A memorial gathering held on Tuesday at the old Parliament Building premises in New Baneshwor, marking Gen Z Martyrs’ Day, has drawn criticism after two controversial “dharmagurus” (religious leaders) were made guests of honour. The organisers themselves gave stage prominence to Bijay Bhandari, who has been running fraud schemes for 15 years, and Shrinivas Acharya, who once tried to incite communal violence by having himself shot.
The event
The memorial for Gen Z martyrs on Tuesday, held in front of the old Parliament building in New Baneshwor, was attended by Home Minister Sudan Gurung as chief guest, along with Law Minister Sobita Gautam, Minister Mahabir Pun, Minister Sunil Lamsal, RSP (Rastriya Swatantra Party) lawmakers, former Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal, and others. Family members of martyrs and Gen Z leaders were also present.
Amid this gathering of martyrs’ relatives, injured Gen Z participants, and ministers, the two controversial religious leaders, Bijay Bhandari (who calls himself Balyogeshwar Vijay Krishnamurti) and Dinesh Pandit (who goes by Shrinivas Acharya), received notable prominence and hospitality. They even helped light the ceremonial lamp alongside Home Minister Gurung.
Shrinivas, seated in the front row on stage with the Home Minister, while some ministers and VIPs were pushed to the back rows, delivered an aggressive speech. He spared no effort in glorifying Home Minister Gurung, while challenging Prime Minister Balendra Shah directly and sharply criticising him for not attending the event.
Who invited them?
Following up on who brought these controversial figures to the stage, it appears they were invited directly by the organisers. Roshan Gautam, secretary of the organising body, the Gen Z Martyrs’ Family Welfare Society, confirmed this, telling Online Khabar: “We invited them ourselves.”
Asked why controversial religious leaders were invited, Gautam said the organisers were unaware of their background. “We didn’t think that just because someone is called a dharmaguru, they must be controversial,” he claimed.
He further claimed that, to keep the event apolitical, invitations had been sent to all religious institutions as well as the Office of the President, the Vice President, the Prime Minister, the Speaker, the Deputy Speaker, the Chair and Vice-Chair of the National Assembly, the Supreme Court, and all security agencies. However, despite this claim, no religious leaders from other faiths were present — though Gautam insists invitations were sent and those others simply didn’t show up.
The two religious figures also performed a “swasti-shanti” blessing ritual at the event. Organisers claim this was done only because the chief guests were arriving late, and that it was not a pre-planned part of the program. When asked why the religious leaders were seated alongside the chief guest ahead of a former minister, a lawmaker, and the Inspector General of Police, organisers explained that those who arrived earlier were simply seated in front. They also claim Shrinivas was given a turn to speak as part of allowing representative voices to address the gathering.
A controversial past
Both men have highly controversial histories.
Bijay Bhandari: Two years ago, he was the sole organiser of a month-long “Kotihom” religious ritual at Pashupatinath, which sparked major controversy over the funds collected. Journalists covering the event were reportedly denied entry and even attacked, drawing widespread criticism at the time.
A similar controversy arose over a “Mahayagya” (grand ritual) in Pokhara, where he was accused of cutting tree branches along roads and historic rest areas for the event.
Bhandari has faced numerous legal cases. For nearly a decade, under the guise of religion, he defrauded the public, running a fraud operation since roughly 2011 through an organisation called “Manav Kalyan Adhyatmik Paropakar Sangh, Nepal,” claiming he could arrange trips to America in exchange for money. Some victims paid as little as 100,000 rupees; others paid up to 1 million rupees.
Complaints were filed against Bhandari, his wife Sulochana Bhandari, and others. Police raided his residence in Chhauni Housing and recovered registers, cheques, and donation receipts as evidence. He was found to have opened a company under the name “Dynamic Derimerim Investment Pvt. Ltd.,” and police also treated receipt pads under the name “Aravind Yoga Mandir” as evidence of fraud.
Kathmandu Police arrested him and charged him with fraud amounting to 12.7 million rupees; he admitted in court to accepting the money, claiming it was all in the form of donations. The fraud case remained pending in the Supreme Court for five years before he reached an out-of-court settlement in November 2024 by returning money to victims.
Even after facing charges in Kathmandu, Bhandari continued his activities in 2019. He ran another Mahayagya in Gulmi, claiming it was to fund school building construction, collecting around 5 million rupees, then reportedly leaving with the funds without informing the school management committee.
He also faced a separate case related to foreign employment fraud, having taken 1.2 million rupees from three people under the pretence of enrolling them in religious programs abroad, then failing to return the money. Nepal’s Foreign Employment Tribunal sentenced him in June 2018 to one and a half years in prison plus a fine. He was arrested multiple times, in 2011, 2014, and 2019.
Shrinivas Acharya (Dinesh Pandit): His past is equally controversial. Police investigations revealed that in 2018, he had arranged to have himself shot in an apparent attempt to stir communal violence. He was subsequently arrested by the Morang District Police Office on weapons-related charges. It was found that he had asked a man named Madhav Chaudhary to shoot him, apparently to fuel a “Hindu nation” movement; the plot came to light after Chaudhary and Laxmiraj Adhikari were arrested.
His run-ins with law enforcement didn’t stop there. He once declared in a speech that “those who kill cows should be killed,” leading to his arrest in Sunsari in October 2023 on charges of disturbing public peace. He was arrested again in November/December 2023 after participating in a protest led by Durga Prasai at Gaushala, where he gave an inflammatory speech and, arriving with supporters carrying a trishul (trident), allegedly incited the crowd, leading to an attack on police.
Despite repeatedly being arrested and released, both controversial figures were seated with honour on stage at the Gen Z memorial, a decision that has drawn criticism even from leaders within the ruling RSP party itself.
