Nepal government has decided to remove the statue of former king Tribhuvan from the Shahid gate and place it in the Narayanhiti Museum.
Shahid gate currently has statues of four martyrs Dharma Bhakta Mathema, Ganga Lal Shrestha, Dasharath Chand and Sukra Raj Shastri, who sacrificed their lives while protesting against the Rana regime, and on the top of all is placed the sculpture of late king Tribhuvan who, in 1950, pushed for a democratic government by abolishing the Rana regime.
“The government took the decision considering that the Shahid Gate should have the statues of martyrs only. Former king Tribhuvan’s statue will be put on display with honour in the Narayanhiti Museum,” said government Spokesperson and Minister for Foreign Affairs Narayan Kaji Shrestha.
The Shahid gate stands 40-foot tall and was built by late king Mahendra in 1961 but was known by the name of Nepal Monument back then according to historian Saphalya Amatya’s book Monuments Around Tundikhel.
The longstanding tradition of prime ministers visiting the Shahid Gate to pay tributes to the martyrs after assuming the office was broken by four communist prime ministers — Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Madhav Kumar Nepal, Jhala Nath Khanal and Baburam Bhattarai, all elected after Constituent Assembly elections in 2008.
Source – The Himalayan Times
