The dark side of Pokhara

Dhangadhi : Pokhara is the most popular tourist destination in Nepal. Most tourists in Nepal have Pokhara on their bucket list. The city hosts millions of people from across the world each year. The street festival during New Years' is one of the main occasions that attract tourists.

My cousins and I were enrolled in a boarding school in India at a young age, and because of that, they had never visited Pokhara. My cousin Shashish was extremely excited about spending his New Year there and had been planning it for weeks. I had attended the New Year Street Festival four times and was looking forward to attending it with my cousins.

When I previously visited Pokhara, I found the people to be very humble and the landscape very serene. Most of the people there usually mistook me to be an Indian or of a different origin and their treatment towards me was very hospitable.

However, this time my experience was different. I was awoken one morning at 4:30 am to my brother knocking at my door. As I opened the door, I saw him with a blue eye, his nose broken, and a shoe sole mark across his face. I knew that my brother is very respectful to women but on seeing his injuries I asked him if he misbehaved with some woman, because the injuries he had were serious. He was brutally beaten and that kind of beating would probably be justified if he was assaulting some woman.  

He said, “Diju, you know that I’d never do that to any woman. I was standing around the bar table with my friends at the Treasure Lounge which is situated right at the heart of lakeside Pokhara,  when our cousin Shashish came running towards me and said that they are taking Adi dada outside.

He had noticed four bouncers dragging our cousin Aditya out of the club. on seeing that, Shashish, I, and another friend from Nepalgunj named Ayush Gupta followed them. I asked one of the bouncers what happened. Because I had booked the place, I thought I could reason it out with them to settle the matter.

We were just talking when they went to this door that looks like a metro station door that requires a token to open. So, we were standing right there, and amidst the conversation, a bouncer just threw a punch at Adi’s face.  

We needed to break it up. So, I pulled a guy away from the scene, then one of the bouncers said ‘throw all these guys out!’ They tried to throw us out, and they succeeded. More people came in and they had heavier reinforcements. At that point, Ayush Gupta, me, Aditya, and Shashish were being pulled out and our friend Anuja was following us.

Thereafter, the bouncers threw us down the stairs and we fell. They didn’t just push us; they literally dragged us and threw us. I went sliding with my face first I have scraped my knee because of that. While I was falling, I pulled one or two legs and must have tripped the guy.

I caught that person’s neck and I didn’t let go because at this point they just didn’t want to get us out for misdemeanour - they just wanted to beat us. It was very evident because they blew the first punch and that time I told them ‘Dai, we have paid approximately 70,000 in total. The entry fee to the club was Rs 2,000 per head excluding food and beverages. While we were a group of 20 people, and we had girls as well so we mentioned the amount we paid,’ in an attempt to convince them to let this be.

As I held the guy’s neck, I remember them screaming “Chuta” (make him let go) and they kept hitting me. I remember being hit hard. After that, I walked down the stairs and noticed that I was bleeding very badly. It was a dimly lit staircase, and people hadn’t seen my face properly.

They didn’t know how hard I was injured, so after we reached the road my cousins panicked. They were taken aback. My nose was twisted and I was bleeding. While they were kicking us out, there were a lot of people that were trying to enter the club who slowly dispersed because it wasn’t a joke anymore. It wasn’t like them giving someone two or three slaps and sending him or her out for misbehaving. 

At this point, other people freaked out because there was so much blood everywhere and it was a direct kerfuffle with the bouncers themselves. Thereafter, Prathna came out, she was shocked to see me. I was talking to the bouncers and saying ‘look at what you’ve done to my face.’ So, then Prathna said “Dai, why did you hit my friend and slapped him.

She is a tiny girl and that guy was a giant in front of her as she slapped him she retreated a little, the bouncer almost slapped her when the other bouncers pulled his hand.
The others were shouting at her but that guy almost hit her. Thereafter, the cops arrived in some time because of the ruckus there, everyone was screaming “Call the cops!” I was shouting for the cops as well. They came and after they arrived, they asked me what happened. I told him that they beat us severely because my cousin took his drink to the dance floor and filled him in with the details. 

Thereafter, I told him that I want to register a case because my nose is broken, I’m spitting out blood. I need to go to the hospital, please make arrangements for me; I need money to go to the hospital so please ask them to give me money for my treatment.  I wasn’t asking for money because of my ego, but it was just that my wallet and my phone were inside my bag which was inside the club and the club people were not willing to return them to me.

So, the cops looked at me, in such cases cops usually take the people who created a ruckus in their van. However, in this case, they didn’t ask us to get in their van. Perhaps, it was because I was bleeding badly and the fight wasn’t between two groups at a party, it was between us and the bouncers. 

The bouncers had beaten us, so they just let it be. I spoke to the cop and asked what his name was. He was a Khadka. I requested him to help me a little. I told him that if nothing, please arrange a vehicle for me to go to the hospital. I told him I want to register a case, but he said that he could not register a case at that time and asked me to come in the morning, and go for treatment first.

I asked him to help me with that but he did nothing. Thereafter, I thanked him for his help and told him that he might get a call from his senior tomorrow. Khadka ji was standing beside this other cop who had a gap between his teeth. I asked him where he was from, thinking that he could be from Sudurpashchim and I thought Paschim connection could work, but that failed because he was from Baglung. The cops left after that and the crowd started dispersing.

I went back to the entrance and waited for them to give me my bag. I also begged them to return it to me because it had my wallet and phone. They refused because they thought I wanted to return to the club again. They eventually returned me my bag after the club was shut and I returned to the hotel to wash my face and check how serious it was before heading to the hospital.”

My cousin Aditya stepped on the dance floor with his drink in his hand and one of the bouncers held him and asked him to keep his drink down. He put his drink on the table and said, “I’ll keep it away, but you don’t get to touch me like that.” the bouncers left thereafter. Half an hour later, since Aditya was drunk, he forgot about the instructions and he took a sip from his glass on the dance floor.

Suddenly, four bouncers went to him and started dragging him out. Shashish noticed that and called Ayush for help. I was very upset about seeing my brother that way and called my father. My brother decided to go to the hospital with his friend because I was panicking. My father thought that he probably got a punch and nothing more than that, but since I was persistent he called his friend who is a senior police personnel in Pokhara.

A commanding officer connected me to the DSP of Baidam, the DSP was not very responsive and asked me to come to him at 2 pm. He was not very responsive assuming it to be a minor fight after being intoxicated.  A family friend from Pokhara, who my cousins called that night came with a retired Sub Inspector of police and advised us to settle the matter outside. He also called the Club owner Mahendra Bhote to talk about the issue while the club owner blamed them for the kerfuffle.

Thereafter, I received a call from my brother and he told me that the water level in his brain has reduced and that has caused two blood clots on his brain and Dr. Rajan Sharma of Fewa City Hospital said that he needed to be kept under observation for two days. I called and informed my father, who decided to come to Pokhara the very same day. After visiting the doctor, Ayush went to the police station with Aditya. Three inhabitants of Dhangadhi who have cordial relations with us were present at the police station before our arrival. They claimed to be in our support and heard Ayush give his statement to the police. 

Thereafter, they decided to receive my father from the airport, en route to the hospital, they tried to convince my father to let the matter slide since they were friends with 'Mahindra Bhote'. The police as well as our family friends said that my father does not need to come and that they will help us with the case, but he came anyway. My father, being a well-connected individual, called everyone who could help.

Few of his friends who are police personnel requested him not to file the case, but he shared my brother’s photograph and asked what they’d do if their son was in his place instead and they eventually understood our stance. For most of the people in Pokhara getting beaten by the bouncer is not a big thing. All the bouncers in Pokhara go to the same gym and have a strong unity amongst themselves while Mahindra Bhote is a local goon.

Most of the people in Pokhara are afraid of him. A source said, “I completed my studies and decided to set up a hotel in Pokhara. I didn’t understand the politics here. Mahindra Bhote took 50 lakhs from me to let me run this place smoothly; before I paid the amount I would find boys waiting to attack me outside my hotel. Many of my guests, especially Indians, come back with injuries from clubs.

The bouncers here don’t even leave girls and no one registers a case because the man is very powerful. Mahindra Bhote is well connected to Congress as well as CPN. Meanwhile, the locals of Pokhara assume that it’s a bouncer’s work to beat people. The culture of bouncers beating tourists is so common there that the people think it’s normal.

Is it justified to severely beat a group of people for taking a glass to the dance floor? Do the Nepalese and Indian deserve such treatment? Do our lives not matter? Or are we being punished for being a person of colour in our own country? Can club rules be more powerful than the constitution? Or does the tourism industry of Pokhara only cater to foreigners? 

These questions have been crossing my mind for days and it makes me wonder how difficult it must have been for other tourists that have faced similar situations like us because no cases have been filed in the police station against the bouncers or club owners. Most of the time the police are not cooperative and they don’t easily register the case and the tourists give up and return home.

However, we were fortunate enough to succeed in registering the case and two bouncers were arrested. My brother was taken to Kathmandu for further treatment. The doctors said that he was out of danger for now and put him on medication. He needs to visit a neurologist time and again to ensure no long term effects. 

The economy of Nepal is completely dependent on tourism while Pokhara is the most visited tourist destination but, with the on-going discrimination by the bouncers is it safe for a person from the Indian subcontinent to visit Pokhara?