Kathmandu. It has been 20 years since the Royal Palace Durbar massacre. The true story of the massacre that took place inside the royal palace on the evening of June 3, 2008 has not been made public for 20 years.

During the family gathering, the then King Virendra, Queen Aishwarya, Prince Dipendra, Prince Nirajan, Princess Shruti, Prince Dhirendra, Princess Jayanti, Princess Shanti, Princess Sharda, Kumar Khadka and other members of the royal family were shot dead.

A high-level committee of inquiry convened by the then chief justice after the massacre reported that the then-Crown Prince Dipendra shot his family members and later shot himself. The then Speaker Taranath Ranabhat had made the investigation report public. But ordinary Nepalis do not believe that.

There has been no independent investigation into the incident since the committee convened by the chief justice. But from time to time, the demand for its investigation has been raised by the government. Although such demands have been raised due to political retaliation, there has been no interest in making the true story of the massacre public.

Bimalendra Nidhi, who was in charge of the home ministry in the second cabinet headed by the then UCPN (M) chairman Prachanda, had raised the issue of investigation into the Durbar massacre. Although the proposal reached the Council of Ministers at that time, it was later dropped. In retaliation for Gyanendra's refusal to make political statements even after he was ousted from the throne, Nidhi had raised the issue of investigation at that time. But later this matter was not taken forward. 

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