Homeless Minister
Nepali Times ईspecial 24 - 30 April 2026 #1308
Hi guyz,
In last week’s newsletter I had wished that we would be living in less interesting times. That was not to be. Let’s just say that this past week has been unnecessarily exciting here in Nepal.
The latest was Prime Minister Balendra taking on the role of Demolition Man by accomplishing what he could not as mayor — bulldozing squatter settlements on Saturday. There has been much applause on social media.
This eviction of Kathmandu’s homeless closely followed the exit of Homeless Minister Sudan Gurung. We had been crossing our fingers that the Balendra Sarkar with its two-thirds majority would have five-year staying power, but barely one month in two ministers have been shown the door.
There may be other skeletons in the Cabinet, so the grovelment will have to be more creative in adding portfolios. For example, the Ministry of Civil Aviation, Tourism and Culture can be trifurcated into The Civilian Ministry, Ministry of Algorithm and the Ministry of Vermiculture.
The Ministry for Industry, Commercialism and Over-Supply will also have to be spun off into three different ministries. And the prime minister may need to keep for himself a separate portfolio: Minister To Vet Future Ministers.
Nepali Times had just laid out the centrefold with the brilliant caricature by Anup Tamu of Balendra Shah and Sudan Gurung to accompany an analysis by our very own meme-man Nobel Rimal, when the home minister resigned through Facebook.
Rimal quickly reworked his piece on how Influencer Minister Sudan Gurung’s rise through auramaxxing finally fell victim to hardcopy evidence of iffy shareholder documents (When Aura Meets Audit, page 6-7).
The blow-by-blow account of how the story itself unfolded is on page 4: Sudan Gurung’s Coming and Going.
And for the geopolitics underpinning all this is the page 1 reportage Love Thy Neighbours (and America) in which New Delhi-based Nepali journalist Akanshya Shah, Indian Nepal-watcher Sukh Dev Muni and political analyst Indira Adhikari try to make sense of the simultaneous visits to Kathmandu by Chinese and American officials this week.
That came ahead of Prime Minister Shah’s planned official trip to New Delhi, and the possible visit next week by the American ambassador to India and Donald Trump appointee, Sergio Gor.
Prime Minister Ray Ban still has not spoken directly to the media, and he has even stopped communicating through his X handle. So we do not know if he still wants to, diplomatically speaking, £uck US, £uck India and £uck China. Rhymes with duck.
Last week was Nepal’s National Yak Day and 2026 is the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists. To mark the occasions, we carry a piece on the valuable documentation by Daniel J Miller of the rangelands of High Asia in the 1970s (Rangelands of the Himalayan Range by Saurav Thapa Shrestha, pages 10-11).
And the FAO Country Representative for Nepal Ken Shimizu contributes a tribute to the yaks of High Asia and their importance for Himalayan livelihoods and culture (Nepal’s Yak Economy, page 10-11).
Yesterday, 25 April was the 11th anniversary of the 2015 earthquake, and Sudiksha Tuladhar profiles Krishna Bahadur Ramtel who miraculously survived the collapse of Dharara, where 180 people were killed when the tower fell (Living To Tell the Tale, page 12).
You may also find this dramatic video of exactly 11:56AM when the ground started shaking. It was captured on the cctv camera of the printing press where Nepali Times used to be produced back in 2015.
Enjoy the print editions of Nepali Times, and if you are abroad encourage your friends and relatives in Kathmandu to subscribe and have it delivered to your doorstep every Friday morning. Just email: circulationnepalitimes@gmail.com
Hakuna Matata.
Kunda Dixit