MORE PAGE 8-9 www . nepalitimes . comGuest Editorial 27 SEPTEMBER - 3 OCTOBER 2024 #1231 Nepali Times on Facebook Follow @nepalitimes on Twitter Follow @nepalitimes on Instagram Editor: Sonia Awale | Special Correspondent: Shristi Karki Reporters: Pinki Sris Rana, Vishad Raj Onta | Layout: Kiran Maharjan Publisher: Kunda Dixit, Himalmedia Pvt Ltd, Patan Dhoka, Lalitpur | GPO Box 7251 Kathmandu editors@nepalitimes.com | www.nepalitimes.com | www.himalmedia.com | Tel: +977 1 5005601-08 Fax: +977 1 5005518 PAD POWER Menstruation remains taboo in Nepal. Follow Nepali Times to the scenic village of Patlekhet in Kavre, where local women in the Dharti Mata Sustainable Workshop produce eco-friendly, sustainable cotton pads while also spreading menstruation knowledge around the village. Watch the video on our YouTube channel. .com WHAT'S TRENDING Most reached and shared on Facebook Most popular on X ONLINE PACKAGES 1,000 WORDS Most commented Decentralising power in Nepal by Bikash Pandey The well-known cancellation of Arun III in 1995 and the availability of alternative models led to Nepal's decentralised power development. It matters that this distributed generation and storage of electricity is close to the point of use. Join the discussion online. World Bank flip-flop on Upper Arun by Ramesh Kumar Thirty years after pulling out of Arun III, the World Bank has gone quiet on investing in the Upper Arun hydropower project. This would be Nepal’s largest hydropower project so far with an estimated cost of $1.8 billion. Follow us for the latest developments. Japan-born struggle to ‘be Nepali’ by Pinki Sris Rana In several Nepali families in Japan, it is the children who are having to adjust to being caught in between two worlds. Many have to cope with the double adjustment of first arriving in Nepal, and then returning to school in Nepal. Read story on our wbsite and watch the video. Most visited online page QUOTES Yem Yāh by Alok Siddhi Tuladhar Kathmandu’s Great Autumnal Festival that celebrates the rain god for a bountiful rice harvest, has many popular myths associated with it. We dig deeper to uncover the layers through which its history has evolved. Visit nepalitimes.com for details. RSP’s RSVP Nepal’s social media platforms are bursting with anger against the main parties. There are signs that Prime Minister Oli and other senior coalition figures are aware that newer political entrants could ride the wave of public outrage against incumbents. The proposed amendment to the Constitution is seen by many as a gerrymandering strategy for the 2027 election by abolishing inclusion provisions. Stingy incompetent intolerant rulers and majoritarian political parties the MAJOR PROBLEMS not the Constitition. "Nepal will always remain in my heart as one of the most beautiful places I have visited, with warm people and an amazing culture," says outgoing Romanian Ambassador Daniela-Mariana Sezonov Ţane. My first solo trip outside of Europe was to Nepal. An experience that marked me from the moment I arrived at Kathmandu airport. In love with temples and their fantastic 'momos'. BIOGRAPHY OF A THOUGHT Tenzing Rigdol's installation ‘Biography of a Thought’ is a powerful centrepiece at The Met in New York, and a historic moment for Himalayan art. While drawing on Buddhist ideas, practices, and artistic formats seen in the surrounding galleries, the installation presents our world from a secular perspective. Watch video by The Met. Review on page 8-9. F ollowing the release of the report by the Parliamentary Special Investigation Committee on the cooperatives fraud, RSP member Shisir Khanal made a rather bizarre statement to the media. While defending the alleged involvement of his boss Rabi Lamichhane and his tv venture partner G B Rai in diverting the savings of depositors of multiple cooperatives, he said: “G B Rai was already so rich, why would Rabiji investigate the source of his investment? Would you ask Binod Chaudhary where he got his money if he wanted to invest in your media?” Khanal was a former RSP education minister and co-chair of the reputed Teach for Nepal. For someone who claims to have joined politics to reform Nepal’s education sector, this was woefully underwhelming. Lamichhane is innocent until proven guilty by the courts. But there is no smoke without fire, and the man’s political career so far during several tenures as home minister has been, to put it politely, questionable. Other RSP technocrats like economist Swarnim Wagle, IT entrepreneur Sumana Shrestha and physician Toshima Karki joined the party because they believed in nurturing an ethical political ecosystem in Nepal. We understand that they have to toe the party line, but they all say the committee gave Lamichhane a clean chit. Which it did not. To be sure, there is evidence that the NC and UML connived in June to topple the Maoist-led coalition in which Lamichhane was home minister because his investigation into the fake refugee and Jhapa tea estate land scam were getting close to the top leaders of both parties. Besides that, Nepal’s two biggest parties in the current coalition also want to prevent the RSP from getting too popular before the next elections in 2027. The RSP vs NC-UML prize fight therefore is looking like the pot calling the kettle black. For the RSP’s own sake, and to bolster its original image of a new alternative party that stands for good governance, integrity and delivery, it needs to purge itself of a leader who is always neck deep in serial scandals. Lamichhane is behaving exactly like the elderly alpha males of the other established parties that he was promising he was different from. We have seen all this before: a party leader who does not want to let go and expects all-out loyalty from cadres even when there are moral questions. Communist parties believe in ‘democratic centralism’ and actively suppress criticism of their supreme leaders. But in Nepal it is SOP even in parties that have fought long and hard 20 YEARS AGO THIS WEEK Nowhere like Namche If there was one place that was relatively unaff ected by the Maoist war even at the height of insurgency, it was Namche in the Everest region. Foreign trekkers were left to explore on their own, security guards were at their most relaxed, local businesses were fl ourishing. According to the locals, this was because Maoists weren’t expert climbers unlike Sherpa people, and Sherpas are no Maoists. Excerpt of the report published 20 years ago this week on issue #215 24 – 30 September 2004: At the entrance to Namche Bajar, a group of armed soldiers relax, chat and greet this season's fi rst batch of European tourists. Nowhere else in Nepal do security forces seem so friendly and at peace, and for good reason. The Sherpas laugh when asked about the Maoist militants. "It's too much hard work. They'd have to be expert climbers to cross the passes and come all the way down to Namche," says Mingma Sherpa, who runs a trekking inn at Phakding, a four-hour walk from Lukla airport. "Only Sherpas can do that. None of the Maoists are Sherpas," adds her husband. Mingma invested over Rs 800,000 to renovate her hotel during the last couple of months, and is confi dent that with tourist arrivals looking healthy, it will be worthwhile. "The investment will attract more tourists to my hotel. Besides, we never worry about tourists. This is Everest and everyone's full of hope," says Mingma. Preparations for the tourist season are in full swing right up the trail from Lukla. Up to 15 fl ights from Kathmandu landed in Lukla's famous inclined runway during a break in the weather last week. Porters and yak trains can be seen carrying tons of supplies like kerosene, gas cylinders, mattresses, beverages, and chickens. Many hotels are being renovated and redecorated to welcome even bigger crowds of Europeans expected next week. In Kathmandu, trekking agencies report only minimal cancellations, and those who had booked treks in other parts of Nepal have shifted to the Everest area. For archived material of Nepali Times of the past 20 years, site search: nepalitimes.com Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around them: Plato for democracy and pluralism to do so. Those who dare criticise the Great Leader are sidelined, framed, or driven into oblivion. Party bosses consider their own colleagues as more of a threat to their power than those in an opposition party. Political parties have factions within factions. All this is nothing new. But we had all hoped that for the country’s sake the RSP was different. That it would be more transparent and exercise more internal democracy, that policy would take precedence over politicking, discretion would prevail over discord, top leaders would make good governance the goal rather than personal gain. The RSP cannot hope to be an alternative party, if singing hymns of a tainted Dear Leader is the condition for membership. Lamichhane’s ex-comrade Mukul Dhakal has quit, but other technocrats are falling over each other to demonstrate their loyalty to him. The fear seems to be that opposing the leadership will end one’s political career. (Sound familiar? Trump’s GOP.) Most politicians make the mistake of believing that power is the ultimate truth. They believe that power, authority, and right are one and the same, and everything else is secondary. But in politics, one is expected to uphold higher moral standards and be accountable to the public. Lamichhane was elected on a populist platform, turbocharged by his fiery tv anchor role. But ever since he entered politics, he has defied and deflected allegations about his passport and citizenship by wiggling his way into any available coalition and bargaining hard for the home ministry post. He tried to do the same in the previous government to launder the cooperative scam. He played hardball, and the current coalition is also playing hardball. That is politics, but Lamichhane has failed to grasp that patriotism is not proof of honesty. Instead, he has consistently resorted to fear- mongering, using vengeful language and spewing threats (including against the media) when in power and out of it. He could have used legal means to defend allegations, or even stepped aside to facilitate the investigation. Instead, he has fallen back on social media-driven populism to foment public sympathy. The established parties are so discredited themselves that his supporters are willing to believe that the NC and UML are out to get him for exposing skeletons in their closet. By dismissing allegations against its chair, the RSP’s aspiring technocrats have undermined their own futures. The Greek philosopher Erasmus is supposed to have said that a fish rots from the head down. That could very well apply to the RSP if its honest and competent second echelon do not follow their conscience, and continue to parrot a compromised leader. This has been adapted with permission from an Editorial in Nagarik Daily published on 22 September 2024. UPPER ARUN India will not allow any big economic achievement in Nepal unless it is to its own benefit (‘World Bank flip-flop on Upper Arun’, Ramesh Kumar, #1230). Furthermore, Nepali leaders will not discuss topics that India does not want discussions on. Matrika Poudel As long as the agreement to export 10,000MW of electricity to India in 10 years remains, investment will not come into Nepal. The Nepal-India long-term trade has killed the environment for investment outside of India, and our rivers are only considered important in relation to electricity, which is against our national interest. Anamol NT NEWSLETTER I enjoyed the humour in this week's newsletter, but if we were to allow a system that legalises corruption, we don't know where the country's economy would land. Bharat Koirala IT SECTOR This must-read article from Nepali Times emphasises that self- learning is key before we can fully embrace machine learning and AI (‘Self-learning comes before machine learning’, Vishad Raj Onta, nepalitimes.com). While AI offers huge opportunities, barriers like restrictive policies and skill gaps are holding us back. Companies like Wiseyak and Fusemachines are leading the way, but the government needs to do more to support the sector. Self-learning, innovation, and better policies are the building blocks for Nepal’s tech revolution. Naresh Newar PROTECTED AREAS I suspect animals would make better politicians than humans (‘State vs Nature’, #1228). Stephen Scott Fawcett ROMANIA AMBASSADOR It was lovely to read this interview of Romanian ambassador Daniela-Mariana Sezonov Ţane (“The most amazing thing about Nepal are its people”, #1228). My congratulations and best wishes on coming out with this book. Krishna Chalisey PM ALUMNI CLUB: Ex-prime ministers (from left to right) Madhav Kumar Nepal (2009-11), Sher Bahadur Deuba (1995-97, 2001-02, 2004,05, 2017-18, 2021-22), Pushpa Kamal Dahal (2008-09, 2016-17, 2022-24), Baburam Bhattarai (2011-13) at the Constitution Day event at the President's Offi ce. Between us we have been prime minister 10 times. Wait. It would be 13 if Oli-ji was also here.BORDERLINES ChandrakishoreNext >