Martyrs Day of Nepal; Nepali Shahid Diwas; Shaheed Diwas in Nepal

Martyrs Day of Nepal; Nepali Shahid Diwas; Shaheed Diwas in Nepal

Every year, Nepal Shaheed Diwas is celebrated on Math 16. This is the fix day for celebration of Martyrs Day of Nepal.

History

In 1876, a brave Nepalese son called Lakhan Thapa became the first martyr. He quit the then very lucrative job of the service in the state army and secretly trained some people for revolting against the tyrannical rule of the then Rana family members. The then Rana ruler called Jung Bahadur Rana gave the death sentence to Lakhan Thapa for rising up against the despotic rule of the Rana family. However, Lakhan Thapa has remained unrecognized for his deeds until the government declared Lakhan Thapa a martyr in 1999 but has not declared him a first martyr, yet.

In 1942, the same Rana family rulers made four brave sons of Nepal Martyrs. They hanged Sukra Raj and Dharma Bhakta from a tree until death, and shot dead Ganga Lal and Dasrath Chand in Kathmandu, and gave the life sentence to Ganesh Man Singh and other political activists. Ganesh Man Singh escaped from the jail and went to India in exile, and successfully tore down the Rana regime in 1951. So, killing four brave sons of Nepalis, the despotic Rana rulers could not save their regime.

Thereafter, the killer of democracy Mahendra built a monument called ‘Sahid gate’ to martyrs at the heart of Kathmandu. He set up busts of four martyrs such as Sukra Raj, Dasrath Chand, Dharma Bhakta and Ganga Lal at the four corners of the monument and the bust of his father Tribhuvan on top of all the martyrs dishonoring them. Tribhuvan did not deserve this position among the martyrs, as he turned the table on the martyrs’ dream of institutionalizing democracy and continued the despotic rule of his dynasty.

Then, in 1960, despotic ruler Mahendra killed democracy and institutionalized a no-party political system. The statue of the killer of democracy Mahendra has been standing majestically at the center of Kathmandu even after Nepal has been a federal democratic republic whereas the first martyr Lakhan Thapa has been neglected for such a long time.

We don’t have any statue of another martyr called Durgananda Jha. Going against the basic principles of judiciary, Despotic Ruler Mahendra changed the law for giving a death sentence to Durgananda Jha for attempting on his life. Durgananda Jha wanted to kill the killer of democracy Mahendra and set up a republic. So, the statue of Durgananda Jha needs to replace the statue of the killer of democracy.

Then, we forget to give due respect to another propagator of republic Ram Raja Prasad Singh. Despotic Ruler Mahendra gave him a death sentence in absentia for saying Nepalis need a republic in his election manifesto running for the member of the then national assembly called Rastriya Panchayat in the elections held at the four graduate constituencies in early 1970s. Legislators of the NC, CPN-UML and the MPRF rejected him for the position of the first President of Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal and elected someone who has once again killed the spirit of democracy violating the Interim Constitution of Nepal of 2007.

In 1990, brave Nepalis again sacrificed their lives to tear down the Panchayat Regime set up by the killer of democracy Mahendra in 1962, and to institutionalize democracy again in Nepal. However, corrupt leaders of the NC and CPN-UML institutionalized corruption rather than democracy. In 2005 Nepalis again lost the democracy to another despotic ruler called Gyanendra who came to power after the massacre of the family of his senior brother Birendra in 2001. He thought that his fore fathers had earned the state of Nepal for him.

Again, Nepalis for setting up democracy have united and fought against the despotic ruler Gyanendra in 2006. The Maoists fighting in the field came to cooperate with the NC and CPN-UML cadres in Kathmandu to finish off the despotic ruler. As a result, Nepalis successfully made the royals as commoners and subjected them to the rule of law, and made Nepal a federal republic. However, many brave Nepalis have to sacrifice lives to this end.

In 2008, Madheshi Nepalis have launched a movement against the Interim Government headed by Girija Prasad Koirala for the rights to have a say in the state affairs. Again many brave Nepalis sacrificed their lives to achieve the goal but most of the Madheshi leaders betrayed the martyrs and surrendered to the leaders of the NC and CPN-UML for the jobs of ministers in the current government of Madhav Nepal brought by the unconstitutional move of the president on directly writing a letter to the then army chief.

Dreams of the most of the martyrs killed in the people’s liberation war, in the movement against the despotic ruler Gyanendra and in the Madheshi movement have gone astray, as the regressive forces have been raising the heads successfully. For example, NC leader Sher Bahadur Deuba has been advocating for declaring the then chief of the armed police Krishna Mohan Shrestha killed by Maoists a martyr. Similarly, some CPN-UML leaders such as Modnath Prashit and others have advocating for glorifying the despotic rulers such as Prithvi Narayan and Mahendra: Prithvi for uniting all small states into a single state by force and cruelty and Mahendra for his contribution to the Nepalese literature.

Recently, taking advantage of the weak government in the transitional period, some NC leaders have forced the government declare the legislator belonging to the NC and killed in the road accident in Biratnagar a martyr and pay one million rupees to the family of the deceased legislator as the compensation for the loss of the loved one.

Due to the politicization of declaring martyrs, real martyrs have been sidelined and members of the influential political parties have taken the front seats in the martyrdom. Families of real martyrs have been suffering from not paying the compensation the government supposed to give them for the loss of their loved ones. Real martyrs cannot expect anything from the government headed by the man defeated in the two constituencies and the man came to power following the unconstitutional move of the President on directly writing a letter to the then army chief.

Martyrs’ dream would be realized only after completing a writing of a new constitution and then holding elections for a new legislature making the federal democratic republic of Nepal a real, and making participation of all ethnic people in the state affairs a reality. 

Martyrs Of Nepal

1. SHUKRA RAJ SHASTRI

Shukra Raj was born in Varanasi (India) in 1950 B.S. Madhav Raj and Ratna Maya were his parents. He got his early education from Gurukul Sanskrit from his father and got the degree of Shastri in Sanskrit from Punjab University. Thereafter, he was called Shukra Raj ‘Shastri’.

He served as Head Pandit of Dayananda Anglo-Vedic High School in Allahabad for four years. He worked with the Indian social reformer, Madan Mohan Malabiya for two years. He also worked for Hindu Mahashabha in Darjeeling. He wrote several books like Nepal Ko Jhalak, Satyartha Prakash, Sanskrit Pradeep, Satya Kalpana, Brahmansutra, Swarga Ko Dwar. He had good knowledge of English, Hindi, Nepali and Newari languages.

In those days, Nepal was ruled by the Ranas. Many underground revolutionary groups were trying to overthrow the Rana regime. Shukra Raj met some leaders at Kathmandu and encouraged them. He went to Kolkota many times for the publication of his books. During one of his visits to Kolkota, he met Mahatma Gandhi. The Ranas considered this a crime, and arrested him. In Mangsir 1995 B.S., he gave a lecture at Indra Chowk on the essence of Gita. During his lecture, he also spoke indirectly against the Rana rulers. A huge crowd was gathered there. He was immediately arrested along with some leaders of the Praja Parishad. On Magh 10, 1997 B.S., at midnight he was hanged beside the Jaisi Dewal Pachali on the bank of Bagmati river, Kathmandu.

2. DASARATH CHAND

Dasarath Chand was born in Baitadi in 1960 B.S. Sher Bahadur Chand was his father. He received his primary education in Kumaon. He passed the Intermediate examination from Benaras. When he was studying in Benaras, there were movements for India’s independence. He took part in the Non-Violent Movement of 1921 A.D. (1978 B.S.) launched by Mahatma Gandhi. He worked for ‘Kashi Nagari Pracharini Shabha’ throughout his stay in Benaras. All these brought political consciousness in Dasarath Chand and he started thinking about his own country.

The social condition of Nepal at that time was very bad. The people were suffering from poverty, epidemics, etc. On the other hand, the Ranas lived a luxurious life. Dasarath Chand thought over these problems and decided that the solution was the abolition of Rana rule. Dasarath Chand formed an association of Nepali students who were studying in Benaras. He met Tanka Prasad Acharya and Dharmabhakta. Together, they established a political party known as ‘the Praja Parishad’ in 1937 A.D. Tanka Prasad Acharya became its first president. The Praja Parishad became active in Kathmandu-holding meetings, distributing pamphlets, drawing wall-posters, etc. against the Ranas. Dasarath Chand was in charge of all these activities.

Dasarath Chand wrote articles against the cruel rule of the Ranas by the name of Sewa Singh and published them in ‘Janata’ of Patna (India). The British Government in India banned the publication of ‘Janata’ at the request of the Ranas. Meanwhile, Ramji Joshi was arrested. He disclosed everything about the Parishad, including the names of its leaders. Dasarath Chand was arrested and was tortured in the jail with Gangalal. Mohan Shumsher, a Rana official, advised him to beg pardon for his misdeeds. But, Dasarath Chand turned a deaf ear to his proposal. On Magh 14, 1997 B.S. in the night he was shot dead along with Gangalal near the temple of Shobha Bhagawati, in Kathmandu.

3. DHARMABHAKTA

Dharmabhakta was the son of Subba Adibhakta Mathema. He was born in 1965 B.S. He got his education in Darjeeling and Kolkota. He was lean and thin in his childhood. Realizing the importance of physical exercise he got himself admitted in the ‘Physical Institute’ at Kolkota. He made good progress and became the ‘Bengal Champion’ in a physical show.
In those days, India was under British rule. Struggle for independence was in full swing. He met Chitaranjan Das, and worked for some time as a member of the Indian National Congress. He was inspired by the Indian struggle for independence. He came back to Kathmandu.
He met Dasarath Chand at Kathmandu in 1990 B.S. A great earthquake occured this year in Nepal. Dharmabhakta, along with some leaders of the Praja Parishad, was busy in a rescue-operation of the earthquake-affected people.
Dharmabhakta was a body builder. He got chance to hold physical show of two hours during the Ghode Jatra festival at kathmandu. The Rana rules was impressed by his physical show and appointed him to the Royal Palace to teach physical exercises to king Tribhuwan. Thus, he got an opportunity to have contact with the king. He made the King aware of the activities of the Praja Parishad. He acted as a link between the Praja Parishad and the king. A secret meeting of the king with the members of the Praja Parishad was arranged at Lainchaur. But, Juddha Shumsher, the Rana Prime Minister came to know about this and arrested Dharmabhakta and some members of the Praja Parishad immediately after the meeting. On Magh 12, 1997 B.S. Dharmabhakta was hanged in the midnight in Shifal, near kalo Pul, Kathmandu.

4. GANGALAL SHRESTHA

Gangalal was the son of Bhaktalal Shrestha. He was born in 1975 B.S. at Bhangeri, Ramechaap. He got his education from Durbar High school and passed the Matriculation examination in the first divison. He also studied I.Sc. at Tri-Chandra college. Gangalal was an intelligent student. He was also a good writer, orator and actor. He formed an association of young men in Tri-Chandra College and jointed the “Mahabir Institute”, where students were taught about patriotic ideas, human rights, and systems of government apart from a bookish education.
In the year 1995 B.S., Gangalal attended one of the lectures on ‘Puran’ by Pandit Murlidhar Bhattarai. He also gave a lecture on human rights at Asan. He met Shukra Raj and together they started to instigate the people against the Rana rule. Shukra Raj was arrested during such a campaign, but Gangalal could not be arrested. He disguised himself as a monk and began to live in a temple behind Swayambhu. Other members of the Praja Parishad visited him very often and they are meetings for future programmes. The police force detected this and arrested him. As the request of Padma Shumsher and Kazi Narayan Bhakta, Prime Minister Juddha Shumsher released him.

But Gangalal could not live a peaceful life. He could not tolerate the cruel administration of the Ranas. Then he met Dasarath Chand and became an active member of the Praja parishad. The members of the Praja Parishad now started distributing papers and pamphlets against the Ranas. During such a campaign, Gangalal was arrested. He was tortured in the prison but he never disclosed anything about the Praja Parishad. He was shot dead in front of Shobha Bhagawati, Kathmandu on Magh 14, 1997 B.S., at midnight.

source History  Martyrs of Nepal