“Why early?” was my question within me. This curiosity dragged me faster to the school. From Ason Tole, I saw a big crowd shouting slogans of “Inqilab Zindabad” etc.
My father and brothers used to discuss occasionally various matters of household operations, the freedom movement, and Hindu Muslim riots of India, the civil war in China, World War II and also Nepal’s situation. From what I gathered from such discussions, this was not permitted in Nepal.[break]
As I got quite closer to the procession, I found Puspa Lal himself leading the demonstration.
This was a green signal for me to follow him until the dispersal of the demonstration. This was the first open challenge to the autocrats by the democrats. This was how he exposed me to politics. The day was 17 Baisakh and the year 2004 BS. This demonstration heralded the end of his political wanderings and dilemmas, which took him to Palpa, Sarlahi and many other places for his clandestine operations. He had now been able to decide on the course of his actions and never dithered from his chosen principle.
While talking of Puspa Lal, it reminds me of what Comrade Man Mohan Adhikari had said when he was the Prime Minister in a meeting arranged in memory of Puspa Lal more than a decade ago. He had then said that that it reminded him of Vladimir Lenin, the founder of the first communist state in 1917. Like Lenin’s elder brother, Puspa Lal’s elder brother, Ganga Lal, was executed by the autocratic Rana regime. Like Lenin’s Bolshevik Party, Puspa Lal could make the Communist Party of Nepal a decisive force.
In 1969, I took my father Subbabhakta Lal Shrestha for his treatment to Delhi. We were, to our disappointment, not met by him at the airport as I forgot to confirm the date of our travel. Meantime, my father breathed his last. The funeral was arranged at the Nigambodh Ghat in Delhi. The flame slowly but surely consumed what was left of my father. Thus ended the journey of a man who gave his first two sons – martyr Ganga Lal who paved the path for democracy and Puspa Lal, the father of communism in Nepal. But it is like the ‘Sati’s curse’ when the commoners’ government dismissed him from service because he led the general strike of the low-paid civil servants in his capacity as the Chairman of the Struggle Committee in 2009 BS.
Because Puspa Lal was a family man, in 1974, I took my whole family to meet him at Benaras. It was like the big joint family and not a nuclear family. One incident I want to cite here is the one I can never forget. With Puspa Lal, there used to be a comrade called Guru. He was a pleasant person, friendly with the children and always helpful. I happened to mention this to Puspa one day to which he remarked that it was not only Guru, but all his friends were pleasant and helpful. This made me realize once again his feeling, his honesty, his indelible trust in his friends and comrades.
Puspa Lal’s instant trust and confidence in his colleagues made him vulnerable for his exploitation. One such incident was his resignation from the post of the General Secretary for the sake of party unity. I feel such qualities of his, on one side, identified him as one of the most efficient organizers of the party, while, on the other, they immensely harmed him individually, collectively and politically. His organizing capacity could be testified by the election of a communist, Janak Man, as Mayor in the Kathmandu Municipality elections held in 2010 BS. The ruling Nepali Congress could win only three seats out of 18.
I met him six times between 1962 and 1977. Invariably, our meetings used to occupy a major portion of the time on family matters and his acquaintances. On one of those meetings, upon my inquiry, he informed me that he sent Hikmat Singh instead when king Mahendra wanted to meet him in Benaras. As for him, he left Benaras well before the king’s arrival. This was a time when many comrades were lured to the luxuries of life.
The last meeting I had with him was in 1977, and this time I found him a bit sad and serious. Umesh, his son, asked him to use his influence for a seat for his medical education in India. He shared with me his reluctance to beg for his son. And understandably, Umesh, as a young boy, may have thrown his tantrums in frustration, which was not unusual. He asked me if I could be of any help, which I was not.
The next he asked my opinion on the venue for his daughter Usha’s wedding. I suggested Benaras for this purpose obviously because any father would love to do ‘kanyadan’ and this was a moment of joy of all parents. He agreed to it. This was also the meeting when he informed me of the mounting pressure from his friends and comrades and his wife to come to Kathmandu and be politically active as his colleagues like Man Mohan Adhikari and Sambhu Ram were, among others. I found myself in great difficulty as it was a question, on one side, of comfort of living with his family and on the other, his principled stand. Honestly speaking, I felt incompetent to advise him on this regard as I was completely out of touch with politics.
In 1978, while I was in Bangkok. I was informed of his demise. It was indeed a shock, but that my son was beside him was a consolation.
It was his score, no doubt, that projected the Nepali communists in the limelight of world politics. As a family man, because of his obsession in politics, he could not contribute materially to the family, but love, respect, sympathy, help always used to outflow from his heart. He remained a non-controversial family member, loved and respected by us all. In addition to being a politician, he was a bodybuilder, a teacher and an actor, too. I had watched him in the female role of ‘Karnelni Saheb’ in the drama of ‘Sahansila Sushila.’
As a politician dedicated to the cause of the proletariats, I found him that he was able to metamorphose himself completely to the philosophy of the proletariat in thought and in action. He was a true democrat who believed in the supremacy of policy and not the leaders. It has now been accepted by all his friends and foes that it was the policy of joint struggle propounded by Puspa Lal that ultimately did away with the Panchayat Raj. But it was quite imbalanced on the part of his own colleagues who tagged him ‘Gaddar Puspa Lal’. This was a case of ‘sour grapes’ as some later events proved. They did not have the determination to stand by their principle. I wonder if such leaders have also become causative factors for Puspa Lal’s untimely death. Dejected and deceived when alive, there was competition among his colleagues to oust him.
Now he is no more. Today, when the communists are seen obsessed with purchasing Pajeros and erecting palaces, it reminds me of Puspa Lal’s modest accommodations in the Dasputra Lane in Benaras.
The writer is the younger brother of Puspa Lal Shrestha.
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