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On Jan 7, a sleepy nation woke up at 6.50am to a magnitude-7 quake epicentered at Tingri County (Tibet), China as eastern districts of Nepal, including Solukhumbu, Okhaldhunga, Khotang, Sankhuwasabha and Bhojpur, shook vigorously along with the federal capital of Kathmandu. Much to the relief of the nation, there was no loss of life and no major property loss in the jolt, though some private houses and the office building of Thame Post of the Sagarmatha National Park at Thametyang suffered damage.

The quake comes close on the heels of a season of disasters that just passed us by. Last monsoon, more than 230 people died, at least 169 people suffered injuries and many went missing as floods and landslides further destabilized a country where political instability has become the norm rather than the exception. The rescue of around 17,000 people during the monsoon season gives an indication of the scale of the disaster. 

Against this backdrop, a polity with a very short memory and a weak institutional capacity to deal with disasters would do well to learn some humble lessons from the disasters old and new. 

Monsoon floods, landslides, wildfires and quakes claim lives every year, render thousands homeless and cause infrastructural losses worth billions of rupees. 

For example, around 80 people died, several others suffered injuries, thousands became shelterless and the nation suffered infrastructural losses worth billions when a magnitude-6.4 temblor epicentered at Ramidanda (Jajarkot district) shook districts of western Nepal, including Jajarkot and Rukum West, at 11.47 pm on 3 Nov 2023. More than a year after the disaster, humanitarian assistance continues to ‘elude’ many shelterless survivors of the Ramidanda jolt. 

It’s time the government realized that disasters don’t kill, lack of preparedness does. Anyway, a government tasked with protecting the life and property of its people cannot get away by blaming death, devastation and displacement on ‘natural’ disasters.       

Let the recent jolt and other disasters wake up all three tiers of our government and prompt them to step up preparedness that can go a long way in protecting life and properties during such disasters.

Article 93(1) of the Constitution of Nepal, 2015 states that the interval between the two consecutive sessions of the federal parliament shall not be more than six months. The budget session was prorogued in mid-September 2024, meaning that the deadline for convening the winter session has not passed.

Notwithstanding this provision, the winter session should already have begun in accordance with a prevailing practice of convening the session within three months after the prorogation of the budget session.

With over 20 bills pending, lawmakers have their hands full. The parliament will need ample time for deliberations on each bill and for incorporation of concerns coming from lawmakers as law-making in a democracy is not done at the crack of a whip.

So, what is stopping the government from recommending the President to summon the winter session?

Some existential crisis, fear of criticism or some other factor?  

What’s exactly cooking in the corridors of power?

Media reports point out that the government has some other designs. Rather than stepping up preparations for the session, the two major ruling parties—the CPN-UML and the Nepali Congress—are in talks to introduce an ordinance that will actually ‘facilitate’ the splitting of political parties.

 These dark-room negotiations and delay in convening the session have not gone unnoticed. Speaking at a program of the Federal Parliament Secretariat recently, the Speaker of the House of Representatives expressed dissatisfaction over the delay in convening the session. Describing the government as the child of the parliament, he accused the child of sidestepping, undermining and even boycotting the mother.

Lawmakers from the opposition parties have objected to this style of functioning, accusing the government of seeking to rule through ordinances, ignoring the voices of the people and trying to avoid criticism.

On their part, some ministers and ruling party leaders have conceded that inter-party talks on whether or not to present the bill on splitting of political parties during this session are in progress, indicating that the winter session may convene in about a fortnight.

Summing up, the government should learn some bitter lessons from similar misadventures instead of trying to ‘facilitate’ the split of parties for temporary gains, rule through ordinances and undermine the concerns of the opposition and the people if it indeed wants the polity to stabilize and deliver.

At the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground in Kirtipur, Nepali cricket made history recently. The credit for this feat—the successful conclusion of the Nepal Premier League (NPL) Twenty20 cricket tournament (Nov 30-Dec 21)—goes to the entire sports fraternity.

It’s a celebration for all, including the government, the winning team, Janakpur Bolts, other participating teams, ace cricketers from Nepal and beyond, the organizers (Cricket Association of Nepal), sponsors, national and international media involved in the coverage of the tourney, ground staff, fans and empires.  

Through the maiden NPL title win, Janakpur Bolts have etched their name in history and this win should be an occasion for celebration for the sports fraternity. It is natural for fans of a squad to get disappointed when a rival team wins but this does not allow them to opt for physical violence and racist remarks against the ‘rivals’. Sadly, that’s what happened during and after the final match between the Bolts and the Sudurpaschim Royals.

The organizers and law enforcement should learn some humbling lessons from the cricket ground, and so should fans. The fans, diehard and misguided ones in particular, should bear in mind that violence is not acceptable at all, whether on or off the sporting arena.

For law enforcement and the management, it is indeed quite difficult to ensure order in a euphoric, roughly 25000-strong crowd but this does not mean these authorities should not prepare for worst-case scenarios. Now that the unwelcome incident has occurred, the onus is on law enforcement to conduct a free, fair and credible probe, take action against the guilty and come up with preventive measures keeping in mind the possibility of vested interests using such events to stoke up hostilities between different communities living in peace and harmony in a country comprising the Himalayas, the Tarai and the Hills.

With some sobering lessons, the NPL has shown that Nepal, endowed with favorable weather conditions and friendly, cheering people well aware of the sporting culture, has the potential to become a great neutral venue for major international sporting tournaments, including cricket. The time has come to channelize our energies toward that end as well.

For members of the general public, it is getting increasingly difficult these days to know which piece of information is fake and which is not. Recently, a fake video of an incident of manhandling went viral. Apparently, the video was targeted at the country’s top political leadership. 

This, just days after a sustained effort to drag the leadership into controversy over alleged investments offshore.

A cursory reading of unsavory comments in relation to such controversial and often fake contents paints an alarming picture. It shows anarchy reigns supreme in parts of the cyberscape as in several other parts of national life, including in politics. It may be because of poor service delivery on the part of state organs. Worse still, it may be an indication of the direction we are taking as a society. 

In a real democracy, healthy criticism of the government is always welcome. The free press, if it is indeed worth its name, is at the forefront when it comes to taking the government to task. Sadly, there have been instances, in Nepal and elsewhere, where the vanguards of the permanent opposition have paid—and continue to pay—heavy prices for not sparing a government, democratic or otherwise.

Rulers, regardless of their hues and shades, often fail to realize that they should not shoot the messenger just because they don’t like the message. Even those at the helm in great democracies tend to forget that the media is a watchdog, not a lapdog. 

This selective amnesia comes from state powers, unbridled or otherwise. Indeed, power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

The freedom of expression, the freedom of the press and several other freedoms are enshrined in our Constitution. These freedoms come with boundaries attached. 
Notwithstanding the red lines, cyberspace has become a mute spectator as outlets, in their desperate bids to go viral, cross the limits and resort to misinformation, disinformation and fake news, often targeting high-profile figures, among others. There’s an ecosystem behind it all, with links beyond the national jurisdiction.

Alarmingly, recent days have also seen attempts to malign Nepal as an unsafe neighbor and destabilize the polity by predicting that the government will collapse pretty soon.

In the face of misinformation, disinformation and fake news spreading like wildfire amid proliferation of advanced technologies like AI, our government seems to be in deep slumber.

Time has come for the government to wake up and rein in this sorry situation by safeguarding freedoms enshrined in our charter and improving its poor service delivery, which seems to be the root cause of rising discontent in social media and beyond.