King Birendra is the only monarch in Nepal’s history with a democratic inclination. King Birendra inherited an autocratic Panchayat system when he ascended the throne in 1972. It was a legacy of his father, King Mahendra. So naturally it was not a compulsion for him to initiate reform in the autocratic system. Nevertheless, every time there was dissent, he was ever willing to accommodate and compromise.

In 1979, when student-organized protests in Kathmandu calling for the restoration of a multi-party system turned into a national agitation backed by the political parties, the king announced a referendum. Although the referendum is alleged to have been rigged against the multi party system, the king nonetheless reformed the autocratic Panchayat system. The reformed Panchayat system allowed direct election of the legislators and local body official by popular vote. Though the King maintained his absolute rule, this reform was a milestone in the process leading up to the eventual restoration of the multi party system in Nepal in 1990.

A much liked trait of King Birendra was his ever smiling and gracious face. His pleasing personality was best proved during the meeting between the King and the leaders of the People’s Movement 1990, that was demanding the restoration of the multi party system after a month of violence and bloodshed. The meeting was beamed into the TV screen of Nepalese homes on the night of 8th April 1990. People were astounded to see the smiling face of a monarch accommodating the leaders at negotiations to make him give up his absolute rule. It was later said that there were no negotiations. The king simply asked the leaders about their demands and agreed to the restoration of the multi-party system without much discussion and bargaining.

"His Majesty is gentle." Krishna Prasad Bhattarai had this reaction when he came out of the meeting that restored multi-party democracy in Nepal in 1990. Indeed the King was one of the most gentle and kind of Nepalese monarchs in recent history. "A smiling figure in sandals, ....not for the scheduled 10 minutes, but for two and a half hours, we were made to feel enormously welcome," wrote Tam Dalyell, who met the King as a part of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Visit to Nepal six years ago, in the Obituary section of the Britain’ Independent Newspaper. Sir John Stanley, Chairman of the Britain-Nepal parliamentary group and part of the visiting team asked the King about his views on the role of constitutional monarchy since he was peacefully deprived of power in 1990. "To practice harmony." When the team met the late Mr Manmohan Adhikari, he confirmed the respect for the King both as a man, and one who used his position to strive to promote harmony, writes Mr. Dalyell.

The demise of the democratic king didn’t have to be the demise of democratic values. As this article was being written, the author was aghast to know that the government had arrested a leading and respected journalist of Nepal from the largest daily newspaper Kantipur, Yubaraj Ghimire, along with his Managing Director and Director on charges of treason for publishing an article by a Maoist leader. Articles by the Maoist leader have been published frequently in the daily newspaper before. The article represented the personal opinion of the author and publishing it was merely a practice of the freedom of expression guaranteed by the constitution of Nepal. The government by trying to muzzle a respected and widely popular newspaper has sent a wrong signal.

The government’s repressive move will only serve to fuel suspicions that people still have about the tragedy and the anarchy that we witnessed immediately after the new King’s enthronement could again ensue. As the violence was subsiding and the anarchists were being gradually sidelined, the government’s move has aggravated the situation and it may very well flare up again. The government has to understand that rekindled anarchy in the streets of Kathmandu can have grave consequences and the government could very well become a casualty.