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Birth: 6 Dec 1999, Banke
Death: 10 May 2022, Lalitpur 

Sanju Chaudhary, who made history by becoming the only female weightlifter to win a gold medal at the 13th South Asian Games (SAG), died aged 22 from of an apparent suicide. 

Born and raised in Nepalgunj of Banke district, Chaudhary began her athletic career as a cricketer when she was selected in the Region 5 Nepalgunj Cricket Team. She became a professional weightlifter only in 2016 and represented Nepal at the 24th Asian Junior and Youth Championship held in Kathmandu in 2017. 

Chaudhary’s coach Sanjay Maharjan remembers her as a talented athlete with a great potential. 

“She was obedient and trained hard. She didn’t talk much but you could see that she was very determined,” says Maharjan. 

That hard work of hers paid off when she won gold medal at the 13th SAG. She had previously won various medals and set national weightlifting records as well.   

Besides being a national level athlete, Chaudhary was also a police officer.

“She was loved by her friends, fellow athletes, colleagues and trainers,” says Tikamaya Gurung, a fellow weightlifter, friend and police colleague. “I never thought we would lose her this way.” 

Gurung and Chaudhary became friends when they competed in the 24th Asian Junior and Youth Championship.  

“She was quick at making friends but not much of a talker. There were times when she seemed upset, but she never talked about it,” says Gurung.  “She will be sorely missed.” 

Chaudhary had come to Kathmandu for the qualifiers of the 19th Asian Games, which took place on April 30. After being selected in the qualifiers, she had been living at Maharjan’s house in Lubhu, Lalitpur for training. 

Maharjan says nothing seemed out of the ordinary with Chaudhary the day before her death. She had participated in a gathering with fellow athletes and trainers at Maharjan’s house. The next morning she had a morning training session at Satdobato.

“We have lost a promising talent who still had a lot to win and give to this country,” says Maharjan. “She will always be remembered for her achievements in the field of weightlifting.” 

Chaudhary was found dead at Maharjan’s house on the morning of May 10. She is survived by her parents and two siblings.

Chaitanya Subba, a scholar of Limbu culture, indigenous rights activist, and development planner, died on May 3. He was 75.

Born in 1946 in Thechambu, Taplejung, Subba devoted most of his adult life to academics and research. 

His father Jagatman Menyangbo Subba was a schoolteacher, and encouraged Subba to read and write from his childhood. He studied at Bhanu Secondary School, which was established by his father, until his early teens, and got his school leaving certificate (SLC) from Dharan in 1963. 

After completing his schooling, Subba enrolled at Inam Campus in his home district of Taplejung for Intermediate of Arts (IA). At the same time, he started teaching at Bhanu Secondary School and later went on to become its headmaster. 

As a young and educated man in his district, Subba was made a Panchayat member of Taplejung in 1967. Subba then went on to get a Master’s degree in Political Science from the Tribhuvan University in 1976.

His academic bent of mind always drove him to scholarly pursuits. Politics was important to him but not as much as academia. 

“He thirsted for knowledge all his life. That was his lifelong passion,” says his wife Sandhya. 

No wonder then that Subba gained prominence more as a scholar than a politician—even though he was a founding member of the then Social Democratic Party.   

Subba, who also served as a member of the National Planning Commission, is mostly known as an expert in Nepal’s indigenous communities.   

 He founded the Adivasi Janajati Development Committee in Nepal. As the committee’s chairperson, he played a significant role in the formation of the National Foundation For Development of Indigenous Nationalities (Adivasi Janajati Utthan Rashtriya Pratisthan).

Subba also published several research papers and books on Nepal’s indigenous communities. He was considered an authority in Limbu culture and religion owing to his vast knowledge in Mundhum (ancient Limbu religious scripture and folklore). In 1991, he published the book ‘Culture and Religion of Limbus’.   

Subba played a pivotal role in inserting a clause on the promotion of the rights of indigenous communities in the 10th plan (2002 to 2007) of the National Planning Commission. Besides his contribution to the indigenous communities, Subba was also a scholar in drug abuse and rehabilitation.  

He operated many drug rehabilitation centers and published several research papers on drug abuse and rehabilitation. In the 1980s, he even worked as the executive director of Drug Abuse Prevention Association of Nepal (DAPAN). In his later years he served as an executive member of the International Organization of Good Templars South and Southeast Asia Regional Council and a UNDP project consultant. 

Subba’s daughter Srijana remembers her father as a profoundly learned man, who spent a lot of time in his study even after his retirement. 

Talking about his other attributes, she speaks of her father’s health consciousness. “He never missed his morning walks, even when it was raining. Also, he was always immaculately dressed,” she says. 

Phoolman Chaudhary, the Asia representative in the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, describes Subba as “an eminent academic, leader, and guide who dedicated his life to the development of the indigenous peoples of Nepal”. 

Subba had for long been suffering from diabetes and hypertension. He passed away due to complications from a heart surgery. He is survived by his wife, a daughter, and two sons. 

Born: 14 September 1946, Taplejung

Death: 3 May 2022, Kathmandu

Bishnu Raj Acharya, former member of parliament and Nepali Congress (NC) leader, passed away on April 23. He was 74.

Acharya, born and raised in Bharatpur of Kaski district, went to Varanasi, India to pursue his higher studies. His political rite of passage happened during his college years in India after he met Congress leaders BP Koirala, Ganesh Man Singh and Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, among others. 

He started building an interest in political discourse and began participating in party meetings and his involvement in politics only increased after returning to Nepal. Acharya’s political career as a Congress cadre started from Kapilvastu district from where he played an active role in the 1990 democratic movement. 

His contribution to the movement didn’t go unnoticed, and the party gave him a ticket to contest the 1991 general elections.

Acharya won and became a member of the parliament from Kapilvastu Constituency No. 3. He was re-elected in the 1994 elections. 

Although he had made Buddhabhumi of Kapilvastu his home, he later moved to Kathmandu with his family. But Acharya was always connected to Kapilvastu; it was the place where he had come of age politically.   

When he was just starting out in politics, Kapilvastu, and particularly his village of Buddhabhumi, was poor and underdeveloped. The party-less Panchayat government of the time had not paid much attention to the plights of its residents. It was Acharya who brought various infrastructure projects and development programs to the district. As a parliamentarian, he helped build health posts, school buildings, roads, bridges and water supply facilities in various parts of Kapilvastu.

In 1996, Acharya worked closely with late Girija Prasad Koirala, the then Congress president and parliamentary party leader. He was among Koirala's most trusted, says Surendra Raj Acharya, another NC leader and lawmaker. 

Surendra Raj says Acharya was a respected figure both in and outside the party.

“He was loyal to his constituents and always worked to improve their living conditions,” Surendra Raj tells ApEx, remembering Acharya. “He didn't have one bad habit.”

Other NC leaders remember Acharya as a veteran leader who helped build the party organization in Kapilvastu. 

NC President and Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba described Acharya’s passing as an irreparable loss to the party. 

“Late Acharya’s contribution to the party and Nepal's democratic movements will always be remembered,” Deuba said in his condolence message. 

Acharya had long suffered from diabetes. His condition had deteriorated after a surgery of his leg. He died at his residence in Budhanilkantha, Kathmandu. He is survived by his wife and their three daughters. 

Birth: 1948, Kaski

Death: 23 April 2022, Kathmandu 

Dimpal Kumari Jha, former state minister for physical and infrastructure development of Madhes province and provincial assembly member of Loktantrik Samajbadi Party (LSP), passed away on 24 April. She was 42.

Born in Rautahat district, Jha finished her schooling in 1995 from Project Indu Balika High School in Sitamarhi of Bihar, India. She got married to Anil Kumar Jha, a member of the federal parliament of Nepal and prominent LSP leader, the same year. She was 16 at the time.

Jha was interested in social service from a young age, and aspired to bring a positive impact to people’s lives.  After completing her high school, she moved to Kathmandu to pursue an arts degree at Padma Kanya Multiple Campus. She later applied for a course in pharmacy at the Tribhuvan University’s Institute of Medicine (IoM) and got selected. 

That was just the start of her journey into medicine. After graduating from the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in 2004, Jha went to Gwalior, India, to study ayurvedic medicine and surgery (Ayurvedacharya) at Jiwaki University. She completed her studies and started practicing at an ayurvedic hospital in Delhi, India. 

But she always wanted to return to Nepal, and she did after a while, whereupon she began practicing at Naradevi Ayurvedic Hospital in Kathmandu. She found happiness in treating the infirm. It was her way of giving back to society. Yet she wanted to do more. As Jha’s parents as well as her husband’s family were involved in politics, she too was interested in politics from a young age. 

In 2013, Jha was appointed a member of the Constituent Assembly member under the proportional representation category, thus becoming part of the constitutional congress that drafted and promulgated the new constitution of Nepal.   

The support system built by her family had encouraged and pushed her into politics, Jha used to say. For her, politics was no more than a larger form of social service.

Jha went on to serve as the state minister of physical planning and infrastructure development of Madhes province from the Rashtriya Janata Party.

As a politician and state minister, she worked for equal representation of women in politics and other sectors. Her friends and relatives say she worked tirelessly to empower women. “Women are gentle, but not weak,” Jha used to say. 

Unfortunately, her political career came to a halt after she was diagnosed with cancer two years ago. She passed away early morning on April 24 at her home in Ranibari, Kathmandu. Her body was taken to her family home in Rautahat for cremation.

Born: 12 July 1979, Rautahat 

Death: 24 April 2022, Kathmandu