Competition Gallery

Photo Competition 2067

Winners of Mega Bank Photo Competition 2067

Photo of the year 067

Photo by: Yalu Joshi

Run to safety: A schoolgirl runs for cover after she was caught in between the clash between students and police at the Pashupati Campus, Chabahil, Kathmandu.

Nature & Wildlife_1st prize

Photo by: Rajendra Manandhar

A pair of Baya Weaver flutter around their nests in Kathmandu. The Common Tailorbird (Orthotomus sutorius) is a songbird found across tropical Asia.

Nature & Wildlife_2nd prize

Photo by: Lhakpa Sonam Sherpa

The top of the world: The reflection of peaks of the Everest Range seen on the Kongde lake.

Nature & Wildlife_3rd prize

Photo by: Deepak Shah

Patterned: Birds returning to their nest during spring dusk over the Rapti river, Sauraha, Chitwan.

Tourism Photo_1st prize

Photo by: Ramesh Tamang

Wow! Canyoners explore a waterfall of Sage rive in Lamjung.

Tourism photo_2nd prize

Photo by: Mohan K. Duwal

Twilight: Namche Bazaar, the gateway to Mt Everest, as seen during an evening.

Tourism Photo_3rd prize

Photo by: Srijan Bajracharya

Dancers perform the religious Kartik Nach at the Patan Durbar Square.

Daily Life_1st prize

Photo by: Bikram Giri

No adventure: A woman of Rapla, Darchula crosses the Mahakali river on the rope. The villagers use the rope to cross over the river on their way to market.

Daily Life_2nd prize

Photo by: Bijay Rai

A man travels on a Tempo – quite riskily at King’s Way in Kathmandu.

Daily Life_3rd prize

Photo by: Narendra Shrestha

For a well: A worker, at 30 feet below the surface, nears the completion of a water well.

News_1st prize

Photo by: Kapildev Khanal

Students cross over Trishuli river in group. All secondary-level students of Buddsin village has to cross over the river twice a day as there is no secondary school in the village.

News_2nd prize

Photo by: Keshab Thoker

Maoist cadres attack a motorcylist during a weeklong strike. The motorcylist was caught in between the clash between locals of Buddhanilkantha and Maoists.

News_3rd prize

Photo by: Navesh Chitrakar

Rescued: Krishna Bahadur Basnet, 63, hangs on to a crane as he is rescued from the roof of the eight-storey Quality Feed Industry building at the Balaju Industrial District of Kathmandu.

A long wait for justice-Photo Story_1st prize

Photo by: NayanTara Gurung Kakshapati

Sometimes I wonder if this is all a dream. Purnimaya Lama’s husband Arjun Lama was taken by Maoist cadres five years ago. Witnesses say he was kept captive and paraded around for two months, and then killed.

If he is dead, let me bury him. If he is alive, let me bring him home. How long do we wait like this? Purnimaya still does not know for sure what happened to her husband or where his remains are buried. She has been unable to neither mourn his death nor perform last rites. Her need for truth and justice has driven her to campaign tirelessly but it has taken an emotional toll on her.

Purnimaya, and many like her, has lived in a state of limbo for years, being unable to move on with their lives.

During the ten-year conflict in Nepal, 1,300 people have been victims of enforced disappearances & abductions. That is official record, and many cases have gone unrecorded. Nearly four years since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, not one person has been prosecuted for these crimes.

This level of impunity applies to all sides of the conflict, with the army and police also not being held to account for grave human rights violations. Such blanket impunity has detrimental affect on not only the rule of law in Nepal but also law and order. Politicians now routinely rise above the law, criminal gangs with political connections operate unopposed, and people are gunned down in the streets in broad daylight. The government is not only far from being able to guarantee, as part of the peace process, that these crimes will not be repeated, but is in danger of gravely undermining the justice system in Nepal themselves.

Every few months, Purnimaya visits the family home in Dapcha that is now locked up as she lives in Kathmandu with her children. After her husband was taken and killed by the Maoists, Purnimaya began campaigning for truth and justice, which Maoist party cadres responded to with threats. Purnimaya says she would like to return to live in the village some day.

A long wait for justice-Photo Story_1st prize

Photo by: NayanTara Gurung Kakshapati

Purnimaya married Arjun Lama at the young age of 13. They had built a happy life for themselves and their six children. Arjun had been progressing as a building contractor in Kathmandu. People in the village respected him. He had been elected president of the local village school on the day he was abducted. It has never been known exactly why they killed him.

A long wait for justice-Photo Story_1st prize

Photo by: NayanTara Gurung Kakshapati

Purnimaya goes to visit the newly appointed Chief District Officer of Kavre district to introduce herself and brief him of her husband's pending case. Earlier on the same day, she visited the office of the Kavre District Superintendent of Police (DSP) to request him to expedite paperwork related to the exhumation of her husband's body. The DSP dismissed the request, deferring it to other wing of the police. Purnimaya has spent five years going from one government office to another to seek justice.

A long wait for justice-Photo Story_1st prize

Photo by: NayanTara Gurung Kakshapati

Purnimaya struggles fights on, frequently visiting various human rights organizations. But, promises by political parties as part of the peace process have failed to be fulfilled. The establishment of a Truth & Reconciliation Commission and Disappearance Commission of Inquiry have yet to be established despite constant campaigning by the families, local human rights NGOs and others internationally. The bills for both commissions were eventually presented before the CA in April 2010. Neither complied with international standards and both have yet to be returned to parliament to be passed.

A long wait for justice-Photo Story_1st prize

Photo by: NayanTara Gurung Kakshapati

Purnimaya and Arjun Lama's home in Dapcha, Kavre lies empty and damp now. Purnimaya and her children live in Kathmandu, fearing backlash by Maoist cadres in response to their campaign for truth and justice.

A long wait for justice-Photo Story_1st prize

Photo by: NayanTara Gurung Kakshapati

Purnimaya fears that she will be absolutely alone if she moved back to the village. All her children are grown and either working or studying, too used to the city life in Kathmandu to want to come back to live in the village with her.

A long wait for justice-Photo Story_1st prize

Photo by: NayanTara Gurung Kakshapati

With her husband now gone, Purnimaya has no hope of ever building a house in Kathmandu. With rising land prices she fears her children will never be able to own a home in the city in their lifetime either, thus severely curtailing their chances to have ownership over a stable urban life.

A long wait for justice-Photo Story_1st prize

Photo by: NayanTara Gurung Kakshapati

Purnimaya prepares for her day. Most of her time now is occupied by visiting various human rights organizations. At times she fears the futility of her efforts for truth and justice. On days like those, Purnimaya stays home and feels like she has nothing to look forward to in life anymore, no plans, no dreams.

A long wait for justice-Photo Story_1st prize

Photo by: NayanTara Gurung Kakshapati

Unable to find complete stability in the city, Purnimaya still harbors hopes of coming back to live in their village home in Dapcha. Before her husband was abducted, they had just bought wood to repair the ceiling. For five years, while Purnimaya has been engaged pursuing her husband's case, the wood has laid piled up, the ceiling repairs incomplete, and the house damp and molding.

Photo by: NayanTara Gurung Kakshapati

Arjun Lama's coat still hangs on the rafters of their home in Dapcha. A few other possessions of his are also scattered around the house. "He was wearing his expensive watch on the day they took him", Purnimaya remembers, "A local Maoist comrade walks around wearing that watch now. I have seen it."

A long wait for justice-Photo Story_1st prize

Photo by: NayanTara Gurung Kakshapati

Purnimaya's daughter and grand daughter take a nap. The children are all grown up now, and are moving on with their lives. It gives Punimaya hope for the future, but also a sense of isolation. At times she feels very alone in her fight for her husband's killing.

A long wait for justice-Photo Story_1st prize

Photo by: NayanTara Gurung Kakshapati

“I have no courage, no ideas. When you live happily, you have courage and vision. But now I have no courage for anything. No matter whom we approachnobody listens to us. How much longer must we live with this uncertainty?” says Purnimaya.

Protestors attack school children-Photo Story_2nd prize

Photo by: Keshab Thoker

On a day of 24th Baisakh, 2066, a microbus (Ga 1 Ja 3460) was carrying student of Saipal Academy, situated in Sundhara, Kathmandu. It was around 9 am in the morning.

When the microbus reached to Sukedhara chowk, all of a sudden, a mob started stoning the micro. They even didn't take out the children inside the van. They were actually targeting vehicles operated by Swayambhu Yatayat, the passenger bus that took lives of Santosh Rai, 22, and Sushil Shrestha, 18, day before in Chabahil chowk. They were killed after the motorcycle they were riding was hit by the bus. But the school bus could not save from violent attack of aggressive demonstrator.
The defenseless small kids started crying and screaming inside the micro for mercy and help after vandals stoned the windshield, which was broken into pieces. Their crying could not distract the mob and none of them came to their help. Thanks to god that one of the kids managed to open micro’s door. Soon nearly unconscious and panic children tried to get out of the van. Ishan Chand (carrying red bag) from grade 3, Nikita Bhandari (smallest among all) from UKG and Ashwin Gurung from grade 1 rushed out of the van on their own at first. Since they were in rush all three children fell down the ground. Senior students of the school helped them to get up and took them to school.

Next day, we went to Saipal Academy to meet those kids. Some were playing in school premise, some were found in library moving eyes in newspaper where the photos about accident were published, which, they had encountered previous day.
Even in that day also, the line of fears could be easily read in their eyes.

“Declare schools as a peace zone”, a slogan, which has still been confined within the slogan. If not then why school and vehicles carrying school children with no any reason are being target of bandh, strike, road blockade and other kinds of protest demonstration?

Protestors attack school children-Photo Story_2nd prize

Photo by: Keshab Thoker

Terrorized school students get out of the vehicle after a protestor throws stone to the vehicle carrying school children amid a protest in Kathmandu, Nepal on June 07, 2009. Locals of Chabahil, Kathmandu staged a protest blocking road and barging vehicles after a local bus killed two persons in a road accident the previous day.

Protestors attack school children-Photo Story_2nd prize

Photo by: Keshab Thoker

Protestors attack school children-Photo Story_2nd prize

Photo by: Keshab Thoker

Protestors attack school children-Photo Story_2nd prize

Photo by: Keshab Thoker

Protestors attack school children-Photo Story_2nd prize

Photo by: Keshab Thoker

A senior student helps the school kid who fell while trying to get out of the vehicle after a protestor throws stone to the vehicle carrying school children amid a protest in Kathmandu, Nepal on June 07, 2009. Locals of Chabahil, Kathmandu staged a protest blocking road and barging vehicles after a local bus killed two persons in a road accident the previous day.

Protestors attack school children-Photo Story_2nd prize

Photo by: Keshab Thoker

The interior of the microbus after vandalized by protestors amid a protest in Kathmandu, Nepal on June 07, 2009. Locals of Chabahil, Kathmandu staged a protest blocking road and barging vehicles after a local bus killed two persons in a road accident the previous day.

Protestors attack school children-Photo Story_2nd prize

Photo by: Keshab Thoker

The windshield of the micro bus after vandalized by protestors amid a protest in Kathmandu, Nepal on June 07, 2009. Locals of Chabahil, Kathmandu staged a protest blocking road and barging vehicles after a local bus killed two persons in a road accident the previous day.

Protestors attack school children-Photo Story_2nd prize

Photo by: Keshab Thoker

“Declare schools as a peace zone”, a slogan, which has still been confined within the slogan. If not then why school and vehicles carrying school children with no any reason are being target of bandh, strike, road blockade and other kinds of protest demonstration?

Protestors attack school children-Photo Story_2nd prize

Photo by: Keshab Thoker

Protestors attack school children-Photo Story_2nd prize

Photo by: Keshab Thoker

Upon her life-Photo Story_2nd prize

Photo by: Uma Bista

Is human life mostly a dream, from which we never really awake, as some thinkers claim? Are we submerged by our feelings, by our loves and hates, by our ideas of good, bad, beautiful, and awful? Are we incapable of knowing beyond those ideas and feelings? Is the reality we know a reality imposed to us by nature? Is the reality and the meaning of life a creation of men, such as music, or love or colors?

Deeplaxmi Adhakari was born in patan. Everyone call her Deepa. She is lovely, friendly and cooperative human being. Her aim is to become a good Nurse and lend a hand to sick people. At last she has got her childhood aim.

Upon her life-Photo Story_2nd prize

Photo by: Uma Bista

Upon her life-Photo Story_2nd prize

Photo by: Uma Bista

Upon her life-Photo Story_2nd prize

Photo by: Uma Bista

Upon her life-Photo Story_2nd prize

Photo by: Uma Bista

Upon her life-Photo Story_2nd prize

Photo by: Uma Bista

Upon her life-Photo Story_2nd prize

Photo by: Uma Bista

Upon her life-Photo Story_2nd prize

Photo by: Uma Bista

Upon her life-Photo Story_2nd prize

Photo by: Uma Bista

Upon her life-Photo Story_2nd prize

Photo by: Uma Bista

Upon her life-Photo Story_2nd prize

Photo by: Uma Bista

Human Parcel-Photo Story_honorable mention

Photo by: Shailendra Kharel

Every day six to seven hundred Nepalese go to Gulf countries and Malaysia to work. According to Nepal government's Labor and Employment Promotion Department, twenty-three thousand six hundred Nepali workers went to Malaysia and Gulf countries in the period between Dec 16 and Jan 17, 2007.

With an increasing number of people flocking to foreign countries for jobs, the number of Nepali deaths abroad has shot up at an alarming rate.
On average, each day brings two dead bodies of Nepali workers at Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu. According to Nepal government, nearly seven hundred fifty Nepali workers died abroad (mainly in Gulf countries and Malaysia) in 2007 alone.

Kin of those who die abroad never know true reasons behind such deaths. Nepal government too never bothers to launch deeper investigation into the causes of such deaths. For example, Mani Kumar Subba died under suspicious circumstances nine months ago in Saudi Arabia. But the real reason behind this tragedy has been wrapped into mystery.
Most of these migrant workers go abroad due to economic reason. But beyond the economic reason, many are also driven by Nepal’s political instability and lack of employment opportunity.

Migration has been a perennial feature of Nepalis who have trudged difficult terrain and braved wild animals to turn forests into arable lands centuries ago.

But the foreign employment has a different dimension. Lured by manpower agents or by often-exaggerated experiences of returning workers, many young people embark on the journey without knowing its proper consequences. As a result, they are paying a heavy price. According to Nepal Embassy in Qatar, 139 Nepali workers died in Qatar in 2006. In 2007, the death toll was 115. Other gulf countries and Malaysia have similar problems of death of Nepali workers

Kumari Gharti of Uwa-7, Rolpa (a remote village in mid-west Nepal and Maoist heartland during the time of insurgency), showing her husband citizenship, who came to Kathmandu for the first time along with her family to receive her husband Jan Bahadur Gharti’s dead body on JANUARY 29, 2008, which is yet to be brought back to Nepal. Jan Bahadur had gone to Damam in Saudi Arabia on April 12, 2007 in search of employment during the insurgency period and reportedly died in his sleep three months after his arrival there. Kumari, however, came to know about it only three months after his death. Before leaving for Saudi Arabia, Kumari’s husband had told her that in case something happened to him she should take his citizenship certificate along with her to Kathmandu and she would get Rs 500,000 of his insurance from the concerned manpower agency. However, the agency told her that she would get Rs 100,000 only and that too only after the dead body’s arrival. Kumari has yet to clear a debt of Rs 200,000 taken during her husband’s migration. She has three sons - four-year-old Sankalpa, two-year-old Jun and one-and-half-year-old Bipat. The latter was named Bipat (despair) as he was born during the turbulent time after her husband’s death.

Human Parcel-Photo Story_honorable mention

Photo by: Shailendra Kharel

Every day six to seven hundred Nepalese go to Gulf countries and Malaysia to work. According to Nepal government's Labor and Employment Promotion Department, twenty-three thousand six hundred Nepali workers went to Malaysia and Gulf countries in the period between Dec 16 and Jan 17, 2007.

With an increasing number of people flocking to foreign countries for jobs, the number of Nepali deaths abroad has shot up at an alarming rate.
On average, each day brings two dead bodies of Nepali workers at Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu. According to Nepal government, nearly seven hundred fifty Nepali workers died abroad (mainly in Gulf countries and Malaysia) in 2007 alone.

Kin of those who die abroad never know true reasons behind such deaths. Nepal government too never bothers to launch deeper investigation into the causes of such deaths. For example, Mani Kumar Subba died under suspicious circumstances nine months ago in Saudi Arabia. But the real reason behind this tragedy has been wrapped into mystery.
Most of these migrant workers go abroad due to economic reason. But beyond the economic reason, many are also driven by Nepal’s political instability and lack of employment opportunity.

Migration has been a perennial feature of Nepalis who have trudged difficult terrain and braved wild animals to turn forests into arable lands centuries ago.

But the foreign employment has a different dimension. Lured by manpower agents or by often-exaggerated experiences of returning workers, many young people embark on the journey without knowing its proper consequences. As a result, they are paying a heavy price. According to Nepal Embassy in Qatar, 139 Nepali workers died in Qatar in 2006. In 2007, the death toll was 115. Other gulf countries and Malaysia have similar problems of death of Nepali workers

Dead body parcel of Mani Kumar Subba, residence of Jhapa, Bhadrapur-9 (who diesd in Saudi Arabia and his body was rescued by Nepali government after four months) at Tribhuwan International Airport on Gulf Air, on JANUARY 30,2008. Subba, had gone to Saudi Arabia in search of work and was working as a security guard at Mohammad Al Subai at Jubel.His body arrived to Nepal after four months of his deaths.

Human Parcel-Photo Story_honorable mention

Photo by: Shailendra Kharel

Relatives of Mani Kumar Subba,(who died in Saudi Arab) loads the dead body parcel that arrived at Tribhuwan International Airport on JANURAY 30,2008 by Gulf Air. His body arrived to Nepal after four months of his deaths.

Human Parcel-Photo Story_honorable mention

Photo by: Shailendra Kharel

Son of Mani Kumar Subba, (who dided in Saudi Arab) taking the dead body pack of his father after the arrival at Tribhuwan International Airport on Jan.30,2008. His body arrived to Nepal after four months of his deaths.
PHOTO: SAILENDRA KHAREL.

Human Parcel-Photo Story_honorable mention

Photo by: Shailendra Kharel

Son of Mani Kumar Subba, (who dided in Saudi Arab) opens the dead body pack of his father at Pashupati Aryaghat on Jan.30,2008. His body arrived to Nepal after four months of his deaths.

Human Parcel-Photo Story_honorable mention

Photo by: Shailendra Kharel

Karuna Subba residence of Jhapa, Bhadrapur-9, (wife of Mani Kumar Subba who died in Saudi Arab) gestures near the dead body at Pashupati Aryaghat on JANUARY 30, 2008. Subba had gone to Saudi Arabia in search of work and was working as a security guard at Mohammad Al Subai at Jubel. A day later, his wife Karuna came to know from one of his friends that his body had been found dead in a swimming pool. She sold her jewelries for US$ 900 to bring back his dead body to Nepal.

Photo by: Shailendra Kharel

An envelop kept in the body of Mani Kumar Subba, by his relatives (who died in Saudi Arab) during his funeral at Pashupatinath Aryaghat on JANUARY 30,2008. His body arrived to Nepal after four months of his deaths.

Human Parcel-Photo Story_honorable mention

Photo by: Shailendra Kharel

Patali Sunar, wife of Netra Bahadur Sunar griefs on the bank of Bagmati at Pashupatinath Aryaghat on JANUARY 30,2008 during his funeral. Sunuwar, who had migrated illegally to Iraq through a manpower company and was working at Green Zone, had died in a motar blast by Iraqi protesters inside the American shelter at Green Zone in December 2007 just a week after his departure from Nepal.

Human Parcel Photo Story_honorable mention

Photo by: Shailendra Kharel

A man takes away the box after thrown on the bank of Bagmati at Pashupatinath Aryaghat on JANUARY 30,2008 during the funeral of Netra Bahadur Sunuar. The coffin was used to parcel the dead body of Netra Bahadur Sunuwar from Iraq to Nepal by Gulf Air. Sunuwar, who had migrated illegally to Iraq through a manpower company and was working at Green Zone, had died in a motar blast by Iraqi protesters inside the American shelter at Green Zone in December 2007 just a week after his departure from Nepal.