Prem Bahadur Kansakar

Prem Bahadur Kansakar (Devanagari: प्रेम बहादुर कंसकार) (1918–1991) was a Nepalese fighter for democracy and linguistic rights, author and scholar of Nepal Bhasa. He devoted himself to serving his mother tongue and collecting and preserving ancient manuscripts, and was the founder of Asa Archives, the only public archives in Nepal.

Kansakar (alternative name: Prem Bahadur Kasāh; Devanagari: प्रेम बहादुर कसाः) was born in Kathmandu to a family of merchants. He received his primary education in Kathmandu at Jagat Lal Master's school, Masjid Imambara (where he learned Urdu and Persian) and Durbar High School. After passing Class 8 from Durbar High, he went to Patna, India to join Class 9. In 1940, he passed the Matric exams and enrolled in Patna College.

In Kathmandu during his college holidays, he came into contact with Ganga Lal Shrestha through Dharma Ratna Yami, and was greatly impressed by the young revolutionary. Kansakar went back to Patna to continue his studies, and in 1941 was informed by Yami that Ganga Lal had been martyred. In 1942, moved by Ganga Lal's death, Kansakar became a member of the Radical Democratic Party founded by Indian nationalist M. N. Roy.

Returning to Kathmandu, he got involved in the underground struggle against the autocratic Rana regime to bring democracy in Nepal. In 1944, he formed the Nepal Democratic Association (नेपाल प्रजातन्त्र संघ) which organized a civil disobedience movement across the Kathmandu Valley in 1948.

Kansakar also worked to develop education, and helped to establish a library Pradipta Pustakalaya in 1946, Shanti Nikunja School and Padmodaya School, where he also taught.

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