While the aloofness from the public behind dark glasses – the signature of King Mahendra – has long been abandoned by his son King Birendra, his advisers over at the Narayanhiti Royal Palace in Kathmandu have not been able to stitch new clothes for the monarchy in the seven years of democracy. Rather than tailoring a useful social and cultural role for the monarchy, which would make its position unassailable much like the royalty of Spain, Japan or Thailand, the king´s advisers have been much too timid, and have lately been engaged in unnecessary brinkmanship. This stands amply exposed in the way they had the Nepali monarch attend to Hindu conservatives in India in October. The king and his queen, Aishwarya, made a trip to Hardwar-on-Ganga to inaugurate a convention on Hinduism, attended among others by the radical leadership of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Bharatiya Janata Party. This was an incongruous political gesture from the king for he cannot have been unaware of the narrow-minded and reactionary Hinduism espoused by those present, which is so different from the syncretistic hill Hinduism that has evolved in Nepal.
It is important for King Birendra not to exaggerate his country´s Hindu-ness, for Nepal is less ´Hindu´ than is believed by many (the population itself is about 70 percent Hindu rather than 90 percent which is the general belief). However, the very demarcation between who is Hindu and who Buddhist is so blurred in these hills of the Central Himalaya that such categorisation may be impossible and even irrelevant. The obscure edges between the two main faiths should be allowed to remain fuzzy, and the monarchy should help in that.
Meanwhile, outspoken Hindus of India who take pride in Nepal´s identity as "the only Hindu kingdom in the world" should know, especially in these days of politicised religion, that Nepal is a developing country with diverse population groups, one that is governed very much along secular lines, with constitutional guarantees of religious freedom. The decisive interpretation of the provision in the new constitution of 1990 which refers to the Nepali state´s Hindu-ness is that Nepal is a "Hindu kingdom" not because the population of Nepal or the national polity is ´Hindu´, but because the country has a king who is Hindu.
Nepal´s monarchy commands unquestioning respect from almost the entire population, and is the ideal institution to promote progressive activities in the social, economic and cultural arenas. The monarchy as a whole or individuals within it could easily don roles as patrons and promoters in a variety of areas from education to public health, agricultural advancement to tourism and environment. They could bring their image and position to bear on day-to-day issues that will benefit Nepal´s overwhelming poor.