“King Birendra and Crown Prince Deependra both had liked German weapon”
Former Crown Prince Paras Shah has claimed that the then King Birendra and the then Crown Prince Deependra had differences over the choice of German rifle or American rifle for the Nepal Army (NA). He, one of the witnesses of the dreadful royal massacre in 2001, further claimed that the differences over the multimillion dollar arms deal instigated the crown prince to assassin his father and the rest of the family before killing himself. Is this the truth? “No,” says Bibek Kumar Shah, the army secretary at the Royal Palace at the time of massacre, “It is completely untrue to say that there was rift between King Birendra and Prince Deependra regarding the purchase of German G36 rifle.”
In his interview to a Singapore daily tabloid The New Paper this week, former Crown Prince Paras had claimed that Deependra was only in favour of the G36 rifle. “But his father, His Majesty, did not agree. I know that they argued over it,” said Paras. King Birendra was in favour of American Colt M16 rifle, said Paras adding that that was one of the reasons behind the gruesome royal massacre. However, former Army Secretary Shah, who had worked with King Birendra for almost three decades, denies the claim. “Both the king and the prince had chosen German G36 after test firing,” he says. Had the G36 been imported, the NA would have got such a sophisticated weapon, which, even the Indian Army did not possess. G36 manufacturer, German Heckler & Koch (HK), had already decided to set up a factory in Nepal. “But some countries had indirectly opposed the move,” Shah said, “Underrating that, the Army Logistics Centre (ALC) had already been formed to import 5,000 sets of G36. However, in the end, weapon could not be imported.” The trend of importing weapons from third countries was broken after the massacre. According to sources, the NA was looking for a new weapon since 1998 as the older Self Loading Rifles (SLRs) brought from India in 1970-71 were too old and was not up to the standards of the UN Peace Keeping Army. A technical committee of the NA tested American M16, German G36, Korean K2, Israeli Galil, Indian INSAS and Austrian Steyr rifle. It then recommended purchasing of any among G36, M16, Galil and K2, and the palace selected the German G36. Final decision on the army issues were made by the royal palace in the past. King Birendra and Prince Deependra had performed ‘test-firing’ from the same G36 rifle inside the palace and at Nagarkot and Thankot on the purlieus of the capital and at Mustang. According to Shah, the palace had opted for G36, as it was quite robust and sophisticated though expensive ($800 per set). Shortly, the HK had put forward an attractive proposal of providing 5,000 sets immediately and rest through an ‘assembling line’ in Kathmandu. The palace instantly agreed to the proposal as foreign weapon would be produced in the country and it would cost cheaper to buy the remaining numbers (50,000 arms were required). As G36 was not popular outside the Europe, the HK had tried making Nepal its base for its new market. “They had floated the proposal to produce G36 in Nepal itself,” Shah said, “The HK had even planned to supply its weapons to Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and some other countries in south-east Asia.” Had it been successful, the weapons would have been imported from Nepal, consequently increasing its diplomatic influence to some extent.
Accordingly, preparations had been made to open a factory of HK in Sundarijal. Plans were also made to produce 5.56 mm bullets for the G36 rifle in the same place.
However, Prince Paras has claimed that crown prince Dipendra, in a bid to amass millions, had voted for G36
“The deal would have probably been for about 50,000 rifles, which at US $454 apiece, would work out to about US $15 million,” Paras said in his recent interview
Though they do not accept Dipendra’s involvement in this multimillion-dollar arms deal, informers speculate that commission might have been associated with the transaction of G36
Some believe that the palace was looking to import G36 to compensate for commission of 50 million made during the purchase of two RJ100 aircraft for the NA. RJ manufacturer, British Aerospace Department of Royal Ordnance, was the main constituent of HK, the G36 manufacturer
Nepal’s agent for both RJ and G36 was a single man, Rohini Thapaliya.
However, the HK scrapped the G36 deal citing difficulty in getting import licence. After that, diplomatic pressure from some nations played a major role in the failure of G36 import, the informers said.
Following the failure of G36 import, the NA bought some 17,000 Colt M16 ($450 a piece) from the American army. It also bought 5,500 Belgian Minimi LMG, which resembled M16.
“Later, India sent 1,000 sets of INSAS for free for testing,” said a source.
As per the agreement, 23,000 Indian INSAS were imported to Nepal during King Gyanendra’s first visit to India after ascension to the throne in 2001
Nepal paid 30% of the amount while 70% of the amount was accounted by Indian aid.
