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Q. A question you wish more people would ask?

A. How have you been?

Q. Your alternate career choice?

A. Gardener.

Q. One thing you do to cheer yourself up?

A. Find solitude.

Q. Most misunder­stood thing about you?

A. I am not cute.

Q. Thing people would be sur­prised to know about you?

A. I can Eat!

Q. Your best and worst purchase?

A. Best: lungi. Worst: weighing machine

Q. If you could have coffee with one Nepali celebrity, who would it be?

A. KP Oli. Is he a celeb­rity? haha

Q. Best compliment you have received?

A. I inspire them to be REAL. Thank you!

Q. An advice you would give to your younger self?

A. Jos ma Hos naharau­nu

Q. Your man crush?

A. Morgan Freeman, forever.

As a federal lawmaker, how satis­fied are you with women’s repre­sentation in political parties and the state apparatus?

First of all, we have to think why women’s representation is import­ant. We have a patriarchic society that is both discriminatory and vio­lent toward women. Though plenty of women are involved in political, economic, cultural and other areas, they are denied appropriate pay and position. In this sense, discrimina­tion and inequality are pervasive. Women lag behind in every sector though there is equal contribution of both sexes in all sectors. Addition­ally, it is hard for women to assume leadership roles.

Our culture does not accept women’s leadership, even though men and women have played equal roles in bringing about social and democratic changes. Directly or indirectly, women have played an encouraging role in all politi­cal movements and revolutions in Nepal. Yet the social attitude to women remains unchanged.

What do you think accounts for this static social attitude?

Until there is 50 percent represen­tation of women, there will be no meaningful development in Nepal. Many countries have guaranteed women’s prominent presence in politics as well as in social and eco­nomic sectors. The honesty and commitment of women have been proven to contribute to develop­ment and prosperity the world over. Let us not talk about equality only on political front. Women’s promi­nent roles are equally important in economic and cultural spheres.

Talking about political represen­tation, not one of the four national parties has enough women in their decision-making organs.

The new law has made represen­tation of 33 percent women manda­tory in all structures of political par­ties. In line with the new law, par­ties, including mine, have already amended their statutes. Other polit­ical parties should follow suit.

This provision of 33 percent repesentation should be effectively implemented in all state organs. Be it the Public Service Commis­sion, the army, or any other polit­ical appointments, the provision must be honored. Let us develop an effective mechanism to ensure that this happens. Even in the parliament, women have proven their leadership after being sent there in three periodic elections since the first Constituent Assembly (CA) election in 2008. Yet political parties are still reluctant to give them prominent roles.

As you hinted, there aren’t enough women in top deci­sion-making levels, be it in the federal parliament or the local bodies. Does the old patriarchal mindset account for the paucity?

There is low representation of women in core decision-making lev­els in the parliament and the polit­ical parties. As a result, women in other areas have also been deprived of adequate representation as guar­anteed by our laws and the constitu­tion. For this to change, there should be greater representation of women in the cabinet, party offices and their committees responsible for selecting electoral candidates. We have discussed women’s represen­tation enough. Now let us talk about their meaningful representation.

Keeping women away from deci­sion-making is also depriving them of leadership skills. This is happen­ing due to the patriarchal mind­set. Again, our society still does not accept women in leadership roles.

The current government seems to be using different yardsticks while evaluating the rights of men and women

As you said, implementation of key legal and constitutional pro­visions has been weak. Who do you think is responsible?

Those who need change the most must be in decision-making levels. In Nepal, women from Madhesi, Dal­it and other marginalized commu­nities are still badly discriminated against and they are far from deci­sion-making levels. The parliament, the government and the political parties are not giving enough atten­tion to their issues.

We have to have a separate strategy to combat the patriarchal mindset. For this, the support of all sections of the society is needed. For effective implementation of legal and constitutional provi­sions, women should take lead­ership, which in turn should be supported by the society at large and other institutions.

What efforts are being made to end discrimination against wom­en? What about the resistance to those efforts?

When we raise women’s issues, we don’t get encouraging sup­port. But there is also a compul­sion to implement legal and con­stitutional obligations. This has, to an extent, broken the hold of the patriarchal mindset and women are getting new rights on citizenship and parental property for instance. Similarly, many women-friendly laws are being endorsed by the par­liament. Yet there has been little progress in ensuring social security of women because government pol­icies, programs and funding mecha­nisms are discriminatory.

Are you suggesting the Oli gov­ernment is not women-friendly?

Yes. The lawmaking process is moving ahead, as guided by the constitution. Discussions are under­way on amendment of the Citizen­ship Act to ensure citizenship under mother’s name. The problem is that the current government seems to be using different yardsticks while eval­uating the rights of men and women. This is why many discriminatory laws remain.

What one step will have the big­gest impact in terms of levelling the playing field between men and women?

To ensure women’s leadership, we have to embrace the concept of separate electoral constituencies for them. This will make women’s leadership more acceptable as peo­ple will vote exclusively for women candidates. We can for instance set aside 33 percent of the constituen­cies for women. Let us have this provision for two or three elections.After that they can be phased out.

We will never be able to see wom­en in leadership roles until we create women-only constituencies. Again, this is the only way to ensure that women’s leadership is accepted. Now there is criticism that women, who are mostly serving as depu­ties in local levels, have failed to perform. But how could they carry out this challenging role without any preparation? To start with, why weren’t they adequately trained?

The 15th edition of the Kathmandu College of Management Inter College Music Competition (KCM ICMC) saw the band ‘Psychopath’ from Ace Higher Secondary take home the winning prize, with ‘The Voices Unheard’ (Sangeet Pathshala) and ‘Alpha Omega’ (Blood and Thunder music school) getting the first and second runner-ups respectively.

More than 6,000 attendees witnessed the top 11 bands compete in the finals at Bhrikutimandap on March 2. Kiran Shahi from Jindabad, Jimi Blues from TMR Trio and Sareen Deoja from Monkey Temple judged the performances, also declaring the band ‘Eclipse’ as Judge’s Favorite.

KCM’s student-run ICMC connects youths and music enthusiasts from around the country. The event, now in its 15th year, is now easily one of the biggest music competitions in the country.

 In order to revitalize the Nepali Congress and help it regain its position as a lead­ing political force, some vital steps are necessary.

The party doesn’t need many policy reforms. Unwavering faith in democracy, protection of the citizens’ fundamental rights, the rule of law, support for plural­ism, an independent judiciary, a free press, periodic elections, a parliamentary system—these are still the NC’s main policies. The party has embraced the new dynamics of proportional representation. Because ‘demo­cratic socialism’ is highly prone to misinterpretation by commu­nist parties, Congress needs to establish a separate identify for itself as a proponent of a welfare economic system.

The NC has always been led by someone who respects the pub­lic mandate. Between 1950 and 1982, the party was led by BP Koirala. After that, for a decade, it was led collectively by Ganesh Man Singh, Krishna Prasad Bhat­tarai and Girija Prasad Koirala. From 1990 on, it was led primar­ily by Girija Prasad Koirala until his demise in 2010.

Girija Prasad Koirala had firm faith in the rank and file, who act as the link between the party and the people. It was because he was continuously in touch with the rank and file that he was able to prevail over other senior leaders. At present, the party leadership lacks vitality. A successful leader has to have, at a minimum, four traits—the ability to listen to others, test their ideas, analyze the ideas in context and express one’s views clearly to the public.

The party leadership has been weakened because of its inabil­ity to establish itself among the general people. These leaders will get yet another chance to correct their mistakes in the next general convention. How the party will make use of this opportunity is a matter of curi­osity and concern. In a polity like ours, some influence of heredity is undeniable. But now that the country is a republic, the salience of heredity is bound to erode.

Even today, Congress is not organizationally weak. The party charter provides a good enough roadmap. But an apathetic lead­ership has rendered the center passive. Various departments haven’t been set up. Responsibil­ities haven’t been properly dele­gated. Because party leaders are mobilizing their supporters and well-wishers mostly from their own homes, the party office is in decline.

Until the party corrects this tendency, it cannot function well. Daily attendance of the party president and central committee members at the party office can help break factional­ism. Not going to the party office and running factions from home breeds a culture of sycophancy. Such a trend must be discour­aged. It not only places factions above the party but, worse, saps the morale of cadres.

Daily attendance of party president and central committee members at party office can help break factionalism

BP himself was a cerebral leader. He had expressed the need to establish think tanks during the time of the 1980 ref­erendum. But the current Con­gress leadership doesn’t realize think tanks are needed, whether the party is in government or in opposition. When necessary, they invite experts and form opinions on an ad hoc basis. Think tanks of a permanent nature are the need of the hour. They help identify and cor­rect shortcomings in the party, inspire leaders through inde­pendent views and formulate short- and long-term strategies.

Since 1990, because of the continual exercise of demo­cratic freedoms, a sizeable mid­dle class has evolved across the length and breadth of the coun­try. Easy access to a passport has allowed half the population to visit foreign countries and become familiar with global trends. Moreover, the IT revo­lution has brought news from around the world to individual households. Now, Nepali citi­zens are, to varying degrees, familiar with national and global happenings. So they expect the government to deliver. And they have penalized the NC for its fail­ure to deliver despite multiple opportunities. The party’s next general convention is looking for a leadership that can deliver on numerous fronts—political, eco­nomic, social and cultural. But that’s only possible if the party can break free from the chains of hierarchy.

Traditional parties, including Congress, haven’t been able to attract the youth. In fact, the NC leadership doesn’t even know what the new genera­tion wants. Congress leaders, including yours truly, are IT illiterate. Without familiarity with Information Technology, it’s impossible to connect with the new generation.

The country is at a crossroads between hope and cynicism. A political party should be able to inspire hope. It’s the leadership that orients a party in a partic­ular direction. The NC should

 be able to profess commitment to good governance, quality healthcare and edu­cation, fiscal discipline, capital formation, greater investment, development and job creation. It should convey that only the NC can protect freedoms.

The state has been restructured for the first time. NC has to take ownership of the constitution and demonstrate a clear determination to implement it honestly

Radheshyam Adhikari is an NC lawmaker in the federal upper house

In handing down a life sentence to Resham Chaud­hary, the federal lawmaker from Kailali district, and 10 others, the Kailali district court made one crucial distinction. It decided that the 2015 killings of eight police personnel and a child in Tikapur, Kaila­li were not part of a political movement but a purely criminal act. It is hard to call the verdict, which has been nearly four years in the making, hasty. Nor is it the final one. Chaudhary can still knock on the doors of higher courts.

But in the meantime all those who believe in the rule of law must respect the verdict. The Rastriya Janata Par­ty Nepal, Chaudhary’s party, denounced it, arguing that the Tikapur incident was purely ‘political’ and accusing the ruling parties of bias against the Tharu lawmaker. As the people of Kailali elected Chaudhary to the fed­eral parliament, even after the police had filed a mur­der case against him, shouldn’t the public mandate be honored? In fact, one condition for the RJPN’s support to the Oli government was Chaudhary’s release from jail (which didn’t happen) and his swearing-in as an MP (which did).

The sequence of events raises troubling questions. Why did the Election Commission accept Chaudhary’s candidacy even after a murder case was filed against him? Why wasn’t the investigation report of the Tika­pur incident made public? And why did the Oli gov­ernment swear in Chaudhary even when he was in jail, making it appear like it was a ‘political case’ all along? Now, what if Kailali and the rest of Madhes again erupts against the ‘unjust’ conviction?

The ruling parties have repeatedly scarified due process for convenience. For instance, with the rul­ing Nepal Communist Party’s near absolute hold on power, President Bidya Devi Bhandari ‘pardoned’ the murder-convict Balkrishna Dhungel. A question will naturally arise: If Dhungel can be pardoned, why can’t Chaudhary? The communist government has also run roughshod over the transitional justice process, by undercutting even the Supreme Court.

If the rule of law was inviolable and there were no double-standards in the treatment of those in power and those outside, Chaudhary’s would have been a more straightforward case. The politicians’ tendency to do what is convenient for them rather than what is right has eroded public faith in all state institutions. Allowing due process to take its natural course in this case would be the best way to restore some of that faith.

 Three women—Saraswati Baral from Pokhara, Shova Kumari Limbu from Damak and Geeta Devi Chaudhari from Udayapur— who were kept captive in Kuwait for months have been rescued by the International Rolpali Service Society. DB Budhathoki from the Service Society says that it has been rescuing helpless women who find themselves lost or are held captive abroad.

Brokers have been tak­ing young Nepali women to Kuwait via India for them to work as domestic help. The society informs that many of these women have to live like captives once they reach Kuwait. Baral was taken to Kuwait via India a year ago. In the one year that she was there, she worked in four households. She says they kept moving her from one household to another under false assurances that she’d receive better treatment in the next household.

Victims have confided in the officials of the society that they didn’t get their salary on time. Even though Baral worked in Kuwait for a year, she only received five months of salary. She also says that when the house owners went outside, they locked her in the house. Rescued women like Baral say they were treated more like captives than like domestic help.

According to Bal Bahadur GM, the vice-president of the Rolpali Service Society’s Kuwait branch, when Baral was rescued, she was physi­cally and mentally tortured. Someone who came to know Baral informed the society about her plight and asked for help in rescuing her.

After her rescue, Baral was handed over to the Nepali Embassy in Kuwait. Earlier, two women who were rescued from Kuwait were also sent to Nepal in coopera­tion with the embassy.

Brokers in Nepal take women to Kuwait, where another set of brokers charge a hefty sum to find humili­ating and pathetic jobs for them, informs the Rolpali Service Society. Women who go to Kuwait don’t know they are being taken there illegally, and only when they find themselves in captivity do they realize that they have been trapped.

Q. What is the most difficult part of your job?

A. Waking up early and work­ing long hours.

Q. Who was your most famous (or the most mem­orable) client?

A. Disha Patani.

Q. Which country do you like working in the most?

A. India.

Q. Who is your make-up icon?

A. Pat McGrath.

Q. Worst part about your job?

A. There’s nothing bad about my job as I don’t take it as a job. It’s something that I would love to do every day. I will never get tired of it.

Q. Favorite makeup brand?

A. I have a long list but Char­lotte Tilbury is on my top list.

Q. What is the biggest project you’ve been a part of?

A. Pantene campaign for billboard and ad, and Faces Canada.

Q. Your alternate career choice?

A. Something related to art, maybe a fine artist, painter or fashion designer.

Q. What are you proud of but never have an excuse to talk about?

A. How I struggled in Mumbai and then in Nepal when I started. I’m proud of myself for facing challenges and becoming the strong woman I am today.

‘Luka Chuppi’ is a mod­ern-day rom-com that revolves around the issue of live-in relationships. While the comedy stems from a blend of political satire and Bolly­wood stereotype of a weird joint family, the romance is pretty sim­plistic and at times feels rushed. If anything, this movie is a “brainless comedy” but nonetheless also a stellar entertainer.

The story follows Guddu Shuk­la (Kartik Aaryan), a reporter at a local TV station at Mathura who’s gotten himself quite a rep­utation for his quirky TV persona with his best friend and camera­man Abbas Sheikh (Aparshakti Khurana). Funded by Tripathi Ji (Vinay Pathak), the chief of a Hin­du nationalist party (that makes demonizing live-in relationships and PDA its political agenda), the TV station assigns Guddu the issue of live-in relationships. For his new assignment he gets partnered with Rashmi Trivedi (Kriti Sanon), daughter of Trivedi Ji. Their friend­ship quickly escalates into full blown romance in the course of their assignment.

 Who should watch it?

Fans of rom-coms should totally watch it. If you’re looking for a total entertainer to unwind this weekend, this is a good option. And most definitely if you’re a fan of Kartik and/or Kriti. They won’t disappoint.

Guddu then drops down on his knee and proposes Rashmi. Even though she freaks out at first—part confused, part curious—Rashmi proposes they first try a live-in rela­tionship to test their compatibility. The story follows their adventure as they experiment with a post-mod­ern concept in a conservative Hin­du society.

Both Aryan and Sanon are fully into their roles, almost intoxicating­ly so, with their amazing chemistry. While that can be said for most of the cast, the over-the-top character of Babulal (Pankaj Tripathi) feels a little out of place.

The comedy and the irresistible romance make up for an utter disregard for logic

With its political satire, situational comedy, and plot twists, the movie is sure to give the audience a good dose of laughter. The story also peddles a host of other socie­tal issues like misogyny, gender inequality, caste bias and moral policing, all of which get a funny treatment. And the story couldn’t be easier to follow.

The plot is a little predictable; the trailer makes it even more predictable and spoils important scenes. The plot also feels repet­itive at times. On the plus side, there a number of good political satires. (In a scene a journalist is seen asking “So you’re an anti-na­tionalist?” when an actor reveals he’s in a live-in relationship.) The subtle dig at the moral policing of the BJP-allied Bajrang Dal is also on the mark.

Again, while the movie dis­plays an utter disregard for logic, the comedy and the irresistible romance make up for it. If you’re willing to leave behind logic at the ticket counter and watch the movie for what it truly is, you’re surely to be entertained for the two-hour runtime. As a debutant, director Laxman Utekar does an amazing job of bringing it all together.

Movie: Luka Chuppi

Genre: Comedy/Romane

Cast: Kartik Aaryan, Kriti Sanon, Aparshakti Khurana, Pankaj Tripathi, Vinay Pathak, Atul Srivastava, Alka Amin

Direction: Laxman Utekar

Rating: 3.5/5