Chhalphal with C.K.Lal: Political Landscape of NEPAL and the Road Ahead"

[Shailesh Gongal]

Boston Chhalphal

Where words matter!

Organized by "MITeri" Nepali Students Association at MIT

Title:         "Political Landscape of NEPAL and the Road Ahead"

Speaker:    C. K. Lal, Columnist 

Date:         Monday, April 15 
Time:         6:00 - 7:00 PM

Location:    E51 - 057 (Tang Center), MIT

                 2 Amherst Street, Cambridge, MA

About the Speaker:

Born in 1956 and brought up in Suga Village, Mahottary District, C.K. Lal studied civil engineering, public administration, law and urban planning in India and Nepal. He worked as a civil engineer and has simultaneously been writing for different publications for over twenty-five years. Since 2009, he is fully committed to public commentary through various media outlets.

Lal is a columnist for Republica and Nagarik Dainik newspapers and Himal Southasian monthly magazine published from Kathmandu. He also writes regularly for the Nepali fortnightly newsmagazine Himal Khabarpatrika and was a columnist for the Nepali Times weekly for a decade. He reads and writes in four languages - Maithili, Nepali, Hindi and English and is widely read, heard, and seen by readers, listeners, and audiences of Nepali as well as a few other South Asian publications, radio stations and television.

In 2006, he was voted the most influential columnist of Nepal. He was an Asia Leadership Fellow in 2008. In July-August, 2010, his much-acclaimed play Sapana ko Sabiti was staged by the Aarohan Theatre Group in Kathmandu.

Lal has contributed various articles to academic journals and edited volumes. He has also co-edited the volume Chapama Dalit (Ekta Books, Kathmandu, 2001) in Nepali. His book, Human Rights, Democracy and Governance was published in early 2010 (Pearson, New Delhi). In 2011, Martin Chautari published his ‘thinking paper’ on the future of Nepali identity, Nepaliya hunalai… along with commentaries by more than 20 of the leading politicians and thinkers of Nepal.

Lal’s current areas of study include the notion of nationality, functioning of the media, democratization of society and institutionalization of democracy.

(Courtesy: Martin Chautari)

[Shailesh Gongal]