Bloody Friday

Nepal has been to hell and back in the last three days, but the trauma may have only just begun. The mother of all speculation is rife about what really happened on Friday night at the Narayanhiti palace in Kathmandu, and here’s one more version: We’ve already heard that Crown Prince-King Dipendra, in inebriated condition, was ordered back into his room by his imperious mother Aishwarya, when a right royal argument over his choice of bride began to escalate. Seems Dipendra had publicly announced his ‘‘engagement’’ to Devyani Rana a few weeks ago, and he now said he was determined to marry her.

But guess who escorted Dipendra back into his room? Paras Shah, now Crown Prince Paras, the son of newly coronated King Gyanendra. Paras is said to have helped Dipendra back into his bedroom and returned to the dining area. Minutes later, Dipendra was back, in battle fatigues and wielding an assault rifle. He first shot his father, King Birendra, then blew up his mother’s face. He next turned the gun on Paras, who evidently had the presence of mind to say, ‘Look, I’m your brother.’ Dipendra turned the gun away from Paras and unleashed the carbine into the rest of those present. There are now two survivors likely to live to tell this horrific tale: Gyanendra’s wife, now Queen and the husband of Princess Shruti.
Prince Paras

PARAS Shah, the thirty-something Crown Prince of Nepal, must have the dubious distinction of getting the worst press any Nepalese royalty could possibly get, even in a controlled news order. Evidently, he leans heavily towards fast cars and pretty women, and since royalty in Nepal cannot be prosecuted without the King’s permission, young Paras is said to have in his young life made full use of his former family.

A few months ago, he reportedly knocked down and killed a popular musician in a Kathmandu street in the middle of the night. Irate citizens demanded that Shah be dealt with and continued their campaign until the Palace asked PM Koirala to inquire into the incident. Another time he is supposed to have walked into a Kathmandu nightclub and asked a woman to dance with him. When she refused, he whipped out his gun and began to fire bullets into the air. Then again on Saturday evening, as the Nepalese royal family was being cremated, local citizens swear they saw Paras Shah’s face stretched into...a grimace or a smile?

King G

GYANENDRA Shah was crowned the King of Nepal for the second time in his life on Monday morning. The first time around, in 1950, he was barely 3-4 years old, and used as a pawn in the political game between the Ranas (who had ruled Nepal for a hundred years before), the Shahs (Nepal’s royalty) and India. What happened in 1950 is really the stuff of a political thriller.

Virtually imprisoned in his palace, Tribhuvan Shah used the alibi of a hunting expedition to divert his car to the Indian embassy in Kathmandu. The Indians offered him refuge and flew him, his son Mahendra and his grandchildren—except Gyanendra—to Delhi. The boy-child was crowned King. The British government, seeking to keep itself alive in the sub-continent, even considered recognising the young King. Until Jawaharlal Nehru firmly put his foot down, telling London that if it did so, India would not join the Commonwealth.

It paid off: New Delhi and Kathmandu signed a Treaty of Friendship with the Ranas and Tribhuvan, along with his family, returned as a conquering hero to the Himalayan kingdom. While little King Gyanendra was changed back into a Prince until this Monday morning, when the old, familiar crown was returned to his head.

Pak interruptus

PAKISTAN’S ex-ISI chief Javed Nasir certainly knows how to spring a surprise. In a comment in the Pakistani press today, Nasir attributed the royal Nepali massacre to the handiwork of the Indian intelligence agency, RAW. So what is Nasir doing these days anyway? For those who care to dig up the files, the gentleman is now the chairman of the Pakistan Shiromani Gurudwara Prabhandhak Committee (PSPGC), which often organises very successful ‘jathas’ from India to Sikh shrines in Pakistan. Grateful Sikhs on their return home have confessed that Nasir has also told them that he will provide ‘‘help’’ — if any were to be needed in Punjab.

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