KATHMANDU: Two years ago, when the Narayanhity, once the royal palace jealously guarded from the public eye by a high wall and armed soldiers, opened to the public as a national museum, it was not the ceremonial throne or stuffed animal hunting trophies that held the curious crowds transfixed. What mesmerised them instead was a razed down mansion with some walls still bearing bullet pock marks – the site of the royal massacre on June 1, 2001 which killed the then king Birendra and wiped out his entire family.
But on Wednesday, the 10th anniversary of the dark night that led to the eventual abolition of monarchy in the world's only Hindu kingdom, people had mostly forgotten the slain king. It was partly due to the quirks of the Nepali calendar. According to it, Birendra and nine more royals, including the queen and their three children, died on Jeth 19, which, this year, falls on June 2.
However, even as diehard royalists said they would garland Birendra's statues in Jawalakhel, there was little interest left in the massacre after two governments pledged to hold an inquiry but failed to carry it out. Though an inquiry soon after the carnage in 2001 said it was caused by the intoxicated crown prince Dipendra, who bore his parents an old grudge for opposing his marriage to the girl he loved, most Nepalis refused to believe it. Even Nepal's top politicians, including former Maoist prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, had indicated in public that it was a well-planned conspiracy, with the needle of suspicion pointing at Birendra's brother Gyanendra, who succeeded him, the CIA and even India's RAW, depending on the political affiliation and mood of the speaker.
During the inauguration of the museum in Feb 2009, an emotional Prachanda promised that an inquiry, that would meet international standards, would be held under his government to bring the actual perpetrators to justice. But just four months later, the Maoist chief was forced to resign and the inquiry did not even take off.
It was mooted once more by Madhav Kumar Nepal, who succeeded Prachanda as prime minister. In 2009, Nepal too promised an investigation as well as rebuilding Tribhuvan Sadan, Dipendra's residence where the killings occurred during a family dinner. The mansion was demolished during King Gyanendra's regime under the instruction of the then queen mother Ratna.
Two years later, not only have the investigation promises been forgotten but the trust established by the government to ferret out the slain royal family's bank accounts at home and abroad, the priceless jewellery believed to be owned by them and other assets, has also not been able to do its job due to the pall of silence still protecting the former royals.
Many of the people linked to the tragedy have also moved on, fashioning out a new life and seeking for bygones to remain bygones. Dipendra's girlfriend Devyani Rana is now married to the grandson of former Indian minister Arjun Singh, Aishwarya Singh, and her role has changed to that of a wife and mother. Gorakh Shumsher, the husband of the king's daughter Shruti, who too died in the massacre, has also remarried.
Most importantly, Gyanendra who succeeded Birendra, gambled away his throne by trying to seize power and consequently triggering an anti-monarchy movement that saw the abolition of the crown in 2008. Now, reduced to commoners stripped of past privileges, the former royals no longer evoke the same public indignation they used to. Perhaps the passage of time will one day exorcise King Birendra's ghost, far more effectively than any fresh investigation.
But on Wednesday, the 10th anniversary of the dark night that led to the eventual abolition of monarchy in the world's only Hindu kingdom, people had mostly forgotten the slain king. It was partly due to the quirks of the Nepali calendar. According to it, Birendra and nine more royals, including the queen and their three children, died on Jeth 19, which, this year, falls on June 2.
However, even as diehard royalists said they would garland Birendra's statues in Jawalakhel, there was little interest left in the massacre after two governments pledged to hold an inquiry but failed to carry it out. Though an inquiry soon after the carnage in 2001 said it was caused by the intoxicated crown prince Dipendra, who bore his parents an old grudge for opposing his marriage to the girl he loved, most Nepalis refused to believe it. Even Nepal's top politicians, including former Maoist prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, had indicated in public that it was a well-planned conspiracy, with the needle of suspicion pointing at Birendra's brother Gyanendra, who succeeded him, the CIA and even India's RAW, depending on the political affiliation and mood of the speaker.
During the inauguration of the museum in Feb 2009, an emotional Prachanda promised that an inquiry, that would meet international standards, would be held under his government to bring the actual perpetrators to justice. But just four months later, the Maoist chief was forced to resign and the inquiry did not even take off.
It was mooted once more by Madhav Kumar Nepal, who succeeded Prachanda as prime minister. In 2009, Nepal too promised an investigation as well as rebuilding Tribhuvan Sadan, Dipendra's residence where the killings occurred during a family dinner. The mansion was demolished during King Gyanendra's regime under the instruction of the then queen mother Ratna.
Two years later, not only have the investigation promises been forgotten but the trust established by the government to ferret out the slain royal family's bank accounts at home and abroad, the priceless jewellery believed to be owned by them and other assets, has also not been able to do its job due to the pall of silence still protecting the former royals.
Many of the people linked to the tragedy have also moved on, fashioning out a new life and seeking for bygones to remain bygones. Dipendra's girlfriend Devyani Rana is now married to the grandson of former Indian minister Arjun Singh, Aishwarya Singh, and her role has changed to that of a wife and mother. Gorakh Shumsher, the husband of the king's daughter Shruti, who too died in the massacre, has also remarried.
Most importantly, Gyanendra who succeeded Birendra, gambled away his throne by trying to seize power and consequently triggering an anti-monarchy movement that saw the abolition of the crown in 2008. Now, reduced to commoners stripped of past privileges, the former royals no longer evoke the same public indignation they used to. Perhaps the passage of time will one day exorcise King Birendra's ghost, far more effectively than any fresh investigation.
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