Chakra Prasad Bastola was a Nepalese politician who served as the

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

of Nepal from 10 April 2000 to 26 July 2002, as well as Minister of Home Affairs from 2004 to 2006 and the Nepalese ambassador to India from 1990 to 1999. He was one of the key members of the

hijacking Hijacking may refer to: Common usage Computing and technology * Bluejacking, the unsolicited transmission of data via Bluetooth * Brandjacking, the unauthorized use of a company's brand * Browser hijacking * Clickjacking (including ''likej ...

Royal Nepal Airlines Nepal Airlines Corporation (), formerly known as Royal Nepal Airlines (), is the flag carrier of Nepal. Founded in 1958, it is the oldest airline of the country. Out of its main base at Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu, the airline ope ...

Flight 34 in 1973 that was carrying funds that the

Nepali Congress The Nepali Congress ( ; Abbreviation, abbr. NC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a Social democracy, social democratic List of political parties in Nepal, political party in Nepal and the largest party in the country ...

needed to overthrow the

Monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, reigns as head of state for the rest of their life, or until abdication. The extent of the authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutio ...

for which he was sentenced to jail for 18 months in

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

, India.

Personal life

Bastola was born in 1944 in

Jhapa District Jhapa District (; ) is a district of Koshi Province in eastern Nepal named after a Rajbanshi Surjapuri language word "Jhapa", meaning "to cover" (verb). The 2021 Nepal Census, puts the total population of the district at 994,090. The total ar ...

of Nepal and died on 13 October 2018 in

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

, Nepal. Bastola was married twice. His first wife was Madhu Acharya, the sister of former Prime Minister Shailaja Acharya. His wife was also a niece of BP Koirala, Matrika Prasad Koirala, and Girija Prasad Koirala All Former Prime Ministers. He had two daughters.

Education

Bastola was a

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international Postgraduate education, postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Esta ...

. After his time in prison he went to the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

, United Kingdom, to study for a Master's degree in political science. He then studied for a PHD at

Banaras Hindu University Banaras Hindu University (BHU), formerly Benares Hindu University, is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916. The university incorporated the Central Hindu College, ...

in India.

Political Life

Bastola was responsible for providing weapons for the

hijacking. After the failure of the hijacking Bastola was imprisoned in Nakhu, Kathmandu and later in Patna Bihar. After Bastola's study in India, on returning to Nepal in 1990 he ran for the legislative assembly from his home district of Jhapa. In 1994 Bastola was sent to New Delhi as Nepal's ambassador. He resigned the ambassadorship in 2001 and returned to Nepal. Bastola went on four foreign trips to India, China, Russia and the United States.

Legacy

He was given a state funeral on 13 October 2018, and buried in the Nepali Congress Headquarters in Kathmandu.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bastola, Chakra Prasad 1944 births 2018 deaths Ministers of foreign affairs of Nepal Ambassadors of Nepal to India Members of the National Assembly (Nepal) People from Jhapa District Nepal MPs 1994–1999 Nepali Congress politicians from Koshi Province Nepal MPs 1999–2002