Gopal Gurung

Gopal Gurung () (7 December 1939 – 10 June 2016) was a politician, author, journalist, teacher and vocal advocate of the human rights for the indigenous people of Nepal. Gurung was the editor-in-chief of ''New Light'' and ''Thunderbolt'' weekly newspapers for many years. He was a former member of the Central Committee of the Nepal Journalists Association, former Secretary General of the World Nepalese Association and Chairman of the All India Press Council for Nepal, as well as a consultant and coordinator for the Press Foundation of Asia (PFA), Manila, Philippines.

Gurung was one of the first writers to discuss ethnic discrimination. He began writing about it in 1972 in the Nepali Newspaper ''New Light'' and later published an influential book on the topic, ''Hidden Facts in Nepalese Politics''. Gurung, founding president of the Mongol National Organisation, was a pioneer democratic republican figure of Nepal. Even during the Panchayat era, Gurung, a self-described anti-current figure, had stood in favour of federal republic. The then government had jailed Gurung for ''Hidden Facts in Nepalese Politics''. Though banned in Nepal, the book became quite popular in Sikkim and Darjeeling. Gopal Gurung, the author of this book, was arrested by the Panchayat government on 30 August 1988 (just after the publication of the second edition in 1988), based on the charge of racial discrimination against the Hindu rulers and politicians. He was arrested under the two State Offence Acts at the time, and was sent to the Bhadragol central jail for three years without any adequate charge sheet. In the jail there was no separate cell for the political prisoners and he had to share the room with other criminals. On 1 January 1989, he established his political organization Mongol National Organisation along with its own flag and manifesto. During his stay in jail he was not sound in health, and any prolonged confinement in the unhealthy atmosphere at the jail would have badly deteriorated his physical condition. But luckily after the abrogation of the Panchayat system, a multiparty system came into existence and people became free from the bondage of the autocratic Panchayat government. Consequently, Gurung and many other political prisoners were released unconditionally. Gurung was released on 13 April 1990. Provided by Wikipedia