Has Rabi Lamichhane been found guilty?
On a parliamentary probe panel's investigation into Lamichhane
Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening from Kathmandu. This is Issue 157 of KALAM Weekly, the only newsletter you need to keep up to date with everything happening in Nepal.
In this newsletter:
Balen supporters arrested, Oli fears security threat
India asks Twitter to take down post by a Nepali
Nepal abstains from vote on ending Israeli occupation of Palestine
The deep dive: Has Rabi Lamichhane been found guilty?
Balen supporters detained, Oli fears security threat at National Day concert
Tuesday was Indra Jatra, and as usual, the city of Kathmandu came alive. Durbar Square and its environs were filled with people, and dignitaries, including the prime minister, president, ministers, and ambassadors, gathered at the Gaddi Baithak to view the procession. Last year, chants from supporters of Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah drowned out the crowd, embarrassing the more seasoned politicians up on the balcony. This time, Balen supporters appeared wearing t-shirts emblazoned with his name, face, and the slogan “Balen City.” Kathmandu locals reportedly did not like that the historic city of Kathmandu, especially during a festival as important as Indra Jatra, was being called “Balen City” and argued with Balen fans. The argument grew heated, and the police intervened, detaining the Balen supporters.
Then, on September 19 — Constitution Day, more recently dubbed National Day — Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli was supposed to attend a concert in front of the Narayanhiti Palace in Durbar Marg. Initial reports suggested that Oli would not participate in the concert due to “security threats” from Balen supporters. A virtual war has been taking place between Balen supporters and CPN-UML supporters, with each side cyberbullying the other and launching “unfollow” campaigns. Mayor Balen Shah had blamed the UML and Oli for interfering in a criminal case against UML party member Rekha Sharma, also a Lumbini Provincial Assembly member. Sharma is accused of employing child labor in her home. Since then, both sides have been trying to outdo each other with virtual shows of force.
However, Oli, clad in blue jeans, attended the concert with his Cabinet members. The concert was initially billed as organized by citizens, but it turned out that the UML and Congress parties had been behind the whole to “connect with the youth.” Balen Shah’s supporters are primarily young people. But youth aren’t the only ones who feel disconnected from the constitution. Every year, sections of Madhesis and other marginalized groups mark September 19 as a “black day” to protest continued discriminatory provisions. The day is also marked in remembrance of the more than 50 people killed in 2015 in protests over the constitution. While many celebrate the constitution as a progressive document, it includes discriminatory provisions against secularism, women, Madhesis, and indigenous groups. It is a document endorsed in blood.
India asks Twitter to take down post by a Nepali
Not content with stifling dissent among its citizens, the Indian government is now apparently attempting to muzzle free speech abroad, too. On September 15, Phanindra Nepal posted on Twitter that he had received a notice informing him that the social media site had been asked by the Government of India to remove some of his content for violating India’s Information Technology Act. This is worrisome for myriad reasons, and it seems everyone has ignored this issue except Himal Khabar. First, it is an attack on Nepali sovereignty to demand that a Nepali citizen residing in Nepal be held accountable to Indian law. Second, how does India even know who Phanindra Nepal is unless its spy agencies are actively monitoring him? Phanindra has just 5,142 followers on Twitter, which is not a large account by any means.
Perhaps the media is ignoring this case as it involves a controversial figure. Phanindra is an activist for the “Greater Nepal” campaign, which seeks to expand Nepal’s borders to where they were between 1791 and 1816. This was the greatest extent of the Gorkha empire, stretching from Kangra in the West to Teesta in the East, encompassing vast swathes of present-day Indian territory. This campaign is not significant politically or socially as no major political parties advocate for it and there isn’t a great social demand for it. It remains limited to fringe ultra-nationalist circles.
I understand why India would be upset with this campaign, but then again, sections of Indian polity and the Indian state apparatus profess a desire for Akhanda Bharat, another irredentist movement that claims the entire subcontinent as India. Last year, in June, India unveiled its new Parliament building, which hosts a large mural of the Akhanda Bharat map encompassing territory from multiple countries. In response, Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah put up a Greater Nepal map in his office. If India wants to stifle Greater Nepal activists in Nepal, perhaps it can also shut down Akhanda Bharat activists in India too.
It’s also bizarre that Twitter would even consider such a request. Does Twitter not know that Nepal is a sovereign country? If India lodged a similar complaint against an American residing in the US, would Twitter act as it has done with Phanindra Nepal? So much for Elon Musk’s chest-thumping “freedom of speech” diatribes. That hypocrite cares nothing for freedom of speech. He kowtows to authoritarian governments all over the world while proclaiming himself and his social media site, which I will never call X, as the last bastion of free speech. What a joke.
Nepal abstains from vote on ending Israeli occupation of Palestine
This Wednesday, countries voted on a United Nations General Assembly resolution proposed by Palestine to end the ongoing Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. The non-binding resolution passed with 124 to 14 majority votes in favor. Forty-three countries abstained, including Nepal. This is one of the very few times that Nepal has abstained from a vote regarding Israeli actions in Palestine and it marks a slow but steady change in Nepal’s stance regarding Israel-Palestine. For decades, Nepal’s position has remained unchanged:
The withdrawal of Israel from the Arab Territories occupied since 1967.
The right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, including right to form a state of their own.
Recognition of the rights of all states in the region, including Israel, to live in peace within safe, recognized and guaranteed boundaries.
Nepal now seems to be backtracking from the first point — the withdrawal of Israel from the territories occupied since 1967. Although the buzz on social media attributes this abstention to Hamas still holding Bipin Joshi hostage, I doubt that is the case. Nepali authorities seem to view Joshi more as an irritant than an actual issue, with successive governments refusing to take any serious measures to release him. The change in stance possibly has more to do with Israel opening up more jobs for Nepali migrant workers. Just last month, in August, 2,200 Nepalis were selected to travel to Israel to work as caregivers. The Nepal government does not seem to care that Israel is an active war zone and that more Nepalis could die or be taken hostage like Joshi was. The government’s attitude is one of nonchalance. So what if Nepali migrants die in foreign lands? They already do — thousands every year.
That’s all for this week’s round-up. The Deep Dive continues after the break below.
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The deep dive: Has Rabi Lamichhane been found guilty?
Image: epardafas.com
Once again, Nepal is locked in a he-said she-said debate over Rabi Lamichhane, chairman of the Rastriya Swatantra Party. If he’s not lashing out at the media over negative coverage, Lamichhane, former Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, is busy defending himself against accusations of fraud and embezzlement. Lamichhane has been accused of either directly embezzling — or at least aiding and abetting — billions of rupees from financial cooperatives into a television network where he was managing director.
This latter controversy dogged Lamichhane for months and led to the constitution of a parliamentary investigation committee. After months of deliberation, the committee, led by CPN-UML legislator Surya Thapa, submitted its report to House of Representatives Speaker Devraj Ghimire on Monday and almost immediately sparked a furor in the Nepali public sphere.
The full report has yet to be released to the public, but portions were leaked to the media, which began to report on it with prejudice. Some sections of the media, along with Lamichhane’s party members and supporters, proclaimed that the report had given him a “clean chit.” In contrast, others claimed that the committee had recommended “action” against Lamichhane for fraud, embezzlement, and money laundering. Each side claimed that the other had willfully misrepresented the report.
But before we get into it, some background.
For those who follow the Nepali news media and constant readers of this newsletter, Lamichhane should need no introduction. But for the uninitiated, here’s a not-so-brief summary of his rise in politics and the controversies surrounding him.
Before he became a politician, Lamichhane was a television presenter. He led the popular program ‘Sidha Kura Janata Sita’ on News24 television before leaving to join Galaxy4k Television. Galaxy4k was founded and operated by one Gitendra Babu (GB) Rai, who owned several cooperatives nationwide. Cooperatives are small-scale banking institutions that take deposits and give loans to members. These cooperatives provide higher interest rates but are more prone to fraud, embezzlement, and collapse as they are not as tightly regulated as larger banks and financial institutions. Lamichhane was provided a 15% stake in Galaxy4K and made Managing Director. He left the network in 2022 to start a political party.
From the very beginning, Lamichhane was not popular with the media. He pioneered a brash kind of journalism that was more activism in front of the camera. He would conduct “sting” operations and confront alleged perpetrators on camera, often yelling and berating them. The mainstream media saw him as a showman and charlatan rather than a serious journalist. But on the other hand, he was hugely popular with the public. He can even be credited with inspiring the current scourge of YouTube “journalists,” basically anyone with a camera and a microphone who hounds victims and harasses alleged perpetrators for likes and views.
Lamichhane parlayed his popularity into the Rastriya Swatantra Party and attracted a slew of professionals who wanted to get into politics but had been put off by the corrupt party system. The RSP presented itself as an alternative and counts among its ranks people like economist and former vice-chair of the National Planning Commission Swarnim Wagle, atmospheric scientist Arnico Pandey, management professional Sumana Shrestha, doctor Toshima Karki, banker Anil Keshary Shah, and founder of Teach for Nepal Shisir Khanal. The RSP won 21 seats in the last federal elections and became the fourth-largest party in the federal Parliament, commanding crucial votes and holding significant sway. Lamichhane was then made Home Minister and Deputy Prime Minister in the Pushpa Kamal Dahal administration. His party, too, received a number of ministerial portfolios, including Labor and Employment, Education, and Youth and Sports.
But as I said earlier, the media never really liked Lamichhane and began to look into his controversial past. Kantipur, the country’s largest media empire, was especially vehement in pursuing Lamichhane, devoting numerous front-page stories to his legal issues. It ran with matters uncovered in smaller news outlets, like Lamichhane’s citizenship woes, and gave them unprecedented coverage. Lamichhane was once an American citizen but had given up American citizenship to return to Nepal. The media discovered that Lamichhane had not followed the due process required to obtain his Nepali citizenship, and the Supreme Court stripped him of his election win and his ministerial portfolios. Lamichhane reacquired Nepali citizenship, contested a by-election, and returned stronger than ever.
But then, he did something that angered the media even more. After he was stripped of his positions, he held a press conference where he went on an unhinged hours-long rant against the mainstream media. He called the mainstream media editors “alcoholics” and dubbed them “12 bhai,” or 12 brothers. He alleged that they were all acting in concert to destroy him and his political legitimacy. He singled out Kantipur Media Group and its boss, Kailash Sirohiya, in particular. More on that in the newsletter below:
The media was pissed, none more so than Kantipur, which took Lamichhane’s ramblings as a personal affront. And so began the vendetta between Kantipur and Lamichhane. Kantipur Daily has devoted more than a dozen front-page stories to Lamichhane, especially his alleged involvement in financial impropriety at Gorkha Media, the parent company of Galaxy4K. GB Rai is accused of illegally funneling billions of rupees from various cooperatives to finance Galaxy4K. Kantipur accused Lamichhane of being involved in the embezzlement and openly called for him, through articles and editorials, to be prosecuted. Lamichhane’s political adversaries capitalized on that reporting, with the Nepali Congress calling for an impartial parliamentary investigation into his alleged involvement. I covered the burgeoning beef between Kantipur and Lamichhane in the newsletter below:
Lamichhane too struck back at Kantipur. Kailash Sirohiya, the chairman of Kantipur Media Group, was alleged to have acquired his Nepali citizenship through fraud and was summarily arrested and placed in police custody. Many blamed Lamichhane for the arrest as he was Home Minister then, and such a high-profile arrest would not have occurred without his knowledge. Sirohiya was eventually freed on bail, but the case against him lacked merit and said more about the state’s own failings in issuing citizenship numbers to its citizens rather than fraud on Sirohiya’s part. This arrest only incensed Kantipur further, and even more front-page stories began to appear. More on that in the newsletter below:
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives decided to form an investigative committee with representation from all the major parties. The RSP, which had blocked the committee's formation, only agreed after the committee’s ambit was expanded to include all financial impropriety, not just those that Lamichhane was alleged to be involved in. That committee was formed in May and submitted its report to the House Speaker on Monday, September 16.
Now, we come full circle. The ongoing hot war between Kantipur and Lamichhane has not cooled any, as was evident from the headline that Kantipur Daily ran on Monday: “Report holds Lamichhane guilty of cooperative fraud; Evidence of joint account operated under GB, Chhabi and Rabi’s signatures.” GB is GB Rai, Chhabi is Chhabi Lal Joshi, a significant shareholder in Gorkha Media, and Rabi is, of course, Rabi Lamichhane. Other mainstream media newspapers and online portals had similar headlines stating Lamichhane had been found guilty of fraud and embezzlement by the parliamentary committee. As far as I know, only Naya Patrika had a different take among the mainstream media. Its headline read: “सहकारी ठगि आरोपमा रबिलाई सफाई, गोर्खा मिडियामा भित्रिएको रकममा जवाफदेही”. In translation: Rabi cleared of cooperative fraud charges, held accountable for funds that entered Gorkha media.”
Only Naya Patrika had an honest headline and an honest report.
Here is the portion relating to Lamichhane’s alleged guilt/responsibility from the parliamentary committee’s report:
सहकारी संस्थामा रहेको बचतकर्ताको रकम अनियमित तवरबाट गोर्खा मेडिया नेटवर्क प्रालिको खातामा आइसकेपछि उक्त रकम खर्च गर्ने, गराउने प्रक्रियामा संलग्नरहेको देखिन आएबाट निज संचालकहरु अध्यक्छ गितेंद्रबाबु राई र सदस्य कुमार रम्तेल तथा तत्कालिन प्रबन्ध निर्देशक रबि लामिछाने र संचालक छबिलाल जोशी कम्पनीमा साझेदारका रुपमा बहाल रहेको अवधिमा सहकारीबाट कम्पनीमा आएको रकमको हकमा जिम्मेवार रहेको हुँदा प्रचलित कानून बमोजिम कारबाहीका लागि नेपाल सरकारलाई सिफारिस गर्ने
The recommendation to the Government of Nepal is to take action according to the prevailing laws against Chairman Gitendra Babu Rai, member Kumar Ramtel, then-Managing Director Rabi Lamichhane, and Director Chhabilal Joshi based on their involvement in the process of spending the money that was irregularly transferred from the cooperative's depositors' funds to the account of Gorkha Media Network Pvt. Ltd. during their tenure as partners in the company, thus holding them accountable for the funds that were transferred from the cooperative to the company.
This above paragraph has caused much confusion in the public sphere. Interpretations vary, but as I see it, the paragraph holds Rai, Ramtel, Lamichhane, and Joshi accountable for the funds transferred from the cooperative into Gorkha Media and the use of those funds; it does not anywhere say that Lamichhane has been found guilty of fraud or embezzlement as stated by Kantipur Daily and various other media. So much ink has been spilled over Lamichhane’s guilt but I do not see it. Where does it say that Lamichhane is guilty of fraud?
On the other hand, the report doesn’t give Lamichhane a “clean chit” either. It holds Lamichhane accountable for the use of the funds as the company's managing director. As a member of the board of a private limited company, it was the responsibility of Lamichhane and everyone else on the board to inquire about the source of the funding coming into the company and ensure that the source was legitimate. The board should have ensured that due diligence was followed, which is what Lamichhane is guilty of, at least according to the above paragraph from the parliamentary report.
Surya Thapa, the UML MP who chaired the probe committee, has told the media that the committee did not clear Lamichhane of all charges, but Ishwari Devi Neupane, a Congress MP and also a member of the committee, has also said, “Lamichhane did not directly take any money, but the money came into a company where he was managing director. He was also a 15% shareholder. His signature was employed to spend that money.” The writing on the wall is clear. The committee did not find evidence that he was involved in embezzlement and fraud, but it held him responsible for how the money was utilized.
Each side has twisted the narrative to suit their own agenda. Kantipur and other media houses want to see Lamichhane guilty, so that is all that they’ve focused on, ignoring the fact that it was less guilt and more accountability. On the other hand, Lamichhane’s supporters and party members want to see him innocent, so they only focus on the report, not finding his involvement in any fraud or embezzlement. The truth, as almost always, is somewhere in the middle.
In the hubbub over Lamichhane, other more salient parts of the report have been ignored. As the RSP’s Shisir Khanal, also a member of the parliamentary committee, pointed out on Twitter, the committee investigated 40 cooperatives and found that 8900 crore rupees (Rs 89 billion) had been misappropriated and misused. The committee has recommended that the government establish a Cooperative Authority within three months for better regulation, an information center, insurance for depositors, better loan recovery, and better asset management of troubled cooperatives, among 50 recommendations. The committee even recommended that Nepali Congress Vice-president Dhanraj Gurung and ex-wife Jyoti Gurung be investigated for their alleged role in misappropriating Rs 148.1 million from a cooperative.
One broader question in this entire saga concerns the role of parliamentary committees themselves. What exactly is the purpose of forming these committees in the first place? If Lamichhane or whoever is alleged to be involved in a crime, there is the police to investigate, government attorneys to prosecute, and the judiciary to decide on guilt. By constituting such committees, Members of Parliament blur the lines between the executive and the legislative. As advocate Bhimarjun Acharya points out in this interview with Nepal Press, these committees are unconstitutional: “If such committees start deciding who is guilty and who is not, then we’ll have a dual legal system in the country. On one side, the police and judiciary for ordinary citizens and on the other, parliamentary committees for special citizens. Is this permissible under rule of law?”
That’s all for this week. I will be back next Friday, in your emails, for the next edition of KALAM Weekly.
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