Nepal

Tributes have been pouring in from around Nepal and India for Nepali Congress leader and a member of the House of Representatives Pradip Giri, who passed away Saturday night at the age of 75.

The socialist leader-cum-philosopher, widely acclaimed for his oratory skills and critical points of view, was suffering from pneumonia after having undergone throat cancer treatment in India.

He came from a political family in Bastipur in the south-eastern district of Siraha.

His uncle Tulsi Giri abandoned Nepali Congress to join the Panchayat System, introduced in 1960 by King Mahendra, but Pradip Giri continued to embrace democratic socialism adopted by Nepal’s oldest political party.

After joining Banaras Hindu University and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in India, he got a chance to hobnob with India’s leading intellectuals and socialist thinkers, including Ram Manohar Lohia, Jayaprakash Narayan, and scores of JNU student leaders some of whom went on to become India’s political leaders.

He was also influenced by India’s constitution-maker BR Ambedkar.

Back home in Nepal, he was influenced by Nepali Congress leaders BP Koirala and Krishna Prasad Bhattarai. His political career got a fillip after the restoration of democracy in 1990 whereupon he contested in and won elections to the House of Representatives from his home district of Siraha.

He also made it to the Constituent Assembly in 2008 as a proportional representative. He fought and won the House seat in 2017 election.

As a leader who supported ethnic and regional minorities, including Madhesis and Tharus, Giri always called a spade a spade. That became evident in 2015 when he refused to sign the new constitution, asserting that the document had “ignored the demands of the Madhesi” people.

When he was making his case in the Constituent Assembly, his microphone was cut off and his voice was silenced - which further antagonised him.

As he quietly passed away in his hospital bed Saturday night, leaving behind a lasting legacy, tributes have continued to pour in from top leaders and his friends in Nepal, including President Bidhya Devi Bhandari, Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba, leaders of different political parties and intellectuals.

Tributes have been pouring in from his friends in India too.

He is survived by his wife Bharati Silwal Giri and son Santosh Silwal Giri.

His last rites were performed according to Hindu traditions at Pashupati Aryaghat.  See NepalMinute photos of Nepali leaders paying tribute to Pradip Giri - and his last rites at Pashupati Aryaghat.