This is the story of Durga Prasad Subedi, the husband of Sushila Karki, the first female Prime Minister and former Chief Justice of Nepal. Subedi, a prominent figure during his time at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and a Nepali Congress youth leader, was involved in a daring act: the 1973 hijacking of a Royal Nepal Airlines plane. The incident included the presence of Bollywood star Mala Sinha.
On June 10, 1973, Subedi, along with two others, orchestrated the hijacking of a plane carrying 22 passengers. The hijacking was driven by a desire to rebel against King Mahendra’s rule and to raise funds for the Nepali Congress. The aircraft was transporting 32 lakh rupees of government money from banks in Biratnagar, Nepal, to Kathmandu. The hijackers rerouted the plane to Forbesganj, Bihar.
This event marked the first plane hijacking in Nepal’s history. After landing in Forbesganj, the cash-filled boxes were transported by road to Darjeeling. Nagendra Dhungel and Basant Bhattarai were the other individuals involved. Girija Prasad Koirala and Sushil Koirala, who later became Prime Ministers of Nepal, were the masterminds behind the plot.
Following the hijacking, Subedi hid in Varanasi but was later arrested during the 1975 Emergency. He spent two years in jail before being handed over to Nepali authorities. The other hijackers were also convicted and imprisoned, but they were released after the Emergency in India ended. Professor Deepak Malik, a retired professor from BHU and former director of the Gandhi Studies Institute, mentioned that Karki and Subedi met during their university days.
Sushila Karki, now 73, also holds the distinction of being Nepal’s first female Chief Justice. She was born on June 7, 1952, in Biratnagar, Nepal. She took office as the Chief Justice of the Nepal Supreme Court on July 11, 2016, but her term was cut short when an impeachment motion led to her suspension on April 30, 2017.
In a television interview, Karki expressed her close ties with India, attributing it to her time at BHU. She expressed her positive views on the relationship between India and Nepal and praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi. She also noted the importance of maintaining contact between the two nations and the policy-making processes in international matters.
