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Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha is traveling to China today. He will be leading a seven-member delegation to attend a trade fair in Chengdu. Bilateral engagements and visit exchanges between Nepal and China have increased in recent days. Only last week, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Ramesh Rijal attended the 13th Xinjiang-Kashi-Central Asia and South Asia Commodity Fair organized by the Kashi Prefecture Administration of China. Rijal delivered a statement at the opening ceremony of the event on 21 June, where he said that fairs and expos offered a good platform for exhibitors, entrepreneurs, and businessmen from South Asia and Central Asia to showcase their products, as well as to strengthen economic and people-to-people relations. He also appreciated the trade facilities provided by China to Nepali products while stressing the need for bolstering Nepali exports to China. In the second week of June, Chairman of the National Assembly, Ganesh Prasad Timalsena, also visited China. He met the Chairman of China’s People's Congress, Zhao Leji, and the two agreed to advance cooperation between the legislative bodies of the two countries. Leji said that leaders of the two countries have elevated the China-Nepal relationship to a strategic partnership of cooperation featuring ever-lasting friendship for development and prosperity. Beijing has also stepped up efforts to strengthen people-to-people relations with Nepal. For instance,  Himalayan Airlines resumed its direct flight between Kathmandu and Beijing this week following a three-year interval caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the Nepali Embassy in China, direct flight between Kathmandu and Beijing, which takes place every Saturday, will play a significant role in promoting tourism, and socio-economic and cultural relations between the two countries. Also this week, a Sichuan Airlines charter flight arrived at the Pokhara International Airport this week, making it the first international flight to land at Nepal’s third international airport since its inauguration in January.  This week Nepal-China Friendship Dragon Boat Race Festival was organized in Pokhara where Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Chen Song said that it is an implementation of China’s Global Civilization Initiative (GCI). WeChat Pay, a mobile payment service run by China’s tech giant Tencent, was launched in Pokhara, while Tencent is joining hands with Nepal’s NMB Bank to launch the service. All these developments within a short period of time indicate China’s softer approach toward the Pushpa Kamal Dahal-led government.  Prime Minister Dahal himself is likely to visit China later this year to further cement the Nepal-China ties. Dahal visited India from May 31-June 3 this year. Key visits 

• Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister Narayan Kaji Shrestha’s China visit
• Minister for Commerce and Industry Ramesh Rijal’s China visit
• Chairman of National Assembly Ganesh Timalsina’s China visit
• Former speaker Agni Prasad Sapkota’s China visit
• A four-member delegation of CPC visited Kathmandu
• Wang Xiaohui, CPC Secretary of the Sichuan province, visited Kathmandu

Kathmandu Mayor Balendra Shah faces a contempt of court case for a social media post denouncing Patan High Court’s interim order to allow the screening of ‘Adipurush’, an Indian film based on epic Hindu mythology ‘Ramayan’. Earlier, Shah had banned the screening of the film, raising objection to one of the lines that he claimed portrayed ‘Janaki’ (goddess Sita) as India’s daughter. However, it was ironic enough that Shah, who is also a rapper, was resorting to such a thing as censorship, and when his mayoral injunction was removed by the court of law, he decided to call Nepali government and courts “slaves” of India. Shah lit a tinderbox of controversy over a film and when things didn’t go his way, he turned it into a matter of ‘sovereignty’ and ‘independence’. Many say it is not the mayor who should be wielding the sword of censorship, that there is the Censor Board of Nepal. But the board gave the film its green light without removing the “controversial” dialogue. Nationalism is a popular ideology right now, and Mayor Shah seems to be cashing on it. Earlier this month when there was a controversy over the ‘Akhand Bharat’ mural inside India’s new parliament building, he had the map of ‘greater Nepal’ placed in his office. Many people praised Shah for this, saying that unlike the government of Nepal, the mayor had the courage to send a reply to India’s ‘Akhand Bharat’ mural. After much public criticism, the government finally sought clarification from India regarding the map mural. In the case of ‘Adipurush’ too, many people celebrated Mayor Shah’s decision to ban its screening and criticized the government for not even raising a peep. Shah’s historic mayoral election victory as an independent candidate reflected Kathmandu voters' frustration toward political parties. After coming to power, Shah performed many tasks that his predecessors could not. For instance, he dismantled illegally built structures around the city, improved road condition, brought transparency to municipal works, and took initiatives to preserve ancient heritages. He was rightly praised by the members of public for being a man of action. The only area where Shah and his office faced criticism was the decision to remove landless squatters from public land and indiscriminately seize the goods of street vendors. Some see his gentrification drive as hostile toward the poor. But his supporters continue to see him as an outsider maverick. Mayor Shah recognizes the deep-seated frustration of his supporters toward traditional political parties, so every now and then he panders to this frustration by taking jibes at the parties, leaders and government ministers. A few months ago he decided to stop collecting garbage from Singhadurbar, where most of the federal ministries lie, for non-cooperation with the city office for management of waste. As the issue grabbed media attention, Shah took to his social media saying to the effect that the ministers who work inside Singhadurbar must be disposed of to Sisdol landfill site first in order for Kathmandu to become a clean city. Naturally, his statement struck a chord with his supporters. More recently, when the government decided to announce the revival of Constituency Development Fund, Mayor Shah once again took a dig at lawmakers by comparing their status as that of municipal ward chairpersons. But it is one thing to criticize the government and another to brazenly refuse to follow a court’s order. This is not the first time Mayor Shah’s decision has landed in court. Recently, a team of municipal police shut down an education fair, which led the organizer to knock on the door of Patan High Court. The court then issued an interim order paving the way for the organizer to resume the fair. But the court order concerning the screening of ‘Adipurush’ has caused much controversy, as Mayor Shah has not only tried to undermine the sanctity of the court but of democracy itself. In his tweet related to his defiance of the court order, there are more than 1,000 replies, and the majority of them have advised Mayor Shah to accept the court’s order even if it does not feel right. His followers have cautioned him not to go against the court order. Then there are those who are of the view that major political parties that are running the country for over three decades have been flouting the court orders all the time, and it is not right to point the finger only at Shah. Former Supreme Court justice Balaram KC says Mayor Shah should have maintained restraint but what he wrote on his social media should not constitute contempt of court. He adds the controversy should have been settled by the court by inviting the two sides for discussion. Major political parties and their leaders are afraid of speaking against Shah, because they fear that criticizing the Kathmandu mayor will result in a public backlash. Instead, he is being praised by parties carrying a nationalist agenda. CPN-UML leader Bhim Rawal has defended Shah, saying that the court order shows that nationalism has become weak. He has written on his social media that all the state institutions such as legislative, judiciary, and executive should stand in favor of national interests. Similarly, Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal Chairman Kamal Thapa has said while some of Mayor Shah’s working style could be controversial, his heart is in the right place. KC, the former Supreme Court justice, says Mayor Shah enjoys unquestionable support, courtesy of major parties’ decades long failure to change. His ‘nationalist’ posturing has only solidified his position. There is no doubt that Mayor Shah has overwhelming support, but he should be careful not to let the fame and popularity get to his head. Rash actions and misplaced attention are not what his supporters want from him. With all the accolades and support, Shah is in a position where his actions and conducts are hardly seen with a critical lens. It is a dangerous position to be in when there is no one to tell him right from wrong.  

Smriti Bishwakarma, famously known as ‘Dmriti’, is a 22-year-old rapper from Jhapa, Koshi Province, who got well recognized in the Nepali music industry in a short period of time. Her journey began at the age of 16, right after completing her 10th grade. Rapping, for her, started as a hobby. In fact, she had never thought of becoming a rapper. But six years down the line, she is now fully focused on making a career out of it. Born in Kathmandu, Bishwakarma moved to Jhapa at the age of eight. Although there were a lot of changes she had to adjust to, one thing that always remained consistent, she says, was her family’s love for music. “No one from my family was a professional singer, but they loved singing now and then,” she says. Her childhood was mostly influenced by Bollywood music. And singing for her was a way of spending some quality time with herself. “I mostly got to be invovled in music during the three month break I had after I was done with school,” she says. She wrote her own lyrics and tried to incorporate it in a rap. In the process, she recorded one of her songs on her phone and posted it online. “That’s when my life took a different turn. The post got shared by Uniq Poet, of the best rappers we have,” she adds, “And that’s the reason why I continued doing what I did.” But she hadn’t yet decided to take up music as her career. Most families in Nepal prioritize education. Hers was the same. “They weren’t wrong either. I needed a degree because being an artist comes with a lot of uncertainties,” she says. She joined Nepal Academy of Tourism and Hotel Management (NATHM) to pursue a Bachelor’s degree, while pursuing music on the side. The sad thing about that arrangement was that she had no time to invest in music. “I felt like I was starting to lose myself,” she says. So she decided to drop out. But her journey in the Nepal music industry had yet not begun. She got into the industry only after winning the rap battle organized by Break Station, a hip-hop community in Nepal, at the age of 20. “At first, my time within the industry was quite overwhelming. I didn’t know what I was doing and everything was happening so fast,” says Bishwakarma, “But I was having fun too.” She got to mingle with several like-minded individuals which, she says, was quite helpful for her to grow as an artist. She used to record songs in a studio before she came to Kathmandu too, but what she didn’t have were people who understood her work the same way she did. “Having so many people on the same page as me was the best thing I got to experience once I was officially a part of the hip-hop industry,” she says. She thoroughly enjoys her profession and the process of creating. But the best part, she says, is when she listens to the song she made for the first time. “It’s the most satisfying feeling,” she says. But sustaining within the industry, she says, is another challenge. The major problem is making a stable income. “Everyone is doing their best, but we still have a lot to learn in terms of properly distributing albums. Right now, we are solely dependent on live shows to make money,” says Bishwakarma. Secondly, she says that the hip-hop industry is quite male dominated, and some of them are reluctant to acknowledge female rappers. “Even when I won the rap battle, my opponent told me he wanted me to win since I was a girl. It seemed like he was trying to say that he let me win and I didn’t earn it,” she says. She further adds that most people  ask her male colleague if they helped her write the lyrics for her songs. “They don’t want to believe that I wrote it,” she says. Also, she sometimes finds working professionally as a rapper to be quite overwhelming. “Not that I don’t like my work. But everyone needs a break,” she says, adding that is why she likes to go back to Jhapa time and again to stay with her family as well as be by herself. Right now, Bishwakarma is working on an Extended Play (EP) which will come out soon this year. But she is in no hurry. “I want to be patient and create something that I’m proud of,” she says, and it’s the same when it comes to building her career too. She says that she wants to give herself enough time to grow and improve. As far as the future is concerned, Bishwakarma says she doesn’t like to plan ahead.  “All I can do is work hard and see where it takes me,” she says.

The very first meeting of the Constituent Assembly held on 28 May 2008 declared Nepal a federal democratic republic by abolishing a 240-year-old monarchy.   Even after 14 years into the switch to a federal democratic republic in Nepal that followed the revolution of 1951, the 1990 People’s Movement, the Maoist war and the 2006-2007 People’s Movement II, there has been no substantive transformation in the lives of the people. Worse still, the Dalits, a deprived community, have been faring no better with economic, social and political issues facing them not yet mainstreamed despite their united struggle against structural inequalities and caste-based discriminations spanning about 76 years.   Let’s look into the numerical ‘strength’ of Dalit representatives in legislature and executive organs of the state to understand this issue better.  In the existing 275-member House of Representatives (HoR) that took shape after 20 Nov, 2022 elections, the Dalit community that makes up 14 percent of the national population has 16 members, accounting for just 5.81 percent of the HoR’s strength. Out of them, 15 were elected through the proportional representation system, whereas one representative made it through first-past-the-post (FPTP) election. The HoR formed right after the promulgation of the Constitution through the Constituent Assembly had a marginally better Dalit representation with 19 Dalit lawmakers (six percent of the House’s total strength). In the 601-member CA constituted in 2008, 51 Dalits (8.48 percent) represented their community but Dalit representation dropped to 41 (6.82 percent) in the second CA formed after the 2013 elections. In the last HoR elections held on 20 Nov, 2022, Dalit candidacy from the Nepali Congress, a major political party, under FPTP (direct) election was nil. Seven of the 58 members in the National Assembly (the Upper House of the Parliament) are from Dalit communities. This representation has been made possible due to a provision that one Dalit member should be elected from each province for the upper chamber.  In provincial assemblies (PAs) and governments, the situation isn’t any better.   Out of 550 members in seven provincial assemblies, only 31 are from the Dalit community, making up a paltry 5.63 percent of the total strength. Out of them, two got elected under the first-past-the-post system, while the remaining 29 made it through the PR system.  Let’s take a look at the Dalit representation scenario in each province. Only four of the total 56 PA members in Koshi are from the community, accounting for 7.14 percent of the assembly’s strength. Madhes Province has seven members elected from the community out of 64 PA members, accounting for 10.93 percent. Bagmati Province has the lowest representation from the community, with only two out of PA members from the community, accounting for 3.03 percent of the assembly’s total strength. Gandaki Province has the highest number of representatives from the community, with six PA members from the community out of 36, accounting for 16.66 percent. Five of the total 24 PA members in Karnali Province are from the community, including one under the FPTP. In Sudurpaschim Province, three out of 32 PA members are from the community (9.37 percent of the assembly’s strength).  Historically speaking, Dalit representation in the executive organ has remained no less dismal. Hira Lal Bishokarma, appointed assistant education minister in 1974, was the first minister to represent the Dalit community in the government during the 30-year Panchayat regime. He later served as the assistant minister for education and supplies and as a minister of state during the regime that ended with the advent of multiparty democracy in 1990. Prakash Chitrakar, Lal Bahadur Bishwakarma, Hari Shankar Pariyar, Golchhe Sarki, Pratap Lohar and Man Bahadur Bishakarma became part of different Cabinets from the community from 1974 till 2006, but none of them got full ministership. Khadka Bahadur Bishokarma and Chhabilal Bishokarma are the first full ministers from the community—respectively helming the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare and the Ministry of Agriculture and the Cooperatives in the interim government formed on 25 April, 2006 under Girija Prasad Koirala. Some more names have made it to different governments since then, but the Dalits remain underrepresented in state organs.  The present federal government has one minister of state from the Dalit community. This kind of under-representation is against the spirit of the Constitution, which, in its preamble, promises to end discriminations relating to class, caste, region, language, religion and gender, in order to protect and promote unity in diversity, social and cultural solidarity, tolerance and harmony.  In addition, Article 40 of the Constitution states that Dalits shall have the right to representation in all agencies of the state based on the principle of proportional inclusion. Whereas several other segments talk about the rights of women, Dalits, Adibasi-Janajatis, Madhesi, Tharu, minorities, persons with disabilities, marginalized groups, Muslim, backward classes, gender and sexual minority groups, youths, peasants, laborers, oppressed people and people from backward regions, and economically poor Khas-Aryas. Dalit leaders say relevant data show a bleak picture of Dalit representation at decision-making levels. “The Dalits have neither strong representation in the parliament nor in the government. Their representation at the decision-making remains a neglected issue,” Padam Sundas, a leader of the Dalit movement, says, accusing political parties of discriminating against the Dalits while selecting election candidates. The PR system is supposed to be for electing people, especially from backward, suppressed and marginalized communities. Of late, however, PR seats have gone to those with access to power and money, observes Janata Samajbadi leader Durga Sob.  CPN (Maoist Center) leader Parshuram Ramtel says a weakening Dalit movement, Dalit leaders’ failure to raise voices for representation of their communities within their respective parties and political parties’ apathy toward issues related to inclusion are some of the factors behind under-representation of Dalits in the parliament. Whereas Sob says there should be representation of the community in both the parliament and the government in proportion with its population. Lawmaker Kamala Bishwokarma says political parties have failed to ensure Dalit representation in the parliament and the government as per their election manifestos. Summing up, full implementation of the Constitution, including its preamble that has envisioned an equitable society based on the principle of proportional inclusion, is necessary to increase the representation of Dalits in state organs.