Next Gen
Nepali Times ईspecial 19 - 25 September 2025 #1279
Hello to all generations,
Don’t know about you, but I will miss sprinkling the acronyms of Nepal’s GenG politicians henceforth in this newsletter: KPO, PKD, SBD, MKN, JNK. We had fun poking fun at their shenanigans for three decades. Who will we ridicule now?
Despite their public spats, in private the Top Guns got along like a house on fire. It was against dissident factions within their parties that they had serious problems. Which is why SBD was 5-time PM, going on 7. KPO 4. PKO 3. JNK 1. MKN 1. BRB 1.
To say that these Alpha Males were indulging in cockfights would be an insult to chickendom. The serial prime ministers survived by horse-trading, thereby insulting the entire global equine community. To describe them as wolves in sheep’s clothing would belittle both predator and prey.
Had they passed Amendments to the Ten Commandments it would have read:
Thou shalt not steal, unless it’s a kickback.
Thou canst if thou so wilst commit consensual adultery with a coalition partner and partake in flagrante political promiscuity.
Thou shalt kill as thou pleases, and retroactively amend the Transitional Justice Act by giving thyselves full immunity from prosecution for war crimes.
Thou shalt not take thy Lord’s name in vain. (Unless it is Marx, Lenin or Mao.)
Honour thy father and thy mother, and appoint thy brother-in-law Ambassador to Australia.
The interim govt has got straight down to brass tacks by ordering the Nagdhunga Tunnel open for outbound traffic, and removing landslides blocking strategic highways. If this work cannot be carried out in time, the caretaker government may have to postpone Dasain till after the 5 March elections and celebrate it in conjunction with New Year 2083 BS.
Interregnum
Till presstime on Sunday, we are still waiting for word from the PMO about the rest of the Cabinet. If the choice of interim PM and first three ministers are anything to go by, Nepal is on the right track to chart a new future.
There are major challenges ahead in this interregnum to erase impunity and extortion of the past decades, and bring perpetrators to justice. The focus has been on corrupt politicians, but what about kleptocrat bureaucrats (Editorial by Sonia Awale, Two Sides of the Same Coin, page 2)?
It is disheartening to see that KPO, PKD and SBD have not learnt their lesson and are back to their ‘old’ ways (What Next for Nepal’s Big 3 Parties? By Ayusha Chalise).
There also have to be meaningful probes into the massacre outside Parliament. In Buddha’s Eyes, page 1 and 4-5, by Nishi Rungta we cover the names of most of the 74 killed in the protests projected on walls of buildings throughout Kathmandu Valley on the National Day of Mourning on 16 September (Watch YouTube video on the Nepali Times channel).
Those behind the arson and mayhem on 9/9 need to be investigated, which should be easy since the looters took selfies. See Relocate, Reallocate, Recover by Shristi Karki on page 6 and Bhat-Bhateni Burning by Sangya Lamsal on page 7).
Nepal has faced and overcome crises before with its legendary bouncebackability. This was a political megaquake compared to previous upheavals, made more destructive because sinister elements were out to raze the state to the ground by penetrating the GenZ protest (The Day Justice Died by Mamata Shrestha, page 8).
The Dasain spirit this year is subdued, but there is a sense of cautious optimism. I will leave you on that note with positive thoughts.
Kunda Dixit