Gyanendra of Nepal
Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev (
Nepali: ज्ञानेन्द्र वीर विक्रम शाहदेव; Gyānendra Vīra Vikrama Śāhadeva) of
Nepal (born
July 7,
1947) has been the
King of Nepal since
June 4 2001, when he succeeded to the throne upon the death of
Dipendra Bir Bikram Shah. Dipendra himself was only King for three days whilst in a coma following a massacre of the preceding king and other members of the royal family.
In February 2005 Gyanendra took control of the government himself, but in April 2006 popular pressure caused him to return power to the parliament. He has now been reduced to the status of a ceremonial monarch.
As the second son of King
Mahendra, the infant Gyanendra was declared king for two months (1950–1951) when the rest of his family was in exile in
India, but was not internationally recognized. His grandfather
Tribhuvan was returned to the throne shortly after, when the
Rana family conceded power. He studied with his brother King Birendra in St. Joseph's college, Darjeeling, India. He was known to be comparatively less studious than his brother.
Gyanendra married Komal Rajya Laxmi Devil Shah on May 1, 1970. They have two children;
Crown Prince Paras Bir Bikram Shah Dev (born
December 30 1971) and
Princess Prerana Rajya Laxmi Devi (born March 1, 1978).
In
2001, after his nephew
Dipendra purportedly staged a
murder suicide, killing most of the
royal family, including King
Birendra (Dipendra's father, and Gyanendra's brother), Gyanendra became king again.The actual massacre truth is in controversy because no post-mortem was allowed. The official investigation report mentions that Dipendra was drunk and was not able to control himself and yet it claims that within less than half an hour he carried four weapons and fired indiscriminately. Moreover, Dipendra was right handed and the entry wound that killed him was found on his left temple. This has led to speculation as to whether Dipendra was wholly responsible for the killings. Dipendra also had a gunshot at his back.
Given these circumstances, some Nepalese have lost the faith they had in the monarch as an incarnation of a
god.
King Gyanendra has sought to exercise full control over the government. In May
2002 he supported Prime Minister
Sher Bahadur Deuba when he dismissed the parliament elected in
1999. In October 2002 he dismissed Deuba and briefly took direct power for the first time. During the years 2002 to
2005 he set in and then dismissed three prime ministers, finally dismissing Deuba for the second time and taking over as a dictator on
February 1,
2005.[
1] His brother Birendra had negotiated a
constitutional monarchy in 1990 in which he, as King, played a minor role in government, and Gyanendra's changes to this constitutional settlement have met with censure.
When Gyanendra took complete control for the second time on
February 1,
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, which currently suffers from widespread
terrorism and an insurgency from
Maoists. [
2]
Gyanendra promised that "peace and effective democracy" would be restored within three years,[
3] but the period of direct rule was accompanied by repression of dissent.[
4] International organizations expressed grave concerns about the safety of journalists and human rights activists, 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 [
5] Gyanendra countered, saying that "democracy and progress contradict one another" as a necessary step in restoring peace to the country.
In April 2006 constitutionalists staged
protests and strikes in
Kathmandu against Gyanendra's direct rule. The royal government responded by passing a curfew, which it enforced with firearms and tear gas. The government's response drew condemnation from other countries including
India and the
United States. On
April 21 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
April 24 Gyanendra reinstated the previous parliament in a televised address to the nation.
Present
On June 10, 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 now he remains powerless. Speculation about the abolition of the monarchy in Nepal has continued, however.
*Grand Cross of the
House Order of the Orange (
The Netherlands),
1967*Knight Grand Cordon of the Most Exalted
Order of the White Elephant (Thailand),
1979*Grand Cross of the
National Order of Merit (
France),
1983*Knight Grand Cross of the Most Distinguished
Order of St. Michael and St. George 1986*Grand Cross of
Order of Isabel La Catolica (
Spain),
1987 *
Unofficial translation of the commission report on the incident/massacre *
Conspiracy theory about the massacre
