Gyanendra of Nepal

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Gyanendra
ज्ञानेन्द्र
King of Nepal
Reign 7 November 1950 – 8 January 1951
4 June 2001 – 28 May 2008
Born 7 July 1947 (1947-07-07) (age 60)
Birthplace Kathmandu, Nepal
Predecessor King Tribhuvan (1951)
King Dipendra (2001)
Heir-Apparent Crown Prince Paras
Successor King Tribhuvan (1951)
Girija Prasad Koirala
(2008; as Acting President of Nepal)
Consort Queen Komal
Issue Crown Prince Paras
Princess Prerana
Royal House House of Shah
Father King Mahendra
Mother Crown Princess Indra

Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev (Nepali: ज्ञानेन्द्र वीर बिक्रम शाहदेव; Jñānendra Vīra Vikrama Śāhadeva) (born 7 July 1947) was the King of Nepal from 2001 to 2008.

He succeeded to the throne upon the death of his nephew Dipendra, who was King for only three days while in a coma, following the massacre of the preceding king (Gyanendra's brother, Birendra) and other members of the royal family. Gyanendra has been skeptically and persistently viewed as a culprit of this massacre although Dipendra was officially declared responsible for all those killings.

In February 2005 King Gyanendra took complete control of the government, dismissing the elected parliament. Following opposition to his direct rule he was forced to return power to parliament in April 2006, which in turn reduced the king's status to that of a ceremonial monarch. He continued as such until May 28, 2008 when he was peacefully deposed and Nepal became a federal republic.

Contents

[edit] Early life and first reign

Gyanendra was born in Kathmandu as the second son of Crown Prince Mahendra and his wife Crown Princess Indra. After his birth, his father was told by a court astrologer not to look at his newborn son because it would bring him bad luck, so Gyanendra was sent to live with his grandmother.[1]

In November 1950, during a political plot, both his father and his grandfather King Tribhuvan along with other royals fled to India, leaving the young Gyanendra as the only male member of the Royal Family in Nepal. He was brought back to the capital Kathmandu by the Prime Minister Mohan Shamsher Jang Bahadur Rana, who had him declared king on 7 November 1950.[1] After opposition to the hereditary rule of the Rana Prime Ministers from India, a deal was reached in January 1951, and his grandfather King Tribhuvan returned to Nepal and resumed the throne.[2] The actions of Rana regime to depose his grandfather and place him on the throne was not internationally recognized.[3]

He studied with his elder brother King Birendra in St. Joseph's College, Darjeeling, India; in 1969, he graduated from Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu.[4]

King Gyanendra served as chairman of the Advisory Committee for the Coronation of his brother Birendra in 1975. He is also a keen conservationist and served as Chairman of the King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation from 1982 until his ascension of the throne in 2001.[5]

Gyanendra married Komal Rajya Laxmi Devi Shah on May 1, 1970 in Kathmandu; they have two children

[edit] Succession

Main article: Nepalese royal massacre

The events surrounding the Royal Massacre on June 1, 2001 have proved very controversial in the country. A section of people still believe that King Gyanendra is the mastermind behind the royal massacre because all other royal family members were killed during the incident whilst none of his family members were.[6] This theory is held among some sections of the population, mainly due to the fact that Gyanendra succeeded the massacred Royals to the throne. A two man investigation team made up of Keshav Prasad Upadhaya, the then Supreme Court Chief Justice and Taranath Ranabhat, the then speaker of the house of representatives carried out the week long investigation into the massacre.[7] The investigation concluded after interviewing more than 100 people including eyewitnesses and palace officials, guards and staff that Dipendra had carried out the massacre, though Gyanendra's role, if any, has not been discounted.[8] As his nephew lay in a coma Gyanendra was named regent but following Dipendra's death on June 4, 2001 Gyanendra ascended the throne.[9]

[edit] Early reign

Nepalese Royal Family
  • HM Queen Mother Ratna
  • HRH Princess Shova
  • HRH Princess Puja
  • HRH Princess Dilasha
  • HRH Princess Sitashma
  • HRH Princess Jotshana
Sketch portrait of King Gyanendra in military uniform
Sketch portrait of King Gyanendra in military uniform

During his early years on the throne, Gyanendra sought to exercise full control over the government because of the failure of all parties. In May 2002 he supported the popularly elected Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba when he dismissed the parliament elected in 1999. In October 2002 he dismissed Deuba and consolidated his power for the first time. During the years 2002 to 2005 he chose and subsequently dismissed three prime ministers, finally dismissing Deuba for the second time and taking over as absolute ruler on 1 February 2005.[4] His brother King Birendra had negotiated a constitutional monarchy during his rule in a delicate manner in which he, as King, played a minor role in government, so King Gyanendra's confrontational approach with the established political parties was met with widespread censure.

When King Gyanendra took complete control for the second time on 1 February 2005, he accused prime minister Sher Bahadur Deuba's government of failing to make arrangements for parliamentary elections and of being unable to restore peace in the country, then in the midst of a civil war led by Maoist insurgents.[10]

King Gyanendra promised that "peace and effective democracy" would be restored within three years,[11] but the period of direct rule was accompanied by repression of dissent.[12] International organizations expressed grave concerns about the safety of journalists, following the king's decision to restrict civil liberties, including freedom of the press, the constitutional protection against censorship and the right against preventive detention[13] Gyanendra countered, saying that "democracy and progress contradict one another" as a necessary step in restoring peace to the country.

In April 2006 the constitutionalists staged protests and strikes in Kathmandu against King Gyanendra's direct rule. The royal government responded by declaring a curfew, which was enforced with live firearms and tear gas. The government's response drew condemnation from other countries including India and the United States. On 21 April 2006 King Gyanendra announced that he would yield executive authority to a new prime minister chosen by the political parties to oversee the return of democracy. Several party leaders rejected the offer and again demanded that the king call a council to determine the monarchy's future role in politics. On 24 April 2006 King Gyanendra reinstated the previous parliament in a televised address to the nation.

[edit] End of direct rule

On 10 June 2006, the parliament scrapped the major powers of the king, including his right to veto laws. This ended the idea of a "King in Parliament," and he was reduced to a figurehead, though for a time he continued to offer felicitations and to receive diplomats. According to Article 167 of the constitution, all executive powers as well as those enjoyed by the king in the previous Constitution are now vested in the prime minister. All powers of the 239-year-old monarchy were stripped, making King Gyanendra a civilian king under the interim constitution.

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala, who previously supported the continuation of the monarchy, said in March, 2007 that he thought the king should step down.[14] In June, Koirala repeated his call for King Gyanendra to abdicate in favour of his grandson Prince Hridayendra.[15]

On August 23, 2007 Nepal's transitional government nationalised all the properties King Gyanendra inherited from his brother including the Narayanhity Royal Palace. The move did not affect the properties he owned before his ascension to throne.[16]

[edit] Abolition of the monarchy

It was announced on December 24, 2007, that the monarchy would probably be abolished in 2008, following the approval, as part of a peace deal with former Maoist rebels, of the Nepalese Parliament in favor of a bill that would see the constitution amended so as to make Nepal a republic.[17][18]

On 27 May 2008, the meeting decided to give the king fifteen days to vacate the palace, and decided that the first meeting would be held the next day at 11AM (but was delayed due to the indecision among the leading parties on power-sharing and the nomination of 26 members of the Constituent Assembly) which was widely believed to abolish the monarchy. [19]

On 28 May 2008, the monarchy was officially abolished and replaced with a secular federal republic by an overwhelming vote (560-4) of the Constituent Assembly.[20] Gyanendra accepted the decision in the following days.[21] As he was required to depart Narayahiti, he asked the government to make arrangements for his residence on 1 June, and on 4 June the government decided to give another palace, the Nagarjuna Palace, to Gyanendra.[22]

Gyanendra departed the Narayanhiti palace in Kathmandu on June 11, 2008 moving into the Nagarjuna Palace. His new residence consists of 10 buildings including the royal residence Hemanta Bas, 3 guest houses (Barsha Bas, Sharad Bas and Grishma Bas), one office secretariat and one staff quarters. Gyanendra and his family moved into the 2-storey Hemanta Bas. Following his departure the Narayanhiti palace was turned into a museum, while Gyanendra's diamond and ruby-encrusted crown and royal scepter along with all the other crown jewels and royal assets, became government property. The Royal family's departure from the palace was reported as being a “major symbolic moment in the fall of the Shah dynasty, which unified Nepal in the 1760s.”[23][24] The journalist Surya Thapa, who has written 3 books on the Himalayan royals, commenting on king Gyanendra's personal wealth has claimed that he has $ 195 million “stashed inside Nepal and even more abroad, much of it in the name of his daughter and wife.” Gyanendra's son Paras on leaving the Narayanhiti moved into a private residence in Kathmandu's diplomatic quarter.[25]

[edit] Conservation trust controversy

The National Trust for Nature Conservation published a report in 2008 alleging that the royal family had misused funds belonging to the charity. The trust was formerly run by Crown Prince Paras with King Gyanendra as its patron. The committee said the royal family had spent large amounts of the trust's funds on themselves over several years to finance trips abroad, lavish parties, and to pay for Queen Komal of Nepal's health check-ups in the United Kingdom. The objectivity of the findings has been questioned as the charity is now run by the former Maoist rebels.[26]

[edit] Titles and honours

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b Chowdhuri, Satyabrata Rai. "Monarchy in Nepal", The Hindu, 2001-07-27. Retrieved on 2007-12-25. 
  2. ^ "Homeward Bound", Time Magazine, 1951-01-22. Retrieved on 2007-12-25. 
  3. ^ Buyers, Christopher. Nepal. Royal Ark. Retrieved on 2007-12-25.
  4. ^ a b Staff writer. "Troubled times saw king's rise", CNN, 2006-04-20. 
  5. ^ Royal Biography of Nepal. MeroNepal.com.np. Retrieved on 2007-12-25.
  6. ^ Nepal's Royal Massacre in Its Sixth Year
  7. ^ Nepal massacre inquiry begins, at long last
  8. ^ Prince blamed for Nepal massacre
  9. ^ Nepal mourns slain king
  10. ^ Staff writer. "Nepal's king declares emergency", BBC News, 2005-02-01. 
  11. ^ Staff writer. "Nepal's king sacks government", CNN.com, 2005-02-01. 
  12. ^ Staff writer. "Nepal's king acts against dissent", BBC News, 2005-02-03. 
  13. ^ State of Emergency Imperils Information Flow. International Freedom of Expression eXchange. Retrieved on 2006-11-27.
  14. ^ Nepal's king is made to cut staff
  15. ^ King urged to let boy, 5, be Nepal’s saviour
  16. ^ Nepal nationalises royal palaces
  17. ^ Nepalese monarchy to be abolished. BBC (2007-12-24). Retrieved on 2007-12-25.
  18. ^ Vote to abolish Nepal's monarchy
  19. ^ http://telegraphnepal.com/news_det.php?news_id=3489
  20. ^ "Nepal becomes a federal democratic republic", Nepalnews, May 28, 2008.
  21. ^ "Ex-King Gyanendra says he accepts CA decision; prepares to leave Narayanhiti", Nepalnews, June 2, 2008.
  22. ^ "Govt decides to give Nagarjuna palace to ex-King", Nepalnews, June 4, 2008.
  23. ^ BBC NEWS, Former Nepal king to leave palace
  24. ^ thaindian.com, Former King Gyanendra prepares to leave Narayanhiti Palace
  25. ^ timesonline.co.uk, Nepal's King Gyanendra moves out of palace, home to royal family for 100 years
  26. ^ Haviland, Charles. "Nepal royals 'stole charity cash'", BBC, 2008-03-27. Retrieved on 2008-04-20. 

[edit] External links


Gyanendra of Nepal
Born: 07 July 1947
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Tribhuvan		 King of Nepal
1950 – 1951		 Succeeded by
Tribhuvan
Preceded by
Dipendra		 King of Nepal
2001 – 2008		 Monarchy abolished;
Republic of Nepal declared
Political offices
Preceded by
Dipendra
as King of Nepal		 Head of State of Nepal
2001 – 2007		 Succeeded by
Girija Prasad Koirala
as Acting President of Nepal
Titles in pretence
Loss of title — TITULAR —
King of Nepal
2008 – present		 Incumbent
Designated heir:
Paras


Persondata
NAME Gyanendra
ALTERNATIVE NAMES ज्ञानेन्द्र
SHORT DESCRIPTION King of Nepal
DATE OF BIRTH July 7, 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH Kathmandu, Nepal
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH