World

Nepal vows to probe royal massacre

by Sanjay Jha | February 26, 2009 at 03:59 am

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Nepal’s Maoist government Thursday pledged a fresh probe into the midnight massacre in the royal palace nearly eight years ago in which the then king Birendra and his entire family were killed.

Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda Thursday inaugurated the Narayanhity palace as a national museum, saying the reign of impunity in Nepal stemmed from the palace carnage on June 1, 2001 in which 10 royals were killed.

Eight years ago 10 members of the royal family were murdered in the palace leading to downfall and finally the end of monarchy in the world’s only Hindu kingdom.

The 2001 Royal Massacre in which the family of the then King Birendra Shah was assassinated will be investigated, Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal said while inaugurating the palace-turned Narayanhiti Museum on Thursday.
Stating the royal genocide was the commencement of impunity in the country, he committed that the people will not be deprived of the right to know the inside story of the massacre.

“Former King Birendra used to be known as the most liberal one amongst other Shah Kings. People still respect Birendra," he said.

He added, "The place I am standing today was the site of one of the most horrific incidents in Nepali history that the people are still finding difficult to exorcise the event out of their mind.”

"I have come to know that the site where the brutal incident occurred was destroyed along with several proofs of the incident under the guidance of last King Gyanendra," PM Dahal said, adding, "This is one incident that every Nepali individual has the right to know the truth of, or know who was behind such tragic incident."