Apres moi, le deluge!

The Sun King, Louis XIV of the Bourbon dynasty, once exclaimed, or maybe it was Madame de Pompadour, the mistress of Louis XV, who said, “après nous, le déluge”, to suggest that after the passing away of her master, the heavens would pour down and the Deluge would be revisited. Of course, no such thing happened for nearly 80 years after the good Madame said so, and after Louis XV had left for his heavenly abode. And even when his son, the ill-fated Louis XVI was guillotined for treason, and the ancien regime obliterated by the machinations of the likes of Robespierre, to the eventual benefit of the French people, no flood cascaded down the Pyrenees to drown the people in gloom and sorrow. And so is demonstrated that a regent, a monarch is worthy of respect, worthy of honour, worthy of acclaim, so long as he/she has the espousal of his/her people. The day such support should be lacking, the throne is no more than a charade, a joke on the people, and the personage sitting on it, the biggest jester on the surface of the earth.
The condition in the Kingdom of Nepal today strangely resonates the circumstances prevalent in France immediately preceding the Revolution, or even those prevailing in Imperial Russia prior to the October Revolution. Or maybe it isn’t so strange after all, considering that over the ages, monarchies have degenerated, to some extent, to become autocracies in some way, and then to be compelled to unleash a reign of tyranny over their people. The regent begins to presume that his right to rule is not so much out of the benevolence of his people or of the trust that they repose in him, as much as a divine prerogative endowed upon him, by virtue of his ‘noble’ birth. And when a mere mortal deigns it fit to term himself and his prerogatives as divinely ordained, then it is evidence enough that the days of the monarchy are numbered. History bears proof that whenever a monarch tried to remonstrate his divine ‘origin’, the people didn’t ignore him; rather they threw him over the divide, and uprooted the ancien regime, lock, stock and barrel.
King Gyanendra must bear to remember that the process of democratization that he is attempting to stifle has been secured by his people after a long and arduous struggle, and they, of all the souls on the planet, will not take lightly to any challenge to this process. Lest he not value his own life, he must bear the example of those monarchs who resisted the appeals of their people to submit to the authority of the people, for these monarchs were either ousted from their thrones, or were executed by the people whom they once reigned over. He must acknowledge the example of the constitutional monarchs such as those seen in the United Kingdom, Denmark, The Netherlands, Sweden, Spain, etc., where the regent stepped aside, in deference to his/her people’s desires, and is now a source of inspiration, a symbol of the nation, and deserving of respect and affection.
The Maoists may alarm many, but remember this that they feed on the discontent of the people, discontent emerging from the lack of facilities, anger emanating from the absence of development. Once the Government of Nepal begins the process of democratization, I am hopeful that this discontent can be very well alleviated, if not removed altogether. Till then, Narayanhiti Palace has no option but to keep burning in the fires of the Nepalese people.