GYANENDRA'S CO-OPERATION TO ABOLISH MONARCHY?

From glorious days to humiliation

“All glory, grandeur, fame, luminary in the helm

the proud and icon stood erect from bottom

crowd stood behind with words of acclaim

crumbled like melting ice and all came to dust.”

This poem reflects the life of deposed king Gyanendra. It was like coming down to the dust from the glory and fame to Gyanendra Shah. “His Majesty King Bir Bikram” sounds so strong powerful, authority and dominance. There was everything until he was the king. There were crowds to praise his words and actions. There was glory and praise. He was in the helm of power. Proud and pompous. Egoistic ruler. Everything was at his disposal. The rules and regulations were his words. He was like a revered figure of incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Everywhere praise- at least in front of him. Long line of sycophants from dawn to dusk. Everywhere the positive words, Gyanendra heard until he had complete control of the country. The quiet peaceful voice of his humble populace was far from the palace gate until he controlled the nation with iron fist. All toady supporters were busy to crush the real voice of the meek folks.

“Time and tide wait for no men”, is the reality and came to be right for him. Only the middle path- the path of Buddha is the best path came to be true not only to the Maoists but even to Gyanendra – both were proud in the extreme line, which not only took away crown from his head but ended the 240 year old dynasty rule of Shah King. The brave work of unification by Prithvi Narayan Shah and the contributions of some other Shah kings also went out of memory of the people. The role of Gyanendra will be recorded in the history as the last King, who at least helped abolish monarchy and establish republic in Nepal. Gyanendra is brave as he accepted the decision of the people and paved way for the peaceful transfer of power.

Whatever he did in the past, my human heart felt pity when I saw Gyanendra Shah speaking in a press conference at the former royal palace. The gloomy face. The unnatural smile. The faded glory. The unorganised gathering. I have been to the palace so many times in course of news reporting in the past . The palace was so well managed. Everything was pre-planned and rehearsed. All the events to be seen in the public used to be rehearsed. Even the visits of the head of the state used to be rehearsed from the Tribhuvan International Airport to the Palace before the visit. But the last conference of Gyanendra was was unorganised. After watching the live press conference of Gyanendra, I felt pity at the sad state of the palace. The old glory was non existent. How that glory of the palace was gone? My heart went down seeing his sad face. It was really sad.

I strongly opposed his rule. Campaigned to end his rule even living outside at the height of his reign. I always opposed his policy of undermining democratic values and norms. I always stood against his plan of suppressing freedom and his conspiracy to rule showing stick and carrot to the greedy political party leaders. However, that became the matter of the past. Gyanendra is no more the king nor does he have any role in the state affairs. He is sidelined. He was like an outcast. The departure – the last departure- from the palace where his past six years were spent was painful. After all it was the place where four generations of his ancestors had lived and ruled the country with great respect of the people. And now all gone to the dust like the folk tale. It must be very difficult for him. So I felt not as his supporter but as a human being with heart. I feel pity with the sufferer. Though Gyanendra may not be in the definition of sufferer but now, he is really in such state. Mistakes are corrected but he cannot correct his mistake. It is out of reach. He can do nothing except repent.

What the political party leaders and activists say is not my concern? I speak what I feel. My feeling was with him when he spoke in a very difficult circumstance. After all he is a human being. He can make mistakes. And the most important segment is that he helped to make Nepal a Democratic country with the abolition of monarchy initiated by his ancestor.

Despite his horrific ruling days, he has been able to gain some sympathy accepting the decision of the CA meeting of May 28 that declared the abolition of monarchy and turned Nepal into a Federal Democratic Republic country. Another positive side of his statement was that he wanted to live in Nepal and serve the “motherland.” If his words match action then it must be appreciated. If “serving the motherland” with the ill intention of creating trouble and plunge the country into the net of conflict then the sympathy and pity of people will fade forever.

Gyanendra seemed emotional when he tried to clarify that he and his family had no any role in the massacre of 9 family members including his brother Birendra. It can be true. Gyanendra was not present at the royal dinner party on the fateful Friday night of June 1, 2001. But there are many unanswerable questions of the massacre. People have accused him and his son Paras in connection to the massacre of the palace. The incident was not properly investigated when such heart breaking incident had taken place inside the high security royal palace. The rapid political development taking place in Nepal since he came to power also prove the accusation true. Removal of elected government, parliament dissolution, declaration of Maoists as terrorist organisation and launch of full-fledged war against Maoists came within a short span of his reign.

Prime Ministers became like the character of a play. “We are plaything in the hand of Lord” says one character in Shakespeare’s play. So were the prime ministers- Sher Bahadur Deuba, Lokendra Bahadur Chand and Surya Bahadur Thapa- of Gyanendra’s time. He elevated ineffective bunches of alleged criminal, bank defaulterers, extreme rightist and anti democratic nature people to the post of ministers, ambassadors and high level officials. Suppressed freedom with the barrel of gun. Party leaders were beaten and arrested. Media were under the starred generals. All lips shut. Was he alright? Life time regressive forces became the advocate of freedom and information. All hope swept up leaving no alternative “ either do or die.”

Despite this, we feel pity in his gloomy face. We provide him a grand palace of Nagarjun. His step mother and even the concubine of his grandfather get palaces. The security, the vehicles and the facilities are still there for Gyanendra Shah and his family members. He must be indebted to the people of his glorious motherland. “ Either killed or exiled” is the account of such rulers. Now the story of Gyanendra Shah became the matter of the past.

Time and tide wait for no men. Stream water cannot change its course to the opposite direction naturally. So is the rule of dictators. To be content with the present state without being eager to set a plot of recoup at the stimulation of the regressive people and help move the peace process to a logical conclusion and consolidate democracy is the best way to repent the past for Gyanendra Shah. Life is no more than a play. We all are here to play our part and go after performing our role. More than 6 billion people of the world are happy even without being a king then why should be worried? We Nepali are true religious- though Gyanendra destroyed our rich tradition linking his drunken royals with Hinduism. Nepalese let off your past. The flowing stanza of consolation is clear to describe the lost glory.

“My black face fades,
hiding inside the black granite.
I said I wouldn’t,
dammit: No tears.”
Our former ruler Gyanendra, can be cheerful and enjoy life in our new democracy! There is freedom even to the regressive people in the new Federal Democratic Nepal.


Chiranjibi Paudyal