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Ketaki Chester was a cousin of King Birendra, and was present with her sister at the Naryanhiti Palace on 1 June 2001 when Crown Prince Dipendra killed nine members of his family, including himself. Ten years later, Chester reveals some new information about what happened on that fateful night including how Dipendra kicked his father as he lay dying.
 KUNDA DIXIT |
Kumar Gorakh and Dr Rajiv Shahi were immediately at the fallen king's side to try to stem the blood pouring out. All of us also rushed to Birendra. That was when Dipendra came back the second time. Prince Dhirendra approached him and told him: "Pugyo Babu, you've done enough." Thinking that his uncle would try to disarm him, Dipendra shot Dhirendra. I think it was the realisation that he had just killed his favourite uncle that brought out the blood lust in Dipendra. He spun around and left the room, but when he returned for the third time he started spraying the whole room with bullets even as he entered the door.
By then, I was on the floor, trying to stop the blood pouring out of Dhirendra's wounds. His arms were on his chest, he was paralysed but conscious. Although himself grievously wounded, I remember him asking me if I was hit. It was then that I saw I was dripping blood. Bits of flesh from my left arm had fallen on Dhirendra's shirt, and two bullets had shattered my right shoulder. But there was no pain, the body in shock anaesthetizes you.
It all lasted barely five minutes, but the shooting seemed to go on forever. My sister lay dying. Queen Komal was hit in the chest. Sitashma remembered a bullet buzzing her ear. It was a miracle more people were not killed. When the firing started, Prince Paras was at one end of the room, and immediately herded his cousins and relatives behind a sofa. At one point Dipendra had Paras in his sights, but Paras said "Dai malai nahani baksyos �" Dipendra lowered his gun and let his cousin go. Shruti was unconscious, and bled to death in hospital because despite falling blood pressure the doctors did not undress her to find out where she was bleeding from.
After the shooting, Dipendra headed back to his room. His mother, Queen Aiswarya, and his brother, Nirajan, ran after him. Dipendra must have seen them both from the top of the stairs to his room, but in the darkness mistaken Nirajan for an ADC and let off a burst, killing his brother. Someone who was close by heard Queen Aiswarya then scream: "You have killed your father, you have killed your brother, kill me too. Han, han!" He then killed his mother and himself, and it was all over.
What struck me the most, and the memory of it all is still vivid in my mind as I play and replay it, is Dipendra kicking his father after he had shot him. In a way, it was even more shocking than the actual shooting itself. In our culture you never desecrate a dead person like that.
I am convinced now that Dipendra only wanted to kill his father. By law that would have made him the next king, and then he would tell us to keep quiet and that would be the end of it. It would have worked, no one would have dared speak the truth. My generation of family members were nearly all wiped out, only the younger generation remained, and they could have been convinced to remain silent. But after killing his uncle, he ran amok.
I believe Dipendra was just pretending to be drunk. He was walking unsteadily, but it was pretty clear he was putting on an act. I didn't know him that well, but this was a man inclined to extremes. He was very gifted, very talented, he had learnt a lot in his short life, after all he was groomed to be king since he was a child. He had very good PR with people.
It was pre-mediated and carefully planned. He wanted everyone to be there that night, he invited them personally. It is as if he wanted them all to be witnesses of the death of his father, and in some bizarre way he may have thought this would confer him more authority as king. It was in his nature to crave an audience.
Kathmandu is a place full of rumours, and there are many about Devyani giving him an ultimatum on their proposed marriage. She is a very well brought up lady, but was not the type that would put that kind of pressure on anyone. He was under a lot of stress, however, and it may have been the combination of tension about his marriage and other things that caused him to snap. And he did it in a way that he took the country down with him.
Prince Gyanendra was away in Pokhara, a helicopter was sent to get him, but couldn't fly out because of bad weather. The army was sent to fetch him to Kathmandu by road, and the soldiers had been told not to tell him anything. Apparently when the soldiers came for him in Pokhara, he thought there had been an army coup and he was being detained.
I believe Prince Gyanendra would have joined the dinner if Dipendra had insisted, and if he had made it to the palace that night, like everyone else he would probably not have been spared. He and his son Prince Paras were never involved in any of this. I wish the word spread that they are totally blameless. What happened that night was the beginning of the end of the monarchy because of the act of one of its members, although events in the years that followed also contributed.
I can't help thinking that had King Mahendra lived just ten years more, Nepal would have been on a much more solid footing. He was a true nationalist. And King Birendra had such great confidence in the Nepali people, he felt they could do anything if only given the opportunity. He was uncomfortable about wielding absolute power and was happiest playing his constitutional role. He was full of optimism about the future of Nepal, you felt blessed just to be able to talk to him.
To this day, my biggest regret is that we did not jump Dipendra after he fired the first shots that night. I curse myself for not doing that, had we acted sooner so many people would not have died.
But if you ask me who bears the most responsibility and who could have saved the royal family and Nepal monarchy, it is Girija Prasad Koirala. I remember the prime minister came to Chhauni hospital the next day and he was sitting on the floor next to Queen Mother Ratna and he asked her "Sarkar, what shall I tell the people?" The Queen Mother replied: "This is not something you should hide from the people. It may tarnish our family, we can live with that. But hiding the true facts will hurt the nation." But with the media blackout, and the ridiculous press conference of Speaker Ranabhat, truth was the casualty and conspiracy theories spread.
If the prime minister had followed the Queen Mother's advice, perhaps things would have turned out a lot different for the country. Of course, it didn't help that the palace was telling the international press that the deaths were caused by the "accidental discharge of an automatic weapon". It made us look ridiculous in the eyes of the world. And it was a mistake to make Dipendra king, how can someone who is brain-dead be declared king, there must have been provisions in the laws of succession to prevent this.
I was taken to hospital with the others. I was in pain killers, and in the ICU I dreamt that the entire family was back in a room, talking and smiling, but Dipendra was outside. My right arm never healed completely, I can't raise it more than halfway. But more than the physical wound, I am still haunted by the memory of that terrible night, the death of my sister and the others. It was a hideous thing that happened, and the last ten years have been very, very difficult for me.
As told to Kunda Dixit.
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