The King of Nepal

Nepal has always been known as the Worlds only Hindu Kingdom and it was believed that the King was in a direct line from the Gods. Previously this was something the Nepalese were very proud of but today the attitude towards the royal family is different. Everything changed the night of the 1st June, the date of the royal massacre. A drunk and upset crown prince (his parents wouldn’t allow the marriage between him and the woman he loved) shot and killed 9 members of the royal family including King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya before shooting himself dying 2 days later.

Though this is the official version there are plenty of conspiracy theories involving both CIA and India. Most theories do point toward the current King Gyanendra (brother of the old King) since he gained the most from the tragic night. Most Nepalese believe that the direct line to the Gods have been broken and when the King in February 2005 through a military coup took power from the parliament to stop the Maoists and the 10 year long conflict, he lost most sympathy with the population.

In April 2006 the political parties alongside with the Maoist went to the streets and after several days of mass demonstrations in all of Nepal – and 16 dead – the King was forced to give up power and make space for the democratic process that Nepal currently is in.

Once of the first things done by the reinstated parliament was to strip the King of all power thereby reducing him to a ceremonial figure. In the upcoming election the population will then be asked to decide the fate of the monarchy and already now the Maoists and other political parties are asking to have him removed completely claiming that he and his supporters are behind the unrest in the country today in an attempt to stop the democratic process.

It will be interesting to see what will happen to the King but one thing is for sure; the King has lost his status in Nepal. These pictures shows; a roundabout in the West where the statue of an old King has been destroyed and replaced by posters of Prachanda – the Maoist leader. The other is from the centre of Nepalgunj where a statue of King Tribhuvan has been renamed Madhesis Chowk decorated with Madhesi flags.