Even before the controversy over Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) building football fields in Khula Manch had died down, New Road traders this week closed shutters in protest against the city's street parking ban.&nbsp;
The two are linked. <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/editorial/nepal-populist-party-balenist">Mayor Balen Shah</a>’s original plan was to make a three-storey underground parking lot at Khula Manch. We believe he has not abandoned that idea, and the football field will be on top of that enormous structure.&nbsp;
KMC previously imposed similar bans at Darbar Marg, New Baneswor and Bagh Bazar. Following a public outcry, Mayor Balen came up with underground parking solutions like the one at Dharara, the half-built Kathmandu Tower, and other business complexes.
But it is easy to see what this means: systematic encroachment of the last remaining <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/open-spaces-and-open-society">open space</a> in Kathmandu and a misguided notion of 'development'.
Mayor Balen is a rapper and a structural engineer. He therefore has only engineering solutions to congestion. Open spaces are critical during disasters, as we saw in the 2015 earthquake. He should also know that Tundikhel is integral to recharging Kathmandu’s fast depleting aquifers.
The Mayor’s other solution to solving traffic was to get his high-handed urban commandos to commit atrocities on street vendors. Development is not about structures, it is about people.&nbsp;
Mayor Balen’s notion of a ‘park’ is not a section of the city preserved in its natural state, but a ‘parking lot’. The quality of development in a city is determined by how inclusive it is. The measure of progress is not one person in a SUV stuck in traffic, but 40 passengers whizzing along on a bus lane.
Distorted development it is not just happening in cities. The kind of haphazard infrastructure and wanton development going on nationwide will not just bankrupt the country, but hurt citizens — especially as climate breakdown in the Himalaya unleashes multiple disasters.&nbsp;
But local governments are busy building 20m high <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/nepal-s-shortsighted-view-tower-craze">view towers </a>on peaks already 3,000m above sea level. Nepal’s gate fetish is spreading unabated, and the latest fad is to erect giant cement cabbages, onions and apples at highway intersections.&nbsp;
On a national scale, the government is still hell-bent on logging a huge tract of primary forest to build an <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/opinion/guest-editorial/fight-or-flight">airport at Nijgad</a> even as international airlines shun Pokhara and Bhairawa. Nearer Kathmandu, the government is getting an ADB loan to build a Rs25 billion dam in Shivapuri National Park to — wait for this — flush the Bagmati. Nepalis yet unborn are already in debt.
Not building is also development. We should know where or what not to build. But kickback-driven maldevelopment is destroying Nepal as megalomania and kleptomania go hand-in-hand. Much of Nepal is urbanising rapidly, often without proper planning or resources, pouring concrete over what used to be fertile farms.&nbsp;
The Nepal Tarai is turning into one long east-west metropolis. Our cities are uninhabitable because of the lack of open spaces, <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/warning-breathing-is-hazardous-to-health">garbage and toxic air</a>. Federalism was supposed to devolve political decision-making so there would be fairer grassroots development.&nbsp;
While this has happened in some rural municipalities, others have a misguided sense of progress. Helambu is building a 15km replica of the Great Wall of China. Instead of investing in agriculture to slow outmigration and boost food production, upgrading schools and equipping hospitals, or ensuring safe drinking water, elected mayors are busy squandering budgets on showy cement ersatz.
We have cost-effective solutions, there are laws and regulations waiting to be implemented. In a democracy, public pressure and advocacy can lead to genuine change, and only such corrective action should be rewarded in the next election.
Two weeks ago, this paper published a <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/news/the-occupation-of-tundikhel">page 1 report</a> on how Tundikhel has been gradually eaten up over the past decades so that citizens of an overcrowded city have much less access to it.&nbsp;
One of the last remaining stretches was Khula Manch. Having an astro-turfed football ground for use by the city’s football clubs is not just daft, it is gross injustice. Air pollution, waste management, lack of open spaces and unplanned building sprees are signs of urban blight, and the root reason is misguided political leadership and its willingness to ignore the greater good.&nbsp;
As Mahatma Gandhi once said: ‘A nation's greatness is measured by how it treats its weakest members.’ The width of footpaths on Kathmandu’s roads is indicative of where our priority lies.
Sonia Awale

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Development = Destruction

<img width="1050" height="729" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2023020814028/63e39f4b9c7e80680e0d6fe4jpeg.jpg" alt=""/>Former Maoist ideologue, ex-prime minister <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=2690#.Y7LMRC8w1KM">Baburam Bhattarai</a> of the Nepal Samajbadi Party is a rare politician who voluntarily sacrificed his constituency and did not contest the federal elections in November. Ever since the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19713#.Y7LMWS8w1KM">Maoist conflict </a>ended in 2006, and in subsequent elections Bhattarai never lost in his Gorkha home base. In an unexpected gesture, he offered his prized constituency to his one-time comrade-at-arms Pushpa Kamal Dahal, now prime minister.  The two had a major falling out during the conflict, <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=18631#.Y7LMZy8w1KM">when Bhattarai and wife Hisila Yami </a>were actually put under house arrest. In 2015, Bhattarai broke away from the Maoist party, citing fundamental differences with Dahal — some of which are mentioned in Yami’s memoir, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/nepals-maoist-revolution-from-the-inside/">From Revolutionary To First Lady</a>. Dahal contested and won the Gorkha seat to be prime minister again. There has been much speculation about why Bhattarai gave up his sure seat to someone he was estranged with. Some have speculated that it was a trade-off between handing over a sure-win to Dahal in Gurkha in return for Maoist Centre support for Bhattarai’s <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/a-daughter-also-rises/">daughter Manushi </a>who was contesting from Kathmandu, and which she lost. I wanted to hear it from the horse’s mouth, so I asked him directly, during a meeting at his Nepal Samajwadi Party office this week. “I strongly felt that we have to always play a strong role in strengthening our federal democratic republic system,” Bhattarai answered. "The Maoist revolution in Nepal has played a big role in establishing this. It was because of the fear that the revolution might be forgotten that I supported Prachandaji (Dahal) to contest from my seat and I still am convinced that I did the right thing.”  Bhattarai stressed that he felt the achievements of the Maoist revolution are slowly being forgotten — either because of internal reasons within the Maoist party, or because those opposed to the revolution want to preserve a corrupt system and maintain the status quo. “As far as Manushi’s loss in the elections is concerned, there is a general perception that a talented youth like her should not have lost,” Bhattarai added. “Later, based on evaluations and feedback we realised that the urban youth were disillusioned with the Maoist symbol of hammer and sickle. There was an understanding among the general public that if she had contested with another symbol she would have won.”  That argument carries some weight because if there was one strong message Nepal’s electorate sent in May and November elections it was that many were fed up with politics as usual and were voting in young, fresh faces from both old and new parties. Bhattarai accepted that the outcome of the election as well as the dramatic turnaround in coalition-making that elevated Pushpa Kamal Dahal to become prime minister for the third time was as per Nepal’s constitutional provisions.  <figure><img width="2048" height="1536" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/2023020814028/63e39f4e9c7e80680e0d6fe5jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>Despite that he is apprehensive that the seven-party coalition led by Dahal and supported by K P Oli of the UML is fragile: “There is a fear that the country could still be mired in continued instability.”Bhattarai says he has always been a strong advocate of overhauling the political process that perpetuated the old ruling system which was holding the country back. Which is why he split from the Maoists to first form the Naya Shakti Party and later the Nepal Samajbadi Party.As Nepal’s only prime minister who has a PhD, Bhattarai is also a student of political science, and says that the whole idea of a coalition is a consensus among its members about a minimum program. Foremost should be about geopolitics and Nepal’s need to balance the interests of India, China, and the United States.Nepal’s political parties must also reckon with the country’s geographical, ethnic, caste and linguistic diversity in the Himal, Pahad, Tarai and Madhes. To achieve this, he said, there must be a unity of purpose across party lines.His third point was that the jurisdictions between the federal, provincial and municipal governments need to be sorted out because they have not been institutionalised. This has affected governance, and trapped the country in a vicious cycle of poverty and unemployment.Fourth, is something he tried to push throughout his tenure as <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=15247#.Y7LNAy8w1KM">finance minister</a> and <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2011/08/28/baburams-challenge/">prime minister</a> between 2009 and 2012: investment in infrastructure-led job-creation and growth.He says there needs to be a national consensus and proper direction to address these four issues. “If we are able to get consensus on these four points, democracy will be strengthened in this country,'' he said, adding a note warning: “If not, no matter which individual or party is in the ruling seat, the current state of crisis will remain.”  On his plans for his Nepal Samajbadi Party, Bhattarai said his party will try to steer a different path from the Nepali Congress’ liberal democratic capitalist approach and the UML’s centralised communist party structure.“We are taking a different stand from these two approaches,” he explained. “We are grounded in democratic socialist approach suitable for Nepal’s geopolitics and the country’s economic social underdevelopment. We are a small party now, but we have planted the seed.”

Baburam Bhattarai’s 4-point formula

<figure><img width="1500" height="1000" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161132/636d19959c7e80680e0ac828jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: AMIT MACHAMASI</figcaption></figure>This short book, Political Economy of Social Change and Development in Nepal, by Jeevan Sharma, a senior lecturer on South Asia and international development at the University of Edinburgh, packs a punch. Drawing on his own original field research and the ideas of Karl Polanyi on The Great Transformation (1944) as well as secondary literature, Sharma has produced a holistic overview and analysis of the economic, social and political transformation that Nepal has experienced over recent decades. `His work challenges many of the prevailing characterisations and explanations of that process, and identify some of the contradictions that underlie the more visible fault lines that others like Ram Sharan Mahat and Baburam Bhattarai also have identified. In his Introduction Sharma writes that ‘change, transformation and development have been recurrent themes, not only in everyday conversations, political rhetoric and social movements, but also in Nepali public culture and literary writings since the 1950s’. He then reviews both the main features of the changes that have taken place since the 1950s and also some of the different theoretical and empirical studies that have addressed those changes. Sharma warns against the uncritical adoption of Polanyi’s framework for ‘the Global South’, but argues that a more complex model, involving ‘a three-sided constellation of conflict among proponents of marketisation, adherents of social protection and partisans of emancipation’, would make it possible to connect ‘politics, society and economy’. He does not consider in any detail alternative approaches to the ‘political economy’ of social change and development in Nepal (eg the ‘neo-liberal’ and the Marxist) although he sees the ten-year <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2015/02/16/making-war-on-the-day-of-love/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Maoist insurgency</a> (1996-2006) as part of a broader movement for social justice, rights and citizenship that he argues has been developing ‘since the 1950s’. The book has four main chapters, each considering an axis of change. Chapter 2 ‘From Subjects to Citizens’ considers Nepal’s political ‘transition’ focuses particularly on the period since the 1950s. The first half of the chapter charts the uneven process the transition from subjects to citizens at the national level, the second half examines local perceptions of the dynamics of social change with particular reference to changes in caste, gender and local power relations and to the role of the Maoist insurgency in bringing about these changes. This section draws on Sharma’s own fieldwork in western Nepal. Chapter 3 ‘Peasantry, Mobility and the Changing Face of Rural Nepal’ looks briefly at the economic and social history of the peasantry in Nepal and ‘changing rural society’, exploring the diversification of rural livelihoods, the weakening of ‘caste-based feudal relations’ and the commodification of labour. This leads on to a consideration of <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/nepali-migration-in-the-2020s/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">migration</a>, which he rightly sees as having a long history from the mid-18th century onwards. Somewhat controversially, Sharma identifies three to five ‘waves’ of migration, the last of which became more widespread after the 1990s and ‘has come to shape the nature of the remittance-based national economy of Nepal’ – leaving many Nepalis in low-paid, highly exploitative and precarious employment. I would have preferred to see migration as characterised by different ‘forms’ or ‘regimes’, often contemporaneous rather than sequential. And despite the undoubted importance of remittances in contemporary Nepal would contest the notion that Nepal’s economy is ‘remittance-based’. There are many different strands in Nepal’s complex integration in the wider regional and global economy, including not only the export of labour, but also of other resources as commodities, and the importation of commodities from other countries, foreign direct investment, loans and ‘<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=19592#.YXet2E1BzOQ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">foreign aid</a>’. It is also debatable, as the climate crisis deepens in this most vulnerable of countries, whether paid employment away from home is necessarily more precarious than livelihoods based on <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/aid-rarely-aids-agriculture-in-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">agriculture</a> and embedded in a local economy and society often characterised by hierarchy and inequality.   Chapter 4 ‘Mobility and Educational and Occupational Futures’ focuses on the experiences of young men from rural Nepal as they struggle to overcome the challenges of mobility and find secure, and salaried employment. It draws heavily on Sharma’s fieldwork in Palpa and explores ‘social meanings and patterns of mobility’, looking at the links between education and employment in particular, but also considering the significance of caste and ethnic identities in determining outcomes. This chapter is particularly rich in ethnographic terms, and complements Sharma’s earlier work on ‘youth, migration and masculinities in Nepal’. It would be good if some anthropologist were to undertake a similar investigation into the education and subsequent livelihoods of girls and women. Chapter 5 ‘Development and Patronage Politics’, while referring to programs undertaken during the early 20th century ‘that would fall under what is broadly regarded as development’, Sharma sees 1950 as ‘a critical moment in Nepal’s development history’. He examines briefly what he calls the ‘initial rush for development’ in the 1950s and then the program of ‘nation-building through Bikas’ under the Panchayat System dominated by King Mahendra. This is followed by a review of the period after the first Jana Andolan from 1990 to 1996 (‘democratisation for development’) and of the Maoist insurgency (‘conflict and development’) from 1996-2006. Sharma considers the Maoists’ theory, strategy and practical contribution to economic, social and political change. While recognising that ‘development was at the core of Maoist ideology and strategy’ and acknowledging their positive influence in certain areas – notably addressing inequality and social discrimination – he seems largely unimpressed by their actual achievements and has a number of negative things to say about their practice. Somewhat surprisingly, he does not refer in any detail to their theoretical and political analysis of development and underdevelopment, despite several of the Maoist leadership publishing them widely. He notes, however, that the Maoist insurgency prompted various development agencies to reconsider their own strategy for addressing ‘<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/end-of-war-is-not-peace/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">structural violence</a> and discrimination’ – resulting in the establishment of a new consensus on the priority on gender, caste and ethnicity through the lens of  inclusion and empowerment. This effectively downgraded the concerns of economic (class) inequality, and poverty, which had hitherto been a main concern of both the World Bank and the UK Department for International Development (DfID). He also remarks that the conflict itself had the effect of accelerating the process of migration, both temporary and permanent, from the rural areas to the towns and abroad, thereby contributing to the transformation of both rural and urban economy and society. ‘The Maoist insurgency coincided with a major economic change in Nepal, that is, the commodification of land and labour as never before, with the deepening of the market in the citizens’ everyday lives,’ he writes. This process continued in the next period, following <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/revisiting-maoist-demands,2860" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Jana Andolan II</a> and the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=12806#.YXetRU1BzOR" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Comprehensive Peace Agreement</a> (CPA) of 2006, as the Maoists re-entered the mainstream of Nepali politics and contributed to the peace process and state re-structuring. This led to the establishment of an interim government, the abolition of the monarchy, and the election of a Constituent Assembly charged with the task of drawing up a new constitution, for a secular, federal republic. The excitement of the early years of this period (2006-2008) was followed by seven years of political wrangling and lack of direction until, eventually, shortly after the April-May 2015 earthquake, a new Constitution was finally promulgated in September. This was marked by controversy, and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/few-jobs-created-by-nepal-employment-drive/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">failed to advance</a> any of the promising elements of the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/opinion/justice-in-transition/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">CPA</a>, including Article 3.13. which envisaged ‘a policy of massive increase in employment and income generation opportunities by increasing investment in industries, trade and export promotion’. Sharma argues that ‘sluggish economic growth and <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/missing-the-plot-in-nepals-job-scheme/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">lack of jobs</a> have created economic precarity’, and that while demands for greater rights for various social minorities have tended to take centre stage, there has been little or no appetite on the part of government or opposition, development agencies or civil society, for economic justice.  Sharma argues that ‘beyond the immediate impact on the economy and lives and livelihoods, the earthquake had a seismic impact on Nepal’s long political transition’.  I would disagree. Although it resulted in the ‘fast-tracking of the Constitution-writing process’, the earthquake failed to promote a new sense of common endeavour or urgency, even as regards physical reconstruction after the earthquake. The interventions of the foreign agencies in its aftermath were un-coordinated and subject to widespread criticism. Controversies over aspects of the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-contentious-constitution-day/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Constitution</a> and the very different responses to it from China and India, provided fuel for a ‘new Nepali nationalism’, as Sharma suggests – even if this nationalism proved divisive rather than integrative. This period was marked on the one hand by a national debate over the precise form the promised new ‘federal’ structure would take, and efforts to delineate the contours of a new, more decentralised polity, while on the other hand, political discourse and practice continued to be characterised by the dominance of elite politics at all levels, national, regional and local, and by the pervasive and malign phenomenon of corruption and patronage. Sharma ends this chapter by remarking that ‘the politics of the distribution of development has been realised in practice by distributional coalitions’. In other words, development in Nepal is not the broad-based, inclusive form of positive economic, social and political transformation that the term often implies, but rather a narrowly conceived and implemented, and fragmented, ‘sharing of the spoils’. The book ends with a consideration of ‘Precarity and Paradox in Once-Remote Locations’, on the contradictions of globalisation for a social formation on the periphery of the global political economy that retains many of the characteristics of pre-capitalism. It also looks into the nature of life on the periphery – which involves integration in the global political economy but creates ‘precarious livelihoods’. Sharma is concerned that Nepal’s integration into the wider world has so far failed to generate the appropriate ‘counter-movement’ to safeguard and protect the lives and livelihoods of the majority of ordinary Nepalis, even if it has <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/nepals-great-income-divide/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">apparently reduced poverty</a>, allowed the emergence of a middle class, and enabled <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-richest-man-in-the-pandora-papers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a minority to accumulate considerable wealth</a>. Nepal’s continuing and arguably increasing reliance on foreign labour migration is both a cause and a consequence of the failure to generate decent, reasonably secure employment and economic opportunities within the country. It is a failure of both the public and the private sector, but it is also a consequence of the lack of an enduring movement for economic, social and political reform (or revolution) to bring about a ‘great transformation’ in Nepal. David Seddon is a former Professor of Development Studies at the University of East Anglia and now independent researcher and writer.Political Economy of Social Change and Development in NepalJeevan R. SharmaBloomsbury Academic India, 2021215 pp.<img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110161132/636d19989c7e80680e0ac829jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="180" height="291">

Nepal’s elusive ‘Great Transformation’

<figure><img width="960" height="640" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141152/636d02999c7e80680e0a368cjpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: AMIT MACHAMASI</figcaption></figure>On 9 September, while a US delegation was landing at Kathmandu airport on a four-day visit, Madhav Kumar Nepal, Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Narayan Kaji Shrestha got together at the residence of Upendra Yadav for an important meeting.The Nepali Congress, which leads a five-party coalition government, was not invited to the discussion between its own partners.The meeting was to discuss a common posture of the coalition members towards a<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/a-millennium-challenge/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> $500 million US grant</a> under the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) to upgrade Nepal’s electricity transmission lines and highways.Cross-party support for the much-needed infrastructure project should have been a no-brainer, but MCC ratification has become such a political hot potato that it <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/mcc-row-rocks-nepals-ruling-coalition/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">threatens Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba’s ruling alliance</a>, two months into his fifth term in office.Deuba’s current coalition made up of Dahal’s Maoist Centre, Nepal’s breakaway CPN (Unified Socialist), and the Rastriya Janamorcha parties are opposed to the project. In fact, Rastriya Janamorcha even staged a street protest on 7 September, two days before MCC vice president Sumar landed in Kathmandu.Deuba’s NC has been in favour of ratifying the MCC in parliament since his Nepali Congress-Maoist coalition government signed the agreement in 2017 during his fourth term as prime minister. In fact, Deuba’s political rival KP Oli backed the MCC after he succeeded Deuba in 2018. <figure><img width="1131" height="1455" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141152/636d029c9c7e80680e0a368djpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>MCC vice-president Fatema Z Sumar with Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba.</figcaption></figure>Baburam Bhattarai was Prime Minister in 2012 when Nepal was selected for the MCC threshold program. Bhattarai is now with another coalition partner, the Janata Samajbadi Party, but while he has been speaking publicly in support of MCC, his colleague Yadav is hedging his bets. Hence his inclusion in the meeting with Dahal and Nepal on 9 September. Ironically, a bilateral negotiating team was formed for the MCC Compact during Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s stint as Prime Minister in 2017. Dahal later changed his stance and joined up with dissidents from Oli’s own UML, who considered the project as being ‘anti-national’, to ultimately <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/own-goal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">remove him from power</a> in July. As internal disputes within the erstwhile NCP escalated, a task force including Bhim Rawal, Jhala Nath Khanal, and then foreign minister Pradeep Gyawali suggested that the MCC could be ratified, but after amendments. Had the process not been deadlocked by the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/knowing-whats-good-for-nepal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">feud between Oli and Dahal</a>,  it could easily have been endorsed by Parliament then.Differing views within the ruling coalition towards the United States, as well as individual and party relationships with neighbouring India and China, have stopped the project from moving forward as it nears a deadline for acceptance.“Nepal’s political leadership has failed to recognise the difference between ultranationalism and patriotism,” says Khadga KC, a professor at the Department of International Relations and Diplomacy at Tribhuvan University. “Geopolitics has now permeated right down the political chain of command of the parties that seek to use the clash between an imperialist America and an expansionist China on the one hand and between China and India on the other.”Deuba has lately been seen to be a bit too eager to please New Delhi by not raising the issue of a Nepali man who was killed while trying to cross a wire bridge across the Mahakali river into India, as well as resurrect an already settled border dispute with China in Humla.  <figure><img width="1800" height="850" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141152/636d02a09c7e80680e0a368ejpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption>Nepali Congress leader Jeevan Bahadur Shahi's team with security personnel during an inspection of the Nepal-China border in Humla. Photo: JANAK SHAHI</figcaption></figure>In response, the All Nepal National Free Students Union (ANNFSU) associated with the CPN (Unified Socialist) and the Maoist Center held anti-India street protests. The significance of the ‘student’ wings of parties in the ruling coalition <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/mcc-damned-if-we-do-damned-if-we-dont/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">protesting the policy of the prime minister</a> was not lost on anyone. If Deuba was hoping for New Delhi’s support for the MCC, that has not been forthcoming. The project’s power lines would increase the capacity of future export of surplus electricity to India. In fact, most analysts see China’s hand in behind the scenes lobbying against the MCC they regard as America’s response to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/bri-and-trans-himalayan-connectivity/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Beijing's Belt Road Initiative (BRI)</a>. The <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/afghanistan-abandoned/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">fall out of the US defeat in Afghanistan</a>, its growing tension with China with last week’s strategic AUKUS pact with Australia and Britain in the Indo-Pacific, and Beijing growing global clout have undermined the prospect of the MCC going ahead in Nepal. Diplomatic experts see an attempt by Deuba to use the China border issue and the formation of an investigative committee to ingratiate himself with India so it will openly support the US project. Nepal signed a framework agreement on the BRI in 2017 after the Indian Blockade of 2015 prompted Kathmandu to plan alternative trans-Himalayan trade routes. Critics of the agreement interpreted this as Beijing’s increased influence in Nepal. “Deuba is trying to counter the narrative that Nepal is cosying up to Beijing and the BRI so as to assuage New Delhi,” says Professor KC. In November 2019, India issued a political map that included disputed border areas of Kalapani and Limpiyadhura. In response, Prime Minister Oli got Parliament to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepal-passes-map-bill-india-reacts/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">unanimously pass an amendment bill</a> to include the territory in its national emblems and its own political map, much to New Delhi’s chagrin. And while the border issue with China is gaining traction, Professor KC says that the Nepal Congress has failed to offer any criticism to India regarding Limpiyadhura as well as the 2015 blockade. Says Professor KC: “Nepal’s diplomatic relations have unnecessarily jeopardised due to the selfishness and immaturity of the political leadership. Nepal must restore the strategic balance in its stance towards the triangular rivalry between China, India and the US.” Experts say that Nepal has not been able to come up with a coherent response to this changed geostrategic terrain globally and in the region, and its leaders react in an ad hoc manner, allowing a <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/using-the-delay-in-mcc-to-dissect-it/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">development grant like the MCC</a> to become a pingpong in domestic politics.  Former Foreign Minister Ramesh Nath Pandey says that Nepal should have a consistent and common foreign policy messaging on matters like the MCC, even though there might be internal disputes. “Nepal’s foreign policy is not fixed and keeps changing as the government changes hands,” says Pandey. “In fact, not only does our foreign policy change based on the political party in power, every political leader seems to want to dictate the country’s foreign policy.” Former Ambassador Dinesh Bhattarai believes that while the NC’s foreign policy has been fairly consistent from the beginning, Nepal's diplomatic relations especially with its neighbours have been affected by other parties using geopolitics for their domestic power struggles. “When parties which are part of a coalition government themselves take to the streets in protest, it affects our international diplomacy and credibility negatively,” says Bhattarai. He says Nepal's international credibility will hit rock bottom if the MCC Compact is not ratified: “It will mark a strategic shift in our relationship with the United States, and affect our relationship with the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the Asian Development Bank.”  (Translated by Shristi Karki from the Nepali <a href="https://www.himalkhabar.com/news/125877">original</a> in the September-October issue of Himal Khabarpatrika.)

Nepal stuck between rock and hard place

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221110141144/636d00c69c7e80680e0a35f6jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1530" height="1018"/><figcaption>Illustration: DIWAKAR CHETTRI</figcaption></figure>Nepal’s political headlines these days are mainly about the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/old-wine-in-old-bottle-in-nepal-politics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">rift between K P Oli and Madhav Kumar Nepal </a>that split Nepal’s largest party, the UML. Somewhat sidelined is the role of Maoist chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal, who has been the behind-the-scenes operator.Dahal went under the nom de guerre Prachanda (‘Fierce One’) during the insurgency, was elected prime minister in 2008, and resigned after trying to replace the Nepal Army Chief. He himself is the first to admit that peacetime politics is not easy.Last month, he confessed to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/who-gets-what/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">being under “tremendous stress”</a> because most of the 49 MPs of his Maoist Centre party wanted to be ministers in the coalition government. He added that politics in Nepal does not move in a linear fashion, but has a tendency to go off on an unpredictable tangent.“I have learnt a lesson that you cannot win if you try to manipulate others too much,” he told a party meeting in April in Chitwan.As he warms up to a theme, Dahal is prone to making such self-deprecating comments that are embarrassing or even damaging to himself. After the ceasefire in 2006, he was caught on video boasting to Maoist cadre that he had tricked the United Nations into believing his highly inflated figure for militia strength to bloat the budget for cantonments.His remarks in Chitwan in April were about how he infiltrated the UML by uniting his Maoist party with it, and the goal was to ultimately take over the Communist Party of Nepal (CPN). This was the first time he publicly admitted the real reason he agreed with Oli to unite their parties.In fact, divide-and-rule has long been Dahal’s way to gain and maintain power both during the conflict, after the ceasefire in democratic politics, and right up to backing <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/deuba-5/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sher Bahadur Deuba of the Nepali Congress (NC) for prime ministership</a> earlier this year.Dahal and Oli took a bold decision with the Maoist-UML electoral alliance and unity in 2018 to form a strong two-thirds majority government. At first, the two were best buddies. But things started turning sour when Dahal suspected that Oli had no intention to hand over prime ministership half-way through the government’s term as per their “gentlemen’s agreement”.Since Oli was <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/making-up-is-hard-to-do/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">not on good terms with Madhav Kumar Nepal</a> and Bamdev Gautam, Dahal found an opening. Oli knew what Dahal was up to, and was also trying to outwit Dahal by using all kinds of tricks to stay on in power — including dissolving the Lower House in December 2020.After the Supreme Court reinstated the House, and Oli was on the back foot, Dahal formed an alliance with dissident UML members, the NC and the JSP to gather the numbers to unseat Oli.The end result was not just the disintegration of the CPN, but also the split in the UML with Madhav Nepal ultimately forming his own party, CPN (United Socialist) last month.The five party alliance is having <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/what-is-delaying-nepal-cabinet-expansion/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">difficulty expanding the Cabinet</a>, but Dahal is at the meetings negotiating portfolios to divide up the spoils.All these machiavellian moves have resulted in a peculiar political outcome —  the largest party in Parliament is now in the opposition and a weak opposition NC is leading the government.Dahal steered his former underground party to electoral victory in the first Constituent Assembly election in 2008, but lost in 2013. But even then, Dahal was trying to drive a wedge in the NC-UML coalition by supporting Oli’s candidature for prime ministership against the NC.He fell out with Oli and helped bring him down to form a coalition with the NC with an agreement to rotate government leadership with Deuba, and became prime minister for the second time. However, he soon ditched Deuba and formed the electoral alliance with Oli and the UML for the 2017 polls.All this behind the scenes skulduggery was not new to Dahal. What is new is that he now publicly admits that it does not work.This is the same Dahal who as a powerful post-conflict prime minister in 2009 sacked Nepal Army chief Gen Rukmangud Katuwal and replaced him with Gen Kul Bahadur Khadka. Dahal’s intention then was to divide and capture the Nepal Army which he had fought against as a guerrilla commander. But the move backfired, Dahal had to resign after only nine months as prime minister, and he and his party had to wait long years to stage a political comeback.He was succeeded by Madhav Kumar Nepal as prime minister, but Dahal was up to his old tricks and deposed Nepal by lending his party’s support to Jhalnath Khanal that brought an open rift in the UML. Distrust was growing within the Maoists about Dahal’s ways, and after facing a mutiny from Baburam Bhattarai, Mohan Baidya and Narayankaji Shrestha in 2011, he dumped Khanal and replaced him with Bhattarai.It is the story of Nepal that the same politicians play musical chairs, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/editorial/deubas-denouement/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">becoming prime minister multiple times</a>, and remaining in party leadership for life. For the past 30 years: the same names are in the headlines: Deuba, Nepal, Oli, Dahal, Bhattarai, Gautam, Khanal.“Dahal’s character is to aspire to be a singular and powerful Communist leader, that is why he sacrificed so many lives during the conflict, for him the end justifies the means,” explains political scientist Mahadev Sah. “He does not have any affinity for democracy. It is all about power, and how to attain and retain it.”Pushpa Kamal Dahal is still Prachanda. In 2007, he had told his former guerrillas in Chitwan’s Shaktikhor camp: “During the war we machine gunned our enemies, now we sit around a table and sip tea with them. The method may be different, but the goal is the same.”Today, Dahal’s role has been to handle the same personalities he once waged an armed struggle against, and after the war manipulated from behind the scenes. While undermining Oli for the past two years, he let Nepal do most of the talking. Now, he allows Deuba to be out front.  But his own party is now so weakened that it needs alliances to win elections.The leader of the Marxist-Leninist wing of the Nepal Communist Party C P Mainali knows Dahal well, and says he has let so many people down along the way that it has become a habit, and the only way he knows how to do politics.“He is used to working in the shadows, orchestrating things from behind, he cannot operate in the open, with transparency,” Mainali says. “What he says and what he does have always been completely different."This is true not just in <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/nepals-post-breakup-politics/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">domestic politics</a>, but in Dahal’s dealings with leaders of neighbouring India and China, while in or out of power. He commented openly about his domestic political travails while abroad in controversial interviews. Or, he often boasted about support from leaders in Beijing or Delhi to bolster his domestic standing. In June, he said Delhi would be “comfortable” with him becoming prime minister again.After failing in his objective to capture the CPN, Dahal is now intent on being the foremost Communist leader in Nepal. He used Madhav Nepal and Khanal to depose Oli, and weaken the UML. So far, it is to Dahal’s credit and political instincts that his strategy has met with success.Dahal’s charm offensive seems to have worked on Nepal, who finds the Maoist leader a lot more trustworthy than Oli. It would not be surprising if the United Socialists and the Maoists combine forces in the 2023 elections.What Dahal is doing now is no different than what he was doing as Prachanda during the insurgency. Sometimes he cosied up to Mohan Baidya against Baburam Bhattarai, and at other times he won over Bhattarai to sideline Baidya.C P Mainali says: “That is always how he operated, to use one comrade against another, and keep himself as a key player.”Dahal has his eyes fixed on 2023, and is willing to revive the electoral cooperation that won his party 54 seats in local elections in 2017. But Mahadev Sah does not see that as likely. He says: “The Maoists could not remain united with the UML, so it is difficult to believe that an alliance with the Congress will stick. It may help Dahal exact revenge on Oli, but in fact, it may even be counterproductive to both parties and a loss of face for the Maoists.”

Pushpa Kamal Dahal is still Prachanda

<figure><img width="2048" height="1366" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be8db9c7e80680e087887jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: SANTOSH SHAH/TWITTER</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/you-inspire-others-by-learning-not-teaching-santosh-shah/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/you-inspire-others-by-learning-not-teaching-santosh-shah/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608615562791000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGP6PGBcC5Lrnc6eLIS1G1D5p0NoA">Santosh Shah</a>, the Nepali who was runner-up in the MasterChef Professional 2020 in Britain last week, made it a point throughout the globally televised contest to highlight the country of his birth. The dishes he prepared were pan-Nepali, and his momo, yomari, kodo, chhyang, kulfi had innovative fusion elements. His mango dessert, for example, was frozen in a balloon in liquid nitrogen. His lunch preparation for the finals was presented in a tiffin box, and he spoke emotionally about how his mother back home in Saptari brought him lunch while he dug an irrigation canal. But it was in the finals, when Shah donned a “<a href="https://twitter.com/chefsantoshshah/status/1339142086210285569" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/chefsantoshshah/status/1339142086210285569&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608615562791000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFC-oI1nc6u0inASpWjR5KSH-ZxHw">Nepali hat</a>”, that he got entangled in the fault lines in Nepal about ethnic identity, exclusion and the debate about the symbols of a unitary state. The भादगाऊँलेटोपी set off a vigorous argument in Nepal’s cybersphere about whether the cap really represented Nepal’s nationhood. While most commentators were proud of this self-made Nepali who elevated himself to the international stage through sheer determination, hard work and talent, others felt he should have promoted his Madhesi identity more. The cap caper was not the first criticism that Shah had to face in Nepal’s hyper-sensitive social media. Even the fact that his dish in the semi-final round involved <a href="https://twitter.com/chefsantoshshah/status/1329620222966423552" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/chefsantoshshah/status/1329620222966423552&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608615562791000&amp;usg=AFQjCNETBIiCywuito6QTjseyRPtCpa3FA">octopus prepared Nepali style</a> evoked some disapproval. “There were negative comments on social media on how my spiced chargrilled octopus dish isn’t our food,” Shah admitted to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/you-inspire-others-by-learning-not-teaching-santosh-shah/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/you-inspire-others-by-learning-not-teaching-santosh-shah/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608615562791000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGP6PGBcC5Lrnc6eLIS1G1D5p0NoA">Nepali Times</a>. “But we need to understand that this is a global competition for a global audience.” It was for the same reason that Shah got permission from the BBC to don a ढाकाटोपी in the studio kitchen to highlight his country’s significance in the global map. Shah tweeted: ‘This is called a dream come true. Dhaka topi in master chef. Thank you BBC to allowed me to wear my national hat in MasterChef professional 2020.’ <figure><img width="599" height="454" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be8de9c7e80680e087888jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>But the action got enmeshed in Nepal’s own ‘cancel culture’, driven by increasing access to social media and the anonymity of the Internet in which those whose views do not match the herd are viciously trolled.One of the first salvos was fired by none other than former Maoist ideologue and avid Tweeter <a href="https://twitter.com/brb1954/status/1339737072194658312" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/brb1954/status/1339737072194658312&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608615562791000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFelUbterHlQxG8kilzgA_53AtH8A">Baburam Bhattarai</a>, who posted: ‘बधाइ सन्तोष साह!फाइनल नजितेपनि तपाईॅले विविध नेपाली परिकारलाई अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय परिचय दिएर हिमाल/पहाड/मधेसका नेपालीको मनमष्तिष्क जितिसक्नु भएकोछ। एउटाकुरा, हाम्रो संविधानले देशका सबैजाति/भाषा/संस्कृतिलाई ’राष्ट्रिय’ मानिसकेकोछ! अत: हाम्रादौरा/टोपी,धोती/गम्छा बराबर’ राष्ट्रिय’ हुन्है!’After congratulating Shah for winning the hearts and minds of Nepalis, Bhattarai took at his ‘nationalism’ by adding: ‘One more thing, our Constitution considers all ethnicities, languages and cultures as “national”. So, all our costumes are equally “national”.’ <figure><img width="397" height="117" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be8df9c7e80680e087889jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure><figure><img width="1436" height="1369" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be8e09c7e80680e08788ajpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>The matter might have ended there, but the fiercely republican Bhattarai also went on to deliberately mis-spell Shah as ‘<a href="https://twitter.com/brb1954/status/1339455421258498048" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/brb1954/status/1339455421258498048&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608615562791000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHA82WTHIjNllspCue0dQcY42DKeg">Sah</a>’, possibly to take away the royal connotation of Santosh’s surname. For this, Bhattarai was himself trolled left right and centre.One of the more civil comments was from Shristi M <a href="https://twitter.com/sristee44/status/1339963912125521924" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/sristee44/status/1339963912125521924&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608615562791000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHNLV6ZObrz9C8LiUiUV1z-g8NdWg">@sristee44</a> who wrote: ‘Baburam has not done any productive work or labor in his life. @brb1954’s only skill and achievement is to leech off of people. Yet somehow he has the guts to tell off a highly talented chef @chefsantoshshah for HIS choices. He’s the biggest condescending mansplainer!’Another Twitter user <a href="https://twitter.com/Sarvasherstha/status/1339148331985952769" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/Sarvasherstha/status/1339148331985952769&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608615562791000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEVOnDg5fVzrbUsvzH7yUCsPZELCA">@Sarvasherstha</a> also endured immediate social media backlash for the comment: ‘Not only Dhaka topi nepalese should show respect to all of the costumes languages castes and cultures of nepal then only this country can develop’. <figure><img width="600" height="546" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be8e39c7e80680e08788bjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure><figure><img width="575" height="545" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be8e59c7e80680e08788cjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>Santosh Shah may not have won MasterChef Professional, but in Nepal he is considered a hero for having come so far and for having placed his country firmly in the global consciousness through cuisine inspired by his native land.However, it also showed the ethnic, caste, class, religion and language gap in Nepal between various communities, and especially between the mountains and plains. Although a majority of posts by people in the Madhes were proud of Shah’s success, some did not like it that he had donned a symbol of Nepal’s ‘Mahendra-ist’ unitary state.Supporting Santosh Shah’s achievement, Bhumi Ghimire [<a href="https://twitter.com/BhumiGhimir/status/1339501747048476672" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/BhumiGhimir/status/1339501747048476672&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608615562791000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH9D3ZqI-TeOty61UziSTB7TDktJQ">@BhumiGhimir</a>] wrote, ‘Anyone out there still considers people from Madhesh to be lesser Nepalis? NO ONE has represented Nepal and its culture encompassing most ethnic groups as well as this man has in recent times. What a fabulous story, he has done us so so proud. Santosh Shah was born in Nepal.’The new inclusive Constitution is supposed to provide room for everyone, but the trolling, intimidation and threats have also shown that social media can perpetuate stereotypes, enforce prejudices, and incite intolerance towards those with a different point of view. <figure><img width="398" height="590" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be8e79c7e80680e08788djpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure><figure><img width="1377" height="741" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be8e89c7e80680e08788ejpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>Discussion about discrimination of the Madhesi community is not new. When an alum of Budhanilkantha School, <a href="https://twitter.com/iambikashgupta/status/1270231474474643457" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/iambikashgupta/status/1270231474474643457&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608615562791000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFnyXprZJCo3_ZRjX14RQuS6ewJYQ">Bikash Gupta</a>, published his personal experience of ostracisation on Medium, it set off an intense debate on social media with posts that strongly agreed and disagreed with him.  Sharing Gupta’s article, Rajesh Yadav <a href="https://twitter.com/therajesh95/status/1270364350117707778" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/therajesh95/status/1270364350117707778&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608615562791000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG8iVBtZic6vvTUfo3fJ_NEYzJ2FA">@therajeshyadav95</a> on Twitter went on to comment, “Majority of Kids of Pahadi community are made racists by the Societies and Parents, it's unfortunate that hatred has become a culture!”Indeed, the cancel culture trend has infected Nepal’s social web as well, leaving no room for wholesome debate and constructive dialogue, so that the sites widen divisions rather than bridging them.  And it is not just Madhesi or other ethnicities who are targetted. When <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/a-brief-history-of-nepali-rock-and-arthur-gunn/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/a-brief-history-of-nepali-rock-and-arthur-gunn/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608615562791000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHI1CZu7PUVz3yUYfTi5gX3-GAUXA">Arthur Gunn</a>, the Nepali who was an American Idol runner-up, and rising TikTok celebrity <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-rise-of-curtis-waters/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-rise-of-curtis-waters/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608615562791000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFsxcKTDHXBvTNAjzAMN19lYL-Zcg">Curtis Waters</a> became cyber celebrities, they were mercilessly trolled by Nepalis for taking on Western names.While Santosh Shah’s performance went viral around the globe last week, back home in Nepal sugarcane farmers were protesting on the streets demanding government action against the sugar industry for not paying them. Some Twitter users drew parallels.Avinash Mishra <a href="https://twitter.com/babaubermensch/status/1339597587578425344" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/babaubermensch/status/1339597587578425344&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608615562791000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFfosM1uoLKjcf2BKkHn4oX-GQL4Q">@babaubermensch</a> posted: ‘While we are at the whole Santosh Shah episode. Please shift your focus a little on Madhesi Farmers protesting everyday in Kathmandu for what they deserve and were promised by the Government!’ <figure><img width="599" height="344" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be8ea9c7e80680e08788fjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure><figure><img width="599" height="183" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109181152/636be8ec9c7e80680e087890jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>For the most part, however, Santosh Shah was widely applauded in Nepal’s mainstream and social media for his achievement, and for proudly flying the flag. This comment by SuvashThapa <a href="https://twitter.com/UnitedNep/status/1340148716187967490" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/UnitedNep/status/1340148716187967490&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608615562791000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGJLk4TWLZzQTV8mEbBq1TWVLTINg">@UnitedNep</a> was more representative of the general reaction: ‘I feel sad for people who have problems with Nepalis being proud of what @chefsantoshshah has achieved. Imagine taking offense at other people being happy. Too much black and white around and not enough grey.’

'Santosh Shah was born in Nepal'

<figure><img width="2048" height="1366" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191120/636befc94b0ad905ca02efd0jpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Photo: SANTOSH SHAH/TWITTER</figcaption></figure><a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/you-inspire-others-by-learning-not-teaching-santosh-shah/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/you-inspire-others-by-learning-not-teaching-santosh-shah/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608615562791000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGP6PGBcC5Lrnc6eLIS1G1D5p0NoA">Santosh Shah</a>, the Nepali who was runner-up in the MasterChef Professional 2020 in Britain last week, made it a point throughout the globally televised contest to highlight the country of his birth. The dishes he prepared were pan-Nepali, and his momo, yomari, kodo, chhyang, kulfi had innovative fusion elements. His mango dessert, for example, was frozen in a balloon in liquid nitrogen. His lunch preparation for the finals was presented in a tiffin box, and he spoke emotionally about how his mother back home in Saptari brought him lunch while he dug an irrigation canal. But it was in the finals, when Shah donned a “<a href="https://twitter.com/chefsantoshshah/status/1339142086210285569" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/chefsantoshshah/status/1339142086210285569&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608615562791000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFC-oI1nc6u0inASpWjR5KSH-ZxHw">Nepali hat</a>”, that he got entangled in the fault lines in Nepal about ethnic identity, exclusion and the debate about the symbols of a unitary state. The भादगाऊँलेटोपी set off a vigorous argument in Nepal’s cybersphere about whether the cap really represented Nepal’s nationhood. While most commentators were proud of this self-made Nepali who elevated himself to the international stage through sheer determination, hard work and talent, others felt he should have promoted his Madhesi identity more. The cap caper was not the first criticism that Shah had to face in Nepal’s hyper-sensitive social media. Even the fact that his dish in the semi-final round involved <a href="https://twitter.com/chefsantoshshah/status/1329620222966423552" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/chefsantoshshah/status/1329620222966423552&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608615562791000&amp;usg=AFQjCNETBIiCywuito6QTjseyRPtCpa3FA">octopus prepared Nepali style</a> evoked some disapproval. “There were negative comments on social media on how my spiced chargrilled octopus dish isn’t our food,” Shah admitted to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/you-inspire-others-by-learning-not-teaching-santosh-shah/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/you-inspire-others-by-learning-not-teaching-santosh-shah/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608615562791000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGP6PGBcC5Lrnc6eLIS1G1D5p0NoA">Nepali Times</a>. “But we need to understand that this is a global competition for a global audience.” It was for the same reason that Shah got permission from the BBC to don a ढाकाटोपी in the studio kitchen to highlight his country’s significance in the global map. Shah tweeted: ‘This is called a dream come true. Dhaka topi in master chef. Thank you BBC to allowed me to wear my national hat in MasterChef professional 2020.’ <figure><img width="599" height="454" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191120/636befcc4b0ad905ca02efd1jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>But the action got enmeshed in Nepal’s own ‘cancel culture’, driven by increasing access to social media and the anonymity of the Internet in which those whose views do not match the herd are viciously trolled.One of the first salvos was fired by none other than former Maoist ideologue and avid Tweeter <a href="https://twitter.com/brb1954/status/1339737072194658312" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/brb1954/status/1339737072194658312&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608615562791000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFelUbterHlQxG8kilzgA_53AtH8A">Baburam Bhattarai</a>, who posted: ‘बधाइ सन्तोष साह!फाइनल नजितेपनि तपाईॅले विविध नेपाली परिकारलाई अन्तर्राष्ट्रिय परिचय दिएर हिमाल/पहाड/मधेसका नेपालीको मनमष्तिष्क जितिसक्नु भएकोछ। एउटाकुरा, हाम्रो संविधानले देशका सबैजाति/भाषा/संस्कृतिलाई ’राष्ट्रिय’ मानिसकेकोछ! अत: हाम्रादौरा/टोपी,धोती/गम्छा बराबर’ राष्ट्रिय’ हुन्है!’After congratulating Shah for winning the hearts and minds of Nepalis, Bhattarai took at his ‘nationalism’ by adding: ‘One more thing, our Constitution considers all ethnicities, languages and cultures as “national”. So, all our costumes are equally “national”.’ <figure><img width="397" height="117" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191120/636befce4b0ad905ca02efd2jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure><figure><img width="1436" height="1369" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191120/636befce4b0ad905ca02efd3jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>The matter might have ended there, but the fiercely republican Bhattarai also went on to deliberately mis-spell Shah as ‘<a href="https://twitter.com/brb1954/status/1339455421258498048" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/brb1954/status/1339455421258498048&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608615562791000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHA82WTHIjNllspCue0dQcY42DKeg">Sah</a>’, possibly to take away the royal connotation of Santosh’s surname. For this, Bhattarai was himself trolled left right and centre.One of the more civil comments was from Shristi M <a href="https://twitter.com/sristee44/status/1339963912125521924" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/sristee44/status/1339963912125521924&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608615562791000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHNLV6ZObrz9C8LiUiUV1z-g8NdWg">@sristee44</a> who wrote: ‘Baburam has not done any productive work or labor in his life. @brb1954’s only skill and achievement is to leech off of people. Yet somehow he has the guts to tell off a highly talented chef @chefsantoshshah for HIS choices. He’s the biggest condescending mansplainer!’Another Twitter user <a href="https://twitter.com/Sarvasherstha/status/1339148331985952769" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/Sarvasherstha/status/1339148331985952769&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608615562791000&amp;usg=AFQjCNEVOnDg5fVzrbUsvzH7yUCsPZELCA">@Sarvasherstha</a> also endured immediate social media backlash for the comment: ‘Not only Dhaka topi nepalese should show respect to all of the costumes languages castes and cultures of nepal then only this country can develop’. <figure><img width="600" height="546" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191120/636befd14b0ad905ca02efd4jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure><figure><img width="575" height="545" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191120/636befd34b0ad905ca02efd5jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>Santosh Shah may not have won MasterChef Professional, but in Nepal he is considered a hero for having come so far and for having placed his country firmly in the global consciousness through cuisine inspired by his native land.However, it also showed the ethnic, caste, class, religion and language gap in Nepal between various communities, and especially between the mountains and plains. Although a majority of posts by people in the Madhes were proud of Shah’s success, some did not like it that he had donned a symbol of Nepal’s ‘Mahendra-ist’ unitary state.Supporting Santosh Shah’s achievement, Bhumi Ghimire [<a href="https://twitter.com/BhumiGhimir/status/1339501747048476672" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/BhumiGhimir/status/1339501747048476672&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608615562791000&amp;usg=AFQjCNH9D3ZqI-TeOty61UziSTB7TDktJQ">@BhumiGhimir</a>] wrote, ‘Anyone out there still considers people from Madhesh to be lesser Nepalis? NO ONE has represented Nepal and its culture encompassing most ethnic groups as well as this man has in recent times. What a fabulous story, he has done us so so proud. Santosh Shah was born in Nepal.’The new inclusive Constitution is supposed to provide room for everyone, but the trolling, intimidation and threats have also shown that social media can perpetuate stereotypes, enforce prejudices, and incite intolerance towards those with a different point of view. <figure><img width="398" height="590" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191120/636befd44b0ad905ca02efd6jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure><figure><img width="1377" height="741" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191120/636befd64b0ad905ca02efd7jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>Discussion about discrimination of the Madhesi community is not new. When an alum of Budhanilkantha School, <a href="https://twitter.com/iambikashgupta/status/1270231474474643457" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/iambikashgupta/status/1270231474474643457&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608615562791000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFnyXprZJCo3_ZRjX14RQuS6ewJYQ">Bikash Gupta</a>, published his personal experience of ostracisation on Medium, it set off an intense debate on social media with posts that strongly agreed and disagreed with him.  Sharing Gupta’s article, Rajesh Yadav <a href="https://twitter.com/therajesh95/status/1270364350117707778" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/therajesh95/status/1270364350117707778&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608615562791000&amp;usg=AFQjCNG8iVBtZic6vvTUfo3fJ_NEYzJ2FA">@therajeshyadav95</a> on Twitter went on to comment, “Majority of Kids of Pahadi community are made racists by the Societies and Parents, it's unfortunate that hatred has become a culture!”Indeed, the cancel culture trend has infected Nepal’s social web as well, leaving no room for wholesome debate and constructive dialogue, so that the sites widen divisions rather than bridging them.  And it is not just Madhesi or other ethnicities who are targetted. When <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/a-brief-history-of-nepali-rock-and-arthur-gunn/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/a-brief-history-of-nepali-rock-and-arthur-gunn/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608615562791000&amp;usg=AFQjCNHI1CZu7PUVz3yUYfTi5gX3-GAUXA">Arthur Gunn</a>, the Nepali who was an American Idol runner-up, and rising TikTok celebrity <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-rise-of-curtis-waters/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-rise-of-curtis-waters/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608615562791000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFsxcKTDHXBvTNAjzAMN19lYL-Zcg">Curtis Waters</a> became cyber celebrities, they were mercilessly trolled by Nepalis for taking on Western names.While Santosh Shah’s performance went viral around the globe last week, back home in Nepal sugarcane farmers were protesting on the streets demanding government action against the sugar industry for not paying them. Some Twitter users drew parallels.Avinash Mishra <a href="https://twitter.com/babaubermensch/status/1339597587578425344" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/babaubermensch/status/1339597587578425344&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608615562791000&amp;usg=AFQjCNFfosM1uoLKjcf2BKkHn4oX-GQL4Q">@babaubermensch</a> posted: ‘While we are at the whole Santosh Shah episode. Please shift your focus a little on Madhesi Farmers protesting everyday in Kathmandu for what they deserve and were promised by the Government!’ <figure><img width="599" height="344" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191120/636befd84b0ad905ca02efd8jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure><figure><img width="599" height="183" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109191120/636befda4b0ad905ca02efd9jpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>For the most part, however, Santosh Shah was widely applauded in Nepal’s mainstream and social media for his achievement, and for proudly flying the flag. This comment by SuvashThapa <a href="https://twitter.com/UnitedNep/status/1340148716187967490" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://twitter.com/UnitedNep/status/1340148716187967490&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1608615562791000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGJLk4TWLZzQTV8mEbBq1TWVLTINg">@UnitedNep</a> was more representative of the general reaction: ‘I feel sad for people who have problems with Nepalis being proud of what @chefsantoshshah has achieved. Imagine taking offense at other people being happy. Too much black and white around and not enough grey.’

When will Nepal’s future ever arrive?

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221109121112/636b8b6c9c7e80680e06b29ajpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1934" height="1358"/><figcaption>Illustration: DIWAKAR CHHETRI</figcaption></figure>Alternative politics (वैकल्पिक राजनीति) in Nepal so far has just been limited to creating new political parties. Each time this happens, a party is newly registered after a merger, it claims to be an ‘alternative’.So, from the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/interview/Advantage,277" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rastriya Prajatantra Party </a>and the <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/naming-new-provinces/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Rastriya Janata Party</a> to <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/review/dreams-and-nightmares-of-the-nepal-conflict/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Naya Shakti</a> (now the Samajbadi Party), <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/Between-the-lines/Bibeksheel-Nepali-work-post-earthquake-nepal,490" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bibeksheel Nepali</a> and the <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/Connecting-dots/Nepali-needs-alternative-politics,966" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sajha Party</a>, all have sought to be an alternative force.Why have all these alternatives have been unsuccessful in getting off the ground? First, the so-called alternative parties tend to be old wine in new bottles. One sees the same faces, same working style, same ideas. You cannot expect mangoes from a lemon tree. Second, the parties are personality-driven by egocentric figures. Nepal’s patriarchy is in full display in the party leadership. Without accommodating the country’s diversity, including gender, no party in the 21st century can implement  progressive changes.<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/editorial/editorial-alternative-current,3860">Alternative current</a>, EditorialThird, the main agenda of the new parties seem to be criticising other parties so as to put themselves in a favourable light. Of course, the existing parties deserve to be critiqued. But the parties claiming to be alternatives have to walk the talk. The general public is not interested in whether the party is left, right or centrist. What counts is how politics can make their lives better. The success of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and his AAP party shows that performance is more important than ideology.Fourth, they mistake fame for politics. A politician or a political party has to be bold enough to take decisions that might be unpopular now but will have long lasting positive impacts. A popular person does not necessarily make a good politician, nor  must an outstanding politician be seen on TV all the time. It took Imran Khan 22 years to get to lead the government. Maturity comes with experience and overnight success is a myth – this is also true in politics.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/which-way-nepali-politics-in-2020/">Which way Nepali politics in 2020?</a>, Saindra RaiLast but not least, integrity and accountability are virtues lacking in politicians. This generalisation might be unfair to some individuals, but Nepali citizens have painfully felt the consequences of nepotism, extortion, cronyism, parochialism and patronage practised by the current leaders. To succeed, an alternative force would need to regain the trust of the citizens in politics and politicians.Nepali citizens do want an alternative force. In fact, they have always given a chance to newcomers, be it the <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=5630" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nepali Congress</a>, <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/one-body-two-heads/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">UML or Maoists</a>. But in order to be a respectable adversary, an alternative force would have to address shortcomings as well as be large and strong in terms of resources.Existing small parties will not be able to break systematic corruption alone in the absence of adequate resources (capital and competent candidates), a wider network and an overarching strategy. Only a Greater Alliance of Alternative Forces could loosen the current parties’ grip on power. Such an alliance would allow the alternative forces to keep their working style (party management) and party positions (ego management) but still collaborate for the greater good of the country.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/the-business-of-politics-undermines-nepals-democracy/">The business of politics undermines Nepal’s democracy</a>, Ramesh KumarThe common goal must be to eradicate systemic corruption, and the agenda must be to truly be committed to serve the Nepali people. The public must trust that the Alliance will work for the basic needs of the people, such as clean water, electricity, education, health care, infrastructure and a clean environment.Put concretely, the Alliance’s agenda could start with the following activities:<ul><li>Property investigations of the politicians dating back to the year BS 2010</li> 	<li>Universal health care</li> 	<li>Free quality education up to grade 12, and a limited number and type of schools allowed per area</li> 	<li>Decentralised education system with nationwide benchmarks to maintain quality</li> 	<li>Voting rights to all Nepali citizens, including those living outside Nepal</li> 	<li>Zero tolerance for corruption, rigorous checks and balances, including punishment</li> 	<li>Public funding of political parties (with a threshold)</li> 	<li>Prudent use of technology</li> 	<li>Controlled ‘observed’ border with India, only IDs necessary but data is maintained</li> 	<li>Proper recycling and waste management</li> 	<li>Bring the peace process to a proper end, including court hearings for the accused</li> 	<li>Reverse Nepal’s brain drain, policies to attract specialists</li> 	<li>Secure freedom of speech</li></ul>The challenge is not to be taken lightly. If a new Alliance could implement at least some of the above points, it would be a major step forward towards true democracy. However, Nepal’s elites and interest groups would also have to support this Alliance. The <a href="http://Enlisting female health volunteers to fight COVID-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener">coronavirus</a> crisis should have opened the eyes of everyone to understand that our future challenges will know no boundaries and will not differentiate between rich and poor.<a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/karmas-karma/">Karma Lama Tamang</a> is currently pursuing a PhD in Political Science at the University of Birmingham. She returned to Nepal from Germany to join the Bibeksheel Nepali Party

An alternative to alternative politics in Nepal

<figure><img width="800" height="1443" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131148/636a50429c7e80680e04fd4djpeg.jpg" alt=""/><figcaption>Illustration: SUBHAS RAI</figcaption></figure>The Greek word ‘hagios’ means ‘holy’. A hagiography is therefore an admiring book about people who are praised for being much better than they are in real life. Abiram Baburam (Non-stop Baburam) by journalist Anil Thapa fits the definition of a hagiography perfectly. It follows the tradition of heroic Panchayat-era portrayals of the Sri 5, praising them to high heaven.Thapa begins with this <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=2690#.XTlxLfIzbIU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">brilliant PhD graduate</a> who chose the ‘hard’ life of politics while he led a Nepali students’ union in India. Baburam Bhattarai says he was inspired to enter politics after he saw Nepalis washing dishes in India, and wanted to start an armed class struggle back home for their salvation. When he returned to Nepal he adopted a mixture of Marxism and BP Koirala socialism as a means towards that end, joining various communist parties, even contesting elections, and ending up with the Maoists. Read Also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/?p=30527&amp;preview=true" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Need to remember</a>, Sewa BhattaraiAs chief ideologue he was the architect of the revolution with Pushpa Kamal Dahal and Mohan Baidya that was to rage for 10 years. After the ceasefire, and after serving as an elected prime minister (2011-2013) <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2015/09/26/bhattarai-quits-maoist-party/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Bhattarai set up his own Naya Shakti party</a>, which won only one seat in Parliament (his own). This year he joined former comrade Upendra Yadav to form the Nepal Socialist Party. Most of Thapa’s book dwells on the ups and downs of the Maoist party, recounting how it persecuted Bhattarai, accusing him of being an Indian agent and putting him and his wife Hisila Yami under house arrest in Rolpa for several months.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/from-the-nepali-press/revolutionary-violence-or-terror/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Revolutionary violence, or terror?</a>    The last chapter of Thapa’s book lays out Bhattarai’s blueprint for a prosperous Nepal in which he thinks a new era has dawned after the 2015 Constitution.Now 65, Bhattarai dreams of abolishing poverty and unemployment within a decade. He still does not think he has done anything wrong, and has nothing to repent. But Bhattarai does concede that he is ‘not a god’ and may have some weaknesses. It does not look like Thapa talked to any victims of Maoist violence or their families. It is also clear that neither he nor his relatives suffered from violence during the conflict. His conclusion is that Bhattarai cannot be called a ‘terrorist’. Read also: <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/blogs/thebrief/2011/09/24/marxism-cannot-die-pm-bhattarai/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Marxism cannot die: PM Bhattarai</a>, Prerana MarasiniTo hear about the horror of war, we need to turn to another book: Nyayako Abasaan (The End of Justice) written and edited by Kantipur journalist Ghanashyam Khadka in collaboration with Gangamaya Adhikari, who with her husband Nanda Prasad, embarked upon multiple fast-unto-death campaigns to pressure the government to punish the Maoists who tortured and murdered their younger son, Krishna, in 2004. <figure><img width="640" height="899" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131148/636a50449c7e80680e04fd4ejpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure><figure><img width="640" height="851" src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221108131148/636a50479c7e80680e04fd4fjpeg.jpg" alt=""><figcaption> </figcaption></figure>After the ceasefire, the Adhikaris came to Kathmandu to meet politicians, only to be told to wait till after the elections in April 2008. When Pushpa Kamal Dahal was elected prime minister, he was naturally not going to listen to the Adhikari couple, nor other victims of the conflict. The next PM, Madhav Kumar Nepal, was no better.Read also: <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/when-our-son-was-killed/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">When our son was killed</a>, Gangamaya AdhikariMeanwhile, Maoist cadres kept threatening the Adhikari couple to give up their campaign for justice. Bhattarai and his wife Hisila Yami asked the couple’s landlords to expel them, Khadka writes, and after some harrowing events the Adhikaris end up at the old-age home run by social worker Dilshova Shrestha. The author recounts how Yami did not leave the Adhikaris alone even there.  Bhattarai could not have not known of the cruelty, and when he became prime minister in 2013 he had police arrest the couple from the gates of Baluwatar. On hunger strike, they were taken to Bir Hospital, where they <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/latest/gangamaya-breaks-fast/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">broke their fast upon government assurances</a> — promises that were repeatedly broken. Bhattarai added salt to their wounds by sarcastically claiming that he himself had killed their son, and the government should arrest him if it could. <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/The-deadline/sad-saga-of-adhikari-family,367" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Nanda Prasad died in 2014</a>, and his body is still in the Bir Hospital mortuary.Read also: <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/regular-columns/The-deadline/sad-saga-of-adhikari-family,367" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The sad saga of the Adhikari family</a>, Damakanta JayshiThe Maoist war took 17,000 lives in battles, executions and retaliatory state violence, pushing Nepal’s progress back by at least a decade. The movement spawned the Biplav faction, which is now hell bent on taking the country back to war. There has been no closure for relatives of the disappeared and victims. War crimes went unpunished, and the culture of violence and impunity continues to plague Nepali society to this day.Thapa’s book does not address that side of the story, and is likelyto have little historical value. Khadka’s book is searing in the description of pain and suffering of the innocent, and an indictment of those culpable.  Read also:<a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/gangamaya-hunger-justice,4180" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hunger for Justice</a>, Mackenzie Stallo<a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/nation/No-justice-yet-for-the-victims-of-peoples-war,2984" target="_blank" rel="noopener">“How many times do we need to share our story?”,</a> Seulki LeeRamesh Khatry teaches theology in colleges in Nepal.

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