Dharma Ratna Yami

Dharma Ratna Yami

Dharma Ratna Yami (Nepal Bhasa: धर्म रत्न यमि) (18 August 1915 – 10 September 1975) was a Nepalese freedom fighter, author and government deputy minister known for his radical views on social mores.^[1] Born Dharma Ratna Tuladhar, he changed his surname to Yami (meaning an inhabitant of Kathmandu in Nepal Bhasa) to avoid confusion with another Dharma Ratna when a Buddhist monk asked them which was which.^[2]

Early life

Yami was born to father Bhawani Ratna and mother Devi Maya Tuladhar at Asan Kamalachhi (Nepal Bhasa: कमलाछि), Kathmandu. His was an affluent merchant family which was made penniless after the government confiscated their property for failing to fulfil a procurement contract.^[3] Yami was schooled at home, and in 1932, travelled to Lhasa and worked in the business house of Dharma Man Tuladhar. In Tibet, he came in contact with Mahapandit Rahul Sankrityayan; and under his influence and inspiration, he studied books on various subjects and began writing himself.^[4]

Political activities

Returning to Kathmandu in 1939, he joined the democracy movement against the Rana dynasty.^[5] He was arrested in 1940 and sentenced to 18 years in prison and his property was impounded. Following his release after serving five years, he married Heera Devi Kansakar. On 15 August 1947, both Yami and his wife were arrested for organizing a meeting to mark India's independence from Britain. Yami's wife was freed after a few days while he remained in jail for six months. In 1948, he became a founder member of the Nepal Democratic Congress Party. Yami was arrested again and spent 16 months behind bars before being freed in February 1951 after the Rana regime was abolished and democracy established in Nepal.^[6]

On 15 December 1951, Yami was appointed Deputy Food Minister in the government led by Prime Minister Matrika Prasad Koirala. He served as Deputy Forest Minister^[7] in the same administration from 5 February to 3 August 1952. Following the political changes in 1960 when parliament was dissolved and political parties were banned,^[8] he was put under house arrest for a few months at Shree Mahal. Yami was nominated to the Rastriya Panchayat (legislature) in 1962.

Literary activities

Yami was jailed for his writings.^[9] He was a prolific and multilingual writer and has published 21 books including novels, epics and an anthology of poems in Nepal Bhasa, Nepali, English and Hindi.^[10] The novel Bhrikuti in Nepal Bhasa was awarded the Shrestha Sirapa in 1959.^[11] Another novel Ang Lhamo recounts the saga of a Tibetan girl amid a backdrop of the Chinese entry into Tibet in the early 1950s. The first edition published in 1970 by Pasa Muna was banned by the Nepalese government.^[12] A second edition appeared in 1992, published by Paleswan Pithana, Kathmandu.

Social activist

Yami was an outspoken nonconformist and challenged the social norms of the day like untouchability. In 1969, a year after his wife died, he remarried outside his caste a Brahmin woman named Sabitri Devi Dahal. He also hired a woman from a so-called untouchable caste as a cook in his kitchen, an unthinkable act in those days. His radical social and political views have led his contemporaries like missionary Marshall D. Moran, SJ to describe him as the most informative and interesting person in Kathmandu.^[13] Yami died in Kathmandu in 1975 at the age of 60.

References

1. ^ Shrestha, Manik Lal. "Great 'Unassuming Heroines' Of Nepalese Revolution". The Rising Nepal. http://www.gorkhapatra.org.np/gopa.detail.php?article_id=17547&cat_id=10. Retrieved 27 February 2011. 
2. ^ Shrestha, Kesar Lall (November 2010). "Heera Devi Yami: A Woman of Substance", Matina. Page 11.
3. ^ Shrestha, Kesar Lall (November 2010). "Heera Devi Yami: A Woman of Substance", Matina. Page 12.
4. ^ Dharma Ratna Yami Smriti Grantha (August 1989).
5. ^ Shrestha, Manik Lal. "Great 'Unassuming Heroines' Of Nepalese Revolution". The Rising Nepal. http://www.gorkhapatra.org.np/gopa.detail.php?article_id=17547&cat_id=10. Retrieved 27 February 2011. 
6. ^ Dharma Ratna Yami Smriti Grantha (August 1989).
7. ^ Pradhan, Shirish B (31 August 2008). "Prachanda expands Nepal cabinet, CPN-UML joins government". http://news.outlookindia.com/item.aspx?604384. Retrieved 27 February 2011. 
8. ^ "Important Landmarks". nepalicongress.org. http://www.nepalicongress.org/files/introduction.php. Retrieved 27 February 2011. 
9. ^ Lienhard, Siegfried (1992). Songs of Nepal: An Anthology of Nevar Folksongs and Hymns. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidas. ISBN 81-208-0963-7. Page 4.
10. ^ Dharma Ratna Yami Smriti Grantha (August 1989).
11. ^ "List of authors honored by Shrestha Sirapa". 27 April 2007. http://www.guthi.net/guthi_news.php. Retrieved 28 February 2011. 
12. ^ Dharma Ratna Yami Smriti Grantha (August 1989).
13. ^ Moran, SJ, Marshall D. (August 1989). "He was a Ratna - a Jewel", Dharma Ratna Yami Smriti Grantha (English Section). Page 1.

Persondata
Name	Yami, Dharma Ratna
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	18 August 1915
Place of birth
Date of death	10 September 1975
Place of death