Introduction
Kingdom Lost is a sequel to my first book Singha Durbar: Rise and Fall of the Rana Regime of Nepal that was released in 2017. I ventured into this new chapter of my life sometime in 2006 after an innings promoting the arts and crafts of Nepal, sports-specifically, lawn tennis-and more than 30 years in active politics. There exist compelling reasons for this shift in focus. With Jung Bahadur, founder of the Rana oligarchy in 1847, the Rana family was entwined with politics and remained in governance till the end of the Rana regime in 1951. We five brothers and two sisters are descendants of Maharaj Jung Bahadur (prime minister [PM] from 1847 to 1877), Maharaj Chandra Shumsher (PM from 1901 to 1929), Minister Sir Baber Shumsher (commander-in-chief and second in line of succession) and Lieutenant General Mrigendra Shumsher, director (minister in current parlance) for 16 years between 1932 and 1951). After the fall of the Rana regime in 1951, while all other Ranas in the roll of succession (for the office of the prime minister) either abstained from politics or joined the royal regime, my father Mrigendra, and two brothers Bharat and Jagadish, and later I too, entered the field of parliamentary politics and we three brothers joined the NC. With 'loyalty' and access to our ancestors and to the NC and its leaders and as privileged eye-witnesses to the ins and outs of the volatile politics and socio-economic transformation in Nepal, we were/are in a rare, indeed unique, position to offer a balanced view and assessment of the historical evolution of those years. I thus felt duty bound to share these views with the people at large. Both of my elder brothers were more than capable to author such a book/account, but they asked me to take up the task and backed me to the hilt. Another motivation to take up this charge is the dilemma of the younger generation of Nepalis who are comfortable with the want to learn about the history of the country can find precious few books/publications in English-as compared to the large range in Nepali. A majority of the quotes in Kingdom Lost, from interviews or derived from other books/publications, are my free translation or paraphrasing from the original Nepali. The main target audiences for the books, therefore, are the users worldwide. In view of the focus audience, the language used younger generation of Nepalis and, naturally, the English-language is simple rather than scholarly, at the expense of being critiqued at times as 'flowery: Anecdotes were used liberally in Singha Durbar to the extent possible within the word count limitations. In comparison, there are fewer such anecdotes in this book; however, the volatile nature of the historical evolution is in itself replete with dramatic events. The sources for both the books rest heavily, and gratefully, on interviews and interactions with leaders and decision makers of the time and the common folk from different communities and backgrounds. Having had the privilege of moving in step with most if not all those interviewed, having shared joys and despairs and trials and tribulations with them and having gained their trust, the 'interviews' were more in the form and shape of exchange of shared thoughts, particularly in this book. This exercise also allowed me to dig deeper than the events and dates and delve into the human aspect of the stakeholders and action play. The very first government post 1951-a coalition of the Ranas and the NC-pitted the old, wizened, tradition-bound and pious Mohan Shumsher and the youthful, handsome, socialist leader Bishweshwar Prasad (B.P.) Koirala in one Cabinet as PM and home minister, while the playboy, King Tribhuvan Bir Bikram Shah presided over the scene. Four months on, Bharat Shumsher, the dynamic leader of a new party in its formative stages, the Gorkha Dal (later renamed Nepal Rashtrabadi Gorkha Parishad [GP]), was arrested at dawn and incarcerated. By midday, angry followers from the outskirts of the valley converged outside the prison and broke.
About The Book
On this dark night of madness, mayhem and horror, Dipendra shot and killed his father, mother, uncle Dhirendra, sister Shruti, and five other closely related family members, and seriously wounded several others in "harely five minutes that seemed to go on forever. "What have you done?" Birendra mumbled in dismay as he was felled by the first burst of fire. Dipendra then sauntered onto the veranda, leaving behind his bleeding father and the stunned group. Two of the royals present, neither of whom wish to be named, heard the delirious crown prince mutter, 'I am the king now, or words to that effect. More than one survivor subsequently revealed privately and, more recently, publicly, their belief: "Dipendra intended to kill only his father. By law, that would have made him the king. Then he would have told us to keep quiet. It might have worked: no one would have dared speak the truth. But the crown prince had realised that additional shots were required to finish off the king. He re-entered the room and when Dhirendra tried to intervene, he shot him at point-blank range. Then he seemed to go berserk. With no hint of mercy, he repeatedly shot first at his father and then at more than a dozen members of the extended family. Only the younger lot were let off, as Gyanendra's son Paras, a cousin he liked, begged for mercy on their behalf. Dipendra seemed possessed, 'I will never in my life forget his demonic eyes as he looked down at me as I lay face up, bleeding. He shot my wife [Princess Shruti], who was covering my body protectively, and then again me recounts Gorakh Rana. The princess died in hospital, but Gorakh, though shot four times, survived by a miracle: the gold chain he wore around the neck, believed to be blessed, blunted the impact of the lethal bullet. Ketaki narrates another shocking scene that forever haunted her: 'Dipendra was kicking his father, who lay critically wounded on the floor, with blood all around him. Still unscathed, Queen Aishwarya ran out and up the stairs, either to escape or to get a gun, but Dipendra followed and shot her, too. The demented prince may then have shot himself through the left temple, the only act for which there is no eyewitness and one which has generated some dispute. It was about this time that the aides-de-camp and guards in the outhouse finally arrived.
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