Nepalia Imbruglia

[Magnus Bernhardsen]

Very bad pun in the subject-field, I'm afraid. Here's a piece from left
wing paprer Nepali times, which gives a slightly different take on the
Maoist statement:

http://www.nepalnews.com.np/ntimes/june6-2001/june7-2001.htm#Baburam’s
Article

Baburam’s Article

Baburam Bhattarai’s Wednesday opinion piece said that the palace killings
were a well-planned plot of the Indian and American intelligence agencies,
RAW [Research and analysis wing] and CIA. It compared King Gyanendra with
the Bhutanese Monarch Jigme Singye Wangchuk, the implication being that the
new king was an Indian puppet. He also said that the way was now being
cleared for the Sikkimisation of Nepal [Sikkim is a small himalalyan
monarchy within India], with Gyanendra expected to play the role of the
Chogyal.

            Bhattarai claims that King Birendra had been killed because he
had stood up to the expansionary forces and against India. Similarly, King
Birendra had been the one who was unwilling to have the army deployed to
fight the “people’s war”. Bhattarai adds that there had been a
similarity in approach between the late king and the Maoists.

            The article argues that the royal killings were premeditated
and calls on Nepalis not to legitimise the “New Kot-massacre”—the
first one was engineered by Jang Bahadur Rana in 1846 which established
Rana rule. Bhattarai calls on all nationalist forces to side not with the
palace and government but with the “true nationalist sons of Nepal”—a
reference to the “people’s war” his party is fighting.

Maintaining that the dynasty of the Shahs is over, the Maoist leader calls
upon the officers and jawans of the Royal Nepal Army “which could not
save their king” to now think about trying to save the country. Bhattarai
calls on them to come to the side of the poor people of Nepal rather than
stand by the “expansionist puppet born inside the palace”. He ends with
the lines from Prithvi Narayan Shah, “Sabai lai chetana bhaya…”
(Everyone is alerted…)