Nepal, July 15 -- An earthy politician from the rugged hills of Rolpa, Balaram Gharti Magar (1937-2025) held various ministerial portfolios in nearly a dozen cabinets between 1970 and 2000. But his greatest joy came when he was appointed the Minister of State for Defence sometime in the late 1970s. He had gushed to visitors on the lawn of his exposed-brick bungalow outside the Ring Road at Saatdobato: "The royal relatives leading the army will have to salute the son of a Magar!"

Magar knew that his role in the ministry would be limited to securing Cabinet approval for proposals from the Bhadrakali Headquarters. Those were the days when the army's top brass came almost exclusively from Thakuri and Chhetri clans, many of them with direct o...