By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Jan. 28: A heartfelt tribute was paid to martyr Dharma Bhakta Mathema on Thursday amid a function organised at Sifal, where Mathema was executed by the then autocratic Rana regime.
Kathmandu Metropolitan City Mayor Bidhya Sundar Shakya, chief administrative officer of KMC Loknath Poudyal, ward chair of KMC-7 Suddha Kumar Dangol and ward members gathered at Sifal and offered garland to martyr Mathema’s statue.

The KMC organised the programme, commemorating the day when Mathema attained martyrdom. Mathema was hanged from a tree at Sifal on Magh 13, 1997 BS for carrying out activities against the Rana rulers.
In honour of martyr Mathema, the Kathmandu Metropolitan City is constructing 'Dharma Bhakta Mathema Mahanagar Manav Sewa Ashram' in Nagarjun Municipality-6. The ashram will provide shelter to homeless people and those living in vulnerable conditions.

The metropolis has already submitted a detailed project report to Nagarjun Municipality, KMC informed.
Similarly, the metropolis has also erected life-size statues of Martyr Mathema at his birth place, Ombahal, and Sifal.
The programme was a part of the martyr’s week being observed across the country in memory of four martyrs including Mathema, Shukra Raj Shastri, Dasrath Chand and Gangalal Shrestha, who were executed by the Rana rulers for initiating democratic movement in the country.

The then prime minister Juddha Shumsher had announced death penalty for the four martyrs on January19, 1941.
The KMC started to observe Martyr’s Week in 2012 by forming the Martyr's Week Ceremony Committee.