February 5, 2002

On June 2, 2001, as the world was still absorbing the horrendous events which had transpired the night before at the Narayanhiti Palace, the centre of power and all that is holy to the subjects in the kingdom of Nepal, a titular king lay struggling with death. A victim of his own carnage, Prince Dipendra lost the battle the day after and died.

These incredulous events in Kathmandu will be talked about for years to come, long after the dust has settled. A prince had annihilated not just a loved family, but had changed the course of history of his nation, because of reasons, which remain conjectures.

As such happenings are what legends are made of, it was not surprising, that writers were quick to burn the midnight lamp, finishing a choice assignment of publishing a comprehensive work, on an affair to remember. With so much public interest in the happenings of that night and questions being asked, it was only expected that those privy to inside information should record the account in book form. And so, in less than five months — amidst the numerous reports, editorials, columns and other critiques published in newspapers all over the world — two books have appeared on the shelves, featuring the royal carnage in the kingdom of Nepal.

Prakash A. Raj is a Nepalese with other books on Nepal to his credit and Neelesh Misra is a news correspondent of the Associated Press attached to the South Asian region and based in New Delhi. Raj’s account in Kay gardeko (Nepalese for, ‘What have you done?’) is a sensitive narration, more on the lines of a docudrama, which chronicles the events as they unfolded on June 1.

While Raj intersperses them briefly with the tumultuous past of the Shah dynasty and with the many customs and traditions indigenous to Nepal and religiously followed by its monarchs, Misra, in End of the line elaborates in detail the times preceding the present royal family, and many other bloody deeds which were enacted in that kingdom in the struggle for power. It is revealed that the Shah and Rana dynasties have such entwined histories that the families have marriages and bloody wars between each other in the competing space.

From these works one learns the history of the royal family. Light is shed on the lives and character of the protagonists so that the reader can see some method in the madness of Crown Prince Dipendra, son of King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya. He was the grandson of King Mahendra and the great grandson of King Tribhuvan, the ‘reinstater’ of the Shah dynasty’s rule in Nepal half a century earlier.

The king in Nepal, is conferred the same reference as Lord Vishnu, whose incarnation is believed to take place in the Narayanhiti Palace (Narayan being another name of Vishnu) as his temple is situated next to the Palace. The king is regarded as the human manifestation and incarnation of Vishnu and years ago people would hope to get a darshan of the king in the hope that their sins for the day would be washed away. But, however revered the king might have been, no deity came forth on the fateful night of June 1 to save him from death, when his own offspring pulled the trigger of his 9-mm sub machine gun on him at point blank range.

As the bullets penetrated the King’s neck and stomach, all that the mortal deity could do was ask faintly of his son, ‘Kay gardeko?’ (What have you done?) before sinking to the ground.

There was much to account for the strange behaviour of the prince. Dipendra’s childhood and youth, his strained relationship with his mother, the Queen, his love for Devyani Rana and his frustrations as a Crown Prince paved the ground for the massacre. Yet nothing prepares the reader for the rendition of events on that chilling evening which was simply supposed to be a customary Friday night gathering of the close members of the royal family of Nepal, in the billiard room of the Palace. The prince was the affable host, mixing drinks for his guests as they began to assemble.

But somewhere in his mind, something was going very, very wrong, as he seemed to slowly lose control of his temper and even pass out because of excessive alcohol, mixed with an assortment of drugs. This was strange behaviour on his part, as he was always known to hold his drinks well and never lose control. It the beginning of the end, when minutes after being carried to his room unconscious, Crown Prince Dipendra reappeared in battle fatigues, armed with weaponry from his extensive armoury, to create mayhem and leave nine people dead; 14 seriously injured; and to eventually end his own life.

Misra weaves a more expansive story, which brings to fore Dipendra’s differences with his mother who appears to have played a major role in his frustrations, giving him insecurity by withdrawing from him a mother’s emotions and then denying him the sentiments of the only woman who loved him unconditionally. His research includes analyses of psychologists who have actually pinpointed the reason for his enraged behaviour that night, to the Queen’s attitude towards her elder son since childhood. The reason, enhanced by the intake of potent drugs, according to psychologists, was enough to trigger off such impulses. There is little left out in End of the line, which offers everything to the reader on the issue — the odd behaviour of the ADCs of the Crown prince and the king after the shootout; the desolation which a hopeless man in love could have felt; the inadequate emergency measures applied to the victims who just might have been saved if prompt and precise actions were taken and the prophesies and superstitions which govern the tiny kingdom of Nepal.

If one were looking for reference material on the Nepal bloodbath, then Neelesh Misra’s narrative would fit the bill. But for a fast read to gather the events in a coherent form, Prakash A. Raj in Kay gardeko? is more readable, as he reports events in true, detective style, interspersing them with brief references to Nepal’s history and its ample share of legends.

But in one context Raj’s account strikes a different note. He hints at sabotage which would exonerate the much loved Crown Prince. Nepal’s subjects too would like to believe that there is a faint possibility that the man in the midst of the bloodbath was possibly, just possibly, not Dipendra but an impersonator carrying out the brutal murders and eventually killing the real Crown Prince with no eyewitness around. The Maoist rebels who have been active in Nepal offer a credible enough explanation for such an act of annihilation of the royal family.

What is left wanting in both accounts — though through no fault of the writers - is details of Devyani’s present state, her initial reactions and her side of the story, who, it seems must have been the last person to have a coherent conversation with Crown Prince Dipendra. Fearing his condition that night, she had called his ADC to look after him, as he was not sounding well. But her parents whisked Devyani away to India into hiding, away from prying eyes and traumatic questions. Considered to be the main reason behind the carnage, it was the only protection they could provide her.

Kay gardeko? The royal massacre in Nepal
By Prakash A. Raj
Rupa & Co, 7/16, Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi-110 002
Available in Pakistan with Paramount Books, 152/O, Block 2, PECH Society, Karachi-75400
Tel: 021-4310030. 
Email: paramount@cyber.net.pk
ISBN 81-7167-571-9
110pp. Rs229.50

End of the line: the story of the killings of the royals in Nepal
By Neelesh Misra
Penguin Books, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, NewDelhi-110 017, India.
Website: www.penguinbooksindia.com
ISBN 0-14-302785-9
205pp. Indian Rs200

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