कालो धन्दामा राजपरिवारकै वर्चश्व

by Nepal Info on Wed 22 Mar 2006 02:01 PM PST | Permanent Link | Cosmos
जोशेफ पियत्री

The majority of drug dealers are from the royal family
Josheph Pietri


सन् १९७० मा मैले पहिलो पटक नेपाल टेकेको हुं । नेदरल्याण्डको आम्सटरडम वा बेलायतको लण्डनबाट शुरु हुने हिप्पीहरुको प्रसिद्ध यात्रा मार्गको अन्तिम कालतिर हो । त्यतिबेला हिप्पीहरुले खचाखच भएको बस नयांसडकको पुछारमा रोकिन्थ्यो । त्यहां हिप्पीहरु ओर्लने भएकोले झोंछेको बाटोलाई फ्रिकस्ट्रिट भनियो । त्यतिबेला नेपाल गांजा र भाङ्गकोलागि स्वर्ग थियो । सरकारी अनुमती प्राप्त पसलबाट खुला बिक्रि हुन्थ्यो । त्यतिबेला काठमाडौमा अफिम र हिरोइन उत्पादन हुदैनथ्यो । त्यतिबेला नेपाली जंकिहरुपनि थिएनन । भाङ्ग निकाशीकालागि मात्रै गैहृकानूनी थियो। यो बोक्ने हिप्पीहरु विमानस्थलमा पक्राउपर्दा एकसय अमेरिकी डलर जरिवाना गरेर काठमाडौबाट सम्वन्धित देश लखेटिन्थ्यो ।
राजा महेन्द्रको पालामा हो यो । १९७२ मा राजा महेन्द्रको मृत्यू भयो । राजा वीरेन्द्र गद्धीमा बसे । राजा महेन्द्रको मृत्यू हुंदा रेडियो नेपालमा रागहरु बजाएर शोक मनाएको मलाई संझना छ । राजाको दाहसंस्कार गरिदा पशुपती आर्यघाटमा भेला भएका मानिसहरुको बिशाल सहभागिता कहिल्यै भुल्न सक्दिन । राजाको मृत्यूको १३ औं दिनमा ब्राहृमणहरुले विभिन्न धार्मिक पाठहरु पढेका थिए । राजाले भोग चलन गरेका भौतिक वस्तु लिएर हात्तीमा चढेर बाहुनले काठमाडौ काटेको दृष्यपनि कसैले भुल्न सक्दैन ।
भाङ्ग माथि प्रतिबन्ध लगाउनुअघि मात्रै म सन् १९७३ मा भारत हिडें । रिर्चाड निक्सन र उनका त्यतिबेलाका सहयोगीले नया राजालाई पांच करोडदेखि सात करोड डलर दिए , त्यो भाङ्ग माथिको प्रतिबन्ध खुला गर्नका लागि ।
म १९८१ मा नेपाल फर्किदा हेरोइनको समस्या देखापरिसकेको थियो । मलाई आर्श्चय लाग्यो । सन् १९७० को तुलनामा चरेश २० देखि ३० गुणा महंगो भइसकेको रहेछ । यस्तो खालको हेरोइनले बजार लिइरहेको थियो । खैरो हिरोइन र गांजाको भेद छुटाउन नसक्ने नेपालीहरु स्म्याकका पारखी भैसकेका थिए । त्यतिमात्र होइन अझ उच्च स्तरिय ब्राण्डको हेरोइन पनि पाइन्थ्यो निकाशी गर्नकालागि ।
अब हेरोइन बर्माबाटपनि भित्रिन थाल्यो नेपालमा । नेपालको पूर्र्वी भागबाट स्थलमार्ग हुंदै सेना र प्रहरीको टकमा राखेर शाही परिवारले हेरोइन नेपाल ल्याउन थाले । यो मात्रै होइन कि नेपालमा हरेक खालको कालो धन्दामा शाही परिवारकै बर्चश्व छ । कुनैबेला हिप्पीहरुको र्स्वर्गका रुपमा रहेको नेपाल अब मुख्य हेरोइन स्थल हुनपुग्यो ।
सन् १९८३ मा एकदिन म र मेरो नेपाली मित्रलाई एक मन्त्रीबाट खाना खाने निम्ता आयो । पेय पदार्थको चुस्की लिदैं गर्दा त्यसदिन उनले नेपालकै इतिहासमा पहिलो पटक नेपाली फूटवल टोली अमेरिकाको लस एन्जलसमा आगामी गृष्ममा हुने ओलम्पिकमा भागलिन जाने कुरा बताए । त्यतिबेला उनी अधिराजकुमार ज्ञानेन्द्र संग सहकार्य गर्दैथिए जो ओलम्पिक कमिटीका प्रमुख थिए ।
मेरो नेपालको लामो संवन्धका कारण तिनले सो टोलीसंग पठाउन लागेको व्यपारीलाई मैले व्यवस्थित गर्न सक्ने ठानेछन् । त्यसैले एक शय ५० किलो हेरोइन लसएन्जलस पठाउन चाहेको कुरा पहिला तिनले मेरो नेपाली साथी संग गरे र पछि म संग । तर तिनले जे भनेपनि वास्ता नर्गनु भनेर मैले मेरो मित्रलाई बताए । त्यस्तो काम हामीबाट संभव नभएको बताएर म तिनीहरुबाट उम्के । घर र्फकेपछि मेरा पुराना मित्र पल पेट्रिकसंग मेरो भेट भयो । पेट्रिकले मलाई तिमीले मन्त्रीले भनेको मानेको भए या त जेलमा सड्ने थियौ या त मारिने थियौ भने । राजपरिवारले मलाई एउटा माध्यम व्यक्तिको रुपमा प्रयोग गर्न खोजेको थियो।
कालो धन्दाकालागि ज्ञानेन्द्र काठमाडौमा परिचित व्यक्ति थिए । घुंडा टेकेर बसेका काठमाडौका मल्ल राजाको मूर्ती क्रेनले उठाउंदै गर्दा उनका केहि सहयोगीहरु सहित उनलाई फेला पारेर रोकिएको थियो । त्यो मूर्ती चोरी रोक्ने प्रहरीलाई भने बेपत्ता पारियो । मूर्ती पिलर माथि नै रह्यो भने ज्ञानेन्द्रलाई यूरोप पठाइयो ।
राजा वीरेन्द्र र उनका भाई ज्ञानेन्द्र बिच संधै इख थियो । सन् १९५० मा राजा महेन्द्र र यूवराज वीरेन्द्रहरु आफ्नो हत्या हुने डरले राजा ज्ञानेन्द्रलाई राजगद्धीमा राखेर भारत निर्वासित भएका थिए । त्यहि कारणले गर्दा उनीहरु नेपाल फर्किएपछिपनि ज्ञानेन्द्रमा आफ्नो स्थान कहां रहने भन्ने भावना रहिरह्यो । किनकि आफ्ना दाजु युवराज हुंदहुदैं उनी बालकमै राजा भइसकेका थिए ।
ज्ञानेन्द्रले संधै के सोचे भने आफ्ना दाजु भन्दा आफू असल राजा बन्न सक्नेथिए । सन् १९८० को बेला खैरो हिरोइन नेपाल भित्राइएको एक कारक तत्व अधिराजकुमार थिए जसलाई स्विजरल्याण्ड पठाइएको हल्ला चलेको थियो ।
सन् १९८४ मा नेपाली फूटवल टोलीलाई एक शय ५० किलो हिरोइन सहित समातेर लाक्समा थुनियो । तुरुन्तै बाहिर आएको यो खबर यति छिटो मिडियाबाट हरायो कि त्यसपछि यसबारे कहिल्यै कुरा गरिएन । एक बर्षपछाडी दरबारमार्ग स्थित होटल अन्नपूर्णको लबी, राजदरबारको ढोका र अन्य सरकारी भवनमा बम पड्किए लसएन्जलसमा भएको घटनाको प्रतिशोधको रुपमा ।
सन् १९८६ मा हेनरी किसिङ्गर लगायतको लठ्याउने औषधी र्नाकोटिक डग बिक्रेताको एक समुह एजेन्ट र्सार्क सम्मेलनकालागि काठमाडौ आयो । त्यो एजेन्टले ट्राभल चेक तिरेर असनटोल पछाडीको गल्लीबाट दूइ किलो शुद्ध हिरोइन खरिद गर्यो । तिनले त्यो दूइ किलो हिरोइन प्रहरी महानिरीक्षक डि बी लामाको टेबलमा फ्याक्दै नेपाललाई दिइने सम्पूर्ण सहयोग कटौती गरिदिने धम्कि दिए । ति एजेन्टले नेपालमा रहेर भाङ्गको व्यापार गर्ने व्यक्तिहरुको सूची दिएका थिए ।
त्यसपछि तुरुन्तै नीजि गाडीमा आएका केही बिदेशीहरुलाई तुरुन्तै भिसा दिइयो । त्यसैरात हिरोइन व्यपारमा संलग्नता नभएका कुनै पनि नेपाली र बिदेशीहरुलाई थुनियो र तिनीहरु संग साबिती वयान लिदैं यातना दिइयो ।
डि बी लामा शाही परिवारका लागि अग्रीम व्यक्ति थिए हिरोइन व्यपार गर्ने । त्यतिबेला म चाहिं बैंकक हानिए ।र १९८८ सम्म नेपाल फर्किन । त्यो बयान लिने काम अझै हुदैं गरेकोले म हिडेर ठीकै गरेछु । पछि प्रहरी महानिरीक्षक डि बी लामालाई नै पक्राउ गरियो । उसका घरका पाइपहरुपनि सुनका लेपन लगाइएको पाइयो । मेरो बिचारमा तिनले हेनरी क्रेमका ट्राभल चेक डि बी लामाका नाममा नक्कल गरेका थिए । शाही परिवारले अब डि बी लामालाई त्याग्नु पर्नै थियो ।
बिस्तारै राजतन्त्रको अत्याचारी नीति र प्रजातन्त्रकालागि बिद्यार्थीहरुको प्रदर्शनले विश्वको ध्यान तान्न थाल्यो । जसले गर्दा आन्दोलन उर्त्सगमा पुगेपछि राजा वीरेन्द्रले बहुदलीय प्रजातन्त्र घोषणा गर्न बाध्य भए । पाकिस्तान संग विमान संझौता गरियो । करांचीबाट काठमाडौ विमान आउन थाले । सैनिक संवन्ध बिस्तार गरियो र अफगानी हिरोइन टनका टन नेपाल आउन थाले । यसरी नेपाल हेरोइन व्यपारकालागि एउटा प्रमुख स्थल बन्यो ।
सन् १९६० को दशकबाट लागु औषधकालागि पश्चिमा जगतमा स्वर्ग मानिएको नेपालको छबी अझै पनि धमिलो छ । त्यसैले पश्चिमी मुलुकमा यस्ता भ्रमहरु अझै बांकी छन् । कतिपय बिदेशीले अतिरन्जनापनि गरेका छन् । बिदेशीहरु नेपालका यस्ता गंभिर बिषयहरुमा के सोच्दछन् भन्ने कुरा नेपालीहरुलेपनि बुझ्न सक्नेछन् भनि हामीले जोशेफ पियत्रीको यो लेखलाई स्थान दिएका हौं । उनको यो लेख हामीले निकै पहिला नै प्रकाशित गरेका थियौं । उनको यो लेख यो पटकपनि पुरानो नहुने ठानी पुन प्रकाशित गरेका हाौं। उनी किङ्गस अफ नेपाल भन्ने पुस्तकका लेखक हुन् ।
( नेपालको दरबार र कालो धन्दाको संबन्ध बारेको चर्चा गर्न खोजेपनि लेखकले यो लेखमा घटनामा संलग्न व्यक्तिहरुबारे नाम उल्लेख गरेका छैनन तर गौचन मन्त्री बन्दा गोली खाने चकित शिर्षकमा साप्ताहिक जनआस्था को साउन ५ २०६२ को अंकमा यो घटनाबारे अलिकति चर्चा भएको छ । र त्यतिबेलाका ओलम्पिक कमिटी अध्यक्ष शरदचन्द्र शाह भएको उल्लेख गर्दै पत्रिकाले सन् (१९८४ -०४१) को अगस्तमा अमेरिकाको लस एञ्जलसमा ओलम्पिकमा भाग लिने क्रममा खेलकूद परिषद्का सदस्य सचिव तथा ओलम्पिक कमिटीका अध्यक्ष शरदचन्द्र शाहले गैरखेलाडी कृष्णमान जोशीलगायतलाई स्म्याक्स र हेरोइन बोकाएर लगेको र पछि कृष्णमान जोशी सैयौं किलो हिरोइनसहित पक्राउ परेको उल्लेख गरेको छ । )
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hahahaha,
Well who ever u are and whoever the writer is has a right of opinion. " सन् १९७० मा मैले पहिलो पटक नेपाल टेकेको हुं । " Ramro nepali lekhdo raicha. Good good.

Golden Tar Heroin and the Black Prince
The Drug Trail Ends in Kathmandu
By JOSEPH PIETRI

I first went to Nepal in 1970 it was the end of the now famous Hippie Trail that started overland from either Amsterdam or London. Buses full of Hippies would disembark at the end of New Road and to this day this street is called Freak Street. Nepal was Hippie nirvana being that marijuana and hashish were legal and sold openly in Government licensed shops! At the time there were no opium dens in Kathmandu nor is opium grown or heroin produced in Nepal! There was no such thing as a Nepalese junkie. Cannabis was only illegal to export and Hippies caught at the airport were fined $100 USD and deported on the next flight out of Kathmandu.

The King Mahendra died in 1972 and his son Birendra ascended to the throne and I remember the most solemn ragas that mourned the old King's passing on Radio Nepal. Who can forget the huge procession to Pashupatinath Temple where the King was cremated, or the bizarre ritual of a Brahman priest taking over the bad karma of the King and even getting a share of his earthly possessions and then being banished from the Kingdom on a Royal elephant. I left for India in 1973 just before Cannabis prohibition in Nepal. Richard Nixon and his recently formed DEA paid the new king 50-70 million dollars to outlaw pot--his in a Hindu country where everyone must take cannabis once a year on Lord Shiva's birthday. Hippies were deported to India. It was a sad day on Freak Street.

I returned to Nepal in 1981 and to my amazement the country now had a heroin problem. Hashish was 20-30 times more expensive than in 1970 and a very cheap and low grade of smokable heroin was now making the rounds. The Nepalese, not really knowing the difference between brown sugar heroin and marijuana, were easily seduced by smack. Not only that but Double UO Globe Brand heroin was available for export the finest Golden Triangle heroin made. Heroin was now being imported from Burma and brought overland from East Nepal on Army and Police trucks by the Royal Family. The Royals control every aspect of the black market in Nepal. What was once Hippie Nirvana was now a major heroin hub.

Sometime in 1983 my Nepali partner and I were invited to lunch at one of the Ministers' homes. There over lunch and drinks he explained that for the first time in the history of Nepal the Royal Nepalese soccer team was going to compete at the Olympics in Los Angeles the next summer. He said was working with Prince Gyanendra who was in charge of the Olympic committee. Due to my long history in Nepal they felt I could handle the merchandise they were sending along with the team. I took it for granted that they were talking about 150 kilos of hashish. He then spoke to my associate in Nepalese and then talked directly to me that their intentions were to send 150 kilos of heroin to LA. My first thought was to look over at my Nepali associate and tell him that whatever he promised these people to forget it. I explained to the Minister it was impossible and managed to squirm my way out of there.

When I got back home my old pal Patrick came by and I told him what had happened. Patrick says that if I would have gone along with the Minister's proposal, I would have ended up in prison or dead. I was being set up as a fall guy for the Royal Family. The Black Prince, as he was known around Kathmandu, had once been stopped with a bunch of his cronies trying to lift the kneeling Malla King Statue in Patan (a national treasure) with a crane! The policeman who stopped this theft was "disappeared", but the statue stayed a top its pillar, and the Black Prince was sent packing to Europe.

A bitter rivalry existed between King Birendra and his brother Gyanendra that went back to the 1950s when King Mahendra and the Crown Prince fled to India fearing an assassination attempt and left Gyanendra in Kathmandu as the defacto king. Upon returning to Nepal, it went back to the status quo. Gyanendra has always felt he would have made a better King than his drunkard brother.

During the 1980s and the introduction of brown sugar heroin into Nepal one of the casualties was the Crown Prince, who was rumored to having been sent to rehab in Switzerland. In 1984 the Nepalese Soccer team was detained at LAX carrying that 150 kilos of pure heroin. It was quick news as it disappeared instantly from the media and was never talked about since. A year later bombs went off in the lobby of the Annapurna Hotel (Royal Family owned) at the palace gates as well as other government buildings, apparently in retaliation for the mess in LA.

In 1986 Henry Kissinger and a group of narcotics agents come to Kathmandu for a SAARC conference. The agents bought 2 kilos of pure heroin on the back streets of Asan Tol market with traveler checks! These two kilos they threw down on the desk of Inspector General of Police D. B. Lama and threaten to cut off all aid to Nepal. The agents produced a list of all the people who were involved in the Cannabis trade who still lived in Nepal. Soon wany Westerners with private vehicles or extended Visas were rousted. Overnight the jails swelled with Westerners and Nepalese most of whom were not involved in the heroin trade. Nepalese and Westerners were tortured into confessions. D.B. Lama was one of the front men for the Royal Family heroin trade, sort of a sticky wicket, but I escaped the inquisition to Bangkok and did not return to Nepal until 1988. The inquisition was still going on so I left for good. D. B. Lama the Inspector General of Police had been arrested. They found the pipes in his house were pure gold painted over gray to resemble pipe and boxes of foreign currency. I guess they traced old Henry the K's traveler checks back to the Inspector General of Police himself and the Royals were forced to sacrifice D. B. Lama.

Student demonstrations for democracy, the Monarchy's medieval repressive tactics and the attention it got around the world finally brought 30 years of absolute rule to an end and in 1990 King Birendra reinstated multi-party democracy in Nepal. A treaty was signed with Pakistan and flights now come in from Karachi. Military ties were initiated and with that Afghan heroin is now available by the ton in Kathmandu. Nepal has become a major player on the global heroin trade.

Democracy brought a succession of governments that throughout the 1990's were marked by one being more corrupt than the last. In 1996 the Maoists took to the field and it's been a bloodbath ever since with nearly 12,000 killed and disappeared as of this writing.

King Birendra never unleashed the Royal Nepalese Army against the Maoist's and the gains they made led to the Royal massacre of June 1, 2001. Everyone in the way of the Black Prince becoming king was killed. Most media today refer to it as the shoot out at the palace! It was a coup d' etat engineered by the Prince and the Royal Army with the blessings of outside interests. I was told that the Crown Prince was executed at the Balaju army barracks where he had run to escape the assassinations.

Very few Nepalese believe the official account and the Crown Prince was an easy patsy due to his long time heroin addiction and alcohol problems. There was no way that the Black Prince would allow the junkie Crown Prince to ascend to the throne if his brother should die suddenly, and the King had health problems due to his alcohol abuse. The Military felt the same way and the Black Prince is now the King of Nepal and the iron rule of his father has returned.

The events of September 11th altered the equation as Nepal joined the war on terror and allowed B-52's to fly over the nation on their bombing runs into Afghanistan. The King declareed the Maoist movement terrorists and now receives unprecedented support from the US, UK, and India. American and British Special Forces train the Royal army. The King hired 400 private mercenaries, who now lead the Royal Army into battle. What has the Black King promised the Bush Administration for US support?

The Nepalese Royal Family has a long history of involvement with the CIA. Through out the 1960s and 1970s the CIA maintained a secret base at Lo Mustang on the Tibetan plateau bordering China. This was the jumping off point for CIA-trained Tibetan Khampa guerillas fighting the Chinese. Today they are building a road from the Indian border to Lo Mothang and it's quite obvious that once again it will be used as a forward base.

At this point the Maoist control 85 percent of the countryside and five districts outright in Western Nepal. Peasant women, tired of being sold to brothels in India, comprise 40 percent of the arms-carrying cadre. A free election would bring Socialism to Nepal and if the people could they would vote the King to be gone! The Maoist movement is a Nationalist movement of people who are awakening from 250 years of feudalism! The one road from the Indian Border town of Birgunj to Kathmandu is easily shut down by strikes called by Maoist's! The Royal Army is reduce to guarding Kathmandu and other major border towns and protecting the convoys of supplies that keep Kathmandu alive.

On February the 1, 2005, the Black King dismissed the government and declares a state of emergency. He then suspended telephone, internet, and air links, effectively cutting off Nepal from the rest of the world. The Black King assumeed total power and suspended constitutional freedoms of press, speech, and expression, constitutional protection against news censorship and preventative detention! Hundreds were jailed, leaders of all major political parties were put under armed house arrest. Students protesting the King in Pokhara were fired upon from helicopters and 20 were wounded. The iron fist rule of his father has returned.

Once Time magazine came out with a report critical of King Mahendra. When the magazine arrived at the news stand in Kathmandu that page had been completely blacked out. Hitler, Stalin, Saddam had absolute power and now the Black King, Every since the massacre at the palace they have been trying to clean Gyanendra's image internationally by blaming the heroin trade on his younger brother who was also killed at the palace. The facts are that Gyanendra and his Uncle, who owned the Annapurna hotel, have been heavily involved in the heroin trade going all the way back to the 1960s. Nepal today is 8 times poorer than in 1970.

How can that be with all the foreign aid, the carpet industry, textile industry, tourist industry? Think Marcos, for years the Royal family has siphoned off from every dollar coming into Nepal. Nepal is a classic example of failed American foreign policy and how we create terrorism. Today we are supporting a heroin dealing despot king and again killing people who can't afford shoes in the mountains and jungles of Nepal.

Joe Pietri author The King of Nepal. He can be reached at: jpietri@msn.com

JOSEPH PIETRI does seem to know Nepal well. Doesn’t u all think that he wrote a script for a Hindi movie? A lot of things need to be covered up for everything to work well, especially 1980 onward. At least something should have come out. I have heard many times that CIA was itself involved in narcotic trafficking and the diplomatic boxes (something that doesn’t goes through security screening) is used for drug trafficking. With respect to Nepal, Ganja is usually exported in small quantities, and is used primarily by diplomats themselves (mostly private use).

Nothing came out even after 1990, when the King had very less power. May be Nepal would have been better off without the fake Jano Andhola of 1990 and in some cases the second fake one.

I was talking to some elements of Neplai congress (Democratic) last winter. I asked him, why don’t u guys team up with the king and get rid of the Maoists. They are the primary threat as of now. Gynendra was in power back then and he replied, we want to, but the king doesn’t (probably he didn’t wanted to share more).
Yes there is little room for doubt that Gyanendra killed Birendra and he wants to take over. But, on the other hand we are suffering from a cancer named Maoists and allergies called CPM Nepal and Nepali Congress who want to sell our national identity.

Under such constraints, what should we do? Maoists are not an option. Commies and Congress people will sell Nepal to foreign powers. And the king wants all power in his hands. Under such circumstances the best option in my opinion, is to let the black king resume powers. At least we had less problems and the country was developing in a good pace. We used to have electricity, water and gas. Moreover schools were being constructed in Rural parts. Slowly, but surely we would have developed over time.

We don’t care who is in the business of Narcotics as long as our Nepali youth’s are not involved with it. The CIA can run camps all over as long as they are paying us. We have nothing to do with either India or China and in papers we can stay neutral (like they do with us).

However, I have some concerns aver this article:

At this point the Maoist control 85 percent of the countryside and five districts outright in Western Nepal. Peasant women, tired of being sold to brothels in India, comprise 40 percent of the arms-carrying cadre. A free election would bring Socialism to Nepal and if the people could they would vote the King to be gone! The Maoist movement is a Nationalist movement of people who are awakening from 250 years of feudalism!

This part is completely false. 40% women! You mean the men : women in Maoist is almost 50 : 50. Hard to believe that women killed 7000 people (half if 40,000 killed).

“A free election would bring Socialism to Nepal and if the people could they would vote the King to be gone!” we would see that after the constituent assembly polls this coming December. Let the people decide. (Yes, you have a right of opinion, but this is generalization).
Socialism is itself a problem and that would be very bad for Nepal. We need a way so that Nepali people working outside can go back and invest. That is the only way I see, how Nepal can develop.


‘The Maoist movement is a Nationalist movement of people who are awakening from 250 years of feudalism!’
Nope it’s a terrorist movement which killed 14000 of our innocent people and has to be crushed by any means. What if I don’t like them tomorrow, should I take a gun and kill 14000 more and take powers in my own hand? That is lame.

I can go on commenting to protect the King as well, which I don’t want to. None of them have been great. However, they are a part of our identity and I want to keep them at least for stability (if needed) and showcase purposes.