Kathmandu, September 11
The electoral government led by Sushila Karki had decided to construct a Gen Z Memorial Park in memory of those killed during the Gen Z movement.
An agreement reached between the then government and Gen Z had pledged to honour the sacrifice and contribution of those killed and injured through justice and meaningful memorialisation. The agreement stated that “reparatory measures, including meaningful memorialisation, would be ensured.” Bablu Gupta, a leader of the Gen Z movement and then Minister for Youth and Sports, had led the government’s initiative to build the memorial.
The construction of statues of 45 Gen Z martyrs at the swimming pool complex in Satdobato had begun during the previous government. Jagdish Kharel, spokesperson for the Rastriya Swatantra Party (RSP) and then Minister for Communications, recalls that there had been difficulties in deciding the location for the statues. “Since there was also a sentiment among young people associated with sports, the location was finalised there after considering all aspects,” former minister Kharel told Onlinekhabar. He said Gupta had led the initiative to build the statues of the Gen Z martyrs.
Although the decision and process to build the statues had begun during the previous government, the work could not be completed. Gupta, who had led the initiative on behalf of the government, resigned from his ministerial post and turned his attention to the election.
“The plan was to complete them immediately. But while we were completing the government procedures, the election came around,” former minister Kharel said. “Those who were given responsibility for building the statues had to make sure the faces resembled the actual martyrs.” The unveiling had been scheduled to coincide with the first anniversary of the Gen Z movement. Home Minister Sudhan Gurung was scheduled to unveil the statues last Wednesday.
However, the statues were set to be unveiled before construction had been completed. Members of the martyrs’ families became angry after finding that the faces on the statues did not resemble those of the deceased. After family members objected to the lack of resemblance, Home Minister Gurung returned without unveiling the statues. Narayan Shrestha, president of the Gen Z Martyrs’ Family Welfare Society, said the unveiling was halted because the faces of the martyrs did not match those on the statues.
“We said the statues should not be unveiled because the faces did not match. We were told they would be remade and we would be informed once they were ready,” he said. According to Shrestha, the families of the martyrs were informed only a day before the unveiling ceremony that they were expected to attend.
Ravi Shakya coordinated the construction of the statues. Sculptors Manish Shrestha and Sujit Shrestha worked on them. Shakya, who coordinated the project, said problems arose because there was an attempt to rush the unveiling before the statues had been completed.
He said preparations had originally been made to show the statues, which were still under construction, to the families around Gen Z Day, but the sudden decision to unveil them led to the controversy. “Only 40 per cent of the work on the statues has been completed. Please look at their form once they are 100 per cent complete,” Shakya told Onlinekhabar.
Although the government provided the site for the statues, it did not provide funding for their construction. Shakya said the work had continued with funds raised through personal initiatives. “The Gen Z statues were not built with any government budget. We took the initiative because we felt they should be built and raised money little by little,” Shakya said.
According to Shakya, around Rs 2 million has been spent so far. He said construction of the statues would be completed within two months. Shakya expressed regret that the two sculptors, Sujit Shrestha and Manish Shrestha, had suffered a setback to their professional reputations when an attempt was made to unveil the statues before they were completed. “It has deeply affected them. Both are skilled sculptors,” Shakya said.
