NATIONAL8 (Spotlight Weekly]

Desperate For The Truth

People within Nepal and abroad are impatient to know the truth. But politicking by the main opposition party has not helped the matter

By BHAGIRATH YOGI

Time: 10:50 a. m., Wednesday

Place: Chhauni

Scene: Local people are offering their condolence to late King Birendra, Queen Aishworya and other members of the slain royal family at a public place decorated by Help Line Club. Suddenly, two or three youths, with their heads shaved off, find two tyres and try to burn it in the middle of the roads. People are panicked. All the shutters are pulled down and people run toward their houses. Within a couple of minutes, a patrolling van of police arrives. Policemen put out the fire and start guarding the area.

Time: 11:50 a. m., Wednesday

Place: Southern gate of Royal Palace

Scene: After two days long curfew and amid rumors of curfew being imposed upon in the city any time, hundreds of people-- with flowers in their hand-- tolerate the mid-day sun and queue up in a disciplined way along the pavement. They are there to pay their homage to the late royal family and put their signatures on the memorial book.

King Gyanendra being crowned : Model monarch

Even after six days of the fateful Friday event that claimed lives of ten royal family members of Nepal -- including King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya (See: a separate story) Nepalese people are finding it hard to swallow the bitter truth that their beloved royal family members were killed in cold blood within the royal palace at a family dinner. "We want to know the truth, nothing else," said Binod Maharjan, a young man in his early twenties Wednesday morning. "We will call ëNepal bandh' (the nationwide shutdown strike) if there will be any attempt to cover up."

Perhaps, this is the first time that young people, not the cynical political parties, are talking about ëNepal bandh.' ëAll we want is the revelation of truth as soon as possible,' said Sharmila Ghimire, a housewife from Baneswore, with tears in her eyes.

With the announcement by newly sworn-in King Gyanendra Monday that a three-member committee has been constituted headed by Chief Justice Keshav Prasad Upadhyaya and Speaker Taranath Ranabhat and leader of the main opposition Madhav Kumar Nepal as it members, people were optimistic that truth will ultimately come out. By opening up the unfortunate incident within the royal palace for the purview of people's scrutiny and asking the high-level committee submit the report within three days, the new monarch had received applaud.

But thanks to typical Nepali political style, the main opposition Unified Marxist-Leninist decided not to send its top leader to the inquiry committee. "We are ready to cooperate the committee and depute some other senior leaders of the party but not myself," said Madhav Kumar Nepal. But why? According to sources, the main opposition leader received a big rebuke by his arch rival within the party, K. P. Sharma Oli, for accepting to be part of the committee without consulting the party. Only a few days back, Madhav Nepal had allegedly put the Oli in the tight spot by asking his party to refuse the Public Accounts Committee's decision saying that one of the former UML ministers was involved in the China South West Airlines scam.

Moreover, the UML that has hardly managed to five other left parties to pull together-- and also succeeded in getting support of four other left parties-- except splinter Marxist-Leninists-- to rally around it during the three-day long nationwide general strike called by it last month, many not have wanted to look pro-monarchy, analysts say. Keeping in tradition of the Nepali politicians, the UML seemed to enjoy all the privilege offered by the state but would not come forward to discharge its responsibility at an hour of crisis, critics said.

By Wednesday afternoon, the two-member committee was considering starting work even if the UML did not join. At the same time, there were efforts to accommodate more people in the committee so as to make it broad-base. Given the nature of the committee, it will have to chart out courses for detailed investigation. But as things stand, its job will be anything but easy.

As a common Nepali doesn't want to believe that Crown Prince Dipendra may have shot his parents and decimated his entire family before committing ësuicide' on the issue of choosing a bride for him, conspiracy theories are doing rounds round the clock. The angry people fought with the police throughout Monday pelting stones at them. The authorities then clamped curfew on Monday and Tuesday to prevent any outbreak of violence. Security officials suspected that Maoist cadres-- with their heads shaven-- had infiltrated the angry crowd and were responsible for arousing tension in the city.

By issuing a statement that King Birendra was a liberal monarch and that the royal palace killings was a handiwork of domestic and foreign reactionary forces, the Maoists-- that are waging a violent ëpeople's war' for the last five years to make Nepal a people's republic-- seemed to be trying to gain maximum mileage by posing Nepali people against the institution of monarchy. But the latest episode has proved once again that monarchy is a must to protect Nepal's independence and sovereignty.

The instability in Nepal was a matter of concern for both her southern and northern neighbor. Top Indian officials kept a close watch at the incidents in Nepal. The Prime Minister's office in India, in an unusual event, summoned bosses of big media houses in India and advised them to maintain restraint while covering Nepal's national tragedy. The Indian establishment is especially conscious not to arouse emotions against the new monarch-- lest he would turn more closer to China, sources said.

For a common man in the road back home, loss of king was like loss of his own family member. "I was mourning the death of Their Majesties and hoping that King Dipendra would survive and tell us the truth, " said a local women, weeping profusely in front of Birendra Military hospital at Chhauni Monday morning. "We will not allow last rites of late King Dipendra performs unless we know the truth."

Looking at the popular anger and desperation, last rites of late King Dipendra were performed with state honor late Monday but without the participation of the public as a curfew had already been imposed. It was an added shock for the Nepalese, whether within the country or abroad. Thanks to the emergence of new media like Interment and priority coverage given by media like BBC and CNN, they were tracking developments back home round the clock.

Not only in Kathmandu, emotional outbursts of people could be seen from all over the country. Even bordering Indian towns were closed after the news spread. Telephones kept on ringing all through the fateful night on Friday. It will take quite long for the people to accept the truth that their beloved royal family is no more them. And, they remain desperate and worried to know the truth- an unparalleled incident in the world history.