175th Padri Ganga Prasad Pradhan Jayanti observed in Gangtok; four conferred Samman

GANGTOK,: The 175th birth anniversary of Padri Ganga Prasad Pradhan was observed in Gangtok on Saturday with a commemorative programme organised by Padri Ganga Prasad Pradhan Smriti Pratisthan.

On the occasion, the Pratisthan conferred ‘Aadi Patrakar Padri Ganga Prasad Pradhan Samman’ on four individuals for their contributions in different fields.

Summit Times editor Puran Tamang was honoured for journalism, poet Gopal Dhakal for literature, Nar Bahadur Bhandari Government College for education, and gospel singer Peter Samsher for music. The fifth honouree, Bishop Edward Baretto, who was recognised for spirituality, could not attend the event due to health reasons. The Pratisthan said it would visit him at his residence in Darjeeling to confer the honour later.

Resource person Pravin Rai ‘Jumeli’, the president of Sikkim Akademi, spoke on the life and contributions of Padri Ganga Prasad Pradhan.

Health minister G.T. Dhungel attended the event as the chief guest, along with MLA Loknath Sharma, Chief Minister’s political secretary Jacob Khaling and others.

Addressing the gathering, minister Dhungel congratulated the organisers and said efforts would be made to hold a national-level Aadi Patrakar Padri Ganga Prasad Pradhan Jayanti next year.

Later, speaking to media, Pratisthan president Kamal Chamling ‘Kamrangey’ urged government to take steps to include the biography of Padri Ganga Prasad Pradhan in the school curriculum so that students could learn about his life and contributions. 

Padri Ganga Prasad Pradhan, the first pastor in Nepali community, translated the Bible into Nepali and also edited what is considered the first Nepali newspaper, ‘Gorkhy Khabar Kagat’.

The Aadi Patrakar Padri Ganga Prasad Pradhan Jayanti is observed annually to honour his contributions to Nepali literature, journalism and society.