Ex-Speaker Dhungana given last farewell with state honours

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Nov. 19: Former Speaker Daman Nath Dhungana was cremated at Pashupati Aryaghat on Monday afternoon with state honours.  

His sons, Nimesh and Nisesh, performed the final rites. During the ceremony, a team from the Nepali Army presented a gun salute and played a mourning refrain.  

Dhungana, aged 83, passed away on Sunday afternoon while undergoing treatment at Frontline Hospital in Old Baneshwor. He was infected with liver-related issues. 

Before the cremation, late Dhungana's body was kept at Sanogaucharan in Gyaneshwar for final tributes, where Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli paid last tribute by draping the national flag over his remains. 

After paying the tribute, Prime Minister Oli said that former Speaker Dungana was a multifaceted personality with a unique identity and recognition in Nepal's parliamentary practice. 

"Since he succeeded in leaving a distinct impact on Nepal's parliamentary practice, it is essential for us to be able to follow the path he showed," Oli said.

Prime Minister Oli said, "Late Dhungana had an advanced and systematic approach on how to strengthen the parliamentary system and make it vibrant and strong and the institution of Parliament as the representative body of the people. This thinking has made a significant contribution to strengthening Nepal's parliamentary system. He was a very soft-spoken personality and loved by all. We will be inspired by his ideals. The path he showed will firmly stand in favour of democracy. We bid him farewell with national honour." 

Former President Dr. Ram Baran Yadav, Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba, CPN (Maoist Centre) Chairman and former prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda,' Unified Socialist Chairman and former prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, and JSP Chairman Upendra Yadav, among others, attended to pay their last tribute. Similarly, Speaker of the House of House of Representatives Dev Raj Ghimire, and Chairperson of the National Assembly Narayan Prasad Dahal also paid last tribute to late Dhungana. 

Former Prime Minister Jhalanath Khanal, Dr. Baburam Bhattarai and former ministers were also present at Sanogaucharan. Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr. Arzu Rana Deuba and other ministers were present to pay tribute to late Dhungana. 

Also, IGP of Nepal Police Basanta Bahadur Kunwar, IGP of the Armed Police Force Raju Aryal, Huta Raj Thapa, Chief of the National Investigation Department, and Nepali Army Chief Ashok Raj Sigdel and other senior security officers were also present. 

Prior to this, a meeting of the Council of Ministers held on Monday morning declared a public holiday across the country for mourning Dhungana's passing.  The government also decided to perform his last rites with state honour and keep the national flag at half-mast in all government offices in the country and abroad.

Senior advocate Dhungana served as the Speaker of the House from 1991 to 1994.  

On the demise of Dhungana, President of Nepali Congress Sher Bahadur Deuba remarked that late Dhungana played a key role in establishing the concept of a government with a majority and an opposition-dominated Parliament.

President Deuba recalled that although Dhungana became the Speaker of the House from the Nepali Congress, he performed his duties impartially.

Deuba acknowledged that, at the time, it felt like Dhungana’s actions were putting the party in a difficult position, but later it was realised that was not the case.

He said, “Daman Nath Ji was truly a good person. He entered the position of Speaker from our party, but he worked impartially. It seemed as though he created challenges for the party, but that is exactly the role of the Speaker. He succeeded in establishing the idea that the government represents the majority and the opposition leads the Parliament. We felt that he put our party in a tough spot, but in reality, it wasn’t so.”

Similarly, Speaker Dev Raj Ghimire, has remarked that late Dhungana played an important role in strengthening the Parliament.

Speaker Ghimire said that Dhungana had made significant contributions on how to strengthen the Parliament. He mentioned that he regarded Dhungana as a source of inspiration for ways to strengthen Parliament.

He said, "After democracy was established, he was a person who led the effective implementation of parliamentary values and principles. He was someone we all need to learn from about how to operate Parliament and the role of Parliament, as a guardian. He is also a great example of someone who does not wish others to suffer, takes on all the pain themselves, and becomes an example. His values and principles were a source of inspiration for how to strengthen Parliament."

Likewise, Former Council of Ministers Chairman Khil Raj Regmi has stated that late former Speaker Dhungana was a person who established parliamentary values. 

Regmi recalled Dhungana as a person who played a coordinating role to run the house smoothly.

He said, "There are various dimensions to his life. As a senior advocate in the legal field, he also debated constitutional, legal, and political issues.”