Incomplete Sketch That Led To A Political Journey-4

Following the class nine exam, I returned to Bigutar. The village panchayat was holding its Pradhan Panch election. Pandit Phanindramani Dahal, Pitambar Dahal, Hari Lal Dahal, Chaturman Rai, Tejlal Rai, Kya. Dhan Bahadur Gurung, and Setu Katwal. Bigutarand Rangadeep had a strong grip on the village panchayat. I believed that the established dominance needed to be challenged. I sought advice from Kalanidhi Dai from the village. Chaprali Toyanath Dahal, Sitaram Dahal, Naradmani Paudyal, Ghimire Gopi, Baburam Dahal, Kaladhar Dahal, Tek Bahadur Bhujel, Kirti Dahal, and Juddha Bahadur Bhujel were among my modern friends that I also sought advice from.

We came to the conclusion that we must ignite a fight among themselves in order to overthrow the village tyrants' power, and we gaslighted Pitambar Daju. He and Phanindra Kaka used to have frequent disagreements. Specifically, Pitambar disliked Punya Prasad Guru, who taught Sanskrit in Bigutar with the assistance of Phanindra Kaka. As a result, Pitambar kept transferring Guruba, but Phanindra Kaka would bring him back to Bigutar.

Although we supported Guruba, we encouraged Pitambar to get involved in politics because we believed he was the weakest link. There was a chance of receiving votes from Rangadeep School because both Pitambar's brother and Min Bahadur Katwal had taught there for a long time. Additionally, Phanindra Rai, Tejlal Rai's brother-in-law and a vocal advocate for democracy, might be able to help. Despite being a fervent communist, Phanindra Rai's brother Bir Bahadur, a teacher, was also able to back Pitambar.

Despite the fact that we were too young to vote, Pitambar's campaign was excellent. Food was supplied by my sister-in-law during the election. My sister-in-law was a very generous individual. Vedanidhi Dahal had arrived in Bigutar from Katari at that point, and the Panchas informed the government. The Okhaldhunga government detained him and sent him back to Katari. After relocating to Katari, Vedanidhi Daali, who had previously given the impression of being a communist, had turned into a devoted Congressman. He was here to assist Pitambar.

The outcome might have been different if he had been able to participate in the promotional events. Phanindra Kaka ultimately prevailed by a significant margin. Pitambar most likely received just 75 votes. The number of votes in Kaka's box was high. Although Phanindra Kaka received over 500 votes, the Bigutar-established cycle was disrupted, and a powerful opposition coalition was formed. This made us happy.

The Nepali Congress declared an armed movement in 2031 BS. During this process, the government killed Leela Dahal, Thagiraj Dahal, Gokarna Karki, and Khagendra Dahal of Okhaldhunga Rampur after taking them to Nakhhu under the guise of transferring them to jail on Asoj 13. Durga Prasad Dahal, an old man who teaches at the school, showed me the Gorkhapatra as soon as I arrived at school and declared, My brothers have been brutally murdered by the authorities.

I knew Thagiraj and Leela. Thagiraj was friends with our neighbor, brother Loknath Khatiwada, and used to visit Bigutar. Whereas, I met Leela at the camp of Dhundiraj Kafle, Balabhadra, and Leela Ballabh in Bagbazar. I was devastated by the martyrdom of the four Rampur residents. Keshav Koirala had previously been brutally killed in Matihani. His hometown is Okhaldhunga. It was incomprehensible that the system permitted the widespread dissemination of communist literature while refusing to allow it when the Congress ordered it to. It had a broader effect.

A plan for an armed movement with Okhaldhunga as its primary target was made public under the direction of Yagya Bahadur Thapa. In a plot, the independent regime had already assassinated a few leaders, including Diwan Singh Rai, Saroj Prasad Koirala, and Yogendraman Sherchan. Five communist leaders, including Ramnath Dahal, had been brutally murdered by the regime in the Sukhani forests following the Jhapa incident. The campaign led by Baburam Dahal and Bhavanath Poudel in Rampur to loot paddy and give it to the poor had stoked tensions in Okhaldhunga. The political climate had also been heightened by the well-known Tamagadhi and Jhodak scandals.

Many individuals, including Thapa, Ram, Laxman, and Mahesh Koirala, who had fled into hiding and entered the new mission area, were martyred in Timburbote after the Okhaldhunga mission weakened. The government buried some of them alive in the forests. Peshal Dahal of Rampur was also killed. I was more inspired to join the freedom movement as a result of these incidents. (Under my direction, the Timburbote Martyr Archive Committee, established by the Government of Nepal, looked into and submitted the specifics of the Okhaldhunga and Solu incident as well as the references related to it. The committee was formed in 2052 BS on the initiative of Minister of Culture and Tourism Bal Bahadur KC. There are sufficient details in it.

In 2031 BS, it was the rainy season. After no one paid attention to our demands, some friends conferred and blocked the Ranipokhari motorway. The road close to Bhanubhakta's memorial was blocked. Vehicles were moving slowly at the time, but because the street was two-way, a spectacle developed. We began stacking bricks, and if someone pushed us, we even began hurling bricks. A police van pulled up out of nowhere and beat us all up. Those who were able to flee did so. A few of us fell. The police took us to the Hanuman Dhoka police office, locked us in a room, and made us stand with our feet against the wall and our heads up. They were warned not to repeat such acts and were released, as all were young. It was the first-ever visit to the police station. There are no accounts of such visits after that.

The Congress arranged a picnic in Kathmandu in 2034 BS. We paid ten rupees and participated. I had never met and gathered with so many members of Congress in one location before.

Politics started to take on some significant dimensions after BP Koirala and Ganeshman Singh, who were in exile, returned home after closely examining the Indo-Pak war, the rise of Bangladesh, the accession of Sikkim to India, the events in Afghanistan and Iran, the emergency imposed by Indira Gandhi in India, the failure and damage of the armed movement he had led, and more. The fundamental beliefs that armed violence is inappropriate in Nepal, conducting politics while sitting on foreign soil is lethal, and all party members need an opportunity to enter the country by putting an end to divisive politics both inside and outside the country were established by the creation of the Reconciliation Policy.

Everyone was on high alert, despite the fact that the Balaju forest was hosting a picnic. Haribol Bhattarai discussed current political issues. He talked about the national unity and reconciliation policy and BP Koirala's remarks on his departure from exile on 16 Poush 2033 last year. At a time when the Panchayats had been bolstered by the 2032 amendment to the nonpartisan constitution and the democratic movement had been thwarted by the Timburbote incident in 2031, he expressed confidence that BP's return to Nepal would offer a fresh perspective.

Liberal politics were anticipated when Birendra took power in 2028 following the passing of King Mahendra, the father of the Panchayat; however, since it did not materialize, the Congress members now believed that they should intensify the fight for democracy in the nation. Rajendra Kharel and Birnath Karmacharya also mentioned the necessity of movement and reconciliation. For us, this served as a sort of education in democratic political theory.

Meanwhile, the tale of Sikkim's admission to India had awakened our collective consciousness to nationalism and paved the way for even greater dedication. The democratic movement in Nepal was also impacted by the emergency declared by the Indian Prime Minister at the time, Indira Gandhi, and the general uprising against it led by Jayaprakash Narayan. The Tibetan refugees who had been in Nepal since 1960, as well as China's rebellion in that regard, were also known to the Democrats after China placed Tibet under its direct control. We were unclear about the significance of these issues, but the European and American interests in Nepal's delicate geopolitical situation in relation to the Tibetan refugees were also taken into account.

In the Sanskrit hostel, we used to have open discussions. Prakash Chandra Lohani and Surya Bahadur Thapa were viewed as extremely aggressive even within the independent panchayat. The Thapa group's Itumbahal meeting had gained a lot of notoriety. We had also traveled from the hostel to hear the speech. I can still clearly recall every word I heard then. Rishikesh Shah and Shankar Ghimire were the subjects of much discussion during the elections for the highly debated graduate constituency. We had also actively distributed Ramraja Prasad's pamphlets, whether we realized it or not, but this incident subsided later.

There were elections among the graduates for the Tribhuvan University assembly. Manmohan Bhattarai and Brataraj Acharya, who remained in the Sanskrit hostel, were mentioned as potential Democratic candidates. The possibility of Roshan Karki, CK Prasai's sister-in-law, joining the Democratic Party and running for office was also discussed; however, the election was called off after it was determined that the Congress party would win. To be continued...

This is a translated version of an excerpt from Prof. Purushottam Dahal's unreleased book "Smriti Parikshya." Prof. Dahal is the Editor-in-Chief of the Himalaya Times National Daily.