Former general secretary of Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities and professor of anthropology at the Tribhuvan University Om Gurung died of cancer on Monday afternoon at the age of 68.

Gurung had spearheaded the fight against the state induced social exclusion, cultural discrimination and political domination against indigenous people and other marginalised and disadvantaged groups of Nepal.

According to his family sources, he died at around 1:45 pm at Harisiddhi Lalitpur based Nepal Cancer Hospital and Research Centre.

“According to the hospital he took his last breath at 1:45 pm today,” said his cousin Krishna Gurung. “He was admitted to the hospital yesterday only after he complained that he felt uneasy.”

Gurung was treating cancer in his right leg through chemotherapy. Around a decade ago Gurung had his kidney transplanted from Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Hospital in New Delhi, according to Krishna.

Gurung had completed his PhD in anthropology from Cornell University of New York in 1996 on “Local systems of Natural Resource Management and dissertation research.”

Born on February 11, 1953 at Bhuskat Tarakhola of Baglung district, Gurung served as NEFIN general secretary from 2001-2004 and was a chief advisor to NEFIN from 2004-2007. NEFIN is an umbrella organisation of all the indigenous nationalities of the country.

In his 36 years of teaching career at the Tribhuvan University he had led the Central Department of Sociology and Anthropology for 12 years. He was one of the founding members of the department.

Gurung is survived by a wife, a son and two daughters.