1041 Political Crisis

www.nepalitimes.com 14 25-31December2020 #1041 political crisis. health crisis,Nepalisalsofacinga going on.Now,inadditiontothe Covid-19 crisis. (or donotcare)thatthereisa senior leaderseitherdonotrealise an internalpowerstrugglethatits ( air andfewerhighwayfatalities. with positiveaspectslikecleaner Covid-19 fromJanuarytoDecember correlation betweenthespreadof mined datathatshowaclear cultural livesofNepalis.Wehave economy, environment,andsocio- pandemic hasimpactedonthe at 2020andhowthecoronavirus better afterthemonsoonrains because offorestfires,goteven and exceptfromaspikeinApril went intoeffecton24March, immediately afterthelockdown in Kathmandustartedimproving Nepali Times Nepali T page 10-11 page In thisyear-enderissueof Helloooo. Thereisapandemic The AirQualityIndex(AQI) has beensoembroiledin Nepal CommunistParty hroughout 2020,theruling ) A yearoflivingdangerously , wetakealookback ( domestic violence,childmarriages other parameterslikesuicides,rape, there islesschecking.” are drinkinganddrivingbecause recklessly afterthelockdown,they “People havebeendrivingmore Shyam KrishnaAdhikaritellsus, ‘normal’ levelsbyDecember. month wascreepingbackupmore September, androadfatalitiesper (right) showsAQIworsenedafter less than700thisyear.Ourgraph of thelockdownitdroppedto March-August 2019,butbecause claimed 1,400livesbetween began. health pandemicacrossNepal. again tonearpre-Covidlevels. monthly totalsuicideshaddropped June and972inJuly.ByOctober, used tobe350.Itshotup668in suicide casessinNepalpre-Covid suicides: themonthlyaveragefor worrying arepolicefiguresfor from April-August.Themost page 12 page On theotherhand,various Traffic Policespokesperson, Road trafficaccidentshad There isaparallelmental ), allworseneddramatically 1 ae Rs 50 12pages also blamesthe Gautam, who at all,”sayspsychiatristKamal the lockdownhasnotbeenhelpful for thehighnumberofsuicides, distanced isoneofthemaincauses for monthsandbeingsocially and thefearofrenewedviolence. worried aboutpoliticaluncertainty matters worse,Nepalisarenowalso health isnotmentioned.Tomake Societal taboosmeanmental and psycho-socialdisorders. social contacthasledtodepression Uncertainty, jobloss,andlackof  100 150 200 250 50  0 “Being coopedupathome Air QualtiyIndex(AQI) a e Mr p MyJnJl u SpOt Nov Sep Oct Aug Jul May Jun Apr Mar Jan Feb FULL STORY PAGE 10-11  Covid-19 Cases thrive in2022.” survive 2020,revivein2021and Joshi ishopeful:“Themottoto Nepal TourismBoardDeepakRaj like 2021willalsobeawashout. had tobecancelled,anditlooks with atargetof2milliontourists indirectly itbenefitedmanymore. depended directlyontourism,and sickness inthemedia. “infodemic” ofnewsdeathand Still, theformerCEOof The VisitNepal2020campaign At least1millionpeople Alisha Sijapati Alisha

PRINT ISBACK Healthy andHappy2021. We wishallourreadersandpartnersa Or call:+97715005601 Text: +9779801975288 [email protected] For subscriptiondetailsemail: Kathmandu Valley. home orofficeeveryFridaymorningin Have yourcopyhanddeliveredto new decadeandhopeforNepal. The returntoprintrepresentsanewyear, that ithasbeenalwaysknownfor. with theworld-classdesignandcontent is resumingitsweeklyhardcopyedition From Friday,1January2021, Himalmedia © ABHUSHAN GAUTAM Nepali Times Nepali

2 Editorial 25 - 31 DECEMBER 2020 #1041

ONLINE PACKAGES .com Step back from the brink WHAT'S TRENDING

s feared, Prime Minister KP Oli’s Leninist control of the Government by the brinkmanship has led the country to Party, against which the Prime Minister Athe edge of the cliff. This cartoon in became increasingly angry and rigid. Nepali Times last week was prescient, which Oli feels Dahal will endanger the polity, is why we are republishing it. and does not want him to take over the The coming days will show whether we as government under the new Constitution a nation go over, or take a step back. While the without showing contrition for the conflict. He role of the Prime Minister to bring matters to also sees himself as the rightfully elected party the point of dissolving the House is obvious, Chair, and believes Nepal should wait for the RED-HANDED it is also important to recognise the cast of upcoming General Convention to succeed him. Watch video of a Department of Foreign Employment sting Nepal’s highest-ever tiger sighting characters who pushed him to the rim of the On the one hand, lack of effective operation at a recruiting agency that had overcharged two workers A tiger was caught in a camera trap at 3,165m - the highest precipice. governance meant that Oli did not have a going to Saudi Arabia. The department has conducted 11 such proven sighting in Nepal. This could be another indication Nepal has not had a prime minister buffer of public support, and he has been operations in the past month to deter Nepalis desperate for jobs that tigers may be moving higher up the mountains due to serve a full term since the endnd ooff tthehe RRanaana furtherfurther bburdenedurdened bbyy an iimplacablymp hostile being cheated. Story: page 5. changes in the climate, or due to habitat destruction in the regime in 1950. The continuityity ooff tthehe HeaHeadd ooff press.press. plains. Details in this story on our website. Government in office itself wawass bboundound to hhaveave On tthe other hand, Most reached and shared on Facebook provided political stability andnd economic NeNepalpal and Dahal wanted stimulus. That was PM Oli's promise during to be party Chair and RESCUED MIGRANT the 2017 elections, which is wwhyhy he pprimerim minister right Poor lady, I am glad she is safe now (‘Nepali in Saudi was voted to power. awaway.a Arabia rescued after 12 years’, Upasana Khadka and K P Oli had a second As the divisions Marty Logan, #1040). How many more Nepalis are kept prisoners like her? Don’t go to Saudi-Arabia, kidney transplant in May, wiwithin the NCP Middle- East countries as domestic help. Rarely are and the past ten months ggoto more and more they treated well. have been overtaken by the iintractable,ntr everyone Arctic Traveller Eira Covid-19 crisis, but it is whwhoo supported his style of leadership popoliticalliti stability had Rs953,000 as compensation for thirteen years' that has undermined hhopedope that it was work and maltreatment? Is there not some the government’s pprospectros of a party international court where we can sue the employer/ How a 105-year-old beat the virus performance. ssplitpli that would make the Saudi Arabian state? By Rupa Joshi He turned the tthehe tthree main actors – Elif Ledrön Meet a 105-year-old Nepali great-great grandmother who Prime Minister’s Office OOli,li, DDahal and Nepal – recovered from the coronavirus that infected her whole household. Read how she beat Covid-19 on nepalitimes.com into a parallel power babacktrackcktrack aatt the llastast mmoment. This did Many of those poverty stricken and naïve people centre to Singha Darbar. nnotot hhappen.appen. don’t know if there is anything called ICJ or the Most popular on Twitter Decision-making was GGettingetting winwindd ooff a nno-confidence existence of basic rights to get compensation, that’s centralised, and the he vote bbyy tthehe DaDahal-Nepalhal-Nep faction on why people from countries like Nepal need to work seemed to revel in acting SSundayunday mornimorning,ng, tthehe pprime minister for them, so that its workers are protected. Ngawang Tenzin imperious and allowing recorecommendedmmended ddissolutionissoluti of the Lower animosities to fester. HouseHouse,, and President BBhandarih (who tends GURKHA REBELLION Most inexplicable SUBHAS RAI / NEPALI TIMES #22, to see things in the same light as the Prime 22-28 DECEMBER 2000 A legacy of British imperialism (‘A forgotten Gurkha has been his deliberate Minister) promptly signed the letter. rebellion’, Ram Kandangwa, #1040). Time to stop. sidelining of Madhav Kumar Nepal, which Prime Minister Oli overstepped the No Nepali would join British, Brunei, Singapore or made the latter go into an Constitution in calling for a Indian Army if the pay wasn’t good. unnatural embrace of Pushpa When the dust disbandment of the House. It was Raj Shrestha Kamal Dahal and his Maoist settles, let’s plan for a an anti-democratic move that has Nepali in Saudi Arabia rescued after legacy. put the country at peril. It was liberating reading the real experience and 12 years The train of events that free, fair and peaceful Today, the party is virtually not all the rethoric of a British Gurkha soilder. I By Upasana Khadka and Marty Logan made the prime minister elections in 2021 split. There are parallel Central agree with your assessment, the British involvement Lilamaya Dhimal spoke exclusively to Nepali Times after violate the Constitution has to Committees, both factions claim in recruitment process should be eliminated. It’s landing in Kathmandu last week after 13 years working for do with his inability to ‘manage’ Dahal. It was the party banner at the Election Commission. appalling that they keep more than half of your salary. the family of an abusive Saudi employer. Read the story Samyek Shrestha online and watch her describe her torture, dramatic rescue a matter of massaging his ego, and adhering Despite their outward opposition to Oli's and return to Nepal in this video on our YouTube channel. to their agreement to serve two-and-half years move, the opposition Nepali Congress and each as PM. Oli could have placated his party smaller parties including the RPP and JSP Just one comment on this extract, “The Brunei Most commented more, instead of going it alone. Why was that want elections, and are already in campaign Security Guard is still functioning, but the British so diffiuclt to do? mode. Army’s involvement in recruiting Nepali servicemen to the unit still continues.” The Gurkha Reserve Unit So, Dahal made common cause with the Meanwhile, a Communist prime minister in Brunei, to give it its proper designation, employs ex top-line ex-UML leadership who had not who espouses multiparty democracy is on the British, Nepali and Indian Army soldiers and offi cers got over Oli’s sweeping victory at the party back foot, while a former Maoist chieftain who alongside Bruneian servicemen and women. The General Convention six years ago. He also proposes party control of government and an unit has nothing at all to do with UK or with Britain’s deftly placed his comrade Agni Sapkota as executive presidency, has the upper hand. Brigade of Gurkhas. We don’t recruit them, nor have Speaker, despite him carrying the conflict-era The ball is in the Supreme Court's court. we anything to do with the terms of service offered. murder case of Arjun Bahadur Lama. And its decision will determine the next At the time, there were two retired ex British Army Oli came to believe that Dahal wanted him course of Nepali politics. offi cers serving with the unit, both recruited by the to fail. Just as President Bidya Devi Bhandari PM Oli has acted as a boss and not a Brunei authorities. There are none now. Sam Cowan Tourist visas now open for Nepal is being described as doing Oli’s bidding, statesman, unable to rein in Dahal’s nervous Restrictions on foreigners has been further eased with Sapkota was following Dahal’s orders in the ambition. Peering through Kathmandu’s tourists visas open again and fl ights to India have resumed Speaker’s chair, by blocking the MCC and murky smog, next year's elections, if they HIGHEST TIGER SIGHTING after 11 months, but confusion about travel condition boycotting the Constitutional Council. happen, would be an opportunity for other That's high for a 'Bengal' Tiger (‘Nepal’s highest-ever persists. Follow our social media platforms for latest In essence, this boiled down to a Maoist/ parties to capitalise on the NCP’s disarray. tiger sighting’, #1040). Must have gone to enjoy the updates. view of the third highest mountain in the world, quick tourism while the humans stay indoors! Most visited online page 20 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK Raj Gyawali This is the result of habitat destruction - just another QUOTE TWEETS Twenty years ago this week, the Nepali Times The Bad reason why we don’t really need Nijgad airport. Nepali Times @NepaliTimes year-ender issue #23 of 29 December 2020 - 4 To recap: fallout from the hijacking of IC814 J-wal Gurung January 2001 listed the good, bad and ugly that Pushing #Nepal off the edge. damaged ties with India and nearly ruined PM #Oli’s dissolution of Lower House undermines happened during the year. tourism, there were six bandhs that didn't #democracy and the#Constitution: Experts. Just as with 2020, there was not much to Aren't we worried that this incidence could be achieve much, there were no new foreign because of climate crisis? We had done a study to cheer about in 2000. The Maoist confl ict was investors and some existing ones shut up Zenish @zenishniraula gaining strength, the government in Kathmandu shop and left, the textile industry is in deep see the change in the pattern of pest incidence due Oli has played brinkmanship the whole of 2020. was in disarray -- infi ghting between the UML crisis, farmers are suff ering record low rice to global warming which came back positive. and the NC had paralysed government with prices, the hotel crisis threatens to carry over Radip Tandukar Mahavir Singh @MahavirSingh66 frequent strikes. And on top of that, Maoist- into 2001, the Maoist insurgency claimed the Things can be sorted out, #Nepal can also be saved if backed trade unions were attacking school and lives of 600 Nepalis. Attempts to resolve the and only if MIGRANTS DAY SPECIAL @kpsharmaoli govt acts wisely... extorting industries. violence through talks failed miserably, and Labour migration is such a key part of Nepal's there are fears of a dangerous escalation. economy (and now its politics, society and culture) Nepali Times @NepaliTimes Excerpts from the report 'The Good, The Bad that it deserves this kind of comprehensive media A #Gurkha recalls a rebellion in his unit against #British and and The Ugly' from 20 years ago: #Brunei offi cers 23 years ago. ... and The Ugly coverage. Also, most migrant workers go to India, Members within the cabinet claw at yet they are on the bottom rung in terms of treatment Sanju Gurung @sanigurung The Good each other, Congress factions are at each by the government. Improving their lot should be a “the country was never colonised.” Or, perhaps we could It is the spirit of the season that we must other's throats, the Congress and the main frame it the other way; Nepal was colonised by other begin our roundup of Year 00 by picking out opposition barely tolerate one another, the priority. means even though the means was not physical. things that went right. In Nepal if things go well it is usually an act of UML, ML and RPP all suff er internal rifts, the police and army Nepal Now god, and if things go wrong then you can be sure someone messed have daggers drawn, the government and palace are playing Nepali Times @NepaliTimes something up. So it is with the economy: we will probably register a Tourist visas fi nally open for foreigners but lack of cat and mouse. Of course it is, because no one is governing. COVID VACCINE coordination between different #government agencies has six percent growth this year not because of good planning, an effi cient The result is there for everyone to see: a law and order crisis, a Perhaps if Nepal government spent less time on ensued confusion about the conditions for #travel. administration or an honest government, but because of nature. paralysed administration, an epidemic of graft and corruption, a internal squabbling, commie jockeying and power A healthy monsoon, well-spaced rains, no drought, and no major fear psychosis, uncertainty and a nationwide sense of dread. It's Sameer M Dixit, PhD @smadixit brokering and graft, then it may start to think about Having a weeklong quarantine for tourist will be a major fl oods all contributed to growth. Our rain-fed economy is doing well not about Hrithik at all. acquiring and distributing vaccines which will be despite government. Imagine what would happen if we didn't commit hindrance to attracting those here. Why not reduce it to 3 nights maximum, PCR test on 4th day? I certainly won't hara-kiri with hotels, if we resolved the Maoist problem through made available at some point (‘90% in poor countries From the archives of Nepali Times of the past 20 will miss Covid vaccinations’, nepalitimes.com). visit any country requiring 1 week quarantine! negotiations, if we spent our budgets properly without leakage. years, site search: www.nepalitimes.com But frankly as the vaccines were developed with Nepali Times @NepaliTimes public funds and private enterprises, none of them “I feel safe now, at least I know I will live." from Nepal, it cannot expect to be at the frontline A Nepali domestic worker in #SaudiArabia escapes abusive Publisher and Editor: Kunda Dixit employer, is rescued after 13 years, and fi nally fl ew back to of receiving the shots. And a very large portion of Kathmandu on Wednesday. Digital Products Strategist: Sahina Shrestha, Associate Editor: Sonia Awale, Layout: Sanubabu Tamang vaccines that does get to Nepal will likely be horded Exclusive report by @martydloganand Upasana Khadka Published by Himalmedia Pvt Ltd | Patan Dhoka, Lalitpur | GPO Box 7251 Kathmandu Nepali Times on Facebook and resold at infl ated prices (or ruined by inadequate [email protected] | www.nepalitimes.com | www.himalmedia.com Follow @nepalitimes on Twitter storage). Indra Raj Bhattarai @1976indra1 Follow @nepalitimes on Instagram Tel: 01-5005601-08 Fax: +977-1-5005518 Good to hear. Let's talk about the permanent solution for Roger Ray domestic workers in gulf. 25 - 31 DECEMBER 2020 #1041 3 4 Nation 25 - 31 DECEMBER 2020 #1041 Collateral benefits ‘Bravest of the brave, most generous of the generous, never had country more faithful friends than you...’

t was the night after Christmas Princess Diana, and to ‘follow his 1993 and we all thought the heart.’ bumps were just someone The British Gurkha Khukris team I were a fixture at Tiger Tops’ annual else going to the bathroom. Next morning downstairs was devastation. elephant polo championships, Christmas gifts were strewn amongst often attracting the top brass from the chintz-covered sofas, draws Hong Kong HQ and always handy emptied onto the carpets, the silver as reliable timekeepers to monitor candlesticks gone along with a the matches. The players were camera, binoculars and the children’s most celebrated as winners of the new toys. best-dressed award with their natty uniforms, whilst actual goals scored were usually few and far between. One Defence Attaché, Col Mike Allen, pursued his passion for moths, SO FAR SO GOOD and could regularly be found at dusk Lisa Choegyal with bright lights and a white sheet, adding new species to scientific The night-time robbery with a collections for Nepal. Col Mike houseful of sleeping friends and Kefford led a British joint services family was all the more daring as expedition to scale Everest before this was the home of the head of the abandoning his military career to sail special elite Gurkha force hired to around the world. protect the royal family, deep within One commander went on to the Sultanate of Brunei. become Prince Philip’s private I was visiting the Colonel secretary living in Kensington Palace. And a couple of former incumbents during a break from one of my first ALL PHOTOS: JOHNNY FENN PHOTOGRAPHY consulting jobs with New Zealand Gurkhas on parade during the 2015 G200 celebrations in London 2015. have remained closely connected teammates in neighbouring Sabah to Nepal, reinventing themselves in and Sarawak – marketing specialist new Pokhara-based jobs supervising for the Malaysian states’ tourism privately funded agricultural and masterplans. Lessons learned from livelihood projects throughout the the jungle, wildlife and ecotourism countryside. experiences in Nepal were being Gurkha recruitment dates back applied to the bio-rich rainforests of over 200 years to 1815, even before Borneo. the Treaty of Sugauli formalised the At Tiger Tops we had a long Nepal British relationship and ended association with the military – the Anglo-Nepal war 1814-1816. British Gurkha as well as the Royal Highly impressed by the fighting Nepal Army who guarded the spirit shown by his opponents, wildlife of Chitwan National Park, General Sir David Ochterlony had manned the guard posts, and whose led the East India Company attack, major would often drop by the Lodge a colourful character alleged to have for a cup of tea. kept thirteen concubines and gifted A retired Nepal general reminded each an elephant whilst British me recently of the occasion in the resident to the Mughal court in mid-1970s when as a junior officer Delhi. he led parachutist’s training at In the early 1960s the British Meghauli. Camping overnight on Gurkhas numbered nearly the grass airstrip, I had accepted 18,000 men, recruited from their their invitation for a bfn eft meal headquarters near Dharan in around the campfire, complete with southeast Nepal, with brigades customary Nepali dancing featuring stationed in Singapore, Malaysia squaddies dressed as women. What Gurkhas recruitment exercises in Pokhara where the competition for places remains high. and Hong Kong as well as the most impressed him, he told me, was United Kingdom. Today they total my bare feet in the jungle. about one quarter of that, and are all Our boss Jim Edwards favoured assigned in UK except for a battalion running jungle tourism operations in Brunei. The selection process along military lines, and many of my remains famously hard won – last colleagues had army backgrounds, year 12,000 young men competed for especially Nepali officers trained just 400 places. in admin, engineers, drivers and I took my mother to the Gurkha mechanics. As did our ancient bicentenary pageant celebration at green Land Rovers, their legacy of the Royal Hospital in Chelsea one action evidenced by bullet holes that chilly June evening in 2015 – lots riddled their chassis, along with the of smart green uniforms, precision occasional dent made by a charging marching, wailing bagpipes and rhino. whirling v's'/L. The purpling London One of Jim’s proudest moments night sky faded above us, and tall in later life was being made an windowpanes glowed gold in the honorary British Gurkha, and he elegant Wren building backdrop to regularly sported the green and red our ringside seats. striped regimental tie with the iconic Actress Joanna Lumley made crossed v's'/L knives. a speech, and the VVIP stand The Colonel was one of a long contained a full hand of all the line of commanders of the Brigade immediate British royal family led of Gurkhas Nepal, who now holds by Queen Elizabeth II, a tribute to the the multiple roles of Defence legendary esteem in which Gurkha Attaché and director Gurkha Welfare servicemen continue to be held in Trust, based in the British Embassy Britain. Escorted by Gurkhas HM the Queen arriving at the 200 pageant celebrations in London 2015 with the Sultan of Brunei (on her right) and General Sir Peter Wall, the former Chief of the General Staﬀ and In the words of Sir Ralph Turner compound Kathmandu. Chairman of the GWT. These British officers speak MC 1888-1983, former Gurkha, fluent Nepali with a clipped linguist, philologist and Professor Gurkhali accent, and most would The first British Defence illustrious traits. One officer’s Land floor window of his future in-law’s of Sanskrit: ‘Once more I see you in find any excuse to leave the and Military Attaché appointed Rover mowed down the white posts Swiss chalet to admire the view only your bivouacs or about your fires, on diplomatic confines of the office to to Kathmandu in 1958 was that line the Embassy driveway to realise too late that there was no forced march or in the trenches, now escape into their beloved hills with mountaineer Lt Col JOM Roberts after an evening of revelry, and balcony. shivering with wet and cold, now the soldiers to whom they are so MVO MBE MC 2GR, distinguished another was infuriated when his wife The curfew that accompanied scorched by a pitiless and burning dedicated. for his war service in India and eloped with the tennis coach. One the end of the single-party system sun. Uncomplaining you endure Not only are Nepalis still being founder of Nepal’s trekking industry, colonel astounded the congregation provided the perfect cover for one hunger and thirst and wounds; and recruited as an integral part of the providing employment for the by bursting into tears during a officer to pursue an extra-marital at the last your unwavering lines British Army, but significant funding Sherpas he so admired. Jimmy remembrance service, and another affair, whilst others preferred disappear into the smoke and wrath and energy goes into pension paying made Nepal his home and stayed on enjoyed slipping into army fatigues mahseer fishing, rafting and camping of battle. Bravest of the brave, most and ensuring veterans returning rearing rare pheasants in Pokhara with an officious clipboard at the on the remote rivers of western generous of the generous, never had to Nepal are well supported. The post retirement until his death in slightest provocation. Nepal. During a royal visit, at a pre- country more faithful friends than British Gurkha connection put over 1997. He was followed by some My favourite story about Col trek mess dinner under a military you.’ £140 million into Nepal’s economy fabled and highly decorated army David Scotson, DA in the late 1980s, camp shamiana, the colonel’s wife Lisa Choegyal is a Brit who has made Nepal her home since last year, and the Gurkha Welfare names in the 1960s, Wylie, Kemmis was how he got married on crutches, was overhead counselling the Prince the mid 1970s. This fortnightly So Far So Good column is about her personal stories and encounters with a colourful cast of Trust works in health and education Betty and Hickey. both legs encased in plaster casts, of Wales not to listen to ‘his mother’ characters during a lifetime of adventure working in tourism and throughout the length of rural Nepal. Others are remembered for less having wandered out of the first about marital difficulties with conservation. © Lisa Choegyal 25 - 31 DECEMBER 2020 #1041 Economy 5

UK passengers stopped Hyatt are also experiencing major profit Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal (CAAN) plunge. Many employees have been has imposed a ban on entry for people offered leave without pay, retrenchment or arriving from the UK over fears of a highly voluntary retirement. Cathay Covid insurance Cathay Pacific is providing free Covid-19 insurance to all passengers under which they will receive a daily allowance of $100

contagious new strain of SARS-CoV-2 circulating in London. The decision will also affect people travelling to UK from Nepal. CAAN has also asked all airlines not to bring passengers from or transiting UK airports. up to 14 days to help them during periods India, and most European countries have of unforeseen and mandatory quarantine. also banned passengers from UK and this The insurance is valid for 30 days from has had a dampening effect on air travel departure or until travelers return home, which was just starting to revive ahead of whichever is earliest. the holiday season. Outreach Nepal ECI award DOFE agents had photocopied all the bank notes that the two migrant workers used to pay the illegal fees to the recruiter for job placements in Saudi Arabia in the sting operation this week. QFX Xmas reopening Outreach Nepal agency has won the ECI QFX Cinema at the Labim Mall multiplex is Marketing Innovation Award for their ‘Basic scheduled to reopen on 25 December after Humanity’ campaign in the ceremony held Labour recruiter obtaining government permission. The in Shanghai, China. Initiated in March netted in sting raid

guard to shut the gates and caught DOFE also raided 4 companies cinema halls will observe strict protocols, Manaslu’s management red-handed (Sky Blue International, Om including mask, half-capacity halls, with the money. Overseas, Surkhet Overseas disinfection after each show and no food The DOFE team had already and H.M.T. Overseas) that have and drinks. made photocopies of all the bank been misusing visit visas to send amidst the pandemic, the campaign has Agency taking notes that Karki and Singh were workers to the UAE. All the Hotel Annapurna closes been adapted by six countries and in eight handing over to the recruiters. The companies have been ordered Kathmandu’s iconic Hotel Annapurna has languages. illegal fees from officials found that the numbers to suspend activities while shut down all business until the Covid-19 on the planted money matched the investigations are ongoing. crisis is over. Management said this was migrant workers cash that was retrieved from the In addition to the Monitoring IME funds hospital recruiter’s drawer. Section that conducts the sting Global IME has provided Rs250,000 caught red-handed The case was documented in the operations, there is also a separate to Nagarik Care Centre in Biratnagar presence of Manaslu management, Complaint Section at DOFE that for hospital construction as part of its in undercover and signatures obtained. Staff at has blocked activities of recruiters the recruitment agency looked engaged in unethical practices. operation shocked, and admitted that in their While workers who are 20 years in the business this was the cheated can lodge complaints via first time something like this had the DOFE phone or through social Upasana Khadka corporate social responsibility. The bank happened. media, most migrants usually because of a sustained lack of guests has 264 branches in 73 districts, 239 ATM The owners were summoned report in person at the DOFE projected well into 2021. Other star hotels terminal and 239 branchless banking units to DOFE the next morning. They office, especially when they are like Soaltee, Radisson, Yellow Pagoda and under its network. t was a chilly 5:30 in the evening will now be required to send the overcharged by recruiters. The of 22 December, and a team from migrants to Saudi Arabia at the financial exchanges take place INepal’s Department of Foreign legally allowed fee of Rs10,000, at the last moment before the Employment (DOFE) was staking their activities will be suspended flight, so migrants are usually out the overseas job recruitment for up to a maximum of six months in Kathmandu and in-person agency, Manaslu, in Kathmandu’s until the case is fully resolved. complaints are easier, says Baral. Dhumbarahi neighbourhood. To cope with similar complaints But recruiters who are Two Nepali migrant workers, of extortion like this, DOFE has set embroiled in unhealthy Dambar Karki and Sailendra Singh, up a well-equipped and trained competition, also lodge were inside making payments that sting unit to monitor illegal over- complaints against each other had been demanded for jobs in charging and gouging of desperate about illegal activities such Saudi Arabia. What the management migrant workers. Their operations as conducting interviews for at Manaslu did not know was that range from regular monitoring, overseas work without obtaining it was all a setup, and part of a sting surprise inspections, or just like in permits. operation. this case, sting operations that can “There is a general sense of Earlier that day, a distraught take place at any time and day based hopelessness among migrant Karki and Singh had showed up on complaints received. workers that lodging complaints at DOFE to file a complaint. The “In institutional cases like this with agencies like DOFE will not recruiter had told them before the one, it is much easier to take action yield results. So they feel it is pandemic that they would have and hold perpetrators accountable not worth turning recruiters into to pay Rs80,000 each for their job because there is paperwork involved enemies,” says Baral, adding that placements as coffeemakers in Saudi and recruiters have deposited he hopes the recent raids will Arabia. escrow amounts,” explains DOFE encourage more migrants to come The Covid-19 crisis brought Director General Kumar Dahal. “It is forward with complaints. overseas contract work to a halt when individuals mislead migrants He says, “It is only when for 10 months, but placements that things get trickier as there is no they share information with us, are opening up again. After Karki proof, and the perpetrators are not preferably while they are still in and Singh were done with their in our records.” Nepal, that we will be able to take paperwork and had finally got the Dahal says there are many corrective actions.” government’s labour approvals, cases like the one this week where Manaslu demanded Rs110,000 each innocent migrants are taken as fee. advantage of in the name of foreign The two reached out to a nearby employment. With the backlog of police station, and were told to workers and economic desperation file a complaint at DOFE. There, due to the pandemic, such extortion officials decided to organise a sting is likely to increase. operation. Legally, recruiters are The DOFE Monitoring Team is only allowed to charge Rs10,000 as led by Section Officer Kushal Baral, fee for an overseas job placement. and he has taken part in 11 sting At Dhumbarahi on Tuesday raids like this in the past month. evening, the DOFE officials finally One of those was the DOFE raids in got a call from one of the migrants November of three companies (SOS Watch video of a Department of Foreign Employment inside indicating that they had sting operation at a recruiting agency that had Manpower Services, DD Human overcharged two workers going to Saudi Arabia. The handed over the money to the Resources and Hope International) department has conducted 11 such operations in the recruiters and it was all right for for conducting interviews without past month to deter Nepalis desperate for jobs being them to enter. The raiding team permission for jobs in the Qatar cheated. rushed in, ordered the security Police. nepalitimes.com 6 UPTOWN 25 - 31 DECEMBER 2020 #1041

New Year Bazaar EVENTS Bid goodbye to 2020 and usher in 2021 with Outdoor ART FOR THE SOUL Adventure Centre Nepal’s Dhokaima Cafe is presenting artist Binod Pradhan's New Year Bazaar that is vibrant collection this Christmas with soulful music promoting the local products. by Prasanna Shah. The event is being held 4pm onwards, 25 December, Van Gogh Gallery, with Covid safety protocols Dhokaima Cafe, Patan Dhoka. in place. 26 December, 11am - 6pm, Outdoor Adventure Center

Online Food Carnival After relatively milder temperatures this week, we are World’s highest New Year headed to another frigid weekend with smoggy mornings, Foodmario’s online food festival celebrates home cooking, sunny days with clear skies, and chilly evenings. The smog Celebrate the end of what has been a crazy year in the KATHMANDU and the hardship of delivery staff . Under the theme KATHMANDU in the Indo-Gangetic plains is particularly bad this year, quiet company of loved ones at the highest hotel in the 'unsung heroes', it will host hundreds of home cooks and and while the fog will stay thick on the ground in most of world, Hotel Everest View. See Everest up close and the Tarai, in the afternoon, up-valley wind will bring the thousands of customers on a daily basis throughout the pollution haze up to the mountains. This will fi lter the sun, allow Trishala Gurung and Rohit Shakya to serenade the week. Visit Foodmario’s website for details. keeping the maximum temperature on the lower side, too. cozy ambience. Visit their website for more. 25-31 December 31 December FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY 18° 18° 18° Hike for Nepal 3° 2° 4° Hike for Nepal is organising a Dhulikhel-Nagarkot hike this weekend for some solace among the hills and snow AIR QUALITY INDEX capped mountains. Hike for Nepal has been organising fortnightly hikes and treks post earthquake to promote tourism and support local communities and schools. 25 December, 7am - 6pm Saglo Samaj Don't miss the fi rst episode of Saglo Samaj, an Kathmandu Vegfest 2020 upcoming TV magazine that provides a complete The vegfest is planned with the aim to help the public perspective on Nepali society with solution-oriented make positive changes in the way they eat and live and coverage of issues of national importance. aspires to promote a plant-based/vegan lifestyle. Pilot: Sipahi ko dukha 26 December, 5 pm, Nepal House Restaurant 28 December, Sarokar TV, Dish Home Channel #130

Veritasium ONLINE ARCHIVES A channel dedicated to science and engineering Another look this week at the thickening smog in the Indo-Gangetic Plains that includes the Nepal Tarai. The soot particles mix with water vapour to blanket ONLINE ARCHIVES videos featuring experiments, expert interviews, the terrain at ground level for days on end. This map of the region's Air Quality Index (AQI) from the World Air Quality Index Project www.aqicn.org shows demonstrations, and discussions with the public. Check just how bad things are, with New Delhi and its surroundings having AQI at nearly 600, which is in the Hazardous Zone. Kathmandu Valley has also got worse because of winter inversion, recording an unhealthy 199 on Thursday morning. Pokhara was at 119, which is Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups. The Nepal out the playlist on YouTube and ﬁ nd what appeals you. Tarai cities bordering India all had Hazardous AQI readings. https://np.usembassy.gov/embassy/air-quality-monitor/ ECOLOGIC WITH MISS MOTI KRIPA JOSHI

TED-Ed People have harnessed the energy of water Find hundreds of animated lessons on topics ranging in motion for a from visual arts to mathematics. Go to their website for millennia. While small scale run-of- details, or go directly to TED-Ed’s YouTube channel and the-river project have start watching. little environmental impact, big dams can have signifi cant consequences. Dams have to be planned more strategically Nepal Picture Library to be friendly to the Look at archived photographs from throughout Nepal’s Nature Picture Library ecosystems around The Nature Picture Library provides access to them. Once a hydro history and learn the stories behind them. project has been built, more than 500,000 images and videos covering the energy source— fl owing water—is free. every aspect of the nature: wild animals, plants, It's a clean fuel source ManyBooks landscapes, environmental issues, marine life, renewed by snow and rainfall. Hydropower Browse through a selection of more than 50,000 pets and native people. Browse through the is a more predictable, modern and classic books spanning genres available for galleries. consistent and fl exible form of electricity download for free and most of them in eReader formats. generation and thus is the most commonly- used renewable energy in the world. #FridaysForFuture DINING OUR PICK

Based on a notorious Indian stock- broker, Harshad Mehta, Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story documents the biggest scam the Indian stock market has ever seen. The series, which streamed on SonyLiv Originals is adapted from journalist Sucheta Dalal and Debashish Basu’s book The Scam: Who Won, Who Lost, Who Got Away. The series is directed by award-winning ﬁ lmmakers Hansal Mehta and Jai Cafe Imago dei Mehta and stars Pratik Gandhi in the Visit for the best cheesecake in town and stay for their lead role. 1905 variety of meals. Imago is also popular for business Perfect for those looking for peace in midst of the city’s hustle and bustle, 1905 has great menu choices and its service meetings and private conferences. can appease both locals and tourists alike. Gairidhara, 9803064809 Naxal (01) 4411348

Tukuche Thakali Kitchen Probably the most ﬁ tting setting to experience bona ﬁ de home cooked Thakali cuisine, give this kitchen a visit. Gairidhara, 9803064809

Country Yard Restaurant and Bar Country yard is popular for its royalty fl avored multi Pho99 cuisine delicacies ranging from Nepali, Indian, Chinese A Vietnamese restaurant with a beautiful courtyard to Continental. Quench your hunger with their fi rewood garden and fi ne dining experience, Pho99 refl ects food pizzas. culture of this Southeast Asian country. Paknajol, 9808827029 Boudha, 9803203119 25 - 31 DECEMBER 2020 #1041 Reviews 7 2020 vision

speaks matter-of-factly about his own death, leopard conservation. Tshiring treks across Song of Clouds accepting that he will eventually find his the freezing, harsh but stunning winter Ankit Poudel’s film is an ethereal, way back to Pashupati and move on from landscape of Phoksundo to capture the empathetic, abstract story of life and death this world the same way he helped countless movement of Snow Leopards, recognising the shifting from this world to the next as the others. importance of the footage for conservation as dead communicate with the living they leave well as much-needed tourism in the area. behind. Described as a fever dream, there Day 33 The film includes heartbreaking footage is no plot or narrative structure to the film. Filmed in the throes of the Covid-19 of snow leopards being dragged by their tails There are long stretches of silence punctuated lockdown, LSM’s (Sailesh RC) relevant short and kicked by locals into holes in the ground. by sudden disjointed communications about film captures a young man’s increasing However, Tshiring’s joy and enthusiasm at regret and longing. A story without direction agitation as he searches for food in his room having captured snow leopards on film end on the 33rd day of the shutdown. In the the visually beautiful documentary on a barely furnished space, surrounded by empty hopeful, optimistic note. A Nepali Times selection food containers and an empty wallet, he doesn’t find any. And so he must settle for Bare Trees in the Mist of the most impactful anything that he can find within the space Filmmaker Rajan Kathet’s Bare Trees in the that he can move in. Mist made its rounds in festivals around the Nepali films this year world, including Toronto in 2019, South Korea, Turkey, Italy, the UK, Finland and India before being screened at home during KIMFF 2020. In this stunning drama, Kaali’s son informs his mother that a neighbour’s husband has returned from abroad bearing Shristi Karki gifts for the two of them. Kaali, whose own husband has left home telling his wife that he’s going to Arab (“Which Arab?” her neighbour’s husband asks. Kaali doesn’t or an end told through still photographs. s with all spheres of national life that know) makes the journey to visit them. Premiering at Sundance earlier this make up our social and cultural fabric, year and making rounds in festival circuits ANepal’s film industry has also been around the world, Poudel’s film has garnered hit hard. Cinemas are closed, shooting has The brevity of the film works in its multiple awards, including the Grand Prix at stopped, and there is even less investment in favour — there are no unnecessary drawn-out the Split Film festival in Croatia and the Best new movies. scenes that attempt to force more meaning or Fiction award in Nepal Panorama at KIMFF As with the global film industry, Nepali gravitas to the story. There are no dialogues, 2020. producers are also disseminating directly no angry soliloquies, not one word from the through YouTube and other streaming protagonist. The film doesn’t need them. The Winter Tap platforms. Film festivals are being held There is just weariness and resignation. In the hills of Sankhuwasabha, a young man online. has undertaken the solo task of building The Kathmandu International Mountain Come Over for a Drink, Kanchhi a water tap that will take water right to Film Festival (KIMFF) took place virtually Sikuma Rai’s documentary played at the his home during the dry winter. Working from 10-14 December and had 300 entries Pame Film Festival, NHRIFF, and KIMFF. methodically in silence, he cuts bamboo this year, out of which 12 films were chosen Come Over for a Drink, Kanchhi is a deeply into pipes and tree branches to prop up the for the Nepal Panorama and 18 for the personal narrative of the Rai women of bamboo against. He then cuts strips out of international competition. Bhojpur for whom alcohol is woven into the some more bamboo and ties the pipe and the “Because we went virtual, many people fabric of their daily lives. The women sing branches to make a long and winding canal outside Nepal were able to see the films, and smile and drink in groups throughout wrapped around the hills. and the number of entries was surprisingly the film, even as they hold immense sadness high even given the times we’re in,” KIMFF within themselves. Weathered by the loss Kaali’s tense yet hopeful wait in silence, director Ramyata Limbu told Nepali Times. of children and loved ones to disease and the choice of aspect ratio, everything adds to “If you can’t get people to the hall in suicide, they make and drink alcohol to deal the film’s atmosphere, underlying urgency terms of logistics and time, doing festivals with grief and trauma. Because alcohol is and anxiety of the protagonists. online in this multimedia era would make it as much a part of ceremony and celebration more accessible for people who don’t have the as much as melancholy, the women are not Babu time or inclination to make it to the theatres,” apologetic about drinking. In Eelum Mani Dixit’s film, the eponymous says Limbu. “The more accessible we can Babu finds his village and home torn apart by make it, the more people will take the time to the 2015 earthquake that takes the life of his view independent films. mother, and takes his desperate father away A selection of notable films from 2020: to India in search for work. A story of three generations of men in post-earthquake Nepal, The Cremator the film brims with a young boy’s anger and Nishon Shakya’s documentary which heartbreak, a father’s helplessness, and a As with Day 33, words are unnecessary, premiered at KIMFF, follows elderly cremator grandfather’s sorrow. the only sound is the wind blowing across Gyan Bahadur, who is nearing the end of the hills as the man lays his bamboo pipe, his professional life at the Bhasmeshwar the rhythmic thwack of his khukuri as he ghat at Pashupati. Gyan Bahadur’s narration cuts branches to support his canal, and the of his life is accompanied by powerful final, musical sound of the water flowing visuals of cremations at Pashupati. Caution: through the pipes toward his home. Simple, Viewer Discretion Advised. Shakya is meaningful, and immensely satisfying, this uncompromising in his visuals of the dead, film by Aashish Limbu and Debin Rai won and in a way a macabre reminder of the times “There is a big hole in my heart,” Best student film at Film South Asia 2019 and we live in. says one of the women, who suffers from was screened during KIMFF 2020. depression. In a country where mental health is stigmatised, the film shines a light on how The Big-headed Boy people deal with depression in rural areas. The Big-Headed Boy, Shamans & Samurais was screened at the International The Snow Leopards Calling Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam Tshiring Lhamu Lama was inspired to work this November. Made by Pooja Gurung and for the conservation of snow leopards when Dixit packs a lot of emotion into subtle Bibhusan Basnet, award-winning creative she saw how the endangered Himalayan gestures throughout the film, like when cats were tortured and poisoned by locals in Babu’s father hands him sweets before he Dolpo in retaliation for killing their livestock. leaves for India. Or when Babu gives a marble Sonam Choekyi Lama’s award-winning to the girl he likes, someone he is probably short documentary is the story of her sister never going to see again as she and her family Tshring’s drive and determination to save move away to India. And especially when and protect a part of her world through snow Babu buys his grandfather, with whom he has a tumultuous relationship, a pen for his Gyan Bahadur cremates the dead, a journal with the money he had painstakingly cigarette held tight between his lips, discusses saved up working to bring his father back politics, offers medical advice, and tells the home sooner. story of his life. Having himself lost two of his The film is not only emblematic of the sons in their childhood, Gyan Bahadur says mass exodus of Nepali men and women minds behind The Contagious Apparitions of he makes money off other people’s losses. At to foreign lands, but also a look at how Dambarey Dendrite and Dadyaa, the black- times, he is scathing about the living, who out-migration can be a ‘trend’ that turns and-white travelogue is an account of the like to send off their dead with style but have working-class Nepalis into hard-bitten cynics filmmakers’ quest to find an actor for their no words of kindness to the people who help unwilling to work their own land, even when movie. When they do find an actor, the village them pass on. Surrounded by mortality, he it is available and possible. Shaman is reluctant to let him go. 8 Art 25 - 31 DECEMBER 2020 #1041

Visionary artist brought out Mustang's magic with pen, pencil and brush

Blood of the Ogress, Drakmar. Robert G Powell, 1948-2020

camera disappeared en route, being browns, creams and greys to show the Austrian conservation architect After careful cleaning, Rob painted fate’s way of telling him that hand how time tempers wood, plaster Götz Hagmüller and his wife it as the three-century old puja room drawings were to be his primary and stone. He was commissioned to Ludmilla before they departed on it originally was — every inch of means of documenting what he design the Green Pastures Hospital holiday, they commissioned Rob wall richly decorated with sacred encountered. in Pokhara, a comely complex to produce eleven drawings of Krishna-Lila murals. This foray immersed him in resembling monastic quarters in Bhaktapur, including the Kuthu Rob’s Bhaktapur work generated Himalayan culture which became layout, with the warm detailing of a Math priest’s house that they would a lifelong friendship with Götz, his most famous subject matter. traditional, welcoming inn. later renovate as their exquisite and professional recognition that Linda Kentro and He first documented Ladakhi Early in Rob’s three decades residence. These drawings were brought further work in cultural James Giambrone buildings painstakingly with dots, in Kathmandu, he encountered exhibited at the Vajra Hotel art heritage. His skills had arrived at the lightest possible method of the German government’s largest gallery. a moment when the world was rendition, well-suited to a patient development project in the world The most challenging piece was athirst for all things Himalayan, ast Wednesday, 16 December artist and perfectly suited to the at the time – the restoration and a small Kuthu Math room which had including the Kathmandu Valley’s high mountain light, soft palette of conservation of the traditional city been used for years for distilling ten World Heritage sites. Rob 2020, marked the passing of La visionary artist who shared colours and often eroded surfaces of of Bhaktapur. 5\ofª beer. The first sketch showed it deeply appreciated the works of his unique perceptions of Asian Ladakhi architecture. Fortuitously meeting its leader, cluttered and with blackened walls. the great traditional Newa Malla architecture, art and culture with the Rob recorded architecture in world. Swat and Kalash Valleys of Pakistan, With an eye beguiled by beauty evolving a still detailed but faster and a heart attuned to the strange illustration of light and shadow and ineffable qualities of physical through cross-hatching in ink. heritage, Robert Gordon Powell was He documented the shamanistic a magician with pen, pencil and culture of Western Nepal, portraying brush. the initiation of a female shaman Born in Australia in 1948, Rob who meditated all night on a was teaching art and studying makeshift perch of perilously few architecture when the Baul clan small branches lashed high on a pole just divided state of Bengal in India, above her village. He drew drums, came to perform songs, dance and amulets and drumsticks – ritual rituals in his university town. implements that shamans used to This initial introduction to the mesmerise the world and captivate human-spirit world deeply intrigued those journeying with them. him, and the Bauls, who stayed These ethnographically rich at his home, recognised in him a locales were sparse in material kindred soul. Laxman Das Baul comforts, and Rob found his way invited Rob to visit their Bengali to Kathmandu to more comfortably village. complete and develop paintings Arriving at the teeming Howrah from his sketches. Here he became train station, riding the branch line familiar with the Newa brick, wood through idyllic rice paddies and and plaster architecture of the ending with an hour-long rickshaw Kathmandu Valley. He recognised ride deeper into mud-walled thatch- that temples and residences follow roofed villages, the young man from traditional shapes, incorporate ‘down under’ was transported into sacred proportions, and create an utterly different reality. a feeling that resonates with While sketching and community, professional, and experiencing life in Bengal, Rob visitor. heard that Ladakh had recently He turned to red pigment opened to foreigners, and watercolours to depict the /ftf] determined to visit there as well. His df6f] brick and tile work, and used Agamche (Sacred House) of Unmatta Bhairava, Panauti 1984. 25 - 31 DECEMBER 2020 #1041 Art 9

Tree with Horns. Mani Wall with Horns, Gemi. Yak Horn Device.

artisans and honed what he saw into embraced and slipped beyond the radiant compositions that elicited boundaries of ethnography into ancient memories and enticed new apparitional forms that reflect the perceptions. essence of the Himalaya. Michael Before long, Rob was engaged by O’Sullivan of The Washington Post the Nepal government’s Department said it well, ‘Robert draws buildings of Archaeology to accompany their in an animistic way that reveals team to Mustang. He travelled on something that lies beyond what can foot and horseback to Lo Manthang, be seen.’ sketching the luminous, mineral- In 1992, Rob married Lieve laden mountain-scape. Aerts, a Belgian woman and teacher At the town of Lo, he spent of yoga and chi qong, who became hours on site, absorbing the forms his partner for life. After three and feelings of the buildings. He decades happily settled in the centre celebrated the rich red, white and of the culture that he portrayed so black colours painted and poured well, Rob contracted a lung infection down walls, to call forth the that left his health vulnerable. protection of the gods, Manjushri, Rehabilitating at length in Avalokitesvara, and Vajrapani on Europe, he was advised not to vulnerable building corners and return to the poor air quality of doorways. He vividly highlighted Kathmandu. Rob and Lieve moved the ram skulls and horns that are to Koh Samui, Thailand, where he positioned above an opening to designed the Kamalaya spa and an protect the inhabitants against exquisite home for themselves that malicious spirits. encompassed huge hillside boulders, When Rob met Mary Slusser, lush trees and a sublime view over cultural researcher and author of the Gulf of Thailand. As the inside Nepal Mandala, she was impressed trees grew, so did the building, with with his virtuoso artwork and some roof sections rebuilt several arranged for him to show at times to accommodate the surging the Sackler Gallery, part of the foliage. Smithsonian Institution, Washington In Thailand, Rob expanded upon DC. the Himalayan themes that had That exhibition, ‘Earth Door, fascinated him. Rams’ horns that Sky Door, Paintings of Mustang’ protected the doors of Lo Manthang in 1999 introduced the global art grew to a full, fantastical wall of world to Robert Powell. His works hornery. Rob Powell in his Koh Samui studio.

Mountainsides that had housed the awesome Bamyan Buddhas in northern Afghanistan were re- depicted with dakinis, looming, sensual female figures with small fangs to ward off treacherous foes. He discovered new media, moving into acrylics to capture the brilliant, evanescent skies and water around them, and to explore singularly potent spiritual symbols. In 2019 Andrei Jewell made the documentary, Enchanted Matter, capturing Rob’s life, art and philosophy. Sadly his health gradually deteriorated. He passed away with Lieve at his side, in a room brightened by a view to a brilliant, orange-flowered tree, with music and candles to accompany his final journey. Robert will not be forgotten. He will live on in our memories as a beloved, gentle being and a prodigious creator of wondrous works of art, who encouraged us to let the strange and beautiful lift us into enchantment.

Linda Kentro and James Giambrone are founders of the Indigo Art Gallery in Kathmandu. Chorten and Lhato, Tangbe. 10 Nation 25 - 31 DECEMBER 2020 #1041 A year of living dangerously Covid-19 in 2020 AQI Total cases in Nepal of Covid-19 cases and fatalities compared to AQI, suicides, tourism, domestic violence. Suicide cases Accidents Tourism GBV Covid-19 Cases 350 1000 350 70000 400 100000

Tourist 900 300 60000 300 75000 Arrivals 300

250 40000 250  Air Qualtiy 250 750 Index (AQI)

200 30000 200 50000  Suicide 200 600 cases

 Road trafﬁ c 450 150 20000 150 accidents 150

100 300 100 10000 100 25000  Gender-based violence 50 150 50 2000 50  Covid-19 Cases

 Covid-19 Fatalities 0 0 0 0 0 0

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

23 22 14 23 21 15 Oct-Nov Kathmandu 3 16 January March May June July August sees surge November December First Nepal case in Flight ban First fatality 10,000 Lockdown Fatalities Fatalities hit Tourist visas Wuhan returnee confi rmed lifted hit 100 1,000 open 24 28 cases Reptariation 1 17 17 March 1,000 confi rmed cases fl ights begin October October October Nationwide Buses, Regular Limited lockdown domestic international tourism April-May Returnees arrive from India May-June Province 2 surge fl ights open fl ights open opened

US EMBASSY, WOREC, DEPARTMENT OF TOURISM, MINISTRY OF HEALTH

The pandemic affected every facet of Nepal’s economy, environment and socio-cultural life

Alisha Sijapati

t was December 2019, and world was gearing up for a brand new Idecade. The most worrying things in most people’s minds were the climate crisis and Trumpism. The 2020s were expected to be a harbinger of new hopes and beginnings. Then the coronavirus pandemic hit, throwing the world upside down, sowing uncertainty, loss and panic across the world. Nepal recorded its first Covid-19 case on 23 January from a male student who had returned from Wuhan, and was infected ten days previously. Now, almost a year later, the numbers are nearing 260,000 BIKRAM RAI and the death toll has crossed 1,750. QFX Multiplex in Labim Mall is reopening from X-mas Day 25 December with all health protocols in place. The government response has been characterised by flip-flopping they should be even more vigilant discrimination shifted to people Statistic also show a direct mental health, and the lockdown policies, contradictory rules and lack now,” public health expert Sher from the plains, and to frontline correlation between the lockdown was not helpful at all. Being cooped of coordination. Political leaders and Bahadur Pun told Nepali Times, health workers. period and the incidents of gender- up at home for months and being the bureaucracy were wrapped up warning about the virus variants that In Kathmandu, many doctors, based violence and rape, which also socially distanced is one of the in the power struggle in the ruling could make the pandemic spread nurses, caregivers were asked rose dramatically in April-August. main causes for the high number party that lasted the whole year, and even faster. to move out from their rented (See graphs). of suicides,” explains psychiatrist led to the dissolution of the Lower Pun adds: “The government apartments. “Covid unleashed the The lockdowns did have Kamal Gautam at Transcultural House this week. had ample time to learn from China, worst side of people and this will some indirect positive impact: Psychosocial Organisation (TPO) The government promptly Europe and other countries to curb have a long term effect,” Pun adds. the Air Quality Index (AQI) in Nepal. established the Covid-19 Crisis the spread of the virus, but it lacked Indeed, the impact has gone Kathmandu and the plains improved Nepal Police data shows that the Management Committee (CCMC) the commitment and resources. beyond strictly public health aspects dramatically in April-July as monthly total of reported suicides after the second Covid-19 case was Because of this, things could get of the disease. The prolonged vehicles went off the roads. The in Nepal shot up to 972 in July from detected, and Nepal was one of the worse.” lockdowns, uncertainty, job loss, number of highway fatalities went 668 in June, and 352 in January first countries in the region to go When the first Covid-19 case and lack of social contact has led down by half to less than 700 in before the lockdowns. into strict nationwide lockdown. was recorded in January, Pun who to pandemics of depression and March-August 2020, compared to “If people do not get treatment “We panicked before time and was an employee at the Sukraraj mental health problems, suicides, the same period the previous year. in time and still think mental health when it was time to act, the people Hospital saw people returning exacerbated the condition of those “Nepalis outside the urban is a taboo, suicides are bound to have given up fighting Covid, when from China get ostracised. Then the with pre-existing health conditions. sphere have very little idea about happen. Economic hardships and 25 - 31 DECEMBER 2020 #1041 Nation 11

Suderpachim 70000 60000 Karnali 50000 70000 40000 60000 30000 50000 20000 40000 10000 30000 0 20000 Jan Dec 10000 0 Jan Dec Gandaki 70000 60000 50000 40000 30000 20000 10000 Bagmati 0 70000 Jan Dec 60000 50000 40000 30000 20000 10000 0 BIKRAM RAI Jan Dec Temperature check at the Central Zoo last week when it reopened after 10 months.

attacked,” says WOREC’S Sulochana they have to go?” asks a frustrated Khanal. Traffic Police spokesperson, Shyam Statistics show that suicide and Krishna Adhikari. “People have violence against women increased been driving more recklessly after steeply during the lockdown and the lockdown, they are drinking Provincial started falling gradually when it and driving because there is less was lifted in August. Similarly, checking.” Lumbini as businesses opened and traffic Nepal also had high hopes for Trends 70000 picked up in August, air pollution Visit Nepal 2020 with a target of 60000 Province-wise month- 50000 in Kathmandu Valley and along welcoming 2 million tourists. But 40000 highways got worse and the number the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB) 30000 Province 2 by-month plot of total 20000 70000 of fatalities on the roads soared. was forced to cancel the campaign. 60000 10000 50000 By the Dasain-Tihar festival in Tourist arrival figures show a Covid-19 cases. 0 Province No. 1 Jan Dec 40000 70000 November, the number of deaths dramatic drop after March to zero for Although test ﬁ gures are 30000 60000 20000 50000 on the roads had spiked to 242 after three months after, and although the not reliable, posititivty 10000 40000 falling to 52 in May. numbers picked up a bit after flights 0 30000 Jan Dec 20000 “The lockdown helped bring the resumed in October, it looks like rates are also going down. 10000 0 AQI level from unhealthy to good, 2021 will also be a washout. Jan Dec but if you look at the trend in the “Despite recent vaccine MINISTRY OF HEALTH past, it shows that January always developments, it will take a few has unhealthy air to breathe while it years for people to start travelling being cooped up at home are the press and social media. “What do this number had risen to 380. Forms goes down to breathable air during as they used to. The tourism sector major reasons for the increase in the you do at home for three months? of violence included domestic monsoon,” says environmentalist will likely recover by mid-2022," number of suicides,” Gautam says. Get on social media and become violence, rape, attempted rape and Bhushan Tuladhar. says Deepak Raj Joshi, former CEO A survey by TPO Nepal with experts on every topic possible and sexual abuse. Traffic Police are among those of NTB. "But if we are well equipped over 2,000 participants showed perhaps misinform people creating “It’s women who have had worst affected by the pandemic. for other future crises, communicate that 50% of those sampled showed panic,” Gautam warned. to bear the brunt of the Covid Since March, 407 traffic police have to the world about our preparedness some symptoms of psychological There was also an alarming lockdown. The economic hardship tested positive for SARS-Cov-2. And and tap into the growing South disorders such as anxiety and stress. rise in gender-based violence. In and the increasing mental and now with the increase in pollution, Asian market, we can recover." Gautam blames the increasing April, the group WOREC Nepal sexual frustration in men has led to they are exposed to COPD (Chronic Joshi’s motto is: “Survive 2020, disorders to the ‘infodemic’ of death registered 36 cases of domestic an increase of such incidents. Those Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) risk. revive in 2021 and thrive and sickness in the mainstream violence against women, but by July who are weaker in the family get “Everyone is in a rush, where do in 2022.” examples inAsia. making thecountryoneofworst the ageof18aremarriedinNepal, brides, yetcloseto40%girlsunder before 18areconsideredchild is 20.Globally,girlswhomarry crisis impactsNepal’seconomy. are atparticularriskastheCovid-19 startling facthighlightshowgirls lockdown earlierthisyear.This 112 T Shraddha Shree Maharjan Loganand Marty have increased under-age marriages fallout ofthepandemic, Faced withtheeconomic Child marriagesspike duringpandemic The legalmarriageageinNepal 2 Sarlahi Districtduringthe place inonemunicipality hirty childmarriagestook Dailekh andSurkhetdistricts marriages thanusualinSarlahi, Girls attendinganinteractionprogram. “There weremorechild Reproductive RightsProgramme Samita PradhanoftheWomen’s during thelockdown,”says Nation Marriage in Humanitarian Settings Settings Humanitarian in Marriage for dowryinordertomarrymy and ifIhavetotakefurtherloans because Ialreadyhavedebtto pay could notsaynotosuchanoffer they didnotaskforadowry.I in aforeigncountry,because March toamanwhoisworking married mythirddaughterPujain the ageof20,”saysRajKumar.“I daughters onlyaftertheyreached daughter is‘marriageable’. father, RajKumarsayshis and was20atthetime.Puja’s got marriedduringthelockdown Municipality inSarlahisaysshe playing instrumentalroles. urban areas,cultureandreligion level ofeducation,proximityto setting forchildmarriage,withthe earthquake. Eachareaisaunique adolescents roseafterthe and elopementsamongolder the earthquake.Lovemarriages 18 hadbeendecreasingbefore arranged marriagesbeforeage Sindhupalchok, thetrendof from there.” which valuegirlsless.Itstarts cultural normsandpractices, important driveristhesocio- (UNFPA) inNepal:“Onevery Khatri attheUNPopulationFund situations, saysApekchyaRana are similarinmosthumanitarian in South Asia South in according tothereport, made tomarrydaughtersearly,’ directly relatedtodecisions strain. Forsomeparents,this resulted inadditionalfinancial livelihoods fromtheearthquake property andinterruptionof under-aged boysandgirls. pressure ledtomoremarriagesof rose whenincreasedeconomic earthquakes, childmarriages them go’,”saysPradhan. parents mighthavethought‘let school, sotheyhadmoretimeand 49 casesinthepastthreeyears. May. LumbiniProvincereported at leastsevenchildmarriagesin to Readsaidithaddiscovered during thelockdown,andRoom been marriedinthefourdistricts shows that11outof152girlshad Voluntary ServiceOverseas(VSO) burden.” at anearlyagebecausetheyarea culture —marryyourdaughters think peoplearefollowingtheir and Development(CAED).“I at theCentreforAgro-ecology “I marriedtwoofmy Puja ofGodaitaRural In Dolakhaand Factors forchildmarriage ‘Destruction ofhousesand In Nepal,followingthe2015 “Children werenotgoingto A surveybytheBritishagency . Child Child UNFPA often missing. evidence oftheirmarriageare Official documentsproviding before girlsreachthelegalage. marriages continuetotakeplace aware ofthelegalmarryingage, child marriage.Whileparentsare organisations doingworkaround is asharedexperiencefor engaged. had notbeenmarried,butonly during lockdown,addingPuja marriages happenedintheward number” hadoccurred. another confirmedthat“alarge marriages hadtakenplace,while of themdeniedthatthereported municipal officialsinSarlahi.One been 20. got married,insistingshehad denied thatshewas18when Puja andherfather,buttheyboth and soonafterthatwecontacted they providedwasthatofPuja, number to30.Oneofthenames Godaita-10. Buttheycorrectedthe took placeinjustoneward: confirmed thatthemarriages up thatreport. In Septemberwebegantofollow in Sarlahiduringthelockdown. child marriagesthathadoccurred 25 -31DECEMBER2020 Some names have been changed. been have names Some Conflicting information Another NGOtoldusnochild We thenreachedoutto Sarlahi staffoftheNGO Nepal Now Nepal podcastabout38 told SamitaPradhanfromCAED marriage duringthepandemic.” in eliminatingtheriskofchild “Reopening schoolsisakeystep marriage saysRanaKhatri. go alongwayinreducingchild gender-based violencewould and creatingawarenesson the currenteconomicdownturn families tolessentheimpactof says. and supportsmystudies,”Puja a husbandwhoisunderstanding kids rightnow.Iamluckytohave pressure frommyrelativestohave I finishmystudies.Thereisno have planstochildrenuntil 11 exams. parents whileshewrotetheGrade from herin-laws’tolivewith November, shehadreturned among youngmothers. Miscarriages arealsocommon also takesatollontheirhealth. while pregnancyandmotherhood are unabletobirthnormalbabies, way,” saysSah.Youngmothers kind ofproblemscometheir figuring outwhattodoifany and theyoftenhaveahardtime smaller budgets. rituals ofgirlsbetween16-18with could easilycompletemarriage incentive tosomefamiliesasthey elope. chat andsometimestoarrange that girlsandboysusetomeet, the growinguseofsmartphones their daughterselopingbecauseof Parents werealsoworriedabout health rightsactivistinSarlahi. a genderandsexualreproductive economic cause,”saysAnjuSah, after investigatingwasthe child marriagewecoulddraw get girlsmarriedbefore19. there isalsothenormofhavingto However, expertsalsoarguethat one personlesstofeedandclothe. to getmarriedearly,becauseitis families topushtheirdaughters our society,”hesays. hard itistomarrydaughtersin daughters andyouknowhow heard fromparents.“Ihavefive Puja’s marriageechothoseoften daughters, Iwilldieofdebt.”

#1041 Creating opportunitiesfor “My husbandandIdon’t When wetalkedtoPujain “They aremostlyilliterate The lockdownalsobecamean “But thebiggestreasonfor Financial issuescanlead His reasonsforarranging