“Prof. Dr. Nirmala Mani Adhikary on Political Realities, Media Transformation and Nepal’s Global Balancing Act”
……Recently, Senior Journalist and Author Prof. S.S. Dogra, during his Media Literacy Campaign at Hetauda Academy, Nepal, had the privilege of interacting with none other than Prof. Dr. Nirmala Mani Adhikary — a distinguished academician, prolific author and the Head of the Department of Languages and Mass Communication at Kathmandu University, Nepal.
In this insightful exchange, Prof. Dogra engages Prof. Adhikary in a candid conversation to understand the ground realities of media, communication, and contemporary challenges in Nepal. Known for his visionary contributions to media studies and education, Prof. Adhikary shares thought-provoking perspectives that reflect both academic depth and practical wisdom.
Q.1. What is your own view on Nepal’s current political scenario?
Nepal just witnessed a GenZ-led revolution, which represents a massive discontent among the youths against the conventional political parties. The revolution has really shaken the regime but many challenges are ahead. It is clear that the common people in general, and the youths in particular, are extremely unhappy with the regime and the ruling elites. As people perceived, the country had been in a deadlock of a musical chair in which three old leaders – KP Sharma Oli, the CPN – UML Supremo, Sher Bahadur Deuba, the NC Supremo, and Prachanda, the Maoist Supremo – had been competing for the post of Prime Minister, whereas the country is undergoing through rampant corruption, impunity, inflation, unemployment, and mass exodus of youths to foreign countries. The political leaders could not sense the ground rebellion.
Conventional political parties, such as, CPN-UML, Nepali Congress, and Maoists, have failed to deliver what they had promised. They are perceived as champions of rampant corruption, impunity, inflation, unemployment, and mass exodus of youths to foreign countries were among the major characteristics of the regime. Meanwhile, people haven’t found such alternatives that would replace the conventional parties. Nevertheless, there are some serious attempts in this regard. The interim government has been installed with a specific mandate of conducting a new election within six months. The conventional parties still hold a vast network of cadres, and whether the election would be possible or not – it is still unclear. Bringing law and order in place, and ensuring prosperity and peace are significant aspirations among the general public.
Q.2.What are the biggest challenges your country facing today?
Corruption, impunity, political unrest, unemployment, and growing conflict among various sections of the society are the biggest challenges Nepal is facing today. Meanwhile, there are other several challenges. Prolonged transitional period has been bringing the same issues and problems time and again. For instance, many political issues are still unsettled despite several revolutions and changes of different constitutions. Perhaps, not understanding Nepal’s diversity, plurality, and historical consciousness has been a severe limitation among the conventional political parties. Nepal needs development and economic growth, which the regime has not become successful to deliver.
Q.3.Whether Nepali media Justifying it’s role?
From the constitutional and legal perspective, the state has guaranteed the freedom of opinion expression in general, and the freedom of the media in particular. However, the ground reality is different. Nepali media have been politically partisan. The general public perception towards the conventional mass media is as propaganda tools of the major political parties. Such distrust among the public is quite visible. And, influences of INGOs/NGOs, corporate, and foreign agencies are also often alleged. Meanwhile, the advent of digital galaxy, and social media in particular, has brought a huge shift. Now people, especially the youth, have access to various platforms through which they can express themselves in their own right.
Most of the Nepali people heard of the word Discord for the first time on 10 September 2025 when thousands of the revolutionary Generation-Z (GenZ) youths were using the app for discussing about and selecting their proposed Prime Minister, and also finalizing the major agenda for the negotiations with the President of Nepal through the Nepali Army. Even virtually all of the top leaders of the ruling political parties Communist Party of Nepal – United Marxist & Leninist (CPN – UML), Nepali Congress (NC), and Maoist parties were completely unaware of such a platform before they came to know about this during the 9 September protests. Nevertheless, Discord was already popular among the GenZ across Nepal since at least a couple of years. Whereas they had been using Tiktok, Instagram, and Reddit to expose the Nepo Kids, their primary platform to form various protesting groups had been Discord. Besides, there are reported evidences of using Facebook, X (previously known as Twitter), YouTube, Snapchat, Clubhouse, and Telegram too by the protestors for various purposes. Contrastingly, the ruling elites had been largely dependent on so called mainstream media, and on Facebook and X to some extent. This shows a glimpse of a huge communication gap between the ruling elites and the youths in Nepal.
Q.4. Do you think media in Nepal is truly independent?
As I told earlier, media in Nepal are not perceived as independent. This is something the media fraternity has to think seriously, and come forward to change by embracing professionalism and ethics. Public trust increases media’s credibility, and it is also related with the safety of the media professionals including the journalists.
Q.5. How is Social media transforming journalism in Nepal?
Media houses are fearing the loss of revenue. Journalists are facing challenges to compete with non-journalistic content creators. Also, many journalists are still under-skilled to embrace the latest technology. There are both pros and cons. Greater access to information and interactivity are the positive things from the viewpoint of common people. Meanwhile, challenges of misinformation/disinformation, and probability of propaganda are increased.
Q.6. Where do you see Nepal in the next 5 or 10 years?
I have a strong hope about the future of Nepal. In the recent years, there is a new wave of embracing patriotism, Nepal’s culture, and historical consciousness. Till very recently, Nepal’s public discourse had been completely dominated by exogenous ideologies such as communism/socialism largely, and Western-style liberalism to some extent. In fact, a civilizational reawakening is happening though in a slower pace. I myself have been leading a ground-based intellectual movement, called the Jarokilo Mahaabhiyan (Root and Locus Movement) that has been approaching to thousands of youths and others with positive messages about Nepal’s history, culture, and civilization. There are several others who are doing the same. You will find more people these days as compared to two decades or three decades or five decades ago, who are embracing Vedic Hindu, Buddhist, and other indigenous philosophies in Nepal.
Q.7. How can Nepal maintain its relations with India and China?
Maintaining relationship with India and China, and also with the USA in the broader context, has been crucial for Nepal. Nepal’s strategy for survival, and cooperation with the neighbors and the international community has been well practiced. Conventionally, it was explained by King Prithvi Narayan Shah, who re-unified Nepal in the modern time. Later on, King Mahendra, King Birendra, and political leaders like Tanka Prasad Acharya and BP Koirala, have been able to establish an effective tradition of diplomacy in Nepal. In the past several decades, Nepal has been one of the champions of the non-aligned movement. Despite several regime changes, Nepal’s policy with regard to diplomacy and international relations has been more or less stable. The neighbors are the reality, and Nepal must maintain a very good relationship with them. Certainly, Nepal shall understand the security and strategic complexities of India and China, but shall also continue her emphasis on independence and sovereignty. I hope both India and China also will continue to give importance to Nepal’s friendship. A civilizational approach of diplomacy may be more effective way to foster Nepal’s good relations with India and China.
