A crowd of Nepalis - between 20,000 and almost double, according to different sources - gathered yesterday at Ratna Park, a central district of Kathmandu known for its beautiful park, named after Queen Ratna, wife of King Mahendra, who ruled the Himalayan Kingdom in the mid-20th century.
The location was not chosen by chance. The symbolism was perfect for the claim of those gathered: the demand for Nepal to return to being a Monarchy. Many of the protesters came with umbrellas, as requested by the organizers. Not only to protect themselves from the scorching sun but also to turn them into symbols of the royalty they aspire to regain.
Yesterday's gathering had been planned for weeks, primarily promoted by the Rastriya Prajatantra (RPP) party and by a hundred civil and Hindu religious organizations aiming to dismantle the current republican institutional architecture of the poor Central Asian nation.
And it was not just another day of protest. Because the goal of the RPP leaders is to maintain an ongoing campaign focused on civil disobedience and satyagraha (nonviolent resistance) until the Monarchy is reinstated. In fact, a new gathering is scheduled for today at the same location, and depending on the citizen support, the royalists even intend to turn the mentioned district of Kathmandu into their continuous headquarters. RPP leader Rajendra Lingden praised the citizen response to his call and warned that yesterday was just the beginning.
Everything unfolded peacefully, despite the high tension in Kathmandu. The government deployed a large police presence. The royalists accused the government led by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, also president of the UML, of seeking a civil confrontation as he urged his party's base to also demonstrate in a location very close to Ratna Park to thwart the agitation of the pro-monarchy groups. Conversely, the main parliamentary groups considered it very dangerous for the royalist movement to start on the day when the Nepalese government officially celebrated Republic Day.
Both sides were very aware of what happened during the last major pro-monarchy demonstration in Kathmandu, at the end of March, when violent clashes between royalist supporters and police forces led to riots and, most notably, resulted in at least two deaths and dozens of injuries. At that time, various political forces directly accused former King Gyanendra of inciting a coup against the Constitution and promoting violence. Voices like that of the Maoist Center leader (PCN), Lehknath Dahal, one of the most belligerent political leaders, even demanded the "immediate arrest" of the former monarch.
The throne and Hindu religion have become the two factors galvanizing the protest of many Nepalis discontent with the nation's direction that regained democracy in 2008 and approved a Constitution in 2015 that enshrines a federal and secular Republic, with a political system that has fueled such extreme parliamentary fragmentation that governance is practically impossible - there have been 14 changes of government in the last 17 years. At the end of 2023, faced with growing discontent among an increasing part of the population due to issues such as political stagnation, endemic corruption, very deficient infrastructure, or extreme poverty, marches began to demand the restoration of the Crown, with tens of thousands participating in districts on the outskirts of Kathmandu and in other cities.
In recent months, the royalists have made efforts to improve their coordination and overcome divisions among different factions. Nepalese media reported last week that former King Gyanendra - deposed in 2008 - ignoring authorities demanding he stay completely out of political conspiracies, met with the main pro-monarchy politicians to organize the pressure campaign that began yesterday.
Gyanendra remains the revered sovereign whom monarchist nostalgics would like to see back on the throne. But, at 77 years old and with declining health, former RPP president Kamal Thapa - former deputy prime minister - suggested for the first time this week that if the Monarchy were restored and the elderly Gyanendra could no longer assume the responsibility, the "best alternative" would be his grandson Prince Hridayendra (22 years old). This statement carries significant weight, especially because it is unlikely to have been made without the former king's consent. It implies that the royalist forces now accept that the throne would never pass to Gyanendra's son, the controversial Prince Paras, but rather to his son, skipping a generation of the Shah dynasty for the sake of the institution they seek to restore.