By Utpal Parashar, Hindustan Times
It was on this day 11 years ago, when nine members of the royal family including King Birendra Shah and his wife Aishwarya were gunned down by their son, crown prince Dipendra.
As the country passes through
another crisis, Nepal
on Friday recalled one of the most brutal episodes in its modern history—the
royal palace massacre.
It was on this day 11 years ago, when nine members of the royal family including King Birendra Shah and his wife Aishwarya were gunned down by their son, crown prince Dipendra.
Despite the years, the mystery surrounding the
event, refuses do die down. More so when, democracy, four years after monarchy
was abolished, strives to find its footing.
On Friday, several newspapers, radio stations and
television channels carried reports, columns and blogs on the massacre—but
murder of a sitting Supreme Court judge a day earlier got more prominence.
There was more buzz on social media. “11 years
and still no justice…we are waiting”, wrote Bhumigat Khukuri on a Facebook page
dedicated to the deceased king and queen.
Many Nepalis who are disillusioned and angry at
the political parties for recent dissolution of the Constituent Assembly
without promulgation of a new constitution also took to the Internet to give
vent to feelings.
“When (yo)u were with us no stupidity of those
a#%$&*s worked out. But now it makes every Nepali cry seeing the country.
Wish (yo)u were here,” wrote Nirva Dahal on Facebook.
There was however no mention of the massacre on
the pro-monarchy website launched recently by followers of Birendra’s brother
Gyanendra, the last king deposed four years ago.
Many in Nepal still believe the country may
have escaped the present political mess and the tortuous route to peace and a
new constitution if Birendra were alive.
In 1990, following a series of pro-democracy
protests Birendra had promulgated a constitution transforming Nepal into a
constitutional monarchy with multiparty democracy.
He was dead in less than 11 years. The official
report into the murders said Queen Aishwarya’s opposition to the woman Dipendra
wanted to marry was the trigger that prompted him to take the step.
But absence of post-mortems, discrepancies in
statements given by some witnesses and doubts regarding the weapons used by
Dipendra left many questions unanswered.
More importantly, it didn’t clarify whether the
crown prince had shot himself or was killed by someone else. Dipendra remained
in coma for three days before succumbing to injuries.
Courtesy: Hindustan Times
No comments:
Post a Comment