Source: www.himalkhabar.com
Lakhan Thapa, who led an organized military uprising against the dictatorial rule of Jung Bahadur Rana with the support of the people, became the first martyr of Nepal, but the state seems reluctant to dig into the details of him.
Lakhan Thapa Magar of Bunkot in Gorkha (now Lakhan Thapa Gaonpalika-7) and his followers had resolved to end the anti-people rule of Jang Bahadur Rana and start a golden age in Nepal. Their goal was to end discrimination, injustice, oppression, exploitation and oppression in the society. The rebels favored a system of government based on justice and equality.
In 1933, he challenged the state power by raising an armed force of 1,500 people for the freedom and liberation of the Nepali people. Government forces suppressed it and eventually hanged the main accused Lakhan Thapa and six of his comrades-in-arms.
The uprising had strong political implications, armed readiness, overwhelming public support and local participation. Due to these reasons, the revolt of Bunkot, which is integrated from the grassroots level, is considered stronger than other revolts.
Lakhan Thapa was a soldier of the old Gorakh Gana. What was his military status? Who was killed in the revolt with him? When was his martyrdom? Since these things are still unanswered, it has been decided to delete those queries based on the facts obtained.
Lucknow rebel army
Lakhan Thapa and Jaisingh Chumi also joined the old Gorakh battalion deployed from Nepal to suppress the 1857 uprising in Indian cities including Lucknow. He witnessed the brutal atrocities perpetrated on the warriors fighting for Indian independence. The Gurkha soldiers, forced to straighten out the salt, inhumanely quelled the revolt and did great favors to the British, but the soldiers were indignant from within.
Most of the writers have mentioned that Lakhan joined the old Gorakh Gana in 1911 and succeeded in becoming the captain of Lakhan. Although his military rank could not be ascertained, as mentioned in the Military History of Nepal, Part II (2065: 364), he was the Athapahariya (bodyguard) of the then Prince Tralokya Vikram. When King Surendra was the prince, Jung Bahadur was also a bodyguard and by rank he was the captain of the army. From this, it is not difficult to infer that Yuvaraj's bodyguards were at least military officers.
If not, how could such a large armed group be under the command of Lakhan Thapa? Although Padma Jung Rana, the author of 'Jang Bahadur's Life Journey' (2074), said that the group of rebels was 1,500, Pramod Shamsher Rana said that their number was 2,000.
Looking at the military structure, there is still a situation where there is an average company of 100 people, a battalion of 4/5 companies and a brigade of two battalions. At that time there was a company of 50 young men in the structure. In terms of numbers, the rebels have two brigades.
Given that Jaisingh Chumi has been given the rank of general, it is easy to speculate that Lakhan Thapa's status should be higher than his own.
Jang Bahadur's death sentence order
The details of participation in the insurgency mentioned in the Regmi Research Series (Year 12 Issue 5) are as follows:
On February 26, 1932, a large number of Bhotes, armed with small guns and swords, came to Lakhan. They left for the West under the pretext of meeting Jung Bahadur, but their main intention was to attack Jung Bahadur's life.
The details presented illustrate the fact that the rebels have amassed ample weapons. Some of the weapons used in the conflict were confiscated by the state and some were found in villages. The daggers and swords of that time have been preserved by the local villagers.
According to the military report of 1932 Chaitra Sudi 1 published by Regmi Research Pvt. Upon receiving this information, the soldiers raided and arrested some people, including Ajapsingh Thapa Magar, and the detainees made the following statements (Regmi, Ibid).
As mentioned in the same report:
Major Captain Shamsher Jung Thapa Chhetri and others presented all the above mentioned details to the Prime Minister Jung Bahadur. The Prime Minister ordered the arrest of Lakhan Thapa and his supporters, if necessary, in the troops under his command in Palpa under the leadership of Colonel Tek Bahadur Rana. He ordered Major Captain Shamsher Jung Thapa Chhetri to assist in the arrest if they were passing through Palpa and asked them to arrest them and send them to Kathmandu and report the matter to the Indrachowk police station. In addition, during his visit, if he reached Palpa, he was ordered to provide the necessary security to Prime Minister Jung Bahadur and to prevent him from being assassinated (Regmi, Ibid.).
At that time, Jung Bahadur was in the western part of the country (Vanvasa camp) and from there he gave this order. It may have taken a long time for the commanding troops to reach Gorkha via Palpa. Regarding Jang Bahadur, Pramod Shamsher states in his account of the Rana rule that "as soon as Yuvaraj's chariot returned to British India, he reached Sadar on March 30, 1876, using as short a route as possible." Looking at this, it seems that Jung Bahadur returned to Kathmandu around 15/16, 1932
Surrounding the conspirator's house near Gorkha, all his men were bound with iron chains and all the weapons he had gathered were confiscated and taken to Thapathali. They were kept in custody and the facts were investigated. Lakhan Thapa and his main supporters were imprisoned and the rest were released. Later, in the month of Poush in 1933 BS, Lakhan Thapa and his main supporters were hanged on a tree in front of his house. His house and temple were demolished and turned into a field (Nepal, 1983, 45-46).
According to Purushottam Shamsher Jabra's 'Hidden Talents', Lakhan Thapa was hanged from a tree in front of his house in Gorkha in 1933 BS in Pokhi (Poush) (2065: 180).
According to Shivlal Thapa, “The first Panchami of the month of Poush is still celebrated as Lakhan Thapa's Memorial Day. The argument that he should have been hanged on the same date has also come to the fore ”(2052: 18).
Some facts in this regard have also been found in the village. Every year on the first Panchami of Pus, the locals have a tradition of worshiping Bhayari. It is a kind of patriarchal service performed in memory of those who died in famine, in which the locals have been participating for years.
Elderly Ratna Singh Chumi Magar has been playing the role of elder in worship. He is the fifth generation descendant of the then martyr Jaisingh Chumi. It is said that worship was started for the peace of the souls of the martyrs after the violence.
