When homicide, patricide, matricide, regicide, siblicide and suicide are all rolled-up into one, it is called “depicide”. I picked up this word from the social media, in the aftermath of royal palace massacre in 2001. I also vaguely remember, way back in 1993, reading a public announcement by a youth/sport related club, published in the last page of Kantipur daily, public viewing of the then Hollywood blockbuster by Arnold Schwarznegger, Terminator 2: The Judgement Day, marking the birth day celebration of crown prince Dependra. The public viewing was to collect funds.
Come June 1, it is time for Nepali media to recall gruesome palace massacre that took place inside Narayanhiti Royal Palace in 2001. One can find dozen of conspiracy theories, seeking to explain what happened on that unforgettable, unfortunate Friday evening dinner gathering. These range from crown prince look-alike finishing the job to someone masquerading as Dependra. There are other explanations pointing fingers at foreign powers, the use of drugs, the then Maoist War and family feud over the marriage.
However, the investigation commission and, more importantly, the surviving eye witnesses pointed out their fingers, almost unanimously, at the crown prince. If highly inebriated Dependra pulled the trigger, who finished him is all shrouded in mystery.
Missile-Wound Hypothesis
Late Dr Upendra Devkota, the neurosurgeon, propounded “missile-wound hypothesis”. In medical term, it is a missile wound when a bullet passes through the body leaving a small mark at the entry point but a large wound at the exit. In a roundabout fashion, it means a point blank shooting. Unfortunately, we don’t have any eye witnesses to this incident. There are unconfirmed media reporting that two bullets were fired or expended from Dependra’s pistol; the missile-wound goes from left to right while Dependra was a right-handed guy; and the weapon, from which the bullets were fired, was found in the pound, nearby where Dependra’s unconscious body was located. During King Gyanendra’s regime, Dr Devkota got appointed as the Minister of Health. In his memoir, Dr Devkota admitted, clandestinely, drawing Dependra’s blood samples; he could easily establish the influence of drug or any other substance had he been allowed to do medical testing abroad. He also speak of how he got pissed off when Mr Madhav Kumar Nepal, who approached him at his office, Bir Hospital, seeking to know the number of bullets found inside Dependra’s body. Unfortunately, Dr Devkota is no longer with us but Mr Nepal can explain what lead him to ask that specific question. He also need to clarify, after being appointed as one of the members of the investigation commission, why he decided to pull out?
Bluff Calls
Whenever and wherever royalists raises their heads, the republican camp in general and Comrade Prachanda in particular do not fail to remind us of re-opening or re-investigating the massacre. This has been going on for last 24/25 years. Now, only a fool will ever believe of such investigations. There are number of reasons for this. First, Tribhuvan Sadan, where that unfortunate incident took place, has been completely demolished to the ground by King Gyanendra. Anyone visiting Narayanhiti Museum will find new markings indicating the foundations of the building. Second, there are more political benefits from non-investigation than investigation. Threats to re-opening of the case has become a kind of bargaining chip to silence the royalists. How can you spell swear words like bhai mara or brother killer without undertaking forensic investigations? Third, after a lapse of more than two decades, there is little point in undertaking such investigations unless you have some ulterior motive to do so.
True, Justified, Beliefs
Fourth, there is a yawing gap between the truth and the beliefs. Epistemologists speak about knowledge as true, justified, belief (TJB). Depicide story may be true and justified but what will you do if the public do not believe in the story? This reminded me a liner from a Galileo story: Having invented telescope, he requested the priests to have a look on heavenly bodies; the priests were scared to take a look, not because Galileo was speaking false, but because what will they do if they do not see what Galileo saw there inside the telescope? It is so difficult for a commoner to believe that people who came together for a Friday dinner were summarily killed by an inebriated crown prince simply because he was not allowed to marry the lady of his choice. How could it be an accidental firing from a automatic machine gun?
