Nepal Praja Parishad (Mishra)
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The Nepal Praja Parishad ( Nepali: नेपाल प्रजा परिषद) was the first attempt to form an organization to lead the revolution against the
Rana dynasty Rana dynasty ( ne, राणा वंश, IAST=Rāṇā vaṃśa , ) is a Chhetri dynasty that imposed totalitarianism in the Kingdom of Nepal from 1846 until 1951, reducing the Shah monarch to a figurehead and making Prime Minister and other ...
in Nepal. Led by
Tanka Prasad Acharya Tanka Prasad Acharya (Nepali: टंक प्रसाद आचार्य; 11 February 1912 – 23 April 1992) was a Nepali politician who served as the 19th Prime Minister of Nepal from 1956 to 1957. He was one of the founders and the leader ...
, the group was founded in 1936, and is seen as the first political party in Nepal. The organisation collapsed after their plot to assassinate multiple members of the Rana regime was discovered, and some of its key members were executed.


History

The idea of the Nepal Praja Parishad was proposed by
Dashrath Chand Dasharath Chand ( ne, दशरथ चन्द; 1903-28 January 1941) is martyr of Nepalese Democratic Movement and a politician of Nepal who was active in starting a political revolution in Nepal during Rana rule. He was born at Baskot of Baitadi ...
and
Tanka Prasad Acharya Tanka Prasad Acharya (Nepali: टंक प्रसाद आचार्य; 11 February 1912 – 23 April 1992) was a Nepali politician who served as the 19th Prime Minister of Nepal from 1956 to 1957. He was one of the founders and the leader ...
in a hotel in
Bhimphedi Bhimphedi ( ne, भीमफेदी), is a village located in the Bhimphedi Rural Municipality of Makwanpur District of Bagmati Province of Nepal. This village is known for its bazaar (marketplace). Bismuth ore is mined here. Etymology The w ...
,
Makwanpur District Makwanpur District( ne, मकवानपुर जिल्ला; , a part of Bagmati Province, earlier a part of Narayani Zone, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district, with Hetauda as its district headquarter, as well ...
of Nepal. Following many years of dictatorial rule from the Ranas in the role of
Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
, people in Nepal began to support their overthrow, however it was mostly exclusive to rich high class intellectuals, with the uneducated peasantry unable and unwilling to help. The Nepal Praja Parishad was formed in 1936, after Acharya and Chand received support from other aristocrats and intellectuals. The group was led by Tanka Prasad Acharya, and the organization's head office was kept in
Dharma Bhakta Mathema Dharma Bhakta Mathema (1909—1941) was a professional body builder as well as a founding member of Praja Parishad. He introduced modern body building techniques in Nepal, but had gained popularity for his contribution to the Nepalese struggle ...
's house in Om Bahal,
Kathmandu , pushpin_map = Nepal Bagmati Province#Nepal#Asia , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Bagmati Prov ...
.


Anti-Rana activities

Initially, the Nepal Praja Parishad distributed hand-written pamphlets among the people and wrote articles against the Rana Dynasty in Nepal in an Indian socialist paper "Janata" and another paper published in
Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, the official name until 2001) is the Capital city, capital of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal, on the eastern ba ...
named "Advance". Later, Tanka Prasad Acharya brought a
printing machine Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and Printmaking, images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabo ...
from India, and the organization started to distribute pamphlets, print articles in newspapers and draw wall posters against the Rana dynasty to enlighten the people against their rule. The Nepal Praja Parishad also later planned the assassination of multiple high ranking politicians in the Rana regime. However, they were unsuccessful in their plot, and were discovered after a member of the group informed the Rana government.


Dissolution

After the Rana government found out about the assassination plot of the Nepal Praja Parishad, Prime Minister
Juddha Shumsher Field Marshal Sri, Shree Sri, Shree Sri, Shree Maharaja Sir Juddha Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana ( ne, जुद्ध शम्शेर जङ्गबहादुर राणा) (19 April 1875 in Narayanhity Palace, Kathmandu – 20 November 19 ...
had the leading members of the group arrested. In 1941, multiple members of the group were sentenced to death.
Dharma Bhakta Mathema Dharma Bhakta Mathema (1909—1941) was a professional body builder as well as a founding member of Praja Parishad. He introduced modern body building techniques in Nepal, but had gained popularity for his contribution to the Nepalese struggle ...
,
Dashrath Chand Dasharath Chand ( ne, दशरथ चन्द; 1903-28 January 1941) is martyr of Nepalese Democratic Movement and a politician of Nepal who was active in starting a political revolution in Nepal during Rana rule. He was born at Baskot of Baitadi ...
, Gangalal Shrestha and
Tanka Prasad Acharya Tanka Prasad Acharya (Nepali: टंक प्रसाद आचार्य; 11 February 1912 – 23 April 1992) was a Nepali politician who served as the 19th Prime Minister of Nepal from 1956 to 1957. He was one of the founders and the leader ...
were sentenced to death. However, Acharya was not executed, for Nepali law at the time forbade the killing of
Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...
s. Following their execution, and Acharya's sentence changed to life imprisonment, the Nepal Praja Parishad was dissolved in January 1941. Mathema, Chand and Shrestha, along with
Shukraraj Shastri Shukra Raj Shastri ( Nepali: ) (born Shukra Raj Joshi) (1894–24 January 1941) was a Nepalese intellectual and fighter for democracy who was executed by the autocratic Rana dynasty. He is one of the four martyrs of the Nepalese revolution that ...
, another anti-Rana intellectual who was not involved with the Praja Parishad, are now recognized as the 4 Martyrs of Nepal.


1950s Reactivation

Following the events of the 1951 Revolution, the Ranas were removed from power and parliamentary democracy was established in Nepal. Tanka Prasad Acharya was released from prison, and had at this point been a senior member of the
Nepali Congress The Nepali Congress ( ne, नेपाली कांग्रेस ; abbr. NC) is the largest social democratic political party in Nepal. As per the results of recent local election, ''Nepali Congress'' stands as the single largest party o ...
. However, following disagreements with the Nepali Congress, Tanka Prasad Acharya and
Bhadrakali Mishra Bhadrakali Mishra ( ne, भद्रकाली मिश्र; 6 February 1920 – 1 June 2006) was a Nepali politician. In his political career lasting more than 50 years, several of which were in exile, he held numerous ministerial portfol ...
, another senior politician of the Nepali Congress, split off from the party and reactivated the Nepal Praja Parishad in the 1950s. The party served in the government of
Matrika Prasad Koirala Matrika Prasad Koirala ( ne, मातृका प्रसाद कोइराला ; 1 January 1912 – 11 September 1997) was the Prime Minister of Nepal for two terms from 16 November 1951 to 14 August 1952 and again from 15 June 1953 to ...
in 1953, and remained a notable political party in opposition to the Nepali Congress. Tanka Prasad Acharya was even made Prime Minister by
King Mahendra Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev ( ne, श्री ५ महाराजाधिराज महेन्द्र वीर विक्रम शाह देव; 11 June 1920 – 31 January 1972) was the King of Nepal from 13 March 1955 until h ...
in 1956. However, in 1959, Acharya and Mishra contested the elections separately, and were recognized as different political parties: the Nepal Praja Parishad (Acharya) and the Nepal Praja Parishad (Mishra). Acharya's faction of the party won 2 seats in the election, whereas Mishra's faction won 1. In 1961, following King Mahendra's implementation of the
Panchayat system Panchayat ( ne, पञ्चायत) was a partyless political system incepted by King Mahendra by sidelining the Nepali Congress government of B. P. Koirala on 15 December 1960 AD (1st Poush 2017 BS). He introduced the partyless Panchayat sys ...
, the party rejoined the Nepali Congress.


Members

The Nepal Praja Parishad consisted of many Nepali revolutionaries of the time. The leaders of the group included
Ram Hari Sharma Nepal Ram, ram, or RAM may refer to: Animals * A male sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', i ...
,
Dharma Bhakta Mathema Dharma Bhakta Mathema (1909—1941) was a professional body builder as well as a founding member of Praja Parishad. He introduced modern body building techniques in Nepal, but had gained popularity for his contribution to the Nepalese struggle ...
,
Dashrath Chand Dasharath Chand ( ne, दशरथ चन्द; 1903-28 January 1941) is martyr of Nepalese Democratic Movement and a politician of Nepal who was active in starting a political revolution in Nepal during Rana rule. He was born at Baskot of Baitadi ...
,
Tanka Prasad Acharya Tanka Prasad Acharya (Nepali: टंक प्रसाद आचार्य; 11 February 1912 – 23 April 1992) was a Nepali politician who served as the 19th Prime Minister of Nepal from 1956 to 1957. He was one of the founders and the leader ...
and Gangalal Shrestha. Dharma Bhakta Mathema was also the gym instructor of
King Tribhuvan Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah ( ne, श्री ५ महाराजाधिराज त्रिभुवन वीर विक्रम शाह देव ) (30 June 1906 – 13 March 1955) was King of Nepal from 11 December 1911 until his ...
, and the motives of the organization were known to and also supported by him. Other members of this organization included Chudaprasad Sharma, Govinda Prasad Upadhya(Poudyal), Puskar Nath Upreti, Mukunda Nath Rimal, Bal Bahadur Pandey, Druba Prasad Dawade, Fadindra Nath Satyal, Hari Krishna Shrestha, Chakra Bahadur Khatri,
Ganesh Man Singh Ganesh Man Singh ( Nepali:गणेशमान सिंह) (November 9, 1915 – September 18, 1997) was the leader of the democratic movement of 1990 in Nepal. He is revered as the Father of Democracy and the Iron-man of Nepali politic ...
, Keshav Khatri, Ramji Shrestha, Chandraman Shrestha, and also King Jaya Prithivi Bahadur Singh of
Bajhang Bajhang District ( , a part of Sudurpashchim Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district, with Chainpur, that is part of Jaya Prithvi Municipality, as its district headquarters, covers an area of and has a populatio ...
.


Electoral performance


Leadership


Prime Minister of Nepal


References

{{Political parties in Nepal Political parties in Nepal Rebel groups in Nepal Rana regime 1941 disestablishments in Nepal 1936 establishments in Nepal