Rookmangud Katawal

General Rookmangud Katawal is a former Nepalese Army general, who served as the Chief of Army Staff of the Nepal Army from 2006 to 2009. General Katawal has come across controversy after the then prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal unilaterally decided to sack him on May 3, 2009.

During the Nepalese Civil War, he was alleged to have committed many human rights atrocities, war crimes and crime against humanity, yet faced no court proceedings.

Early life and education Rookmangud Katawal was born in Okhaldhunga District, Nepal on 12 December 1948, to Khadgadhoj Katawal and his wife. After impressing the then King Mahendra by reciting a poem of the National Poet Madhav Prasad Ghimire during the monarch's official visit, Katawal was brought to Kathmandu at the age of 8 years and looked after by King Mahendra himself. After residing at the then COAS General Toran Shumsher's residence for about 15 days along with King Mahendra's other 'adopted sons', at the age of 10 years, he was enrolled at the Pharping Boarding School. After completing 5th grade, he was directly transferred to 7th grade due to his impressive academic endeavor.

However, Katawal along with several other students were kicked out of the Pharping Boarding High School for involvement in a protest against the 'corporal punishment' which was given out by the school's authorities to the students then. Later, Katawal was enrolled in another school with the help of the same teacher who had expelled Katawal from Pharping in which he completed his high school.

Military career Junior Officer Katawal was commissioned into Shree Shreenath Battalion (Infantry) of the then Royal Nepalese Army (RNA) on 20 December 1969, after graduating from the Indian National Defense Academy. Katawal holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Tribhuwan University, and a master's degree in National Defence from the Quaid-i-Azam University, Pakistan. Katawal is also the Distinguished International Honour Graduate of the US Special Forces Course and has earned the coveted Gideon in the US Ranger Course. He is also a graduate of the Army Command and Staff College, Camberley, UK; the Senior Command Course, India; and the National Defense College, Pakistan. In 1973, he served as an instructor at the Royal Nepalese Army School. In the same year, he donned the blue beret to serve in the United Nations Emergency Force (UNEF) in the Suez Canal area. In 1990, he took over command of Shree Pashupati Prashad Battalion. In 1993, he took post as the commandant of the Royal Nepalese Military Academy, following Service in the Research and Development Wing at the Army HQ.

In 1996, he was promoted to Brigadier General. He holds the distinction of having commanded three consecutive Brigades, two infantry and one Special Forces. In 1999, he was appointed as director of military intelligence. In 2001, he was promoted to major general. He then took over as Adjutant General (AG) of the Nepalese Army. On December 29, 2001, General Katawal was appointed the first co-coordinator of the National Security Council Secretariat. He has participated in various conferences and seminars around the globe concerning security, peacekeeping and planning fields, such as Multilateral Planner's conference in Romania and the International Symposium Course on Asian Pacific Security in China.

He commanded the then Western Division on combat operation in the peak of the counter insurgency effort between December 2003 and August 2004. He was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general on 10 September 2004, and took over as Chief of General Staff. He is also ‘Colonel Commandant’ of his old battalion: Shree Pashupati Prashad. Protests in response to his sacking included the withdrawal of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) from the ruling coalition government. The CPN-Maoists at the head of the coalition then named the then Lt. General Kul Bahadur Khadka as a replacement COAS. Shortly afterwards, the president of Nepal overrode both decisions and ordered him to continue his service by sending a letter at 11:45 pm on the same day to make his decision official. This resulted in Prime Minister Prachanda's resignation and the collapse of the government.

Personal life Gen. Katawal goes in for basketball, racket games and golf. His hobbies include reading, hiking and travelling. He is also a social worker. He is involved in the development of a high school (currently a campus) in his home village in Okhaldhunga District. Katawal has penned many Nepalese folk, patriotic and popular song. Gen. Katawal is decorated with Birendra Prajatantra Bhaskar, Second Class and has been awarded a host of other decorations and medals in his 40 years of service. Gen. Katawal is married to Uma Katawal, a career graduate teacher who has taught at the Army Campus for 20 years. They have two children together: Shubhangad and Nepolina Katawal.

Post-retirement After his retirement from the Nepalese Army in 2009, Katawal has been involved in many public functions and private ceremonies. He has travelled widely, attending conferences and talk programs both inside and outside the country. He enjoys interacting, discussing and debating with people about current and past issues related to society. He has traveled to different states of the US and Canada to interact with the Nepalese communities. He has interacted in Johns Hopkins's university and Harvard with such communities. He has also attended international conference in Hiroshima university and a seminar in Seoul. He has visited UK for interaction. He has visited India many times accepting invitations of Vivekananda International foundation, India foundation etc. He went to Tel-Aviv to participate in the world summit for counter-terrorism.

The Katawal Trust In 2074 B.S., Rookmangud Katawal chaired "the Katawal Trust" established to run volunteering program for increase in quality of education of children in Nepal.