Yogmaya Neupane

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Yogmaya Neupane (Nepali: योगमाया न्यौपाने) (1860-1941) was a religious leader, womens' rights activist and poet fromNepal, who founded the first organisation of Nepali women nari samiti (women committee) for women's rights in 1918 ^[1].

[edit] Biography

Yogmaya Neupane was born in 1860 in Dingla, Bhojpur District, Nepal. She was married at an early age, and became a widow within 3 years of her marriage. Upon returning back to her maternal home, she was harassed by her in-laws as a Poi-tokuwi (slanderous term labelling a woman as the killer of her own husband).

After a few years, she remarried and left for Assam in India. She thus courageously challenged the cultural hypocrisy developed under male chauvinism. She returned to Nepal with her daughter in 1903 and became involved in various religious activities. She was also a poetess, and protested against injustice, corruption and blasphemes through the medium of hymns, religious songs and poems.

In time, the number of her disciples reached more than 2000. The committee constituted under the leadership of Yogmaya concentrated its activities on the exploitation against women in the name of religion and tradition, particularly the widow marriage, child marriage and polygamy. Within a few years of its activity, the committee submitted a 24-point petition of demands stating the problems facing women to Rana Prime Minister, Chandra Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana, and in 1920, Sati (practice), was abolished in Nepal by him ^[2].

Following the death of Chandra Shumsher, Yogmaya and her disciples came to Kathmandu and met and discussed the matter with Juddha Shumsher and his wife. Yogmaya was offered a plate full of gold coins, but refused the offer, stating that she would be more satisfied if a religious and humane state could be established. After receiving assurance of reform in religion they returned back to Dingla, chanting hymns all the way back.

Then, instead of working on the reforms, the government killed four revolutionary figures in 1940. Yogmaya and her followers lost hope, she returned to Majhuwabesi, on the banks of the river Arun, near Tumlingtar; and in protest, she, her elder brother, his wife and daughter, and 68 other disciples committed mass suicide, jal-samadhi, by jumping into the Arun River, in 1941 ^[3]^[1] ^[4].