Khadgajeet Baral

Khadgajeet Baral (खड्गजित बराल)  (born April 17, 1928) is a Nepalese politician and diplomat. Widely regarded as one of the greatest police chiefs (प्रहरी महानिरीक्षक) of Nepal Police, he served as the Royal Nepalese Ambassador to Burma, French Indochina and Indonesia, as a Member of the U.N., and also as a Member of the Parliament (MP) of Nepal.

Early life and education
Khadgajeet Baral was born to Bahadur Singh Baral and Saraswati Baral in a town called Daldale of Nawalparasi district. He was later brought up along with two elder brothers and a younger sister in Bhaksu, India. Both his father Bahadur Singh Baral, and his grandfather Sarwajeet Singh Baral had served as majors in the First Gorkha Rifle of the British Indian Army. His elder brother had also served as a major in the First Gorkha Rifle. As such, K.J.S. Baral lived a very disciplined life from a very young age. He attended the St. An-dew's High School and then later graduated from Agra University. He had also attended the Patna University from where he obtained his Masters in political science.

Career in Law Enforcement
Khadgajeet Baral joined the Nepal Police, the first academic graduate to join the organization, in 1956 A.D., at the age of 28 years. Within three years, he was promoted to the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police (D.S.P.) and later became Superintendent of Police (S.P.) at the age of 34. In the year 1964 A.D., he had proved to become an apt 'Commandant' of the then "Sadar Prahari Talim Kendra", upon being appointed as the "Samadaysak" of the academy by the then I.G.P. Pahal Singh Lama; he proved to be a great administrator in the academy as he had acquired a vast amount of knowledge in that field from his late father Major Bahadur Singh Baral, who himself had been a very successful British/Gurkha commandant in Lahore (Present Pakistan). K.J.S. Baral was promoted to Deputy Inspector General of Police (D.I.G.P.) three years later. He received training from the Tokyo Police officials at the Tokyo Imperial Police College in Japan and also from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in U.S.A.

K.J.S. Baral was an idealist by nature, even as a very young officer. He expressed his idea about the "Mahendra Police Club (present Nepal Police Club)" to the then I.G.P. Pahal Singh Lama, who later established it. He had also envisioned the establishment of "police schools", exceptionally for the children of low ranking police officers who could not afford the education of their children. This plan, however, was only brought into effect after his retirement.

Khadgajeet Baral was promoted to "Inspector General of Police ( I.G.P.)" at the age of 43, becoming one of the youngest police chiefs in the history of Nepal. He had been the "first 'post graduate' police officer" to be recommended by the then 'National Public Service Commission' to His Majesty's Government as the I.G.P.

I.G.P. Baral and his predecessor, I.G.P. Rom Bahadur Thapa, are the only pair to remain chiefs for a period of 6 years, the standard tenure being 4 years.

During his tenure as police chief, K.J.S. Baral is famed for his major contributions in the administrative sectors of the Nepal Police organization. The establishments of the "Kanun Sakha" and "Engineering Sakha" in the Nepal Police Headquarters are a few of his accomplishments. He had established the "Nepal Police Mountaineering & Adventure Foundation", which, in Nepal is very historical; it conquered many Himalayan peaks, exclusively by Nepalese mountaineers; the Tukuche Himal (6921m) and Pabil Himal (7104m) conquered in 1976 A.D. and 1978 A.D. respectively are prime examples. The construction of the "Birendra Police Hospital" (present Nepal Police Hospital) had also commenced in his tenure.

I.G.P. Baral's remarkable establishment of the "Nepal Police Flying Squad" in the year 1975 A.D., which consisted of 4 imported state-of-the-art vehicles from China and about a dozen officers, for crime prevention, is considered admirable even now.

I.G.P. Baral is a major reformist in Nepal Police He had made rations available to all of the low ranking police personnel and had made the provision of barracks possible. In order to manage the busy traffic in the Kathmandu valley, he had introduced 'Mounted Police', i.e. Traffic police officers on horses.

K.J.S. Baral is reputed as the greatest police chief in the history of Nepal, his might being so vast that it lead to him being revered as the "God of Nepal Police". The feats performed by him were such that many considered his prowess itself to be embellished.

Ambassador to Burma
During the reign of the then King Birendra, Khadgajeet Baral had been appointed the "Royal Ambassador of Nepal to Burma (Myanmar)" after being succeeded by Durlav Kumar Thapa as the police chief.

His Majesty's Visit to Myanmar: Ambassador Baral had arranged King Birendra’s visit to the Union of Burma in the early 80s, which was the first visit of the Nepali Head of State. It opened a new progressive and proactive relationship between Nepal and Burma. It also facilitated to negotiate with the Burmese Government in accepting Nepal’s proposal of “Zone of Peace”. Burma was the third country to accept Nepal’s proposal of zone of peace.

Construction of the Maha Wizaya Pagoda: During Ambassador Baral's tenure, the Maha Wizaya Pagoda was built very near to the biggest Pagoda of Burma, Shwedagon Pagoda, in which the statue of Lord Buddha is enshrined which was the gift of Nepal to the predominantly Buddhist country of Burma. This Pagoda also known as the “Maha Wijaya Zedi”, since then, has become the second most revered pagoda after Shwedagon Pagoda among the Burmese people in Burma, resulting in the new close relationship between the Nepalese residing in Burma and the Burmese citizens. The Maha Wijaya Zedi was built jointly by the artisans and craftsmen of both Burma and Nepal, which established a historical relationship between the two countries.

The visit of President of Burma, General Ne Win to Nepal, requested by Ambassador Baral: This was the first visit of the President of Burma to Nepal after Burma was brought under military rule. This visit by the president Ne Win helped later on in receiving 30,000 tons of Burmese rice as a donation when Nepal was threatened with near famine in 1983 A.D. This Burmese donation was the first and the quickest relief to reach Nepal preventing the near famine.

Granting Burmese Citizenship to Nepalese residing in Myanmar: Ambassador Baral, with his diplomatic skills, had convinced the Burmese officials to provide Burmese citizenships to more than 30,000 Nepalese residing in Burma, who still then, despite generations stay in Burma, were like stateless refugees without any civil rights.

Visit of Mahashi (the Chief Abbot) of Burma to Nepal: The chief priest of Burma, whose official title is “Mahashi” visited Nepal for the first time and visited the birthplace of Lord Buddha, Lumbini and other Buddhist places of pilgrimage, paving the way for cultural exchanges and good will between the two countries.

Ambassador to French Indochina and Indonesia
Khadgajeet Baral had also been accredited the Royal Ambassador of Nepal to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam during the same time when he had been the ambassador to Myanmar.

During Ambassador Baral's five-year tenure as an accredited ambassador to French Indo-China and Indonesia, there had arisen some political tension between the neighboring countries Indonesia and Malaysia. K.J.S. Baral had used this an opportunity to make use of his diplomatic skills to establish diplomatic relations between Nepal and Indonesia.

Contribution to sports
Khadgajeet Baral is known to have been very enthusiastic in sports as a young boy, as both his father and elder brother had encouraged him, which later sparked his interest in other sports too. He used to play football and hockey very keenly while in college; he had been both the football and hockey captain(s) there. His zeal in sports continued to live on even after his school days had ended.

In order to promote the standard of the then Nepal Police Football Team, K.J.S. Baral had recruited Achyut Krishna Kharel as an inspector along with several other talented football players, which proved to be quite favorable for the organization. Achyut Kharel would also later become the I.G.P. after a long distinguished service.

K.J.S. Baral had been the president of Nepal Badminton Association after his retirement from law enforcement. He had also been the president of Nepal Judo Association for six years; he is credited for importing Judo from Japan in 1966 A.D.

Khadgajeet Baral is more renowned as the "Founder President" of Nepal Hockey Association, remaining president for a period of 8 years; he promoted the standard of Hockey in Nepal by bringing in two Hockey players from Pakistan. He alone is responsible for introducing hockey and making it famous in Nepal, and as such, is regarded as the pioneer of Nepalese hockey.

Retired Life
Khadgajeet Baral is now an active member of "The Rotary Club Of Pashupati" and a trustee of the RNGC (Royal Nepal Golf Club).