Sasmit Pokharel on democracy and rape culture

Send us Fan Mail Sasmit Pokharel was sworn in as Minister of Education, Science and Technology and Minister of Youth and Sport in the Nepal Government on 26 March. When I interviewed him five years ago he was co-leader of a group of young people dedicated to fighting Nepal's "rape culture". I never imagined that in a handful of years he would be a senior government leader, which was a lack of imagination on my part, salted I think with a layer of ageism. I'm re-posting this episode so you can hear future leader Sasmit, and his fellow guest Sagoon Bhetwal, speak passionately and articulately (despite issues of sound quality, back in the early days of the podcast) about rape in Nepal. Sasmit especially also talks at length about the role of youth in developing democracy in the country and points a finger at current leaders (5 years ago) for ignoring their needs. Listening to this conversation I hear how determined and strategic these two activists are. No doubt those qualities would be very useful in Sasmit's new job. Support the show Show your love by sending this episode to someone who you think might be interested or by sharing it on social media: LinkedIn Instagram BlueSky Facebook Music by audionautix.com. Nepal Now is produced and hosted by Marty Logan.

You can listen to Sasmit Pokharel on democracy and rape culture online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Sasmit Pokharel on democracy and rape culture is an episode from Nepal Now by Marty Logan.

This episode is 33:09 long.

This episode was published on Apr 1, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from Nepal Now when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.