Republicans and royalists on Nepal’s streets

Kathmandu ground to a halt on Friday as pro- and anti-monarchy protests rocked separate parts of the capital.

While the Socialist Front led by the Maoist Centre Party held a large rally in the centre of the city, a group agitating to reinstate Nepal as a Hindu kingdom gathered on the outskirts. 

The two rallies were kept apart, but pro-monarchy protesters resorted to arson and looting, setting fire to buildings in the Tinkune neighbourhood and attacking newspaper offices, party buildings and ransacking a branch of the Bhatbhateni department store.

Police fired tear gas and live rounds after stone pelting protesters tried to prevent fire trucks from trying to put out blazes. One protester and a reporter died and 22 people, including several riot policemen, were injured.

The pro-monarchy rally was organised by the United People’s Movement Committee for the Restoration of the Monarchy, which had the support of the royalist RPP party and was led by business tycoon Durga Prasai and the 86-year-old former Panchayat politician Nawaraj Subedi. 

The government had assigned both the protesting groups separate parts of the city so as to minimise chances of confrontation. The pro-monarchy rally turned violent after Prasai broke through police cordons with his vehicle, with supporters following.

Across town, a much larger flag-waving crowd marched through the streets and gathered to listen to speeches by leaders of the Socialist Front made up of Maoist Centre, the CPN- Unified Socialists, the Nepal Samajwadi Party and the Communist Party of Nepal led by a breakaway Maoist faction of Netra Bikram Chand. 

The Socialist Front is in the opposition and has blamed the rise of royalists to the non-performance of Prime Minister K P Oli’s governing coalition. The Maoists were till last year in their own coalition with the Nepali Congress, until it joined up with Oli’s UML.

 “This country cannot return to autocratic, dynastic rule that destroyed our nation,” said former prime minister Madhav Kumar Nepal of the UML-US. “The Nepali people have no interest in being servants to anybody.”

Speakers accused the monarchists of getting support from elements of the Hindu-right in India. Former king Gyanendra had met Uttar Pradesh’s cleric Chief Minister Yogi Adiyanath several times in the past year, and posters with the Yogi have been seen at previous royalist rallies.

Chronic corruption, impunity, poor service delivery and lack of jobs has fed public anger at the three established parties that have taken turns to rule Nepal for the past 20 years or more. 

Adding fuel to the fire was the sacking this week of the popular head of the Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) Kulman Ghising, and his replacement by the prime minister’s brother-in-law, Hitendra Dev Shakya.  

In his speech Maoist chair Pushpa Kamal Dahal seemed more introspective and moderated his criticism of the current government. 

“Perhaps it is because we republicans were unable to live up to the expectations of the people that the forces that were buried in the rubble of history have dared raise their heads once again today,” Dahal told the crowd. 

While these speeches were going on, tension was escalating in Tinkune as pro-monarchists trashed and set fire to an office block, the office of the CPN-Unified Socialists, vandalised the Annapurna Media building, and attempted to break into the offices of the Maoist Centre.   

A curfew was imposed in Tinkune and surrounding areas, affecting travellers entering and leaving Kathmandu. Nearby Kathmandu airport was closed for two hours. 

Royalist morale was boosted earlier this month to welcome former king Gyanendra to Kathmandu from a trip to western Nepal. Gyanendra has been king twice, and was ousted when an elected Constituent Assembly voted to abolish the monarchy in 2008. In 2015 Nepal’s new Constitution officially declared the country a secular federal republic.

Royalists like former BBC journalist Rabindra Mishra have been exhorting the Nepal Army and Police to join the protests to reinstate the king, which many have described as provocative and dangerous rhetoric. Earlier this month Mishra told an Indian tv channel that New Delhi should support the reinstatement of a Hindu monarchy in Nepal. 

Indian leaders including External Affairs Ministry S Jaishankar have reportedly told Nepal’s leaders that they do not want to interfere in the country’s internal affairs.

As tensions escalated on Friday, Mishra absolved himself and the pro-monarchy protesters of responsibility for the casualties and property damage. 

“No mass movements are under the control of its leaders,” said Mishra. “The government must take responsibility for the loss of life and property incurred today.”

Despite the tough words, Nepal’s royalist bloc seems to lack a unified front. The RPP’s Rajendra Lingden and RPP-Nepal’s Kamal Thapa have distanced themselves from Prasai. 

Gyanendra himself appears to be content to ride what he thinks is a wave of public support, and leave the organising to his supporters. He has so far not spoken in public except occasional video appearances.

One thing the pro-monarchy protests have done is restore a semblance of unity among the fractious three main parties. Top leaders of the NC, UML and Maoists met earlier this week to chart a response to the royalists, indicating that they are aware of the public mood and are rattled by the scale of support for the former king.

Friday’s protests should serve as a stark reminder to Nepal’s serial prime ministers and their parties that if they do not step up and do their job, street protests could escalate.