KATHMANDU, NEPAL, August 6, 2006: Nepal plans to seize lands owned by King Gyanendra and other royal family members and distribute them to the poor as it moves toward treating the monarch like a “normal citizen,” a minister said yesterday. Legislation limiting the amount of property the king can hold will be drafted once an inventory of royal properties is completed, Land Reforms Minister Prabhu Narayan Chaudhary said in Kathmandu, the capital of the impoverished Himalayan nation. “The seized royal property will be nationalized and handed over to poor farmers and landless people,” the minister said, without giving a timeframe for the policy’s implementation. “The king and the royal family members will be treated just like normal citizens,” he added. Under the law, Nepalese people are allowed to own 7.45 hectares (18.4 acres) of land, the minister said. But according to a preliminary land reform ministry report, the king and royal family members own 1,729 hectares (4,274 acres) of land, including palaces and forests, the minister said. “In addition to this, we believe the king and his family members possess other land in the country. The government has directed all land revenue offices to furnish details within the next eight days,” Chaudhary said. (HPI adds: For comparison, the Queen of England is estimated to have assets of US$500 million, while Queen Beatrice of Holland is reportedly worth US$4.7 billion including a major stake in Royal Dutch Shell oil company.)
News of the plan to strip the king of his land was praised in Kathmandu’s streets, where there were massive street protests earlier this year that forced Gyanendra to give up absolute rule in April. “The king has been enjoying a lavish life while we’ve been suffering. He should own property equivalent to that owned by a normal citizen,” said 30-year-old school teacher Tek Narayan Jha. “The move will show there is equal justice for all,” Jha said. The development was welcomed elsewhere too.
The announcement is the latest blow for the king who has already been stripped of his control over the army and legislative duties. He also faces a potentially massive tax bill. The monarch, traditionally revered as the incarnation of the Hindu god of protection, Lord Vishnu, sacked the government and seized power in February 2005, saying the move was necessary to crush a deadly decade-old Maoist revolt. But afterwards the sidelined political parties and Maoists formed an alliance to end his rule, staging huge demonstrations.