King not an incarnation of a God

Kathmandu, Apr 21: For centuries, Nepal's kings have been venerated by the people as incarnations of God.

But with many parts of the capital resembling a battlefield, burnt tyres and stones strewn across streets, troops at crossroads and armoured cars in market districts, anti-monarchy protesters do not want King Gyanendra to even remain as a commoner -- they want him off the throne and prosecuted.

''He should go and his property should be handed over to the nation,'' said Mahendra Sikka Azad, a 65-year-old standing at a street corner in the northern suburb of Kalanki today where three people were killed and dozens wounded in police firing on protesters yesterday.

''Like Saddam (Hussein), he should be tried by an international court.'' Around him youths chanted ''Long live the martyrs, hang the murderers'' and ''We will burn the crown and run the country''.

At the intersection, two men were painting the words ''Junction of Democracy'' in red paint on the road.

Armed troops and soldiers with automatic weapons watched the hundreds of people at the site, but made no move to disperse them. Technically, they were violating a curfew imposed on Kathmandu to prevent a march on the palace, but police said they would take no action unless protesters moved toward the city centre.

''The police beat us horribly,'' said Manoj Sijapati, a 35-year-old. ''Twelve men beat one boy. You wouldn't even beat an animal like that.

''There will be no end to the protests until there is change,'' he said. ''We need law that is above the individual.'' A seven-party alliance launched a campaign on April 6 to force the king to restore democracy, but its leaders admit the movement has gone far beyond that. Anger against King Gyanendra is running extremely high because of his government's crackdown, they say.

''I lived in Iran and watched the fall of the Shah on a day-to-day basis,'' said one diplomat. ''It's awfully similar.'' Along a wide arc of Kathmandu's Ring Road, tens of thousands of people were marching on Friday, chanting slogans against Gyanendra and the government. One group carried a straw effigy of the monarch, which activists said they planned to burn later.

Nepali tradition has it that the king is an incarnation of the Hindu Lord Vishnu and is divine. But that has been changing, especially since Crown Prince Dipendra killed the then King Birendra and the queen and turned the gun on himself in a drunken rage in 2001.

Ten members of the royal family died in what has come to be known as the ''Palace Massacre'' but many on the street now wonder why Gyanendra, Birendra's brother, was out of town that day and how his son, now Crown Prince Paras, escaped unhurt despite being at the site of the killing.

Murmurs of a conspiracy are growing louder now, and further adding to the pressure on Gyanendra.

''The monarchy is a 16th century concept,'' said Azad, the man at the Kalanki intersection. ''This is the 21st. We don't want the monarchy to continue.''

Reuters