Coups like suicides can not be punished, if successful.

On 1st June 2001, the whole family of King Birendra of Nepal was killed inside their palace. In the bizarre reporting of the events, the versions changed swiftly, the ‘eye-witnesses’ differed in their accounts of the same event, the injured that were declared out of danger succumbed to their injuries. It was claimed that there was nobody at the scene except the members of the royal family.

And yet from day one, the reports outside Nepal, particularly in Indian and western media, have been unanimous that it was Crown Prince, Dipendra, who pulled the trigger because he was not allowed to marry the person of his choice with the threat of losing the chance to adorn the throne. The gulf between the media reports in India, US and British media and the popular perception in Nepal was so wide that Indian newspapers were burnt and the Govt. was forced to clamp down upon the news channels telecasting from India.

The new palace establishment sought to insulate the palace from public scrutiny on the one hand and selective leaks to substantiate the same theory of Dipendra having shot dead members of his family on the other.

The whole incident has a conspiracy written all over it. Not only do people not share the perception of the drug addicted, drunkard and crazy prince Dipendra being created by the media and the new establishment, they find the whole proceedings too murky to be believed. They question how the new King Gyanendra was absent from the customary family dinner, being near capital Kathmandu? How come his infamous son Paras could get away unharmed despite the murderous rage of Prince Dipendra? How Prince Dhirendra, younger brother of King Birendra was first declared out of danger and then mysteriously succumbed to his injuries? How come a deeply inebriated Prince Dipendra could not be overpowered by so many healthy relatives even while they could see their deaths written all around? How such a deeply intoxicated Prince could swiftly move in and out killing people with weapons changing but victims motionless? What were the numerous well-armed ADCs doing while the crazy Crown Prince went on the killing spree? And why was the same Dipendra, thought dead for all practical purposes, ‘kept alive’ for two days and even declared King. The story of an inebriated Prince was probably necessary to shut out his behaviour from the scrutiny of reason. But the same state goes against the feat he accomplished! The two strands of the story are so much at loggerheads with one another that if you catch one, the other slips away.

People did not believe the official version, or more appropriately the ‘leaks’. They came out onto the streets in anger against this massacre and in particular against the newly crowned King Gyanendra. Forced by the public anger, King Gyanendra announced an enquiry into 1st June killings. The three member commission was jinxed from the start as the leader of the parliamentary opposition, Mr. Madhav Nepal of CPN (UML), dissociated himself from the enquiry citing inadequacy of time (3 days) for completing the enquiry. The very process of this enquiry is not being believed by the people. And rightly so, with all bodies cremated without postmortem and no disinterested witnesses to give their account.

One should not give too much credence to the close relationship of the eyewitnesses to late King Birendra. In fact all of them are closely related. The ruling dynasty Shahs have a very close family relations with the once powerful prime ministers Ranas. Palace coups are any way scripted by blood relatives.

That there were divisions in the royal family was well known and long standing. But that is not the whole story or even the main part. They might have nursed the desire to be Kings but they could not have done so on their own. Nepal is no longer an absolutist monarchy. The changeover in such circumstances could not be affected without the approval of the Govt. The Govt. on its part conveniently hid behind the veil of “palace affairs”. But with people incensed and King and his family massacred in such circumstances, Govt. could not and need not have taken this position. Its position, apparently coming out of grief, showed that there was more to it. However, even during such a ‘grief’ the Govt. did not fail to blame Prince Dipendra for the killings.

In fact, Nepali Congress Govt. led by G. P. Koirala was beleaguered over the past months. Struggles of the people were rising throughout Nepal. While CPN (Maoist) led militant struggle was growing in different parts of the country, other opposition parties were mobilizing the people against Koirala Govt. A few days before the palace killings the whole of Nepal had come to a standstill during 3-day Bandh called by opposition parties against the corruption of Koirala Govt. Koirala Govt. had all reason to fear the rising people’s struggles.

It is also to be noted that the newspapers had been carrying reports before the Palace killings about the dispute between King Birendra and Koirala Govt. over plans for the deployment of Army against guerrillas of CPN (Maoist). Though King Birendra had later acquieseized in the deployment of Army, it was only in limited areas and under a broader programme involving rural development as well. 

These actors are not so difficult to identify along with the top leaders of Army without whose connivance and active participation this could neither be carried out nor covered up. The palace has a strong presence of the Army with its elite units all the time guarding the Palace. It is not a mere coincidence that the first reports alluded to were sources from the Army.

Nepal is a landlocked country sandwitched between two big neighbours India and China. Its easy accessibility and cultural proximity to India made it easier for India to let its covetous eyes prey upon it. India has been adopting a domineering attitude towards Nepal forcing many a concessions even at the threat of blocking its trade.

Even before the Palace killings, Indian newspapers had been commenting on the growth of anti-India feelings in Nepal and that the forces fanning such feelings had been getting protection from the Palace. Immediately after the killings, even while the Nepal Govt. was treading carefully, Indian Prime Minister ruled out any conspiracy in the Palace killings. Indian Govt. immediately rushed to support the new King, Gyanendra who is widely suspected by the people of Nepal to be involved in the killings. The stand of the Indian Govt. disregarding the popular feelings, have lent credence to its involvement in the happenings in Nepal.

And not only Indian Govt. even the role of US and its agencies has come under cloud. Only recently, Indian Govt. had allowed US agency FBI to open its office in Delhi. The democratic forces in India had severely criticized this decision of the Govt. to allow opening of FBI office. It definitely poses a serious threat to the people’s struggles in South Asia as well, particularly the revolutionary movement.

It is to be noted that the western media, particularly that of US and Britain, had come out with this story even before people of Nepal had come to know of the incident. They have repeated it ad nauseam to make it popular perception oblivious of the inherent contradictions in their version.

Convinced as they are of the highly concocted nature of their story, the Govt. is trying to shift the blame on to the revolutionaries. The Home Ministry was quoted as saying about the enquiry report “The Maoists and the extreme Left Communists are not going to accept it, as they will try to mislead the general public in order to create violence in the country.” On the other hand the Govt. has sought to crush the popular protests against the killings and their handling. Curfew has been clamped repeatedly; people have been beaten mercilessly. Press too has been attacked with the arrest of three top newspaper executives including Editor of Kantipur, Yuvraj Ghimire.

Reaction of the opposition forces in Nepal show disbelief in the Govt. version. Parliamentary opposition parties have charged the Koirala led Govt. with mishandling the situation and of lack of transparency, giving rise to suspicions among the people.

Revolutionary organizations have been forthright in condemning the conspiracy behind the killings. Lilamani Pokhrel, General Secretary of United Peoples Front of Nepal was quoted to have told a mass gathering that “the government was trying to cover up information. I don’t believe the Crown Prince is the murderer despite what various media have been saying. There is a conspiracy at work.”

Politburo of CPN (Maoist) has termed it “as part of their conspiracy to corner China, American imperialists and Indian colonialists in collusion with the palace had conspired to eliminate King Birendra, who was an “obstacle” in their path.” In an earlier reaction, CPN leadership had stated nationalism and liberal political approach of King Birendra was the cause of these killings.

There is no doubt that Indian rulers and US imperialists would like to liquidate the revolutionary movement in Nepal. While proclaiming noisily and repeatedly that they have drawn the curtains down on revolutions, the imperialists very well know that the contradictions in the present day world are intensifying and people are coming out in struggles against imperialism and reactionaries. They are well aware that the revolutionary struggles are growing. And hence, they would like not to let the cloak of their ‘invincibility’ be blown over by the mighty tide of revolutionary movement. They will go to any extent to crush the revolutionary movement. US imperialists are keen to do at global level what they have been routinely doing in Latin America. But try as hard as they may, they can not reverse the march of history inexorably pushing them to their doom.

Conspiracies of this kind are not proved when the very people suspected to be involved wield power. These are to be inferred from the course of political events. The attitude of the new establishment over their relations with India and USA, over use of Army against the revolutionary movement and increased repression on people’s struggle will be the pointers. Whatever be the course of events, the reactionary forces which have masterminded these killings, irrespective of the actual role of individual actor, have angered the masses. They have sown a wind and they will surely reap a whirlwind.