Nabina Lama (1983-) is a Nepali student political activist. Lama was elected as the Chairperson of the All Nepal National Free Students Union (ANNFSU), a student wing of the leftist CPN (UML) party, in 2016. She was elected as a member of Nepal’s federal parliament in 2018.
Nabina was elected as the Chairperson of ANNFSU in its 22nd national general convention in Kathmandu and she is the second female to hold the post after Ramkumari Jhakri.
Nabina’s first term as ANNFSU’s chairperson lasted for 2 years (2016-2018).
See Also: Ramkumari Jhakri, Sita Devi Yadav
Early Life & Education
Nabina Lama was born in 1983 in the Madankudari village of the Kavre district. Since Nabina’s father was a teacher and a leftist political cadre, she had an early exposure to politics. Many leftist political campaigners, such as Nirmal Lama, visited her home and organized political activities when she was a young kid.
| Native Name: नवीना लामा Born: 1983, Kavre, Education: BA, (Sociology, Political Science) Profession: Student Leader |
Nabina attended Madankudari’s Mahendra Secondary School and she was only 12 when she became a member of the ANNFSUÂ school level committee. She has often said in media interviews that her father’s political involvement encouraged and supported her early political ambitions.
Nabina completed her School Leaving Certificate (SLC) exams from Madankudari’s Mahendra Secondary School and moved to Kathmandu with an ambition to pursue higher education in the field of forestry. Since she couldn’t pass the entrance exam for forestry, she joined Kathmandu’s Baneshwor Campus to study liberal arts.
Later Nabina continued her studies in Padma Kanya Campus, a popular girls-only college in Kathmandu, and graduated with of Bachelor’s of Arts degree, majoring in Sociology and Political Science.
Political Career
On 21 February 2016 Nabina Lama was elected the Chairperson of the All Nepal National Free Students Union (ANNFSU). She defeated her rival Deepak Gautam by 216 votes. Lama secured 865 votes, while Gautam received 649 votes. Nabina Lama is the second female ever to hold the post of ANNFSU Chairperson after Ramkumari Jhakri.
Before Nabina Lama was elected for the top position of ANNFSU, she had a long and consistent history of political activism and active involvement in various student movements in Nepal.Â
While still a young student in Kavre, Nabina was chosen a Vice-Chairperson of the ANNFSU Kavre district level committee. In Kathmandu’s Baneshwor Campus she was elected as Secretary of the Free Student Union, an official campus representative body of students. In 2005, she was elected Free Student Union’s President from the same campus.
While she was chosen a member of the ANNFSU National Council in its 14th, 15th and 16th national general conventions, during the 17th general convention she was elected a central committee member. She oversaw women’s department during her first tenure as an ANNFSU central committee member.
She was once again elected as ANNFSU’s Secretariat Member during the organization’s 19th general convention. This time she took command of ANNFSU’s communications and public relations department.
Nabina’s political career further progressed when she was elected ANNFSU’s Vice-Chairperson in the organization’s 20th general convention held in Janakpur.
During ANNFSU’s 21th general convention held in Kathmandu, Nabina stepped one step down and filed her candidacy for the post of General Secretary. She defeated Rachana Khadka and was chosen for the post.
As a student political activist, Nabina has been at the forefront of many student movements in Nepal. She participated in protests of nationalism and border security and also fought to ensure Nepali students a 50% discount in public transportation. She also actively took part in Nepal’s Second People’s Movement, which overthrew the monarchy and made Nepal a federal democratic republic.
In a media interview, when asked what her political aspirations were for the future, she replied that she wants to lead CPN UML as its Chairperson in the future and one day dreams to lead Nepal as Prime Minister.
Personal Life
In a media interview, Nabina disclosed that she was in a relationship, but didn’t want to talk in detail about her relationship. She said that the right time to get married would be after leading ANNFSU for a year.
Though Nabina is leading an organization affiliated to CPN UML, Nabina’s father is active in more radical leftist group led by Mohan Baiddha & Netra Bikram Chand, CPN-Maoist.
