Nepal. 2001-2006 - During the Reign of King Gyanendra
Philip Blenkinsop
Until democracy was introduced to Nepal in 1990, the mountain kingdom was an absolute monarchy. Since those first elections sixteen years ago, Nepal has had fifteen different governments. In 1996, after years of growing disillusionment with the political system, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) turned to armed struggle. In June 2001, in a night of killings that shocked the nation, the former King Birendra was slain along with other royals, (an action attributed to Birendra’s eldest son, the then crown prince Dipendra). Crown Prince Dipendra was pronounced King while still in a coma from self-inflicted injuries sustained during the shooting and died the following day. Birendra’s brother, Gyanendra, ascended to the throne. The Maoists meanwhile continued to grow in strength and increase their areas of control.
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In 2004 King Gyanendra dissolved parliament only to later reinstate PM Deuba (the very man he had previously sacked for incompetence) on the condition that he ensured that elections would be held by April 2005. In February of 2005, King Gyanendra once again sacked the government and seized power, imprisoning politicians and journalists, pulling down communications networks and banning all criticism of the monarchy. The people’s loathing of King Gyanendra and his attempts to hold onto power eventually led to his downfall, when in April 2006, after weeks of violent clashes between demonstrators and security forces loyal to the King, Gyanendra finally agreed to reinstate Koirala as PM. (It had been PM Koirala, whose likeness demonstrators had been hanging and burning because of his being linked to a corruption scandal during my first visit in 2001.) In May 2006, Parliament voted unanimously to curtail the king's political powers and the government and Maoist rebels began the first peace talks in almost three years. Weeks later, Maoist leader Prachanda, a.k.a. the “Furious One”, and PM Koirala held their first ever talks in the capital aimed at bringing the Maoists into an interim Government. The issue of arms management by both the Maoist Red Army and the Royal Nepal Army plus any possible UN role in the process have yet to be agreed upon. Nepal’s future is far from certain.
Commission from the French Ministry for Culture & Communication (National Center for Visual Arts).
