Nepal is a country where a quarter of the population is steeped in poverty and the man who once led a 10-year Maoist insurgency before joining the political mainstream has come under scathing criticism. Pushpa Kamal Dahal, a former school teacher was a guerrilla leader who went on to become prime minister after the monarchy was abolished in the Himalayan nation.
“The Maoists came to power promising to end inequality and poverty,” says Matrika Prasad Yadav, once the most senior Maoist leader in the southern Terai plains. “But they have betrayed the war that saw over 15,000 people die.”
Even the rich are critical of how a “proletariat leader” and “self-touted messiah” can rule such a divided nation
“I feel embarrassed when I go abroad,” says Binod Chaudhary, head of a Nepali business group and the first billionaire from Nepal to make it to Forbes magazine’s list of the world’s richest.“Every day, a thousand Nepalis go abroad in search of jobs because there are no jobs here. We have 16-hour power cuts daily though Nepal has tremendous hydropower potential,” he tells IPS. “We don’t even have enough drinking water in Kathmandu [the capital], let alone in villages.People ask me, you are a billionaire, yet Nepal is so poor. What is the reason?”
“The Maoists came to power promising to end inequality and poverty,” says Matrika Prasad Yadav, once the most senior Maoist leader in the southern Terai plains. “But they have betrayed the war that saw over 15,000 people die.”
Even the rich are critical of how a “proletariat leader” and “self-touted messiah” can rule such a divided nation
“I feel embarrassed when I go abroad,” says Binod Chaudhary, head of a Nepali business group and the first billionaire from Nepal to make it to Forbes magazine’s list of the world’s richest.“Every day, a thousand Nepalis go abroad in search of jobs because there are no jobs here. We have 16-hour power cuts daily though Nepal has tremendous hydropower potential,” he tells IPS. “We don’t even have enough drinking water in Kathmandu [the capital], let alone in villages.People ask me, you are a billionaire, yet Nepal is so poor. What is the reason?”
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