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Posted
on 02-Jun-01 11:15 PM
Crown prince kills King Birendra, family
King Birendra (AP)
Deependra in coma but anointed king
By Siddharth Varadarajan
KATHMANDU: King Birendra of Nepal was cremated here along with his wife, Queen Aishwarya, and six other members of his family about 20 hours after they were all shot and killed at the Royal Palace on Friday night. The massacre was apparently carried out by Birendra's eldest son crown prince Deependra who subsequently shot himself.
And in a bizarre - but perfectly constitutional - twist to the tragedy, the Raj Parishad Sthayi Samithi, or Privy Council - a statutory, widely representative body created in 1990 and comprising the prime minister, leader of opposition and all parties - declared the crown prince and apparent parricide the king of Nepal even as he lies in deep coma. The council also announced that since Deependra was ill, Birendra's brother, Gyanendra, would serve as regent.
Among the others killed were Birendra's younger son Nirajan, his daughter Shruti, the king's sisters Sharada and Shanti, Shanti's husband Khadak, and his cousin Jayanti. Though the authorities have given virtually no information - the official announcement on Radio Nepal did not even mention how the king, queen, Nirajan and Shruti died, referring coyly only to their svargarohan, or demise - it is believed that some other members of the royal family such as Birendra's youngest brother, Dhirendra, were also shot.
According to Nepali journalists, tension between Deependra and his parents, particularly his mother, had been building for several months over their opposition to his romantic attachment to Devyani, the daughter of Pashupati Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana, a palace loyalist. Rana is married to Usha Raje Scindia of the Gwalior royal family.
Devyani had studied at Mayo College in Ajmer and was constantly seen with the crown prince, a favourite haunt of theirs being Fire & Ice, a pizza joint not far from the palace. Devyani had initially not wanted to marry, said her friend. She did not fancy herself as a queen. But she gradually fell in love and agreed. It is not clear why Aishwarya opposed Devyani. Some say she did not like the Rana family, others that there were astrological objections. But Deependra was apparently told in no uncertain terms that he would not be able to marry her.
On Friday night, it seems, harsh words were once again exchanged at the royal family's regular monthly get-together. It is said by informed sources here that Deependra had had too much to drink and was told to leave. He left the room and returned with an M-16 rifle that had been provided to him along with other assault rifles three days earlier by army commanders eager for him to test them and recommend one for general purchase. What ensued was a mindless bloodbath. By some accounts, at least 19 people were killed or injured by Deependra, including two bodyguards and as many as 12 members of the royal family.
After finishing the deed, he apparently went up to his room, changed into fatigues and shot himself in the head with a Koch 9mm pistol. The bullet went through his head but didn't kill him. Though he has now been proclaimed king, many Nepalese believe that he might be dead and that Gyanendra, the regent, will soon be proclaimed king.
As can be imagined, the people of Kathmandu are in deep shock. Though the situation in the Capital is perfectly calm, people gathered throughout the day in small groups to discuss the tragedy and speculate about how it all happened. By evening, virtually the entire city seemed to have turned out to line the streets through which the funeral procession of Birendra and his family members slowly passed. At the ancient Pashupati Temple complex on the banks of the Bagmati, tens of thousands of people gathered to witness the cremation.
Though the state media has offered no explanation of what has happened, some local newspapers have highlighted the role of Deependra. However, many Nepalese believe there is a deeper conspiracy, with a few pointing their finger at Gyanendra, who was at Pokhara at the time the massacre occurred, and his son, Paras Shah, notorious in Kathmandu as a spoilt prince, who was at the royal family dinner but appears to have left just before the shooting started.
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