Royal hopes & republican fears

Ex-king Gyanendra Shah is not wrong to feel that he is being unjustly treated in the new political set-up following the consignment of monarchy to history in 2008. Most of the post-2008 developments have added to his predicament. Narayanhiti Palace, which was his private abode, is now a museum. General people peek inside his bedroom, dining room and the whole sumptuous comforts that he had enjoyed. All of his secrets and privacy have been invaded. Visitors impute him for his alleged hands in the massacre of 2001. He who was a shri panch of the country is now just Gyanendra Shah. It is imaginable how unbearable it must have been for him to have shri panch maharaj dhiraj (His Majesty) obliterated from his name for good. The national celebrations, in which he, and only he, would be the principal guest, say in Krishnaasthami (Lord Krishna’s birthday) celebrations and Indra Jatra celebrations, are graced by someone with no royal lineage, and enjoys the privileges that otherwise were only his birthrights. He who was a divinity incarnate is now a mere mortal. Nothing could have been more lacerating for him than the wounds of these losses.

Therefore, he has started to fight back this trauma of dethronement. He, along with his family members, has decided to be seen and heard among the public. Ex-princess Himani Shah’s Himani Trust is one of the weapons to go to the public. Ex-royalties are taking entourage to temples and religious sites across Nepal participating in dozens of social and cultural programs and charitably donating, thus transforming themselves from rulers to givers. They have metamorphosed themselves surprisingly. Paras Shah has been, apparently, prohibited to make political comments lest that his words be interpreted wrongly. Ex-king himself refrains from speaking to the media. He greets the crowds wherever he goes, joining hands and smiling and nodding giving a regal wave to the people who respond with a thunderous applause for him. In a typical fashion of Panchayat days, his loyalists chant, “Come king save the country. Long live our king! Victory to our king!” In response, he smiles and nods and through which he seems to be saying “keep patience. I’ll be back if you so desire. I will not speak but act. Action speaks louder than words.” So does his son Paras Shah. He shakes hands with Nepali people. He smiles. He has had his hair cut short and has disciplined himself. It is hard to believe he was ever a wayward prince. This way the father, the son and the daughter-in-law have embarked on a mission to proving themselves to be more law-abiding, more concerned about the sufferings of the people and more civil than their republican rivals (read political parties and their supporters who fought for and hoped from republic) have been.

Hope from history will make the ex-king work more for people to garner their support. The fear of history, hopefully, will alert the political leaders to be sincere in institution-alizing democracy.
Through these civilities, the ex-king is, in fact, communicating a great deal of messages to the political parties and the people. He is saying, “I was not a good king but I was not worse than you. I had my follies, I admit. But your follies are greater than mine. People elected you to draft the constitution on time. But you have not even been able to form the government, let alone draft the constitution. You relegated me to the status of a common citizen and I have been living as a common citizen. You have played with people’s wishes. Point out a single mistake of mine since I was dethroned. I can point out a dozen that you all have committed.”

Political parties, on the other hand, are losing moral strength to repudiate these disputations. They know they are earning unpopularity and weakening. They know the ex-king’s unexpressed claims bear truth. So they want this truth not to be public. “You have already been pushed into history, there is no chance that you will be revived. You and your ancestors ruled this country for two-and-a-half centuries. It’s our turn now. We have our follies but you were not better either. Don’t ever dream of restoration,” they think. Behind this silent war of words, hopes from and fear of history and past are operating. The former is triggering the confidence and boldness of the ex-royals. The latter is crippling the self-confidence of political parties.

Emboldened by hope, the ex-king has started to say his fate depends on people. But deep down, he is waiting for his rivals to worsen further. He knows that his utter dysfunctional conduct had empowered the political parties four years ago. Their dysfunctional conduct, he hopes, will place him in a position of power again. Monarchy has been reinstated after its abolition in world history. After 11 years of decapitation of Charles I, Charles II was reinstated in 1660 in Britain. In Nepali history, too, the throne had stayed empty for 18 days in 1816 in between the death of King Girban Yuddha Bikram and coronation of King Rajendra Bikram. Maybe, a few years of republican experiment will bring monarchy back. Maybe 1660 and 1816 will be back. Who knows? Ex-king may be taking consolation from such reasoning.

While these historical realities have buoyed up the ex-royals to establish connection with the people, this has alarmed the political parties. The political parities are aware that their waning fame and rising incompetence are giving wings to ex-king’s rising influence. They too know that what happened in England in 1660 could happen in Nepal in the 2010s if they keep failing like this. So the caretaker prime minister restricts the movement of the ex-king barring him from participating in the Indra Jatra celebrations and issuing warning to him to remain in the capacity of just a commoner but not a king. The ex-king does not react to this commandment. He sees that in not reacting, he will earn more public sympathy.

This hope and fear of history being repeated is adding a strand to Nepali political discourse. But neither the king nor his rivals will publicly admit this. One has to psychoanalyze them. For me, the hope factor and fear factor, if acknowledged sincerely, will do some good to the people in the long run. Hope from history will make the ex-king work more for people to garner their support and sympathy. The fear of history, hopefully, will alert the political leaders to be more sincere in institutionalizing democracy, rule of law and the republican system. Both will, in all likelihood, cheer up people.

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