Kathmandu [Nepal], April 13 (ANI): Nepal’s deposed King Gyanendra Shah has released a video message expressing hope that the country will move toward a new system aligned with the people’s will.
Issuing a 13-minute video statement with an opening address to him as monarch of the Himalayan Nation, Shah stated in his New Year wishes that he hopes the country will move toward a new system.
“We view the growing awareness among Nepalese people about the nation and its future positively. The patriotic sentiment among us is truly exemplary and worthy of emulation worldwide. The awakening to free the country from existing complexities and build a peaceful, stable, prosperous nation has installed confidence that the New Year 2082 will bring results aligned with the aspirations of the Nepalese people,” the deposed King said.
The politically charged statement from the former monarch comes in wake of rising demand for monarchy in the Himalayan Nation and a week before the right-wing Pro-monarchist party Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) hit the streets.
The Monarch of the Himalayan Nation follows the linage of Shah dynasty was revered as an incarnation of Hindu god Bishnu. With abolishment monarchy it got limited to a very small group which now again is reemerging.
In the released video, the deposed monarch highlighted that each new year begins with excitement and it often ends in disappointment due to current political instability. Reiterating his earlier statement released on Democracy Day (Falgun 7), Shah warned that the nation remains trapped in corruption and unrest.
Shah also stressed the monarchy’s historical role in safeguarding nationalism and democracy, presenting the constitutional monarchy as a tradition rooted in public sentiment.
The deposed former head of state after whom the Kingship came to end in the Himalayan Nation also made a statement about the violent pro-monarch protest of March 28, which claimed two lives and injured dozens of others.
“It is a beautiful feature of democracy that various groups, classes and communities in society can express their views, beliefs and opinions. However, such expressions must be exercised with restraint. The recent violence, arson and vandalism during public demonstrations, which caused significant human and material losses, have deeply saddened us. No system or ideology is greater than civic freedom. True democracy exists where there is a tradition and culture of listening to both praise and criticism, grievances and appreciation,” the deposed King said.
The 77-year-old deposed monarch had come to power for the second time in 2001 following the royal massacre where the entire family of his brother Birendra Bir Bikram Shah was assassinated.
In 2005, Gyanendra Shah staged a royal coup, taking over all the power, dissolving the parliament and cabinet, and ordering political leaders to be kept under house arrest.
A year later, following the mass apprising, Gyanendra unable to face international pressure had to step down from the post, reinstating the parliament. The successful movement which changed the political landscape of the Himalayan nation buffered between India and China is called the “People’s Movement II.”
Gyanendra at the time had tried to suppress the movement deploying all levels of security forces which resulted in death of 18 people over a span of 19 days and injuring more than 4000 which mainly included children, as per the record of Human Rights Watch of the year 2006.
It was then the insurgent CPN- Maoist, came to mainstream politics of Nepal ending a decade long insurgency by signing a comprehensive peace accord on 21st November, 2006.
Two years after abolishing nearly two and half centuries old monarchy system, the Himalayan nation became a republic and a secular state on May 28, 2008. Within less than two decades into the new practice of governance, the Himalayan nation is now divided into two factions of pro and anti-monarchs. (ANI)
