Campaign to Restore Archaeological Kamal Pokhari in Thamel has drawn attention of the ILO and UN offices in Nepal to the encroachment of traditional lands, including a historical pond and its banks, of indigenous Newa community in Kathmandu’s tourist district of Thamel for construction of Chaya Center business complex. The Campaign has thus called the ILO and the UN to push Nepal’s government for promotion and protection of the rights of the community.

In separate letters emailed to the ILO and the UN today, the Campaign alleges that the construction of the business complex on the lands that used to be a holy pond “Kamal Pokhari” and its banks with wells and other sacred/ritual sites has violated not only the land right but also the cultural rights of local Pradhan Newa community. The Kamal Pokhari and its surrounding lands were originally owned and used by the Shree Singhsartha Bahu Garun Bhagwan Guthi of the local Thanbahil monastery. The letters detail the attempts to encroach date back more than a century when Keshar Shumsher forcefully annexed the pond in his palace compound. His son Keyur Shumsher unlawfully got the land of the pond and its banks under his tenancy ownership. As per the letter, Keyur Shumsher’s wife Ambika Rana was then able to register the same plot in her name illegitimately that allowed fragmentation and transfer of the lands to the Chhaya Devi Complex Pvt. Ltd., which has investments from powerful business families of Nepal and owns the Chhaya Center.

The land dispute has been in and out of the courts since 1970 and is currently sub-judice in Nepal’s Supreme Court. Locals and rights advocates are awaiting the decision of the Supreme Court that faulted earlier decisions that favored Ambika Rana in 2017. The Court found that the transfer of Guthi lands to private ownership was against the provisions of Guthi Corporation Act, 1976, which could be annulled at any time as per the Land Revenue Act, 1978 and thus decided to re-examine the case. However, when the court asked the land revenue office for all original papers related to the land, the latter stated that the papers could not be found even after intense searches. It is suspected that the documents have been deliberately missed as they would have exposed shenanigans behind the privatization of the land.  It is clear that the ‘land grab’ has pitted the locals and general public concerned about preservation of cultural heritage against some influential families. As a result, many of them have been fearful to speak against the construction of the complex due to the strong influence of the investors in political circles.

While the land dispute has been sub-judice at the Supreme Court, the construction of the complex has been rushed and eventually completed, and it was officially opened in 2018. The Chhaya Center currently houses 200 retail stores, including high-end brand outlets, multiplex theatres, corporate offices, banquet and conference halls, casino, discotheque, etc., as well as a five-star hotel Aloft Kathmandu Thamel of the Marriott International in its fifth to fifteenth floors. The Chhaya Devi Complex officials have made false claims that the land where the complex stands was never a historical or traditional pond owned and used by the monastery, but a recreational pond established by Chandra Shumsher. They also maintained that the lands of the pond and its banks were transferred to private ownership after obtaining tenancy rights. Locals along with rights activists have been organizing various gatherings, protests and demonstrations against the illegal encroachment of the Guthi lands of the Kamal Pokhari and its banks over the years. However, their efforts with the National Human Rights Commission and the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority as well as the UN human rights mechanisms have failed to bear any fruit.

The Campaign, in the letters, has thus called on the ILO and UN country offices to give serious consideration to the issue as the encroachment of traditional lands by the Chhaya Center violate various rights of the indigenous Newa community in Thamel under the ILO Convention 169 and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples that apply to Nepal. They have also called on the offices to come for a field visit to the affected community in Thanbahil and urged for timely actions before the community suffers further harms.

Click here to read the full letter to ILO Country Office for Nepal. 

Click here to read the full letter to UN Country Team in Nepal.