December 17, 2010
THE INCIDENT
This week, for the first time in Nepal’s history, a member of the former royal family was arrested. Paras Shah, the former crown prince of Nepal, was apprehended after an incident that took place Saturday night (December 11) at the luxe wildlife resort of Tiger Tops in the Chitwan jungle. Paras had allegedly threatened a fellow guest of the lodge and fired off one round from his pistol.
The guest in question, Rubel Chaudhary, happens to be the son-in-law of Nepal’s Deputy Prime Minister, Sujata Koirala. And to make the case even more sensitive, there were diplomatic concerns: Chaudhary is from Bangladesh.
According to Chaudhary (interviewed by Republica’s Guna Raj Luitel), he had never met the former heir to the throne before Saturday night. The encounter began amiably enough until Paras began drinking, at which time things turned ugly: Initially he was very nice, he was very friendly, we were sitting and talking in a very pleasant manner. Then after a few drinks, he said “you guys are the main reason for demolishing our monarchy.”
Presumably, Paras was referring to Chaudhary’s mother-in-law’s family, the Koiralas. Sujata Koirala is the daughter of the late prime minister Girija Prasad Koirala, who is regarded as the architect of the peace agreement between the Maoists and major political parties, which eventually led to the abolishment of the monarchy in 2008. The abolition also stripped the former royals of all their privileges, including legal immunity, and evicted them from their ancestral palace in Kathmandu.
Royalists still contend that they were betrayed by Koirala and the Maoists, who had promised to support a constitutional monarchy, once King Gyanendra stepped down. After the king complied with their demands, Koirala and the Maoists went back on their word.
Chaudhary continued: [Paras] said, “You took away our society.” And then he pointed the gun at my forehead and said, “You better believe in monarchy. On my life I am otherwise going to finish you and your whole family tonight.” .
…But he didn’t fire at me, he didn’t hit me. He threw a bottle at my face but that bottle didn’t hit me. So please don’t get me wrong that he fired at me. He fired in the air….
The whole reason [Paras became enraged was] that he wanted me to go look for a tiger in the jungle at 12 o’clock. I declined to go with him in the jungle to find tigers at midnight. And so he repeatedly threatened me and my two friends who were with me and he said if you don’t come with me tonight I will kill your wife and son.
The initial report coming from the Paras camp indicated that he had indeed fired his gun. But on Tuesday, the Ghatana Ra Bichar weekly – regarded as a tabloid sympathetic toward a constitutional monarchy – reported that Paras denied firing the gun and that his version of the dispute was that he had been goaded into a confrontation, when two strangers, who were eating at a nearby table, began making “low jibes about Nepal and Nepalis”.
Said Paras: It was hard to bear it but I controlled myself and warned the foreigners not to say whatever they wanted. I had no idea who those people were.
In any event, it was Paras’ personal security guards who intervened in the altercation and removed Chaudhary’s group from Tiger Tops and resettled them elsewhere.
THE IMMEDIATE AFTERMATH
As it happened, Sujata Koirala was out of the country but, upon hearing of the incident, she immediately sought punitive action against Paras on behalf of her son-in-law. From Thailand, she phoned Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal, Home Minister Bhim Rawal and other officials.
On Monday, no arrest had yet been made but pressure to do so was mounting within Koirala’s Nepali Congress party, as well as the media, which was having a field day both domestically and internationally. The Times of India’s story, for instance, described the event as a “drunken brawl”.
In the meantime, Paras had repaired to Fulbari, a hotel nestled in the lakeside resort town of Pokhara.
THE ARREST AND RESULTANT FALLOUT
On Tuesday, Pokhara police descended on the Fulbari with a warrant for Paras’ arrest. After considerable stalling, the former prince agreed to be flown back to Chitwan by helicopter. He was detained at the regional police training center in Bharatpur. Hundreds gathered around the center but were held back by a tight cordon of police. Some were there in support of Paras, while others were overjoyed at his arrest, calling for him to be paraded in the street in handcuffs.
On Wednesday, while Paras was still being questioned, demonstrations broke out protesting Paras’ arrest. The Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal called for a general strike. 150 protesters in Kathmandu blocked traffic and 17 were arrested for attacking police officers and vehicles. 500 protestors imposed a general strike in two southern districts of Nepal, blocking highways and forcing markets and schools to shut down. Effigies of Sujata Koirala were torched. Demands were shouted that Chaudhary be arrested.
BAIL
On Thursday, Paras was released on NRS 10,000 bail. He had escaped the more serious charges of attempted murder and carrying an illegal firearm and was instead booked on a public offence charge.
Interestingly, Chaudhary did not file charges against the former prince.
The Nepal Army, however, summoned the seven army personnel – who accompanied Paras on his Chitwan visit – for failure to maintain security. The Court of Inquiry will examine, among other issues, whether or not army personnel had provided Shah with his gun.
In the meantime, protests did not diminish. On Thursday, demonstrations were staged in Chitwan, Kailali, Birgunj, Hetauda and other parts of the country.
PARAS AS LIGHTNING ROD
Paras is now a common citizen. If he breaks the law, he should be treated like a comman citizen. But this last week has not been about due process of law.
With all the drama stirred up over the shooting incident, one has to ask: How dead is the crown? Just because a government amputates a monarchy, it doesn’t necessarily follow that the people no longer feel the phantom limb. Many Nepalis have made that clear enough in the last few days.
Obviously, Paras has done no favor for the pro-royalist faction. His past misdeeds serve as a prism for his newest one. But his misadventure does underline the fact that the monarchy is in no way a dead issue in Nepal. In fact, it hasn’t felt this alive for several years.
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