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Murders
in Nepal Produce Deep Sorrow - and Deep Suspicion
By
Mike Mcphate, Pacific News Service,
June 5, 2001
News of the assassination of members of Nepal's royal family
has produced, in turn, grief, anger and suspicion. People on
the street are unwilling to accept official explanations, and
think the murders were part of a plot by the dead king's younger
brother. PNS Contributor Mike McPhate is a part-time reporter
and copy editor for the Kathmandu Post, Nepal's leading English
daily. He is currently affiliated with a study abroad program
in Nepal through the University of Wisconsin, Madison.
KATMANDU, NEPAL -- Two sobbing men embraced as riots raged around
them Monday afternoon. "What will we do?" one moaned. "We have
lost our mother and father."
Sorrow followed news of the Nepalese royal family's massacre
Friday night. Virtually every shop in the capital closed, and
has remained so.
But grief turned to anger over the weekend. Young men stomped
about and rode in fleets of motorcycles waving red Nepali flags
and pictures of the deceased King and Queen chanting, "Hang
the murderer," "We don't want fake democracy," and "We don't
want foreign pressure."
And Monday, after three days of unsatisfactory government explanations,
rioters played a nasty game of dodge ball using bricks and concrete
with police who responded with tear gas and bullets. According
to the Kathmandu Post, at least two protesters were killed and
over 36 sustained gunshot wounds.
Since then, an all-out curfew has effectively emptied the streets.
The rioters, including many who shaved their heads in honor
of the dead King, have been swarming foreign journalists, telling
them that the massacre was in no way the result of a family
spat, but a dirty conspiracy by a rival faction within the royal
family.
According to Nepalese officials, Crown Prince Dipendra was at
the palace with his family and a few close relatives for their
regular Friday evening dinner. An argument ensued over Dipendra's
choice of bride, Suprima Shah, a beautiful school teacher and
daughter of the Queen's chief bodyguard.
Queen mother Aishwarya disapproved of the match and threatened
to bypass royal succession and make his little brother, Nirajan,
king if he went through with the marriage. Dipendra stormed
away from the table and returned clad in army fatigues spraying
the room indiscriminately with a semi-automatic rifle before
turning it on himself.
People in the street paint a more sinister scenario. They say
the assassinations were part of a plot by the murdered King's
younger brother, Gyanendra, and his son, Paras, to capture the
throne.
As evidence, they point to the fact that Paras, who was present
at the dinner, escaped unscathed while Gyanendra was conveniently
out of town.
Further, Dipendra is considered too nice a person to commit
such an act. "He was like the guy next door," said one observer.
"Everyone liked him."
The government's actions since the killings have only served
to stimulate suspicion.
First, they withheld news of the Friday killings until as late
as Saturday afternoon. Government-run media implied the deaths
had occurred normally, with reports only mentioning that several
members of the royal family had "passed away".
Then, on Sunday afternoon, Gyanendra issued a laughable statement
blaming killings on "the accidental firing of an automatic weapon."
He has since withdrawn that statement and promised to get to
the bottom of things.
In addition, on different occasions officials have provided
different times for the death of Dipendra, who reportedly remained
on life support until early Monday morning. This has stirred
suspicion that Dipendra was killed outright, and news of his
death delayed to stall public outrage before Gyanendra assumed
the throne.
"Gyanendra should be hung in public," cried one rioter to the
approval of onlookers.
Allegedly involved in smuggling operations, Gyanendra has not
been popular. Paras is downright loathed.
He is rumored to be a murderer, and has had many run-ins with
the law, commonly in nightclubs. In October, 1999, he allegedly
jabbed a police officer in the face with the butt of a semi-automatic
rifle. Later that year he was seen molesting a woman in a Katmandu
nightclub and firing a gun into the air. Only months ago he
is alleged to have murdered a prominent musician by running
him over with his car.
"Paras is a bloody fool," said former Nepalese Ambassador to
the U.N. Rishikesh Shaha. "He needs to be spanked."
Some think the Maoist peasant uprising that has crept toward
the capital from a few western districts over the last decade
is involved. The Maoists met with political leaders in the weeks
before the massacre, and two of the two highest ranking and
most reclusive Maoist leaders -- Prachanda and Babarum Battarai
-- had even met with Gyanendra.
While it is too early to say with certainty what occurred on
Friday night, the all-consuming loss will have a long-term effect
on the hearts and minds of people in Nepal.
Portraits of the royal family can be found in virtually every
home in Katmandu. They have now been converted to shrines. For
the Nepalese, the bloody removal of their King and Queen was
more than the loss of a beloved first family. It was a cultural
decapitation.
"I'm not one who loses heart easily." said the 81-year-old Shaha.
"But I'm finding it difficult to cope. The whole world is different
to the one I used to know." |
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