People's Democracy

THE massacre of the royal family in Katmandu is a monumental tragedy. It is both shocking and macabre. The country has been shaken to the core. Emotionally surcharged people, with shaven heads in mourning, have been spontaneously reacting with anger and despair, making it necessary for the imposition of curfew several times last week.

The unprecedented nightmarish gunning down of the entire royal family is being seen by many in Nepal's media as a "dastardly act shrouded in mystery and conspiracy." A benumbed nation, after initial shock, is now speculating about what actually happened. The initial explanation of an inebriated crown prince firing his automatic weapon after a family quarrel is finding few takers. Theories of bizarre palace intrigues and conspiracy are being woven. The Khatmandu Post, in a front page editorial, summed up the reigning sentiment stating that "the need to get to the bottom of the truth, no matter how bitter and no matter how unpleasant, cannot be over-emphasised.…… The truth may be a bitter pill to swallow, but swallow we must." The paper went on to add that "no matter how difficult, the country must be brought back to normalcy."

Prime minister Koirala hastily withdrew an initial announcement of an enquiry. The announcement of an enquiry by the current King Gyanendra, has also run into trouble with the opposition leader and CPN(UML) general secretary, Madhav Nepal, declining to be a member of the committee on grounds of constitutional impropriety. Many Nepali newspapers have aired apprehension that such an enquiry, asked to complete its work in three days, would be handicapped since no post-mortem reports are available and the surviving witnesses who miraculously escaped the royal massacre include the present queen and crown prince, who cannot be questioned.

After a long and arduous struggle, the people of Nepal established democracy in 1990. The transition from a monarchy to a constitutional monarchy resulted in the transfer of sovereign power from the king to the people. The late King Birendra, who ruled as a monarch (at times ruthlessly) from January 1972, remained a constitutional monarch from 1990 till his tragic murder. For many in Nepal, he remained a symbol of transition of power to the people and democracy. While we offer our solace to the Nepalis in their hour of grief, it must be underlined that the democratic foundations of Nepal must not be weakened; on the contrary, they must be strengthened in the coming period. The grief over such tragic developments cannot be allowed to be exploited to spread disaffection against the democratic system.

India and Nepal share a mutual interdependence that is irreversible. In this hour of tragic grief, all Indians stand by their Nepali brethren and seek an early restoration of normalcy.