Kathmandu, Aug. 2 -- On Friday evening, the Maitighar Mandal in Kathmandu suddenly came alive with the tunes of a folk song. The beats of the madal and notes of harmonium accompanied the song. It, however, was not a concert, and the people performing it were not artists seeking to enthrall the audience. Instead, they were at the Mandal, a popular venue for protests, to make their voices heard.

"Pani bina sukhal jayat sara jaminiya.," went the song. "Kehu ke najariyo parena... kaise jiyat kisanwa?" [All the lands are drying without water. Nobody's paying attention. How will farmers survive?]

The crowd was composed mostly of young activists, numbering around 100, some of them donning ethnic Madheshi attire and others college uniforms. In ...