 One of the last among seasoned South Asian politicians, Girija Prasad Koirala has left a strong imprint on Nepal's struggle for democracy. SouthAsia magazine pays tribute to this great leader.
Nepal's five-term Prime Minister, Girija Prasad Koirala, who played a dominant role in Nepalese politics, passed away on March 20, at the age of 85. Known as the architect of democracy in Nepal, Mr. Koirala earned a reputation as a champion of the peace process that saw the abolition of the monarchy and brought the Maoists into electoral politics after a long civil war.
Koirala had several other achievements to his credit. Politically active since the late 1940s, he was the last significant survivor of the generation of political activists who, in 1950, brought down the shogunate - with the Rana family in control of the monarchy as hereditary regents - and began the country's first experiment with parliamentary democracy. Playing a dominant role in Nepalese politics since then, he worked vigorously for the installation of a Maoist-led government in April 2008.
Although suffering from respiratory and heart ailments for years, Koirala remained at the center of Nepal's fractious political scene. Analysts inside Nepal believe nobody can replace the great leader who had the persona and experience to maintain strong links with the Maoists, the UML (United Marxist-Leninist Party) and several other regional and cultural forces in Nepal.
Born in the north Indian state of Bihar, Girija Prasad Koirala's father Krishna Prasad Koirala, a hill Brahman who had angered Maharaja Chandra Shamsher Rana, lived in exile. Though the family was permitted to return to Nepal after Chandra's death in 1929, Koirala was privately educated in India, and as a teenager, participated in the Indian nationalist movement and the struggle against the Ranas in Nepal.
From organizing a strike in a jute mill in 1947 or leading the opposition against India-based Nepali Congress party's armed movement in1950, Koirala was at the center of many public movements. He worked in the Congress party as head of the youth wing and joined the party's central working committee in 1958. He was imprisoned in 1960 and lived in self-imposed exile in India in 1971, returning to Nepal in 1976.
Generally more conservative than the rest, Girija was initially hesitant about the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy launched by the Congress in spring 1990. However, the success of the street protests led to his appointment as prime minister in 1991, when Congress won an overall victory in the election.
In May 1996, he succeeded Bhattarai as party president and regained premiership in April 1998.
From February 2001 onwards, Koirala was the target of opposition disruption in parliament. When the army refused to follow his order to intervene and release 69 policemen abducted by the Maoists, Koirala resigned and was succeeded by Deuba, who began negotiations with the rebels.
In February 2005, when the king took control of the administration, Koirala was put under arrest. On release, he reached an understanding with the Maoists in Delhi in 2005. He began exercising the functions of head of state and later that year accepted a Maoist demand that Nepal be declared a republic.
Despite his poor health, Koirala remained active almost to the end, meeting frequently with the Maoist leaders. Girija Prasad Koirala called the peace and reconciliation process his final struggle and joked that if it failed he would return as a ghost to haunt Nepal. The best way, therefore to honor his legacy would be to accelerate the peace process and finalize the country's new constitution.
|
Show/hide comments
Show/hide comment form
