Ujwal Thapa (; 7 January 1977 – 1 June 2021) was a

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

i youth leader and activist, entrepreneur, and social worker. He was the president of the Bibeksheel Nepali party.

Early life

Thapa was born as a first child to Udaya Bhadur Thapa and Shanta Thapa.He was educated at the

Budhanilkantha School Budhanilkantha School, often referred to as BNKS, is a competitive non-profit boarding school in Nepal. It is located in Narayanthan, 8 kilometres north of Kathmandu, at the foothills of Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park, Shivapuri mountain (). It ...

in Kathmandu, Nepal and finished his bachelor's degree at

Bennington College Bennington College is a private liberal arts college in Bennington, Vermont, United States. Founded as a women’s college in 1932,

in Vermont, USA in 2000.

Career

Thapa ran as an independent candidate in the 2013 Nepalese Constituent Assembly election from Kathmandu Constituency Number 5. He was the president of the Bibeksheel Nepali party which, under his leadership, staged protests at the Maitighar Mandala monument in support of the senior orthopaedic surgeon at Tribhuwan University Maharajganj Teaching Hospital Dr. Govinda K.C., who was on a fast-to-death protesting for reforms in the medical sector. Thapa also led a symbolic protest against members of the

Legislature Parliament of Nepal The Second Constituent Assembly of Nepal, later converted to the Legislature Parliament (), was a unicameral legislature of Nepal. It was elected in the 2013 Nepalese Constituent Assembly election, 2013 Constituent Assembly elections after the fa ...

at Baneshwor,

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 ...

, demanding affordable medical facilities for the citizens. In 2002, Thapa started Digital Max Solutions, a website development and software branding business. With Chandra Maharzan and Sakin Shrestha, he founded the IT community

WordPress WordPress (WP, or WordPress.org) is a web content management system. It was originally created as a tool to publish blogs but has evolved to support publishing other web content, including more traditional websites, electronic mailing list, ma ...

Nepal. He also established Shangrila Coffee, a coffee farm in

Syangja district Syangja District (; ) is a part of Gandaki Province, and is one of the List of districts of Nepal, seventy-seven districts of Nepal. Its headquarter is Putalibazar with a diverse population including Brahmin, Magar, Chhetri, Dalit and Gurung com ...

in 2009. He helped start and run the entrepreneurial forum Entrepreneurs for Nepal. He also ran a personal blog called "Why Nepal?".

Death

Thapa died on 1 June 2021, aged 44, due to post

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

illness, while undergoing treatment at Mediciti Hospital of Lalitpur, according to a statement issued on behalf of his family and friends.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thapa, Ujwal 2021 deaths Bennington College alumni Bibeksheel Nepali politicians Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal Nepalese activists Nepalese businesspeople People from Syangja District Nepalese political party founders 1977 births