Kamal Gautam, 65, a labor leader who worked day and night for the welfare of workers working in industries/factories across the country, including Rupandehi, passed away on Thursday while raising his voice for the protection of workers' livelihood in Bhairahawa, Rupandehi. Gautam, who always engaged in debates with industry operators in the interests of workers, was participating in a different program on Thursday.

Gautam, who suddenly collapsed while raising his voice in favor of industrialists and workers in the afternoon, did not wake up afterwards.

The leadership of political parties in the district and industrialists consider the moment when Gautam stood up for the interests of workers a rare coincidence in his life. Rupandehi industrialists had organized a demonstration to protest the cutting of lines by the Electricity Authority for non-payment of fees for dedicated feeders and trunk lines. The demonstration was not only prepared by industrialists and business organizations. At a meeting organized on Wednesday, Gautam had emphasized the need for a street demonstration that industries should not be closed. He was deployed to make the demonstration effective.

He said that the Authority should reconsider its unjust decision as it is a matter of livelihood for 25,000 workers working in various industries. ‘Industry has to run,’ he had said, ‘We workers are ready to go wherever we can for that.’ He had called for taking to the field without using the flags of parties and organizations in the movement against the Electricity Authority. On Thursday, he collapsed while expressing the same opinion. Although the participants in the protest immediately took him to the hospital, he died during treatment. According to the UML leaders and his colleagues whom he organized, Gautam never left the streets and the field of struggle.

‘In 2041 BS, he formed the initial committee of ANERASVIU at Parroha Secondary School in Rupandehi, with Khimlal Bhattarai as the president and me as the treasurer,’ UML leader Tejendra KC said, ‘He was an active leader in ANERASVIU during the Panchayat period.’ He said that he expanded the party organization by living in Naya village, west of Butaw. Many people who collaborated with Gautam have now become members of the party’s politburo and ministers. ‘He has not taken any opportunity so far,’ said KC, ‘he has been on the streets his entire life.’

Gautam is the central vice-president of the Federation of Trade Unions (GEFNT) and a central member of the UML, and was the in-charge of the Marchwar area under Rupandehi area number 4. He once became the chairman of the workers’ special district committee. According to KC, he played a leading role in the movement mobilization committee during the first movement in 2046 BS and the second movement in 2062/063 BS. ‘Whether it was the Dasdhunga massacre or a movement for the benefit of the workers,’ said KC, ‘Gautam was always at the forefront.’ This time, he said, Gautam had gained ‘proof’ by speaking out for the benefit of the workers along with the industrialists. Gautam, who was friendly with everyone and adhered to communist values, always reminded the workers that they should eat what the people gave them and sleep where the people told them to. ‘Once he entered the squatter settlement, he would stay there for a week, understanding their pain,’ he said. ‘He had the habit of speaking whatever came to his mind, and he always talked about justice.’

According to Rupandehi journalist DR Ghimire, Gautam is the first leader to organize rickshaw workers from the far west to the east in Nepal. After being asked who could organize rickshaw workers, Gautam went to the far west districts and started organizing rickshaw workers. Only then did GEFONT include the rickshaw workers’ organization in its five components, Ghimire said. ‘Gautam became known as a labor leader,’ he said. ‘Many times, when he spoke in the interest of the workers, there was a clash with the industrialists.’ However, on Thursday, while speaking in the interest of the industrialists and the workers, he died of a heart attack.’ He said that Gautam, who was previously only a leader of the workers, has since become a common leader of the industrialists as well. ‘He was established by struggling from the lower class,’ he said, ‘but he never got a position of profit from the party.’

UML leader Bharat Pokharel said that he had never seen a decrease in Gautam’s activism, who has been contributing to the party since the Panchayat period. He said that Gautam was active in laying the foundation of the party in the border march area, from speaking for the interests of the active workers of Rupandehi. ‘He was a man who was immersed in the field of workers,’ he said, ‘I had not seen him tired since the Panchayat period, he collapsed while giving energetic speeches even on Thursday.’ Gautam has a wife and two sons.

His eldest son, who lives in Butwal Sub-metropolitan City-4, teaches at the Lambini Commerce Campus. While his younger son is in South Korea for foreign employment.

Siddhartha Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Netra Prasad Acharya said that Gautam was a leader who spoke only in favor of the workers and was a person who wanted the country well. ‘He always emphasized that there should be a close relationship between industrialists and workers,’ he said. ‘He believed that employment is not possible without industrialists.’ He said that Gautam played a coordinating role in including industrialists in the district in the Social Security Fund. ‘He said that employment is available only when industries flourish,’ he said. ‘It is also in his destiny to receive the work of workers and support in their arms.’