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Indumati Kedia, a doting matriarch of the Kedia family, passed away on April 3 aged 82.

Born in Samastipur of India’s Bihar state, Indumati grew up in a large household as its eldest daughter. At just 14, she was married to Shankar Lal Kedia of the Kedia Group, one of Nepal’s oldest and most prominent industrialist families. 

The Kedia family had first come to Birgunj, Nepal, from western India as cloth merchants. 

Indumati and Shankar Lal had three sons and three daughters.

As the eldest daughter-in-law, Indumati took on the responsibility of taking care of the family. And this, she did with utmost love and compassion, according to family members. 

Her son Anil Kedia remembers his mother as a warm and affectionate person who showered unconditional love on him, his siblings and cousins.

The Kedia family moved to Kathmandu in the early 1980s. Over the years, the Kedias became a powerhouse family, expanding their business in a wide range of fields like fabrics, carpets, food grains, metals and minerals. All the while Indumati was an important pillar of the family, even more after her husband Shankar Lal died aged 68 in January 2005. 

Besides starting various business ventures, Shankar Lal was also involved in social works. He founded Nepal’s Vishwa Hindu Mahasangh and DAV School in Lalitpur in 1992, of which his son Anil is the current chairman. 

Like his father, Anil says, his mother also deeply believed in social services. She was full of empathy “with no selfish bone in her”, and did everything in her capacity to help those in need.

Indumati was spry and active despite her old age. She kept herself busy, be it in household work or in social causes. Every day, she used to visit temples and practice meditation.

She was especially fond of knitting and used to make sweaters, socks and gloves for her children and grandchildren.  

Family members say she showed no sign of grave illness and looked hale and hearty just minutes before her sudden demise. 

She is survived by her two sons, three daughters and an extensive family. 

Birth: 28 November 1939, Bihar

Death: 3 April 2022, Kathmandu

Nepali peacekeeper Anil Gurung died in a militia raid in the Democratic Republic of Congo on April 5. The 32-year-old Nepal Army private was serving with the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the DR Congo (MONUSCO).

Gurung was born in Gurbhakot Municipality of Surkhet district. When he was 14, he was abducted by the then Maoists and conscripted into the rebel force. When he finally managed to return home, Gurung’s father took him to Kathmandu.

In 2009, Gurung joined the army at the age of 20, and married a year later. 

For several years Gurung served in the army’s Krishna Dal Battalion in Itahari, Sunsari before arriving in Kathmandu in 2021 to participate in peacekeeping training.

He passed the training and was deployed as a UN peacekeeper to the conflict-ridden DR Congo in December 2021.

On April 5, the UN blue helmets came under attack from the militia group Coopérative pour le dévelopement du Congo (CODECO), at Bali of Djugu territory in Ituri province.

Gurung, who was gravely injured in combat, was airlifted to a UN hospital. He died in the course of treatment.  A military ceremony was held at MONUSCO camp to honor Private Gurung, who was remembered as a man “dedicated to the duty, proud to carry the flag of his country”. 

MONUSCO force commander General Marcos De Sá Affonso Da Costa described Gurung as a hero who sacrificed his life for peace in DR Congo.

“With such a heaviest price paid, Private Anil Gurung has honored his country, his family, and the Nepali armed forces,” he said. 

General Johnny N. Luboya, Ituri provincial military governor, said Gurung’s death was not in vain but “a sacrifice for peace to return to Ituri and to Congo.” 

Similarly, Captain Salima Ghale of MONUSCO’s Nepali contingent said Gurung’s death is not only a great loss for Nepal Army but also for the whole peacekeeping force in DR Congo.

“His sacrifice for the noble cause of peace will be ever remembered. The precious life we ​​have lost is a continuation of the glorious history of the United Nations, of the tremendous efforts and sacrifices made for humanity,” added Ghale.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed his condolences to Gurung’s family, as well as to the government and people of Nepal. 

Gurung’s body was brought to Nepal on April 12, and the Nepal Army held a tribute ceremony in Shree Birendra Hospital, Chhauni on April 13.

He is survived by his wife and their nine-year-old son.

Birth: 1990, Gurbhakot, Surkhet
Death: 5 April 2022, Bali, DR Congo

Senior communist leader Krishna Raj Burma, who died last month at the age of 93, had played a significant role against the autocratic Rana regime and the partyless Panchayat system. 

Born in Saptari district to an ordinary farming family, Burma learned to read and write from his father, who hailed from Nuwakot district, and later studied in local school. Originally of the Khanal caste, it was his father who had adopted the family surname ‘Burma’.

Burma had a political awakening while working as a schoolteacher during the Rana regime. He had said in an interview that his decision to be part of the anti-Rana movement was inspired by the political literature he had read while working as a teacher. He was only 17 at the time.

At the height of the 1951 democratic movement, Burma left his home to be a part of the revolution. He joined the underground revolutionaries in India where he met leaders like Gajendra Narayan Singh.  

After spending some time in India, Burma returned to Nepal and started mobilizing political activists in Spatari. To resist the Ranas, he formed a loose group of youths from farming and working class backgrounds. 

Burma joined the communist party only after the Ranas were ousted from power.  

According to his own account, though he had joined the anti-Rana movement led by the Nepali Congress, he had joined the cause only to topple the autocratic regime. He had no qualms about joining the communist party.  

As a communist leader, Burma had several run-ins with the Panchayat government and was jailed multiple times. Burma said in an interview that he spent his prison life reading newspapers and books.     

He was initially associated with the Communist Party of Nepal, which later split to become the Communist Party of Nepal (Rayamajhi Group), led by Keshar Jung Rayamajhi. 

Burma was one of the party’s five politburo members. The other members were Rayamajhi, Bishnu Bahadur Manandhar, Kamar Shah and Krishna Prasad Shrestha. Another party leader Manmohan Adhikari, who went on to become Nepal’s first communist prime minister, was in prison at the time.

The party, however, underwent many divisions during the Panchayat-era, and Burma formed his own party, the Communist Party of Nepal (Burma). His party was part of the ‘Unified Left Front’ during the 1990 people’s movement. 

The party merged with the Communist Party of Nepal (United) after the 1991 parliamentary elections, only to split again and reform the old group. In 2001, Burma’s party merged with the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist). 

Besides politics, Burma was also interested in reading and writing. He has written a book on the political movement in Tarai titled ‘Madhes Ra Madhesi Aandolan’. 

Communist leaders remembered Burma as a great hero whose contributions shaped Nepal’s social-democratic and communist movement.  

Burma had for long been suffering from a nerve disease. Lately, he was being treated for pneumonia in Hams Hospital, Kathmandu when he passed away. He is survived by his wife and their three sons and three daughters. 

Birth: 1929, Saptari

Death: 3 March 2022, Kathmandu  

Radheshyam Saraf, luxury hotel pioneer of Nepal who established Yak & Yeti and Hyatt Regency in Kathmandu, passed away on March 22. He was 92. Born in the city of Guwahati in the Indian state of Assam, Saraf made his name and fortune in Nepal.  

Saraf, who lost his father at the age of 12, entered the world of business after moving to Kalimpong, West Bengal. In 1947, he and his brothers inherited their aunt’s trading business—when Saraf was only 17.

The brothers traveled through the Himalayan region selling goods like clothes, watches, cement and steel to Tibetan traders and customers. They later expanded their trade to Kolkata and Sikkim in India as well as in Bhutan.

Saraf wanted to travel far and wide from a young age. He loved visiting new places and learning about foreign cultures and traditions and had developed a special love for Tibetan culture and language.

In 1963, he moved to Kathmandu, which would become his home for the rest of his life. Within six years of his arrival, Saraf was trading internationally in countries like Korea, China and Japan.

He launched Hotel Yak & Yeti in Kathmandu in 1977, in what was the first World Bank-funded private-sector project in Nepal. Saraf also founded Asian Hotels Ltd. and Saraf Hotel Enterprises, both consortiums involved in hospitality and tourism around the world.

Saraf Hotel Enterprises initiated the opening of Hyatt Regency in New Delhi, India, in 1980. Then, in 1996, the group also launched the construction of The Grand, New Delhi, which was known as Grand Hyatt New Delhi then. The construction of Hyatt Regency, Kathmandu, began in 1997.

The group also opened Hyatt hotels in Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Raipur in India.

In over seven decades of his career, Saraf played a significant role in bringing foreign investment to Nepal through his contributions in hospitality and tourism. He was twice conferred the Gorkha Dakshin Bahu—first by king Birendra and later by king Gyanendra—for his works.

Saraf was a noted educationist as well, founding the Modern Indian School at Chobhar, Kathmandu in 1979. Today, the school is considered one of the best in Kathmandu valley.

Saraf had been suffering from some health issues of late and was being treated at Medanta Hospital in New Delhi, India, where he died of a cardiac arrest. His body was brought to Kathmandu and cremated at the Pashupati Aryaghat.

He is survived by his wife and their two sons and three daughters.

Born: 13 October 1930, Guwahati, India

Death: 22 March 2022, New Delhi, India