Remembering Late King Birendra
At a time when even his statues seem to be objectionable as Maoists have been destroying them, late King Birendra’s tutor Francis G. Hutchins comes out with a book on the sixth anniversary of his mysterious killing
By KESHAB POUDEL
Whether it was during the direct rule of his brother King Gyanendra or direct rule of eight political parties now, nobody finds time to remember the legacy of late King Birendra, who was mysteriously killed in June 1, 2001.
Six years have already been passed since but it is still a mystery why King Birendra, who had shown his complete faith in liberal democratic system and made efforts to democratize the institution of monarchy and modernize the country, and his entire family were killed?
Unlike in the first four years of his brother King Gyanendra’s direct rule when king Birendra’s views were ignored but now even his statue seems to be objectionable to the government of eight parties. Most of the leaders in present government worked with late King Birendra including prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala and CPN-UML leader Madhav Kumar Nepal . Earlier, all of them praised King Birendra’s role without any reservation on his commitment to liberal democracy. In the contest of new Loktantra, no body is there to remember him.
Although King Birendra had many Nepali tutors who even worked as secretary in Royal Palace like Narayan Prasad Shrestha, Chiran Sumsher Thapa and numerous others but nobody has written any book on late King Birendra and his contribution to Nepal .
As no Nepalis in power want to remember late King Birendra as eight party leaders have destroyed the Constitution of Kingdom of Nepal 1990 which made Nepali people sovereign, Francis G. Hutchins, who also served as Kissinger’s personal assistant in 1960s, has come with a book with full memory of King Birendra and his liberal views. “Always affable, polite and attentive to the nuances of my arguments toward egalitarianism, he never openly contradicted me.
When his memory is gradually fading from the minds of people, Hutchins’ book again reminds one about the importance of this noble king.
Having worked for a long period of time in South Asia, Hutchins, who was with the Harvard University , is also well known about geo-strategic complications of South Asia . From King Prithivinarayan Shah to King Birendra, he explains the challenges posed by Nepal to survive as an independent nation.
Although it is short and small, the book consists of all important aspects of King Birendra and his contribution to Nepal . Hutchins must be thanked for his contribution to remind a noble King of Nepal who is still popular among Nepalese people. This book is noteworthy to read.
Highlights of the Book
” As the pole star, Dhruva is also called Graha-Dhara, pivot of the planets, to which the pole star is thought to be linked by invisible strands of nurturing influence. While it may not have been his conscious intent, Birendra’s deepest aspiration seems indeed to resemble the pole-star, itself unmoving, its manifold effects manifested in others. This was not a realistic regimen for a work-a-day monarch, even for Dhruva, who became the pole star only after his death. In death however, Birendra has surely drawn closer to Dhruva. Like Dhruva, Birendra seems certain to remain a fixed point of reference,” writes Hutchins. (page138)
” I had always thought of my relationship with Birendra as confidential. I rarely mentioned him even to close friends and never spoke publicly about him. I anticipated he would rule throughout my life and never expected that a time would come when it would be appropriate for me to describe my discussions with Birendra or my thoughts about him.” (Page 8)
” I would not today approach the project of tutoring a future ruler of Nepal as I did in the fall of 1967. When I became Birendra’s tutor, I was twenty-seven, and he was twenty-two.”
” I do know that Birendra shaped my career path, my thinking about the United States , and abut the ways nations can beneficially interact. Birendra became part of my life and to his memory, I must dedicate this book.”
” Whatever the twenty-first century bodes for Nepal, the Shah dynasty’s historic role as a definer of Nepal’s nationhood in the eighteenth century and as a nurture of Nepal’s political independence in the twentieth century will not be affected. A sense of Nepal’s uniqueness was fostered by dynasty, and benefited it, but is now deeply shared by all Nepalis.”
” For three generations spanning fifty years, from 1951 to 2001, Nepal was ruled by latter-day monarchs who were imaginative, serious-minded and public-spirited. Each was different, each thoroughly Nepali. As the last great Shah ruler, Birendra seem certain to be remembered as a pivotal figure in the history of Nepal .”
” Then there was Nepal , nominally also a British-allied princely state, which stood apart as the modern buffer state between India and China . This twentieth century accomplishment would not have been possible had it not been for Nepal ’s eighteenth century consolidation as a dynamic pre-modern empire by Prithivinarayan Shah.”
On Nepal ’s broader international situation, Prithivinarayan Shah was characteristically concise: “This country is like a gourde between two boulders. This remark was made when China was governed by Manchus and India by the British East India Company. Yet no revision is needed to update it for the twenty-first century, when India is a self-governing republic and China Communist. (Page 75)
Contours of Communism
Translated in Nepali, the book by American author Richard Pipes reveals how brutal
communist regimes are
By A CORRESPONDENT
At a time when the communist system is at the verge of collapse in the world, upsurge of communism in Nepal is a strange phenomenon for westerners. Nepal's communist movement started to intensify in 1990 when the communism in the world was crumbling from the Eastern Europe and former Soviet Union.
Having written numerous books and essays including The Russian Revolution, Russia Under Bolshevik Regime and Property and Freedom, Richard Pipes, Professor of History, Emeritus, at Harvard University, is a well known author.
Translated into dozens of languages throughout the world, Pipe's book “Communism A History” discusses and highlights different aspects of communism looking back at its historical evolution.
Without knowing much about theoretical and other aspects of communism, many Nepalese - whether they are champions of liberal democracy with absolute freedom or other like minded members of civil society - are backing communist parties.
The context of publication is very timely as it gives the picture of history of communists to those who cannot read English. Translation is a very difficult task as it needs to follow the text and context of original book. One of the challenges is to maintain the spirit and content of the book.
Upadhyay, professor of English at Tribhuwan University, has done very hard work to translate it into Nepali. Despite his efforts to use generalized words, some words used in book are difficult to understand for common people. Even sentence structures, at time, are complex as they have been translated from English.
In Nepal's case, it is Nepali Congress, a liberal democratic party, and its leaders who are responsible to legitimize the communist forces. The western followers of liberal democracy are surprised when they see this unique alliance of liberal Democratic Party and radical communists in the name of strengthening democratic process.
Even now an octogenarian liberal democratic leader is leading a cabinet dominated by communists. Communist parties have majority in the parliament. Although Nepal is a neighbor of world's largest democracy as well as world's largest communist country, it is strange to see that communism here is exported by democratic neighbor rather than the other way round. In reality, Nepal's communism is exported by Nepal's democratic neighbor and nurtured by liberal Democratic Party.
Nepal has its own history of communist movements but it was never so much influential. In 1995 communists emerged as the single largest party. Since then, communists are in one or other way making greater influence in Nepali politics blocking every move to liberalize economic, political and other processes.
It surprised the world in 1995 when Communist Party of Nepal Marxist and Leninist - which emerged as a single largest party in the elected House of Representatives - formed minority government for nine months.
Another phase of communist upsurge began following the decision of CPN-Maoists to wage People's War in 1996. After successful People's Movement II in April 2006 and several agreements with Seven Party Alliance, Maoist movement came to an end following its inclusion in coalition government..
Despite painful atrocities committed by communists during the period of its upsurge, only few people have ever read about the history of communism and atrocities committed by them in the world.
As it is translated into Nepali, Pipe's book will help to know reality behind the communism and communist party. With low literacy and rampant poverty, communists have always tried to influence poor people showing that they are their messiah. In reality, these people have to pay high price for it.
"The costs of the experiments in utopia were staggering. They took a huge toll on human lives. Stephen Courtois, the editor of The Black Book of Communism, estimates the global number of communism's victims at between 85 to 100 million, which is 50 percent greater than the deaths caused by two world wars," writes Pipes. "The survivors, too paid, a price. In their effort to impose total conformity, communist regimes drove into exile,
incarcerated, and silenced those who would not conform- often the ablest and most enterprising."
This is very timely book for Nepalese who like to know the history of communism in the world. It shows how communists grab the power and how they suppress people once they are in power. Every Nepali regardless of political ideology must read the book giving regard to Pipes.
Communism A History
Author: Richard Pipes
A Nepali translation by Hrishikesh Upadhyay
Published by: Creation Media Company Pvt. Limited
Phone: 44255125
Edited by: Saurav Kiran Shrestha
