Jibaraj Ashrit (August 1944 - 16 May 1993) was a

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

i communist revolutionary. He was part of the

Mukti Morcha Samuha Mukti Morcha Samuha ( Nepali for 'Liberation Front Group') was an underground communist group in Nepal. Formed in 1976 following a split from the Communist Party of Nepal of Pushpa Lal Shrestha Pushpa Lal Shrestha ( ne, पुष्पला� ...

. He died in a vehicular accident (suspected assassination) in Dasdhunga, Chitwan on 16 May 1993 while travelling with another communist leader,

Madan Bhandari Nepal Ratna Man Padavi Madan Kumar Bhandari ( ne, मदन कुमार भण्डारी) (27 June 1951K.C., Surendra. ''Aitihasik dastavej sangroh - bhag 2''. Kathmandu: Pairavi Prakashan, 2063 B.S.. p 464. – 17 May 1993), common ...

. He was the head of Organisation department of

CPN UML CPN may refer to: * Calpine Corporation, New York Stock Exchange symbol CPN * Canadian Perinatal Network * ''Carnivorous Plant Newsletter'' * Carpinteria (Amtrak station), California, Amtrak station code CPN * Caspian Airlines (Iran), ICAO airline ...

at the time of his death.

Career

Ashrit entered politics as a student. He became a member of

Communist Party of Nepal The Communist Party of Nepal ( ne, नेपाल कम्युनिस्ट पार्टी), abbreviated CPN, was a communist party in Nepal from 1949 to 1962. It was founded on 15 September 1949 to struggle against the autocratic Rana ...

in 1964–65. He was a political prisoner between 1969 and 1972. He was known for his skill in building an organised movement, and was

's Chief of Organisation Department at the time of his death.

Views

Jibaraj Ashrit was a strong advocate of ending all forms of

casteism Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultural ...

and worked to empower women and increase their participation in active politics.

Personal life

He was born in August 1944 (18 Shrawan 2001 BS) in

Harewa Harewa is a village and municipality in Gulmi District in the Lumbini Zone of central Nepal. At the time of the 1991 Nepal census The 1991 Nepal census was a widespread national census conducted by the Nepal Central Bureau of Statistics. Workin ...

Gulmi District Gulmi District ( ne, गुल्मी जिल्ला), a part of Lumbini Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district, with Tamghas as its headquarters, covers an area of , had a population of 296,654 in 2001, 2 ...

. He was married to Maya Gyawali.

Death

's Chief of Organisation Department, he was travelling the country in 1993. While travelling with party Secretary

, from

Pokhara Pokhara ( ne, पोखरा, ) is a metropolis, metropolitan city in Nepal, which serves as the capital of Gandaki Province. It is the List of cities in Nepal, second most populous city of Nepal after Kathmandu, with 518,452 inhabitants living ...

, where he was participating in the party's

Kaski District Kaski District ( ne, कास्की जिल्ला, ), a part of Gandaki Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The name is disambiguated from Kaskikot, the ancient Kaski Kingdom. The district, with Pokhara as its di ...

Conference, to

Chitwan Chitwan District (, , ) is one of 77 districts of Nepal, and takes up the southwestern corner of Bagmati Province. Bharatpur, largest city of Nepal after Kathmandu, is its administrative centre. It covers . In 2011 it had a population of 579 ...

, where the district conference of the Women wing of the party and other programmes were scheduled, he died in a vehicular accident at

Dasdhunga ''Dasdhunga'' ( ne, दासढुङ्गा) is Nepali film based on true events of the mysterious death of leader of CPN-UML Madan Bhandari in Dashdhunga, Trishuli, Nepal. The only witness of the event and the driver of the vehicle was later s ...

Kabilash VDC Kabilasha is a ward in Dakneshwori Municipality in Saptari District in the Sagarmatha Zone of south-eastern Nepal. At the time of the 2011 Nepal census Nepal conducted a widespread national census in 2011 by the Nepal Central Bureau of Stati ...

, Chitwan. Although ruled an accident, many, including prominent politicians of

Nepal Communist Party (NCP) The Nepal Communist Party, abbreviated NCP ( ne, नेपाल कम्युनिष्ट पार्टी, ) is a defunct communist party of Nepal. It was founded on 17 May 2018, from the unification of two leftist parties, Communist ...

, consider the deaths as unresolved case, and are known to accuse political rivals of the murder of Ashrit and Bhandari via a conspiracy that was covered up during the investigation. Their driver, who had survived the accident, was gunned down in

Kirtipur Kirtipur (Nepal Bhasa: किपू ''Kipoo'') is a Municipality and an ancient city of Nepal. The Newars are the natives of Kipoo (Kirtipur) that is believed to be derived from Kirati King Yalamber. It is located in the Kathmandu Valley 5 km ...

, years later.

Legacy

In 2010, ''Jibaraj Ashrit Foundation'' was established in Deepnagar,

Butwal Butwal ( ne, बुटवल), officially Butwal Sub-Metropolitan City ( ne, बुटवल उपमहानगरपालिका), is a sub-metropolitan city and economic hub in Lumbini Province in West Nepal. Butwal has a city population ...

, with the goal of raising awareness about and preserving the memory.of his life and contributions. In 2019, ''Jibaraj Ashrit Museum'' built by the foundation with six of the eight million rupees granted to it by the

Ministry of Culture Ministry of Culture may refer to: *Ministry of Tourism, Cultural Affairs, Youth and Sports (Albania) *Ministry of Culture (Algeria) *Ministry of Culture (Argentina) * Minister for the Arts (Australia) *Ministry of Culture (Azerbaijan) * Ministry of ...

opened for the public. Among the attractions were reported to be his writings, clothes and other items owned and used by him, biographical documentaries on him, as well as Rs 1,300 found on his person after his death and a 10-band radio gifted to him by

Pradeep Gyawali Pradeep Kumar Gyawali ( ne, प्रदीप कुमार ज्ञवाली) is a Nepalese politician. He served as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Nepal), Minister of Foreign Affairs from 14 March 2018 to 4 June 2021 under prime minis ...

References