Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah (1920–1972) served as the king of Nepal for 17 years, from 1955 to 1972, until his untimely demise, which was later declared to be due to a heart attack. His motto, "Ma Mare pani mero Desh Bachirahos," which translates to "May my country live forever even if I die," shows how patriotic he was and how much he valued Nepal and the Nepali citizens at that time, which almost every leader lacks nowadays. Before the Dehli Accord in 1951, Rana's solely controlled entire Nepal, and the Shahs were just kept for the sake of their name with no executive status. The royal family was mostly held captive during the Rana regime, so Mahendra mostly grew up wandering around the huge and luxurious royal palace of Narayanhiti without seeing much more of outer Nepal. There was a royal trend at that time to attend prestigious schools and universities, but he was home-schooled, yet he had an acute and substantial knowledge of economy, politics, literature, and history. During his reign, Nepal showed a radical change in industries, politics, policy, and economics, which ultimately opened a gateway for the world to connect with Nepal after coming from such a cruel 104-year isolationist history of Rana's.
He ascended the throne of Nepal in 1955 as a constitutional monarch. In 1956, Mahendra appointed Tanka Prasad Acharya, a founder of Praja Parisad who was influential in overthrowing the Rana dynasty and the isolationist government at the time, as prime minister of Nepal. During his tenure, the Rastra Bank and the Supreme Court were established, and some foreign diplomacy policies were formulated with China. As Nepal made major advances in developing several international policies, this period is considered an important historic period in foreign policy development for Nepal.
In 1959, Mahendra promulgated a constitution in Nepal. It was formulated on a bicameral system, which consisted of a General Assembly and the House of Representatives. The constitution had made the first provision for a Public Service Commission, which required one-third of its members to have not served in a government job for the last five years. This made the general public's reach more inclusive. Nepali Congress was the largest elected party at that time, with BP Koirala as the leader of the parliamentary party. He became prime minister as well. But the Congress cabinet was dismissed by Mahendra in 1960, and on January 1, 1961, Mahendra introduced Panchayat (a party-less political system). Mahendra claimed Congress was involved in corruption and used false hopes to provoke Nepalis above the national interest. He is extremely criticized for this act, but he is not wrong either. The only good leader in Congress was BP Koirala; the others just roamed around demanding change, seeking vengeance, power, and money to make a living for themselves. If BP Koirala and Mahendra had agreed to work together progressively, Nepal would’ve taken a different route towards development and prosperity, and we would’ve seen Nepal as quite developed as it is now under this so-called Democratic/Loktantric rule.
The contribution made by Mahendra is commendable and important, as it has in many ways shaped Nepal’s development today. Mahendra’s role in promoting nationalism is unforgettable. Nepal was on the verge of getting mixed up with India if Mahendra had not been there. At that time, most people followed Indian practices, which he reduced by creating a distinct language, distinct currency, distinct dress, distinct political system, and distinct religious identity from those of India. Mahendra created a distinct identity for the people, which in turn promoted national unity and nationality. The national anthem and the national flag were initiated during his rule, which has indeed visualized our identity as unique to the whole world now.
King Mahendra also established diplomatic relations with 45 nations at that time to protect Nepal’s sovereignty and prove Nepal's status as an independent nation. One of the historical diplomatic achievements of King Mahendra is the Nepal-China Boundary Treaty of 1961. The border adjustments were made on grounds of equality by performing land swaps, with Nepal gaining more land than it gave. Nepal established its image as a committed member of the UN, and Nepal was well recognized by the member countries. Nepal's active role on the Security Council is proof of a successful policy guided by Mahendra.
He has also made some exemplary contributions to the formulation of a number of development strategies that have significantly shaped the Nepalese economy. The establishment of the National Planning Commission and the formulation of policies for telecommunications, industry growth, hydropower, transportation, and other areas have helped Nepal's economy grow. During his administration, the Balaju Industrial Area, Patan Industrial Area, Dharan Industrial Area, Birgunj Sugar Mill, Nepal Oil Corporation, Janakpur Cigarette Factory, Balaju Textiles, Bansbari Shoe Factory, and Nepal's First Brick and Tile Factory all came into existence. The provision of planning for five years, known as the five-year plan," started during his reign in 1956. He introduced the Company Act for the first time in Nepal in 1964 to facilitate and manage the industrialization of the economy. The Mahendra Highway built by the king has greatly contributed to the all-round socio-economic development of the country. He launched the Back to the Village National Campaign in 1967, which was one of his largest rural development efforts. He also established the Nepal Sports Council to oversee the development of sports activities in the country.
During his tenure, the health sector of Nepal improved significantly. Prasuti Griha, Kanti Bal Hospital, Royal Drugs Laboratory, and Nepal Ausadi Limited were established with foreign aid and donations. After giving birth to Dhirendra, Queen Indra suffered from excessive post-partum hemorrhage, which became the cause of her untimely death. The death of Indra Rajya Lakshmi Devi Shah (Mahendra’s first wife) led to the establishment of Prasuti Graha, the first maternity hospital. The Institute of Medicine (IOM) was also established under Tribhuvan University with the purpose of producing and training all categories of medical manpower required for the nation, which immediately initiated courses for auxiliary nurse midwives and community medical assistants.
In the late 1950s, King Mahendra gave a direct order to make feasibility studies of agricultural development in various parts of the country. In the early 1960s, buckwheat and millet were the main agriculture products in Mustang; they were easy to produce but extracted very little income since rice and wheat were the main products beyond its borders. The then government of Nepal invested in apple farming for the first time in several areas around the region, like Mustang and Baitadi, by setting up a regional agricultural outpost in 1966, which was later restructured as the Temperate Horticulture Development Center.
During the Rana Rule, telecommunication services were very far from people’s imaginations as they were only available to use in the palaces of feudal rana rulers. But during Mahendra’s rule, the telecommunications industry got drastically expanded, and it was made available to the general public as well. He also modernized the reach of Gorkha Patra and Radio Nepal, understanding the value of knowledge and education.
He was the first king to introduce the constitution as the fundamental law of the country. King Mahendra incorporated the phrase 'Hindu Kingdom' in the newly introduced constitution. He divided Nepal into 14 administrative zones with 75 districts in them. In order to perform proper administration and secure the decentralization of power to every zone, each zone was appointed a zonal commissioner. This was the first decentralization of power in the history of Nepal. Yet, even after doing all these things, today’s party-headed politicians try to defame his resolve in the name of democracy. The Panchayat was wrong morally in many ways, but Nepal has been the most developed during this Panchayat era only. During his reign, Nepal thoroughly experienced and saw educational reforms, health reforms, agricultural reforms, geopolitical reforms, transportation development, telecommunication reforms, industry growth, social reforms, land reforms, and cultural reforms. Bashing and blatantly criticizing Mahendra has become a hallmark of so-called progressive and democratic thinking for today’s political leaders and activists. The education system portrays him as a cruel and undemocratic leader for imposing Panchayat. All of these acts against him come from the very deep conspiracy propaganda of today’s liberal and democratic political parties. One should not only judge him for the imposing Panchayat that he introduced. Just like Prithivi Narayan Shah is considered the founder of Nepal, Mahendra is the savior and progressor of the 20th century for Nepal.
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