Kathmandu: Suresh Kiran Manandhar, member of the Language Commission and litterateur, passed away last Monday evening. He was 59. Manandhar was rushed to the Manmohan Cardiothoracic Vascular and Transplant Centre at the Teaching Hospital in Maharajgunj after suffering a heart attack. According to his family members, doctors declared him dead shortly after he reached the hospital.
According to National News Agency Nepal, Manandhar began his journalism career with the weekly publication ‘Inap’ and later became a full-time journalist with the daily ‘Vishwabhumi’. He subsequently served as editor of the Sandhya Times daily and later Nepal Bhasa Times. His journalistic career spanned across publications such as ‘Apsara’ film magazine, quarterly poetry journal ‘Koshalval’, and ‘Thaybhu’, a publication of the Nepal Academy.
During the people’s movement in 2046 BS, Manandhar, along with his friend Sujiv Bajracharya, disguised themselves as doctors to enter the Bir Hospital, which was under tight security, to interview the movement’s leader Ganesh Man Singh. The interview later became widely popular. He wrote extensively on topics such as the Nepal Bhasa movement, the Nepal Sambat movement, and Newa culture, publishing articles in both Nepal Bhasa and Nepali.
He also contributed columns and articles to newspapers including Gorkhapatra. Among his published works are the book Indrajatra/Yaiya, which he co-authored, and the biography Padmaratna Tuladhar among others. The final rites of Manandhar will be performed at Indrayani Ghat in Kathmandu on Wednesday morning, the bereaved family told the Rastriya Samachar Samiti.
Born in 2023 BS, Manandhar is survived by his wife and two sons.