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Rediff correspondent in Kathmandu
Nepal has a new king for now, and he is Crown Prince Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev.
By a quirk of fate, the man who killed almost the entire Nepalese royal family has been anointed king.
Dipendra, according to reliable sources close to the palace, gunned down at least eight relatives, including his father King Birendra, mother Queen Aiswarya, sister Princess Sruti, brother Prince Niranjan, aunts Princess Sharda and Shanti, Princess Jayanti and uncle Khadga Bikram Shah. Also seriously wounded was his brother-in-law, Gorakh Shumsher.
After killing his family, Dipendra turned the gun on himself, but survived due to the valiant efforts of doctors at the Birendra Army Hospital in Kathmandu. Various officials keeping a watch said the prince was unconscious and breathing with the aid of a ventilator.
The incident occurred late Friday inside the Naryanhity royal palace when the royal family met for a weekend dinner. Various officials close to the palace said Dipendra, a bachelor on the verge of turning 30 on June 27, snapped after his choice of bride was opposed by his parents.
Soon after the shootout, the victims were rushed to the military hospital, but many of them had died before they got there. The Raj Parishad, which is equivalent to the United Kingdom's Privy Council with powers to anoint a successor, later held an emergency meeting at the hospital.
At a follow-up meeting on Saturday, the Raj Parishad officially declared Dipendra the new monarch of the Himalayan kingdom. State-run Radio Nepal, announcing the Parishad's decision at 1315, said, 'but since King Dipendra is in critical condition and in a coma, his powers will be exercised by his uncle Prince Gyanendra, who has been appointed regent of the kingdom of Nepal.'
With the announcement, the monarch's powers has effectively been transferred to Gyanendra, King Birendra's younger brother. Gyanendra has reigned as monarch once before. When he was an infant in 1950, he was crowned king by the Rana dictatorship after then monarch King Tribhuvan (his grandfather) fled to India to wage an anti-Rana campaign.
The terse announcement confirms the fears of many Nepali citizens who woke to a day of uncertainty as news of the deaths spread like wildfire throughout the nation.
News had been seeping out since late Friday that King Birendra, Queen Aishwarya, Prince Niranjan, Princess Sruti and other royals had been gunned down by the angry crown prince.
The streets of Kathmandu were deserted, shops closed, and thousands of curious faces milled about in crowds around the military hospital, the ancient Hanuman Dhoka royal palace and offices of the Raj Parishad standing committee.
As soon as news of the succession was made public over Radio Nepal, a spontaneous demonstration by a few hundred people took place outside the Raj Parishad offices at Kantipath.
The protestors chanted slogans decrying the killing, and demanded action against the perpetrator of the crime. Some demonstrators also shouted slogans against Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala. Eyewitnesses said the police had to resort to a lathi charge to disperse the protestors.
Death of a Monarch: The Complete Coverage
EXTERNAL LINKS The Constitution of Nepal All about Nepal Laws of Nepal The Cabinet Information on Nepal The World Factbook: Nepal Nepal News The Nepal Media Nepal Home Page Government and Politics Directory Political History Embassy of India Embassy World New York Times: Royal Family of Nepal Are Killed in Palace Shooting
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