Dr. Narad Pokhrel
Confusion reigned as Facebook wall and messengers slowly spread the news across the world over the course of days and weeks. When the full horror of Dr. Rizal’s death became known, letters of condolence came pouring in from Bhutanese communities in United States, from Bhutanese communities in Britain, Canada, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, Nepal, and India, and around. I am forced to believe the accident by then. I didn’t have much privileged to be familiar with Dr. Rizal in personal level, but I am familiar by his great deeds to our community.
Dr. Govinda Rizal a distinguished plant breeder, research leader, and academician, has left an indelible mark on science, education, and human rights. His tragic death in a bus accident in Kathmandu on May 5, 2024, has left a significant void in the Bhutanese community—both in exile and within Bhutan. These words honor his incredible life and legacy by focusing on his professional successes and solid commitment to democracy and human rights. He started his scientific career with a PhD in Plant Breeding from the prestigious Laboratory of Plant Breeding at Kyoto University’s Graduate School of Agriculture in Japan. His dedication to research and brilliance from the start laid the foundation for a career filled with significant scientific contributions.
After his PhD, Dr. Rizal was an expert in molecular biology, crop breeding, mutant breeding, and C4 photosynthesis for more than four years. Using next-generation sequencing of sorghum and Setaria mutant populations to find C4 anatomy genes was a huge step forward in the field. Since April 2010, Dr. Rizal has been working as a postdoctoral fellow on the C4 Rice Project. He has shown that he is excellent at planning and carrying out studies in an international organization.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded C4 rice project advanced significantly during his time as the team leader for mutant verification. Dr. Rizal meticulously examined two million M2 generation plants and advanced potential mutants that lost their C4 traits to BC2F2 generations. This allowed him to see and examine the sorghum and Setaria mutant populations in greater detail. Using next-generation sequencing, he examined sixteen DNA samples and groups, which gave scientists fresh, fundamental insights.
Dr. Rizal leadership went beyond the research he did. In 2012, the Association of Fellows, Scholars, Trainees, and Residents of IRRI (AFSTRI) elected him as its President. In this role, he set up the first meeting for young scientists, which brought together 35 young rice scientists from around the world. The fact that he was able to manage a group of 18 employees from research institutes all over the world and collaborate with consortium members demonstrated how good his technical and social communication skills were. He clearly showed his commitment to mentoring by supervising student research and training the next generation of scientists with the
same enthusiasm and devotion. As a senior professor at Tribhuvan University’s Central Campus, Dr. Rizal had an even greater impact on many students and showed his dedication to education. Besides his contribution to science, Dr. Rizal was a strong supporter of human rights and democracy. He was the voice of the Bhutanese refugees in Kathmandu, and he worked hard to find a solution to the problems that the Bhutanese people experienced with human rights misconduct
