Gangalal Shrestha

Ganga Lal Shrestha (Devanagari: गंगालाल श्रेष्ठ) (1919 – 28 January 1941) was a Nepalese revolutionary who was executed by the autocratic Rana regime. He is honoured as one of the four martyrs of the Nepalese revolution. He was a member of the clandestine political organisation named Nepal Praja Parishad that started a movement in 1939 to remove the Rana oligarchy and establish democracy in Nepal.

Ganga Lal was born to father Bhakta Lal and mother Mohani kumari Shrestha in a well-to-do family. His father Bhakta Lal worked for the government and was stationed in Ramechhap where he was the chief of the Revenue Office. After returning to Kathmandu, he renounced his share of the ancestral property at Chhetrapati, and bought a house in Pyaphal next to Kathmandu Durbar Square. Ganga Lal lived in this house with his family and wife Hasana Devi (1918–2011).

Ganga Lal went to Kolkata with his uncle to study. Returning to Kathmandu, he enrolled in Durbar High School. He is believed to have been an intelligent student and secured first division in the Matriculation examination. After the examination, he was admitted to Trichandra College where he studied science.

Ganga Lal was an excellent orator. He was an active member of organisations that sought to oust the Ranas and establish democracy in Nepal. He had been a member of Mahabir School, whose aim was to fill the students with patriotic feelings. He was arrested briefly in 1939 for giving a lecture on s in Asan, Kathmandu. After he met Dashrath Chand, he became involved in Nepal Praja Parishad and its activities.

The secret Nepal Praja Parishad was exposed by one Ramji Joshi in return for a cash reward of Rs. 5,000. This led to the arrest of many of its members on 18 October 1940. On 19 January 1941, the Ranas sentenced Ganga Lal, Dashrath Chand, Dharma Bhakta Mathema and Shukra Raj Shastri (although he was not involved in Praja Parishad), to death. On 28 January 1941, Ganga Lal was taken to Shobha Bhagwati on the bank of the Bishnumati River where he was shot dead along with Chand by Nara Shumsher Rana. The other two, Mathema and Shastri, were hanged.

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