MATRIKA PRASAD KOIRALA

 Introduction

MATRIKA PRASAD KOIRALA


Matrika Prasad Koirala, a former prime minister of Nepal, held the position twice, from 15 June 1953 to 11 April 1955 and from 15 June 1953 to 14 August 1952.

His Personal life


Date Of Birth:1 January 1912                                                  Died: 11 September 1997 (aged 85)

Birthplace: Varanasi, British Raj                                            Father: Krishna Prasad Koirala   
 
Mother: Mohan Kumari Koirala

Krishna Prasad Koirala and his first wife Mohan Kumari Koirala gave birth to Koirala in Varanasi, British Raj, in 1912. Tarini Prasad Koirala, a politician and writer, Girija Prasad Koirala, a former prime minister of Nepal, and Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala were among his brothers.


Political life

A prominent figure in Nepal, Matrika Prasad Koirala (M.P. ), ruled the country's politics for eight years, from 1947 to 1955.  He served as the movement's top figurehead for the first four years and as prime minister for the final four years. Though he was a strong head of state and had the King's support for the majority of those years, his first four years were a tale of success while his final four were a record of failure. As the movement's chief leader, he oversaw the effective anti-Rana uprising, but his actions as prime minister were divisive and a failure.

After 1955, his political career virtually ended, though King Mahendra nominated him as a member of the upper house of parliament in 1959, only to encounter the absolute majority of Nepali Congress. M.P. died in 1997, but now he is with us through his memoir entitled A Role in a Revolution. Two volumes on two brothers, two Prime Ministers and two big personalities of modern Nepal. M.P. Sharma was a leader of the democratic movement against the Ranas from 1947 to 1951.

His memoir gives a rough picture of political history of Nepal from 1951 to 1955. But for that to be useful one must have a detailed knowledge of those fateful years. M.P. writes about his school life in India including his meeting with Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru as a school boy. He gives a brief account of the national education of India initiated by Gandhi and Tagore. His employment under the Rana regime, first as an apprentice and then as translator, is discussed in detail.

Author gives a list of events after the royal flight (pp. 168–169), but it contains some mistakes. Gyanendra was installed as King on 7 November, not 8 November; M.P. fails to mention that more than 50 percent of released prisoners refused to come out of jail until the political settlement was finalized. There is a major pen error on p. 130, where the author writes "Padma" instead of "Mohan" (31st line). Part two of the book consists of ninety-two documents which are given as appendices.

A number of letters had been exchanged between M.P. and Nehru on different aspects of Nepali politics, including the delay of Constituent Assembly election and the discourtesy shown by an INA (Indian National Army?) crew to the prime minister and ministers of Nepal. There are also some letters written by Nepali ambassadors in New Delhi which focus on proposed diplomatic relations between Nepal and China. One remarkable point of these letters is the desire or condition of China to hold the talks in Kathmandu, against the instructions of Nehru. A review of M.P.'s memoir is not complete until we mention the tenpage preface of Ganesh Raj Sharma, the undeclared editor of the book.

In my opinion, the memoir is more regular, if not more expressive, than B.P. Koirala's Atmabrittanta, which is quite irregular in chronological terms. On the whole, the documents produced in part two of the memoir give scattered information on Nepali politics from 1951 to 1955. They may be used by researchers as primary sources. Sharma argues that Nehru had given tacit consent to King Mahendra for the royal takeover of December 1960, though it was limited only to the removal of B.P.

Koirala and not the dissolution of the parliament. He has produced a different version of the aide-memoir which reads, "... especially on matters of Nepal's relationship with Tibet and China, special advice will be sought from the Government of India" (p. xi), whereas Nehru's draft of the same speaks only about "consultations" with the government. This point seems to be debatable, in view of his strong public condemnation of the coup. There is one more more debatable point in the preface, and that is the so-called understanding between "King Birendra and B.R.Koirala to bring M.P.'s election as a stop-gap in the transition from the partyless Panchayat system to multiparty parliamentary democracy".

Post a Comment

0 Comments