum Valley in Nepal NT"> </figure>  This indigenous knowledge holds its origin from the ethic of Tibetan Buddhism, and is similar to the non-violence practiced in <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-greening-of-the-khumbu">Khumbu</a> and other Himalayan valleys. In the few select communities of the neighbouring valley of upper Nubri below <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=13693">Mt Manaslu</a>, local monks have intervened to stop the slaughter and consumption of livestock as well as a blanket ban on wildlife hunting. The Shargya tradition in Tsum has withstood the test of time and evolved through different historical phases. It saw war and conflict when Tsum Valley became the launching pad for Khampa guerrilla raids on the Chinese military in the 1960s. The 1966 documentary ‘<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7805632/">Raid into Tibet</a>’ by George Patterson and Adrian Cowell showed the two British journalists sneaking into Tsum to make the film, aided by the Khampa fighters.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231019121016_22033d7474fe455d5524930bbc74b882e2657de3871664aff46057f3a681d76e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="20231019121016_22033d7474fe455d5524930bbc74b882e2657de3871664aff46057f3a681d76e" data-rendition-name="original" width="698" height="501" loading="lazy" alt="Tsum Valley in Nepal"> </figure>  Today, surviving elders recall the violence of the time. It did not just affect the livelihood of locals, it also violated the Shargya ethos because the guerrillas slaughtered many yaks and wildlife. Following the defeat of the Khampa by the Royal Nepal Army, Nepal’s border police post was set up in Tsum in the 1970s. But while the move lessened the influence of the guerrillas, there was a language barrier between locals and the lowland police who were unaware of the region's non-violent tradition.&nbsp; This was eventually resolved after the Shargya edict was translated into Nepali. The 2015 Constitution drafting exercise and the introduction of the ILO convention on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention also played a role in the local people embracing their century–old tradition. People of Tsum consider Shargya an everyday practice handed down over generations. It is a way of living that brings positive change within individuals, as well as in the external environment.&nbsp; The idea is not to commit harm on other sentient beings and nature on which they depend. Shargya is a communal edict, a certain set of oaths taken by people. If violated, people will need to pay a fine.&nbsp; The decision to declare Chumchet (lower Tsum) as Shargya territory and the 2012 Tsum Shargya Festival cemented the tradition. Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai attended the festival to sign the Shargya ethos declaring Chumchet and Chhekamapar as zones of non-violence, and a Shargya preservation committee was formed.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231019121012_0cbd9f2b1afacc421550ccdcdb8c74a357af71fdbd58e0f0f21daf1b5a7e8d9a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20231019121012_0cbd9f2b1afacc421550ccdcdb8c74a357af71fdbd58e0f0f21daf1b5a7e8d9a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Tsum Valley in Nepal NT"> <figcaption>Tsum festival signing ceremony by founder reincarnate Drukpa Rinpoche in 2012.</figcaption> </figure>  The committee teaches the younger generation about the tradition, and also patrols the area to prevent hunting, animal slaughter, deforestation, and wildfires. If there is an extreme violation of the norms, an individual can even be exiled from the valley. Committee members are rotated every five years, and a centennial celebration slated for 2020 had to be postponed due to the pandemic.&nbsp; Locals say the indigenous edict in creating a peaceful, harmonious and resilient community has helped adapt to the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/climate-change-is-a-disaster-in-the-nepal-himalaya">climate crisis</a>.&nbsp; They say the region has never suffered a severe drought, famine or major conflict after the introduction of Shargya. They say individual behaviour change from Shargya ethos has helped create a balanced coexistence between humans, &nbsp;nature and sentient beings. Farmers in Tsum do not use chemical pesticides, they minimise the use of plastic. Locals also worship the mountains and rocky cliffs as their protectors, and treat water, forest and wildlife as invaluable divine treasures.&nbsp; Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/the-organic-uncle-of-chitwan">The 'Organic Uncle' of Chitwan</a>, Anita Bhetwal As a result, trekkers and visitors to Tsum Valley today see freely roaming wildlife such as the Blue Sheep, the Himalayan Tahr, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/trekking-to-save-nepals-snow-leopards">Snow Leopard</a> and Black Bears in the villages and farms, unafraid of humans.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20231019121012_f8da4618c7f0484fc9aff18b95059f55218086a6832a85ba6f0f522125553c5f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="20231019121012_f8da4618c7f0484fc9aff18b95059f55218086a6832a85ba6f0f522125553c5f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="967" loading="lazy" alt="Tsum Valley in Nepal NT"> </figure>  However, despite its remoteness, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/building-back-a-beyul-in-tsum">Beyul Kyimolun</a> is not a hidden valley anymore. There are challenges arising from <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/new-high-way-to-dolpo">haphazard tourism and road construction</a>.&nbsp; But people are also promoting homestays and small guesthouses over modern amenities. Responsible tourism complemented by the indigenous culture has further cemented Shargya as a unique and resilient tradition. Tsum Valley today teaches us how an intergenerational commitment can change the world for the better at a time when people are more individualistic than ever before. It is a perfect blend of religious practice and a social construct, preparing the community for the changes and crises to come.&nbsp; Pema Norbu Lama is a research associate and social entrepreneur from Tsum Valley.&nbsp; This article was written prior to the recently held Tsum Centenary Festival and therefore might lack certain updated information of the communal edict. Please refer to pocket book prepared by the organising community for updated information.

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Do no harm

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016114/636d12e09c7e80680e0a98f8jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"/><figcaption>All photos: DAVID POKORNY</figcaption></figure>I was initially preparing to run the 2021 <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/everest-trail-repaired-during-pandemic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Everest Trail</a> Race following the 2019 Annapurna Marathon and another trip in 2016. The race was canceled because of the pandemic, but when Nepal re-opened to vaccinated tourists I immediately grabbed the opportunity to trek, since there would be <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/hiking-in-the-himalaya-during-covid-19/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">only few other travellers</a> on the otherwise usually over-crowded trekking trails. I had to move fast to get all the shots, tests, visas and Covid forms to get to Nepal on 7 October.I have kept returning to Nepal, true to the country’s former tourism slogan: ‘Once Is Not Enough’. What draws me here is the hospitality and kindness of the people, the rich cultural heritage, and of course the superb scenery.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016114/636d12e59c7e80680e0a98f9jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1920" height="1080"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016114/636d12e99c7e80680e0a98fajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="842" height="508">The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/tracing-past-glacial-floods-in-kangchenjunga/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">glaciers and high mountain ecosystem</a> are feeling the threat of global warming, but the isolation of being in Nepal‘s Himalayas is unparalleled. And it is even more isolated because of the slump in tourism internationally.Trekking in Nepal, you get to challenge yourself on the best (and some of the hardest) hiking trails in the world. No wonder Nepal is repeatedly listed by the Lonely Planet as a top destination, as it did also for 2022.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016114/636d12ed9c7e80680e0a98fbjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>This time around, I wanted to go solo, fast, high and far. I wanted to be where few other trekkers go. So with the trek company that took care of me on my previous trips, we created a customised itinerary and on 11 October set forth with three guides and porters.We headed east to the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/remembering-nepals-conservation-heroes/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kangchenjunga Conservation Area</a> on Nepal’s northeastern tip, and below the world’s third-highest mountain.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016114/636d12f19c7e80680e0a98fcjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="5087" height="2861"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016114/636d12f59c7e80680e0a98fdjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="4000" height="3000"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Lodgings on <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/page/go-eat-to-kanchenjunga" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the Kangchenjunga trail</a> are more basic than those on the Annapurna Circuit, but it is more authentic. Rooms and food are simple, there are no printed menus. The dal bhat is the staple, with at least one meal a day. We ate by the warm kitchen fire, often sitting on the floor.We trekked higher along a rumbling, roaring river and passed waterfalls, streams and other glacier-fed rivers. At Kambachen, a wide-open view showed evidence of receding glaciers all around. Near Lhonak, a lake with icebergs marked the point where the Kanchenjunga Glacier was calving.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016114/636d12f99c7e80680e0a98fejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2880" height="2160"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016114/636d12fd9c7e80680e0a98ffjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1620" height="1080"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016114/636d13019c7e80680e0a9900jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1620" height="1080"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016114/636d13049c7e80680e0a9901jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1620" height="1080"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The glaciers flowing down from Kanchenjunga and Jhinsang merge here, and it is an awe-inspiring place to be with its primal, unspoilt beauty. We were the only people there.Next, the high passes of Nango La and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/the-lumba-sumba-passage/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Lumba Sumba</a> were the hardest part of the trek. Very few people had used the Nango La trail in the recent past. At the Yangma River a crew from Olangchun Gola was replacing a washed out bridge to reopen the route. They tied four logs roughly together and then walked over the Yangma. This sure makes Nepal an adventure destination in the true sense of the word.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016114/636d13089c7e80680e0a9902jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1620" height="1080"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>On 19 October were pelted by heavy post-monsoon rain in Olanchung Gola, the snow was deep at  higher elevations so we added two porters with tents and kitchen for the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/a-personal-encyclopaedia-of-the-himalaya/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Lumba Sumba traverse</a>. We camped on new snow at Pass Camp and then began a hard 10 hour push breaking trail up to the pass.As daylight faded, we dug a snow shelf at 5,159 meters and made camp. The next morning’s sunrise view of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/crystal-clear-air-makes-the-peaks-of-the-eastern-himalaya-visible-from-the-nepal-tarai/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Kanchenjunga</a> to the east and Mt Everest to the west was other-worldly. The trek team’s determination and confidence made the Lumba Sumba crossing possible.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016114/636d130c9c7e80680e0a9903jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="920" height="613"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016114/636d130f9c7e80680e0a9904jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1620" height="1080"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>It felt like a family dinner the next evening on the other side of the pass, when six of us snuggled into sleeping bags on the kitchen floor and benches of our Thudam home-stay.Trekking has highs and lows, and the next day was the worst. It is impossible to enjoy a long day on a muddy slippery trail with leeches clinging to your pants. You just have to keep on walking with the prospect of a cold beer at our Chyamtang lodge beckoning us.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016114/636d13129c7e80680e0a9905jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1620" height="1080"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>The final challenge was crossing the Arun, up to Shipton La to <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=190#.YZDY2WBByUk" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Makalu Base Camp</a>. At Num, I said thanks and goodbye to the porters and camping equipment. Only three of us would carry on. There were more trekkers on the Makalu Trail, and several were Nepali families who spoke English. More and more Nepalis are trekking now, and making up for the absence of international tourists.There are two things about Makalu that were remarkable: the trail steps from Tashigaon to Dobato. Nepali engineers build the best and safest trail steps. Both uphill and down I try to hold a quick pace. My heart is racing, and I literally yip and shout with joy at the challenge.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016114/636d13169c7e80680e0a9906jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1620" height="1080"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016114/636d13199c7e80680e0a9907jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1620" height="1080"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Pemba Ringin Sherpa and Lakpa Kipa Sherpa own the Langmale Kharka and Base Camp lodges on Makalu who kept the lodges open despite the deep snow just for us. Lakpa welcomed us with a warm stove, delicious dal bat and a can of Tuborg. Their kindness gave me more joy than photographing the Milky Way over Makalu, or seeing a bright, crisp sunrise the next morning.Nepal, I will keep coming back. Next year, it will be Manaslu and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/building-back-a-beyul-in-tsum/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Tsum Valley</a>.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016114/636d131d9c7e80680e0a9908jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="2000" height="1500"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2022111016114/636d13229c7e80680e0a9909jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="3289" height="1850"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>David Pokorny is a 54-year-old American traveller. His nickname in Nepal, ‘Poko’, means ‘pack’.

Himalayan highs

<figure><img width="3264" height="2448" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121148/636ce5b89c7e80680e096727jpeg.jpg" alt="wooden frame if the new school in bihi"/><figcaption>The school in Bihi that was destroyed in the 2015 earthquake being reconstructed using traditional building methods and designs. Photos: Sonam Lama</figcaption></figure>I was born and raised in Tsum Nubri’s Chhokangparo village in Upper Gorkha, the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/life-times/In-the-Mountain,181">holy valley famous for its Kyiumolung pilgrimage</a>. From when I was in primary school, we used to look up to the mountain above us that we called Lombo.It was only after I came to the city for my higher studies, that I realised the peak above my village is also visible from Kathmandu where people call it Ganesh Himal.From Kathmandu I went on to study architecture in Germany and graduated from the School of Architecture at the Technische Universität Darmstadt in Germany, and at the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya in Spain.  I returned not just to Nepal, but to the land of my birth—drawn by a spiritual connection to the holy beyul valley where every monastery, mani wall, khanyi carries a centuries of history and culture.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YLjrnoXUN4The <a href="http://nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=9268#.USXvvB2LA1s">Guru Rimpoche </a>is said to have visited Tsum and there is even a cave where the Mila Repa meditated in the caves of Pirenphug. Tsum is truly a beyul, a hidden valley of such tranquility and beauty that it makes mortals contemplate eternity and transcend to a higher spiritual plane.  <img width="559" height="278" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121148/636ce5bb9c7e80680e096728jpeg.jpg" alt="">The 120km sacred <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=2489#.YH0N6-4zaUl">Kyiumolung circumambulation</a> in Nepal and Tibet of Siringi Himal is now not possible because of the difficulties in travelling to China, but pilgrims still do the partial trek on the Nepal side.Since returning, I have campaigned to preserve the culture and heritage of the Tsum and Nubri valleys, actively trying to shelve plans to build a road that I felt would destroy our traditional way of life and everything that is precious to us. Haphazard highways are causing irreversible damage to the culture, nature, and economy of Nepal’s remote valleys. Driven by greed and graft, roads are being built where one already exists, and where they destroy the region’s culture and tourism prospects. The <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Nation-road-from-nowhere-to-nowhere,549">Tsum road</a> will bulldoze chortens, mani walls and settlements because the alignment would have to follow the foot trails along the narrow valley. Our way of life, language, culture is different from other parts of Nepal. It has been passed down to us through generations by our ancestors and we are duty bound to protect them. We are just temporary custodians of this heritage. We may not be able to improve on what they left us, but we have to at least try to protect it. <figure><img width="6591" height="2592" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121148/636ce5bc9c7e80680e096729jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>I have travelled across the world, and am convinced that Tsum Valley is unique in many respects, and not because my family is from there. As an architect, for instance, I can see that the method of construction of old houses here is suited to local conditions, uses materials such as stone, bamboo, timber and blends with the high-Himalayan environment. All this richness lay in ruins after the 25 April 2015 earthquake. I was in Kathmandu then, and immediately set off on the four-day walk to Tsum along trails that had been wiped out by huge rockfalls. I was devastated, but was determined to do what I could towards reconstruction and rehabilitation.First, I trekked across the valley to assess the damage to the houses, monasteries, trails and bridges. I talked to local builders about their traditional construction methods which had been passed down from the generation before them.I met village elders, and took their advice about seismic resistant construction methods. The challenge was to try to preserve traditional building methods and designs, while making the structures strong enough to withstand future shocks. <img width="350" height="475" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121148/636ce5c09c7e80680e09672ajpeg.jpg" alt="">This was not as easy as it sounded. For example, the new plans had to conform to the government’s 17 listed designs for reconstruction to be eligible for the Rs300,000 grant. None of the designs were suitable for Tsum Valley, neither in terms of material, nor of traditional space requirements. This made my job even more complicated. We concentrated on rebuilding schools and health posts first using designs that matched local architectural traditions, while being earthquake resistant.  <figure><img width="4032" height="3024" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121148/636ce5c39c7e80680e09672bjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Delays due to the government bureaucracy was expected, and it was a given. Even after the designs for the Bihi school reconstruction was completed, for example, it took a year for approval from Kathmandu. We had adhered to every parameter laid down by the government and sourced local materials. We chiseled stones in the traditional way, used the lighter and softer ones  for walls, using longer stones for the middle of the wall sections, known as kyangur or jakkhuyuk. <img width="347" height="462" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121148/636ce5c79c7e80680e09672cjpeg.jpg" alt="">In other places we used overlapping stones called noljyak, and employed only experienced masons. We raised the walls 0.8m above the ground and used treated wooden bands at the plinth, sill, lintel and roof levels, trying them at the corners to wooden members called nas. We changed the gable end walls to timber to lighten the structure.The other areas where we departed from traditional design were in the roof timber trusses. Traditional flagstone and slate roofs were heavy and required thick beams and rafters to support them, which made them unstable during quakes. We also secured the truss by gabion wire to the foundation so the light corrugated metal roofing stays safe from winter snowstorms. <figure><img width="3264" height="2448" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110121148/636ce5c99c7e80680e09672djpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>We also used traditional technique of seismic resistant construction with timber-only design for schools which has a wooden frame inside stone masonry envelope called nang che. In 2015, the timber frame prevented the complete collapse of a building in Shya La in Nubri even though the outer stone walls fell down.Since the classrooms also had to be acoustically sealed, in the Bihi school we filled the gap between wooden wall panels with sawdust to reduce noise, and also insulate the rooms from the cold. By using local materials we were not just preserving traditional architecture, village artisans and carpenters also got jobs, and nearly forgotten building techniques were revived.  Interns from my universities in Germany and Spain have travelled to Tsum and Nubri to see for themselves what we built, and learnt about local Nepali culture as well as the reconstruction process.Despite obstacles we have now handed over the schools and health post buildings in Bihi and Chumling to local communities. Sonam Lama is a native of Tsum Valley and an architect currently pursuing Hubert H Humphrey Fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States.

Building back a beyul in Tsum

It hit me like a shock wave. The world stopped, leaving me completely alone and lost.It was the morning of the 15 June, 2017. “Your liver has developed lesions, the markings of a cancer,” said the doctor in a solemn voice. “You will need a liver transplant if you want to survive.”Finally, I could speak. “How much would that cost?” I asked. He answered my question with a question of his own: “Do you have 40 lakhs?”I am from the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/life-times/In-the-Mountain,181" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/life-times/In-the-Mountain,181&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1586838472024000&amp;usg=AFQjCNF57N9j1saKeGZu4RJOOUvu2PRdJQ">Tsum Valley</a>, and the first generation from my family that went to school. I have always wanted to be an agent of positive change in my society and country, and to build a better future for the sacred valley where I was born.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121112/636b8b749c7e80680e06b29djpeg.jpg" alt="" width="684" height="618"/><figcaption>Rinzin Norbu Lama on documentary filming assignment in 2013.</figcaption></figure><a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Tsum-valley-even-more-difficult-reach-with-earthquake-and-monsoon,2441" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Tsum-valley-even-more-difficult-reach-with-earthquake-and-monsoon,2441&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1586838472024000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHgEPkGm_gmS6O31vSt6MYPsc6fDQ">During 2015 earthquake</a>, I helped coordinate <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/mycity/2015/06/14/its-all-logistics/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/mycity/2015/06/14/its-all-logistics/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1586838472024000&amp;usg=AFQjCNE1uqcCvP51rL9vfEtQ_KlZNOWx1A">rescue and relief services and provide essential supplies</a> to remote Tsum Nubri communities. That is why in 2017 I was nominated by the Naya Shakti Party as a candidate for mayor for my rural municipality in Tsum. Campaigning was not easy, I had to walk up and down the mountains to meet constituents, we ate whatever we found, and slept wherever we could.For years, I made a living guiding trekkers through the remote mountains of my beyul. They would often be out of breath climbing the high trails, but I was never exhausted myself. The campaigning should have made me more fit, but I felt strangely weak. Something was not right with my body.After the elections, I walked four days to reach Kathmandu to see my doctor. I had to find a matching organ donor. And where would I find Rs4 million?From Kathmandu, the news of the diagnosis spread through my village. A young monk from Tsum sent me a message, offering to donate a lobe of his liver. With his act of kindness came hope, encouragement, and a raised possibility that I might make it.Unfortunately, he was not a compatible match. A friend offered. Then another. Indeed, I found out there are many kind and selfless people out there, and felt honoured and grateful for their bodhichitta compassion.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121112/636b8b769c7e80680e06b29ejpeg.jpg" alt="" width="406" height="583"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>But I learnt that Nepal’s law only allowed close relatives to be organ  donors. This made it next to impossible for me to have a life-saving operation in my own country. But then a miracle happened.My own brother, a Buddhist Lama came forward as a donor and he was a match. This man with a pure and compassionate heart offered to save my life by giving me a part of his.Given the stage of my disease, it was not possible to have the surgery in Nepal, and I had to go to India. But first, I had to make it through all the government red tape. It took three weeks to first prove my citizenship, then prepare and present documents to the district office and its health department. I had to obtain a no objection letter from the medical board, and then collect documents from the Ministry of Health, Foreign Affairs, and the Embassy of Nepal in New Delhi.In the meantime, my liver was deteriorating. Then there was the issue about money. My godfather and mother, who once funded my education in Kathmandu, stepped in once more to raise the money to pay for my medical costs.Through my <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/liver-transplant-for-rinzin-lama" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.gofundme.com/f/liver-transplant-for-rinzin-lama&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1586838472024000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFtT23NdKE1vN88wjed6vmbPxZutA">go-fund me campaign</a>, people from all walks of life supported me emotionally and financially, making my transplant possible. It reinforces my belief that life is all about love and compassion.I live near Swayambhu, and I can feel the spiritual energy of the shrine every day. While in India for the treatment, I took the 10 hour journey to Dharmasala and met His Holiness the Dalai Lama. His words “I will bless you and pray for you” lifted my spirits, making me feel physically stronger. His personal <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/traditional-tibetan-medicine-gets-global-following-but-not-government-support,2604" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/traditional-tibetan-medicine-gets-global-following-but-not-government-support,2604&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1586838472024000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHg3rlGDvRml-ny7E9j0xjQq0NEaQ">Amchi</a> gave me traditional medicine using Sowa-Rigpa.<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121112/636b8b789c7e80680e06b29fjpeg.jpg" alt="" width="541" height="528"><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>It has been a year and a half now since my transplant. But in March, I had symptoms of jaundice which meant my liver was not functioning as it should. On the day after Nepal went into COVID-19 lockdown, I was admitted into Teaching Hospital.I was under high immune suppression medication, but was kept in the Emergency Room for six hours, at risk of opportunistic infections. In the evening they sent me to a COVID-19 isolation room even though I had not been tested, and had no fever or symptoms. A COVID-19 patient was nearby, coughing.After complaining to the nurse and doctor-in-charge, they finally moved me to a general ward. There is no teamwork in this hospital, the level of care was poor and ad hoc. The patient next to me had TB. Soon enough, I contracted pneumonia. I was rescued from the hospital just in time, and am recovering at the home of my American god-parents near Kathmandu.Among the many lessons I have learnt from my ordeal is that Nepal needs to revise its laws. Many patients and their families are already struggling with their illness and lack of money, the least the state can do is make the paperwork easier.The law about limiting organ donors to immediate family was made to prevent commercial organ trade, but what if there are willing donors who are not family, like in my case?It is also the responsibility of the state to make transplants affordable and accessible. I wish <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/prime-ministers-health-condition-under-wraps/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/prime-ministers-health-condition-under-wraps/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1586838472024000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFMA3h9h_QAz0z4zvm0Nb1MB_mWKQ">Prime Minister K P Oli a speedy recovery</a> from his second kidney transplant, but he may not be aware of how difficult it is to navigate the bureaucracy for a transplant in this country.I do not want others to go through what I did. The disease is bad enough, but for ordinary people like us everything is made much more difficult. The government needs to amend its laws and policies to allow affordable transplants in state-of-the-art facilities, so Nepalis do not have to go abroad. It would save costs for patient families, and prevent large amounts of money from leaving the country.There are many who emotionally, physically and financially helped me through this process, and I cannot thank them enough. Especially my soulmate Chand, who left her job and family to be with me in Delhi. I pray for the long life of all of these incredibly generous people. They have given me a ray of hope as I experience and explore the impermanence of life. It has no beginning and no end. Our body is a host and the soul lives on forever.Rinzin Norbu Lama is a documentary filmmaker and youth politician from Samajbadi Party Nepal. <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/liver-transplant-for-rinzin-lama" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.gofundme.com/f/liver-transplant-for-rinzin-lama&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1586838472024000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFtT23NdKE1vN88wjed6vmbPxZutA">https://www.gofundme.com/f/liver-transplant-for-rinzin-lama</a>Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Tsum-valley-even-more-difficult-reach-with-earthquake-and-monsoon,2441" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Tsum-valley-even-more-difficult-reach-with-earthquake-and-monsoon,2441&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1586838472024000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHgEPkGm_gmS6O31vSt6MYPsc6fDQ">Even more secluded sanctuary by Rinzin Norbu Lama</a><a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Nepali-Times-Buzz-Yarsagumba-Tsum-Valley,726" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Nepali-Times-Buzz-Yarsagumba-Tsum-Valley,726&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1586838472024000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHMscBazr3REpVJNfd85WJlreqmDw">One day in the life of Mingmar by Rinzin Norbu Lama</a>

Living with cancer during the coronavirus

India and Pakistan are twins separated at birth. Tensions between them have been at a hair trigger ever since independence and has erupted into full scale conflict at least four times in the past 80 years.
The 22 April terrorist attack in Kashmir that killed 25 Indian tourists and a Nepali citizen, threatens to escalate tension between the two nuclear-armed nations. India has squarely blamed Pakistan for the attacks, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given his military “operational freedom” to respond. Pakistan has said it has credible intelligence of an Indian military strike and its officials have promised a “full spectrum” response — a code for a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/thinking-the-thinkable">nuclear retaliation</a>.
For Nepal, the killing of its national in the Pahalgam attack comes as another stark reminder that in conflicts from Afghanistan to Iraq, from <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/how-to-agree-an-armistice-in-ukraine">Ukraine</a> to Israel, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/10-nepalis-from-one-town-fighting-in-ukraine">Nepalis are getting caught in the crossfire</a>. The last time full-scale fighting broke out between <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/peacemongers-at-india-pakistan-border">India and Pakistan</a> on Kargil in 1999, at least 22<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/india-s-trial-by-fire-for-soldiers-from-nepal?%27%5C%22="> Nepalis fighting for the Indian Army</a> were killed in action.
Three of Nepal’s immediate neighbours (China, India, Pakistan) have nuclear weapons, and they do not have good relations. With China supplying weapons, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/war-and-warming">missile technology</a> and other support to Pakistan, this triangular friction could set off a regional conflagration.&nbsp;
<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s43016-022-00573-0" target="_blank">Research at Rutgers University</a> has calculated that even a week-long tactical nuclear exchange between India and Pakistan would throw up so much smoke and debris into the atmosphere that it would block out the sun for years, and lead to a collapse of the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/grow-nourish-sustain-together-world-food-day">global food system</a>. This does not take into account the radioactive fallout that prevailing winds would blow up to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/lives-on-the-line-in-the-himalaya">the Himalaya</a>, contaminating glaciers that are the sources of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/saving-what-is-left-of-himalayan-rivers">Asia’s main rivers</a>.
The impact of <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/climate-breakdown-linked-to-thame-flood">climate breakdown </a>on High Asia was already ringing alarm bells about its <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/himalayan-icecap-melting-faster-than-thought">shrinking ice cap</a> reducing the dry season flow of water downstream. Water was going to be the next strategic commodity, geopolitical experts warned, and the next wars in Asia would be over water.
That water war is already happening. India retaliated to the Kashmir attack by suspending the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/24/world/asia/india-pakistan-indus-waters-treaty.html" target="_blank">Indus Waters Treaty</a> of 1960 mediated by the World Bank that has withstood at least three wars between India and Pakistan. The treaty gives India control over the three eastern tributaries of the Indus (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beas_River" target="_blank">Beas</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ravi_River" target="_blank">Ravi</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutlej" target="_blank">Sutlej</a>), while Pakistan got water from the Indus and two of its western tributaries (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indus_River" target="_blank">Indus</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chenab_River" target="_blank">Chenab</a> and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jhelum_River" target="_blank">Jhelum</a>.
Pakistan was assured of 70% of the annual flow, and India could use a reasonable amount of water for<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15231"> irrigation and hydropower</a>. &nbsp;Within days of its threat, India stopped water flowing down to Pakistan from the Chenab river and is reportedly preparing to do the same on the Jhelum.
The sabre-rattling has reached a crescendo. Besides threats and counter-threats there are also symbolic drills, with the Indian Air Force practicing landing on an expressway in Uttar Pradesh by its Rafale, Su-30 and Jaguar fighter jets to demonstrate ‘operational readiness’. In response Pakistan test-fired its Abdali ballistic missile that can carry a nuclear warhead and has a range of 450km.&nbsp;
The danger is that with ultra-nationalist rhetoric and the beating the war drums by both sides, India’s government and Pakistan’s military may have to ‘do something’ to appease domestic public opinion. But any tactical strike, an artillery exchange, or territorial incursion could quickly escalate out of control.
Expecting an Indian retaliation for the Pahalgam killings, Pakistan is using<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/interfaith-collaboration-for-nuclear-disarmament"> nuclear deterrence </a>and warning of “catastrophic consequences”. The two neighbours came close to a nuclear exchange in 2019 after an attack on the Indian military in Kashmir, and prompt international intervention led by the United States cooled tensions.&nbsp;
This time, the <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/trump-shock-wave-hits-nepal">Trump administration</a> is too distracted and not as engaged. Pakistan has denied it was responsible for the terrorist attack and called on Washington to stop a possible Indian retaliation. India and Pakistan have stopped overflights by each other’s airlines, and some international carriers have even stopped flying over Pakistan fearing an air war.
Washington, Beijing, the UN and the EU have all urged restraint. Iran, which has good relations with both India and Pakistan has sent its foreign minister to urge both countries not to go into a tit-for-tat war. Iran has its own nuclear flashpoint to worry about with tensions in Israel, &nbsp;Yemen and Syria.
India and Pakistan both share similar problems of joblessness, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/why-nepal-s-poverty-rate-is-stuck">poverty </a>and <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/climate-change-new-threat-to-nepal-s-rhinos">environmental threats</a>. Neither side needs the threat of a senseless war, and we in the neighbourhood do not need it either.&nbsp;
Kunda Dixit
This Editorial is brought to you by <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/" target="_blank">Nepali Times</a>, in collaboration with <a href="https://inpsjapan.com/en/" target="_blank">INPS Japan</a> and <a href="https://sgi-peace.org/" target="_blank">Soka Gakkai International</a>, in consultative status with UN ECOSOC.

Nukes in the neighbourhood

The streets of Patan are alive this month with lavender jacaranda trees under rain-washed skies as <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/the-red-god-rises-again-in-patan">the chariot of Rato Matsyendranath</a> is pulled across town. This is the festival of the rain god, and inevitably the heavens opened up and pre-monsoon showers pelted the chariot as it started being pulled in Pulchok last week. Thousands of devotees, onlookers and the chariot procession organisers thronged the streets on the first day last week. The rhythmic cymbals and drums exuded a vibrant energy as the enormous four wheels turned and the chariot lurched.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025051007050_81df97744db16f732a419dc1f1579d235ce3df37642b078f50b83bd4bd026688.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="2025051007050_81df97744db16f732a419dc1f1579d235ce3df37642b078f50b83bd4bd026688" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1503" loading="lazy" alt="Divine chariot"> </figure>  The<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/Red-rain-god,3141"> red rain god</a> has Hindu and Buddhist antecedents, alternatively called Bungadya and<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/kathmandu-s-gravity-defying-chariot-festival"> Karunamaya</a> — reflecting Kathmandu Valley’s syncretic mixture of the two religions.&nbsp; “Bungadya is a profoundly <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/12-full-opinion/marketing-the-intangible">intangible form of heritage</a>,” explains heritage expert Monalisa Maharjan. “It embodies traditional knowledge,<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/reviving-nepal-s-craft"> artisanal skills passed down through generations</a>. Local communities and specific families have specified roles in being custodians of the heritage, ensuring their survival over the centuries.” There are many legends and stories about this annual tradition. Lichhavi king Narendra Dev is supposed to have brought Rato Matsyendranath from Assam to Kathmandu Valley to convince Guru Gorakhnath to lift a spell that created a two-year drought in Kathmandu.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250510050520_347a9a398f8a9abc4a7fb4e2774fde8264cccbdce8bdab23851ab3f0e73c3e8a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250510050520_347a9a398f8a9abc4a7fb4e2774fde8264cccbdce8bdab23851ab3f0e73c3e8a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1503" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Divine chariot"> </figure>  Matsyendranath was Gorakhnath’s mentor, and upon seeing him, the serpents were released, unleashing the rains. The chariot festival honours the return of this life-giving rain. The deity is seen as an icon for thriving agriculture, t<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/before-the-next-monsoon">he arrival of monsoon</a> showers, and the welfare of the community. Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/the-reign-of-the-god-of-rain">The reign of the god of rain</a>, Vidhu Prakash Kayastha Till this day, the Rato Matsyendranath festival is no ordinary celebration. Patan does not sleep for a month as the chariot is pulled through various neighbourhoods. It unfolds at a state level with the president (formerly the king) attending the climax of the Bhoto Jatra in Jawalakhel later this month.&nbsp; The intergenerational transmission of tradition is unique in the world, and the reason the festival is one of the most vibrant cultural expressions that thrives despite inroads of modernity. The other unique aspect is that it is a transnational festival, binding Patan with Guwahati in the Indian state of Assam.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2025051005058_8bc685ada13045d863b28e3eed91c931da2b510714586af6fd7eb5d1e298a24a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_9" data-image-id="2025051005058_8bc685ada13045d863b28e3eed91c931da2b510714586af6fd7eb5d1e298a24a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1503" loading="lazy" alt="Divine chariot"> </figure>  “Unlike Nepal, where the deity commands grandeur and devotion, many in Assam are unaware of Rato Matsyendranath,” says Khagen Sharma of Gauhati University, which convened <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-assam-connection-revived">a symposium in February in Guwahati on the rain god</a>. Attending was a delegation led by Lalitpur Mayor Chiribabu Maharjan, organisers of the festival, and builders of the chariot. After the symposium, a committee was formed to explore and revive the tradition in Assam as well. Although the team had planned to visit Nepal this month, logistical challenges delayed the trip. Still, there are plans to build a Guru Matsyendranath statue in Assam to reestablish regular worship practices in the Guwahati shrine.&nbsp; The vines used to build the chariot in Patan are sourced from the jungles of Assam. But Sharma notes that in recent years unclear regulations have blocked the official import of the vines, although they are still brought to Nepal informally. The <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/makers-of-machhindranath,2204">chariot making</a> has also had a taste of modernisation in recent times. In the past, even a single nail or piece of steel was avoided. But over time, the wooden structure, particularly the shaft between the wheels, has been replaced with bronze. When that too proved unstable, metal clamps were introduced, which have become a pragmatic compromise.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250510050524_b2a819a5791612f14c81d30fc393dbd3f99f0c64b90a9110e8b0855d944bfa93.jpg" data-media-id="editor_12" data-image-id="20250510050524_b2a819a5791612f14c81d30fc393dbd3f99f0c64b90a9110e8b0855d944bfa93" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="998" loading="lazy" alt="Divine chariot"> </figure>  Another welcome change is the focus on safety. Builders climbing the chariot’s tower now wear harnesses and there are efforts in crowd control. The most visible change in recent years has been the involvement of Patan’s enthusiastic youth in the festival — the tradition is now passing to a new generation. Says Matsyendranath expert Vidhu Kayastha: “There is more energy, the young people in red t-shirts this year were very organised, these modern touches aren’t diluting our culture, they’re keeping it alive in new forms.” He adds, “We are <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/searching-for-a-homeland-away-from-home">reconnecting with our roots</a>, we have more resources, more awareness than ever before. We must not be swept away by western values that may not serve us, and in some ways, cause more harm than good. We must revive our own culture.”&nbsp;

Divine chariot

In 2025, two seemingly disconnected acts of violence shattered the illusion of stability in the region. In March, <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/16f7f947-1e96-4206-9844-891378adc683" target="_blank">militants hijacked a passenger train</a> near the Bolan Pass in Balochistan, executing soldiers in cold blood. A month later, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/22/world/asia/kashmir-terrorist-attack.html" target="_blank">gunmen in Kashmir’s</a> Pahalgam Valley massacred tourists. 
In both Islamabad and New Delhi, <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/4/25/were-cursed-kashmiris-under-attack-across-india-after-pahalgam-killings" target="_blank">the reaction was reflexive:</a> condemn the violence, <a href="https://www.economist.com/asia/2025/04/22/india-and-pakistan-could-come-to-blows-over-kashmir" target="_blank">blame external enemies</a>, declare the situation contained. But South Asia’s leaders are not fighting terrorists alone. They are fighting the consequences of their own betrayals.
Across <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-26272897" target="_blank">Balochistan</a>, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-11693674" target="_blank">Kashmir</a>, <a href="https://www.crisisgroup.org/asia/south-asia/india/346-finding-way-out-festering-conflict-indias-manipur" target="_blank">Manipur</a>, and beyond, decades of <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/projects/enforced-disappearance-in-south-asia/" target="_blank">enforced disappearances</a>, broken promises, and brute militarisation have hollowed out the social contracts meant to hold these nations together. The grievances that drove rebellions from the 1940s through the 1990s – demands for dignity, recognition, and political agency – were never meaningfully addressed. They were buried beneath asphalt and propaganda, paved over by development projects and security checkpoints.
States may claim victory. But their victories are mirages, dissolving the moment anyone looks too closely. South Asia’s unfinished wars are not relics of a violent past. They are live ammunition, loaded into the future.
<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/24/he-only-wanted-revenge-the-bloody-insurgency-in-balochistan-gaining-lethal-momentum" target="_blank">Balochistan</a> has been at war with Pakistan for most of its modern history. Rich in gas, minerals, and coastline, the province has been plundered for decades under the language of national development. 
Projects like the <a href="https://eastasiaforum.org/2020/11/26/pakistans-three-evils-cpec-and-good-governance/" target="_blank">China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)</a> promise progress but deliver exclusion: minerals are mined, ports are secured, but Baloch homes are raided. 
The insurgency endures not because of foreign conspiracies, as Islamabad endlessly insists, but because the Pakistani state remains incapable of seeing its <a href="https://thebalochistanpost.net/2025/01/enforced-disappearances-in-balochistan-in-december-2024-tbp-report/" target="_blank">Baloch citizens</a> as anything other than a security problem to be managed.
In <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ranisingh/2016/07/12/kashmir-in-the-worlds-most-militarized-zone-violence-after-years-of-comparative-calm/" target="_blank">Kashmir</a>, the Indian government claims to have <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/08/world/asia/kashmir-village-defense-committees.html" target="_blank">“normalised” the valley</a> after revoking its autonomy in 2019. It <a href="https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/conflict-between-india-and-pakistan" target="_blank">looks a lot like occupation</a>. Soldiers outnumber local leaders, dissent is criminalised, internet shutdowns suffocate public life. Tourism campaigns and investment summits cannot erase a generation raised under curfew and surveillance.
<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-66260730" target="_blank">Manipur’s descent into ethnic bloodshed</a> in 2023 exposed another fault line Delhi prefers to ignore. Long-simmering tensions between the Meitei and Kuki communities erupted into violence that shattered any illusions of northeastern integration. The central government’s delayed, politicised response made clear what many Manipuris had always suspected: they are citizens of India only when convenient.
Even the <a href="https://msf.org.au/rohingya-worlds-largest-stateless-population" target="_blank">Rohingya, stateless and exiled from Myanmar</a>, find themselves entangled in South Asia’s ethnonationalist calculus. Fleeing genocide, they are criminalised anew in Bangladesh and India – trapped between the countries that reject them and the memories that refuse to let them go.
South Asia’s states have excelled at suppressing rebellion. But failed at extinguishing the reasons rebellions rise in the first place. And the wars South Asia tries to forget at home have found new life abroad.
Across <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-06-17/modis-indian-government-accused-of-spying-silencing-critics/103974414" target="_blank">Canada, Australia, Britain, and the United States</a>, diasporic communities have become memory-keepers and, increasingly, <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/world-news/khalistan-supporters-hold-protest-outside-indian-consulate-in-vancouver-123092600087_1.html" target="_blank">the agitators</a> for the struggles their home states would rather erase.
Khalistan flags fly outside Indian consulates in Vancouver and <a href="https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/perturbed-over-waving-of-khalistani-flags-at-an-event-in-melbourne-india-warns-australia-of-khalistan-separatists-and-their-links-with-terror-groups-458320/" target="_blank">Melbourne</a>. Tamil activists march through London, demanding accountability for the <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/19/grim-reminder-sri-lankas-tamils-mark-15-years-since-end-of-civil-war" target="_blank">massacres in Mullivaikkal</a>. Kashmiri protests in Washington and New York refuse to let India’s crackdown slip into diplomatic amnesia.
For host countries, these movements pose uncomfortable questions. Freedom of expression collides with fears of extremism. Clashes erupt between communities carrying wounds that their new homelands.
Meanwhile, South Asian states pursue their adversaries across borders. India faces allegations of <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/canada-says-india-home-minister-ordered-campaign-against-sikh-activist-rcna177972" target="_blank">targeting Sikh activists for assassination in Canada</a> and the <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/10/27/g-s1-29561/sikh-separatist-assassination-india" target="_blank">United States</a>. Pakistan continues to court Kashmiri separatists abroad while crushing Baloch dissent at home. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/sri-lanka-tamils-civil-war-dead-5b372b0bba567837c5a4d94250040e7d" target="_blank">Sri Lanka</a> lobbies furiously to brand Tamil diaspora organisations as fronts for terrorism, even as it stonewalls investigations into its own wartime atrocities.
The old insurgencies have not been defeated. They have been globalised. South Asia’s governments have long mistaken silence for stability.
In Punjab, India broke the back of the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/06/india/india-canada-sikh-khalistan-analysis-intl-hnk/index.html" target="_blank">Khalistan insurgency</a> through brute force. The fields grew green again, the trains ran on time. But the wounds were never closed, the <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/why-is-indias-khalistan-separatist-movement-on-the-rise/a-65081729" target="_blank">movement’s heart beats</a> not in Amritsar but in Brampton and Surrey.
In Sri Lanka, the <a href="https://www.academia.edu/4738983/The_Man_Who_Destroyed_Eelam" target="_blank">military crushed the Tamil Tigers</a> with <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2011/01/17/death-of-the-tiger" target="_blank">overwhelming brutality in 2009</a>. <a href="https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3264148/we-want-our-children-back-sri-lankan-families-still-demanding-justice-their-missing-loved-ones" target="_blank">Tamil families still search for their missing</a>, still mourn their dead – and still organise across the diaspora for justice that remains undelivered.
In Kashmir, Delhi boasts of new <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/2/4/kashmir-is-bleeding-its-economy" target="_blank">highways and investment corridors</a>, showcasing the region as a trophy of unity. But when the visitors leave and the cameras are packed away, <a href="https://harvardlawreview.org/print/vol-134/from-domicile-to-dominion-indias-settler-colonial-agenda-in-kashmir/" target="_blank">the checkpoints, the raids, and the quiet despair remain.</a>
Victory parades fade. Grievance endures. Suppressing insurgency may end battles. It does not end the ideas that fueled them. In a region where <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/23/world/asia/kashmir-attack-india-pakistan.html" target="_blank">history is rarely past</a>, and memory is rarely voluntary, states that rule through repression are only ever buying time. And often, not very much.
South Asia’s unfinished wars are not accidents. They are the inevitable consequences of states that confuse conquest with consent, and erasure with reconciliation. They cannot legislate memory out of existence.
Every <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c15qyyzz89lo" target="_blank">disappeared son in Balochistan</a>, every <a href="https://medium.com/the-wvoice/the-half-widows-in-kashmir-fef80c6b88e9" target="_blank">half-widow in Kashmir</a>, every <a href="https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/what-we-do/focus/rohingya-refugee-crisis" target="_blank">refugee child born stateless in a Rohingya camp</a> carries forward the memory of betrayal – a memory that outlives soldiers, politicians, and peace accords alike.
The region’s future will not be decided by GDP figures or infrastructure projects alone. It will be decided by whether its governments can summon the political courage to face the truths they have long suppressed – or whether they will continue down a path <a href="https://theconversation.com/india-is-using-the-g20-summit-to-further-its-settler-colonial-ambitions-in-kashmir-205166" target="_blank">where forgetting is demanded</a>, and rebellion becomes inevitable.
Shyam Tekwani is a professor at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Hawaii. This <a href="https://dkiapcss.edu/nexus_articles/ghosts-at-the-border-south-asias-unfinished-wars/" target="_blank">article</a> was originally published on <a href="https://dkiapcss.edu/security-nexus/" target="_blank">DKI APCSS Security Nexus.</a> The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official policy or position of DKI APCSS, the Department of Defense, or the US Government. The appearance of external hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the United States Department of Defense (DoD) of the linked websites, or the information, products, or services contained therein. DoD does not exercise any editorial, security, or other control over the information you may find at these sites.

Balochistan to Kashmir

Most Nepalis thought they had seen the last of it after <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/11-56-25-april-2015-wkc9q2an">the 25 April 7.8 magnitude </a>earthquake ten years ago. But the Himalaya had more surprises in store. On 12 May, another 7.3 magnitude tremor that some said was an aftershock, but was strong enough to itself be a major earthquake, struck Dolakha.&nbsp; Not many people had heard of Singati till then — a cluster of houses by the Tama Kosi River along a narrow gorge that is the roadhead to Rolwaling Valley.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_57b6e316656851f71eca56ca6f98d9bbcc820c1a00d62af3c990725b4361244d.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20250508110520_57b6e316656851f71eca56ca6f98d9bbcc820c1a00d62af3c990725b4361244d" data-rendition-name="original" width="1000" height="1500" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_016534fb2b6a79957402281cda768efb83a146786377e39e11df3e251d37159e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20250508110520_016534fb2b6a79957402281cda768efb83a146786377e39e11df3e251d37159e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> </figure>  It was here that dozens were killed on 25 April in the first earthquake. Hundreds of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Singati-rising-from-rubble-rebuilding,3703">Singati survivors</a> had lined up for food and relief supplies in the morning of 12 May when the second earthquake triggered a rock slide that buried a nearby camp. At least 50 people were killed. &nbsp; Three hours later, a US Marine Corps UH-1Y Venom helicopter landed in a nearby cornfield to pick up the wounded, and flew off. The aircraft lost contact with air traffic control in Kathmandu and its wreckage was located high on Kalinchok four days later. Six American servicemen, two Nepal Army soldiers, and five wounded civilians from Singati were killed. Today, Singati bears little physical scar of the multiple tragedies that struck the town ten years ago. Most <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/multimedia/bungamati-builds-back">houses have been rebuilt</a> as urban-style concrete structures, and Singati has become an economic hub on the road leading up to several hydropower plants and a<a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/off-the-beaten-trek-in-nepal"> popular trekking destination</a>.&nbsp; The town looks less like a village and more like a suburb of the Dolakha district headquarter of Charikot, 47km away.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_196f341d1df1403ba133e5dfeb837eec20d7cbcb4c8c56b17cc5598810de5df2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_6" data-image-id="20250508110520_196f341d1df1403ba133e5dfeb837eec20d7cbcb4c8c56b17cc5598810de5df2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110524_ae66c4a92430f67db51b5e11e017059eedfbac4cb18c8e073f2a50cca1fe904e.jpg" data-media-id="editor_7" data-image-id="20250508110524_ae66c4a92430f67db51b5e11e017059eedfbac4cb18c8e073f2a50cca1fe904e" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> </figure>  “The demand for construction material, cement, iron rods and bricks peaked after the earthquakes,” says Suresh Khadka, who owns a hardware business here and now supplies material to the 456MW Upper Tama Kosi hydropower project that is undergoing repairs after it was damaged by a landslide last year. The demand for cement boomed since most residents believe, not necessarily correctly, that <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/in-a-disastrous-state">cement houses are safer</a>. Although Khadka did well selling construction material after the earthquake, he worries that most new structures do not follow seismic-resistant building codes.&nbsp; The construction boom financed by bank loans has in turn forced many from Singati to <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/banner/making-overseas-migration-better">migrate overseas for work</a> so they can service their debt.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110524_50caa4530bd5ff9120cf7ab70a62173846d337ef448ff8bac339f3faa375a9e2.jpg" data-media-id="editor_10" data-image-id="20250508110524_50caa4530bd5ff9120cf7ab70a62173846d337ef448ff8bac339f3faa375a9e2" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> <figcaption>Suresh Khadka</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_ef8b7d3993fc3b5df852bbf952feb3fbabc96d6883b0d5eb74ee5c60f4123b83.jpg" data-media-id="editor_11" data-image-id="20250508110520_ef8b7d3993fc3b5df852bbf952feb3fbabc96d6883b0d5eb74ee5c60f4123b83" data-rendition-name="original" width="1500" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> <figcaption>Phu Doma Sherpa (right)</figcaption> </figure>  “My family had no choice but to borrow money to rebuild our home since the government compensation was not enough, and ten years later we are still paying off the loan,” says Phu Doma Sherpa, 60. Because of the shortage of qualified masons and proper seismic engineering, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/structural-problems">many of the buildings are of questionable building standards </a>and the traditional architecture has been abandoned, admits Kul Bahadur Budathoki, deputy chair of the municipality. “But these buildings were more expensive than what the government grants could cover, many people here are heavily in debt and the men have <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/every-day-is-closer-to-pay-day">migrated to the Gulf to pay their loans</a>,” Budathoki says.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20250508110520_32f89e97b7e757fc9286c0bbb671f48ea8d4468e9634fa646d7247c650ad8480.jpg" data-media-id="editor_14" data-image-id="20250508110520_32f89e97b7e757fc9286c0bbb671f48ea8d4468e9634fa646d7247c650ad8480" data-rendition-name="original" width="1501" height="1079" loading="lazy" alt="Climate magnifies earthquake risk in Nepal village NT"> <figcaption>Kul Bahadur Budathoki</figcaption> </figure>  Singati is in a multi-hazard zone. The <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/Singati,3091">12 May 2015 earthquake </a>could have led to the collapse of Nepal’s largest glacial lake, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/stairway-to-heaven">Tso Rolpa</a>, upstream. Due to global warming, the glacier has turned into an expanding lake 3.5km long, and its collapse would have unleashed a catastrophic Himalayan tsunami down the Tama Kosi Valley, with Singati directly in its path. Singati has literally risen from the ashes of 2015, with its residents beginning to recover from the trauma and financial toll. But it is not out of danger as <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/climate-breakdown-linked-to-thame-flood">climate breakdown </a>magnifies the risk from future earthquakes.

tsum-valley