What we gained, what we lost

April 16, 2020 09:40 am

It was early in the afternoon of April 9 30 years ago, when the news reached Washington that King Birendra had agreed to replace Panchayat with multi-party democracy, the long-held demand of democracy activists in the country. Prior to the King’s surrender of absolute authority, tens of thousands of demonstrators had converged in Durbar Marg in front of the royal palace. Nearby, in front of the Annapurna Hotel, some demonstrators climbed on the statue of King Mahendra, to hang a shoe garland. The military personnel standing nearby had earlier warned that they would shoot anyone engaging in such mischief and, surely, they shot a number of demonstrators while climbing the statue. In the evolving mêlée, the military fired on the crowd randomly, killing some 150 demonstrators.