Tearful farewell

KATHMANDU, JUNE 2. A shocked and grief-stricken Nepal tonight bid a tearful farewell to the assassinated King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya as their bodies were consigned to flames near the Pashupatinath temple on the banks of Bagmat river here.

The bodies of the royal couple's younger son and daughter - Prince Niranjan and Princess Shruti - and one of the king's cousin Princess Jayanti were also cremated.

As the funeral pyres of the King and the Queen were lit by a royal high priest, buglers sounded the last post and artillery guns boomed in salute as many among hundreds of thousands of stunned mourners broke down sobbing inconsolably.

King Birendra's brother and ``regent'' Prince Gyanendra, the Prime Minister, Mr. G.P. Koirala, Cabinet colleagues and members of the royal family were present during the last rites.

Considering the suddenness and magnitude of the tragedy, the kingdom dispensed with the formality of organising a funeral with the participation of foreign dignitaries.

In a ceremonial funeral procession, the body of the Queen was carried in an ornate palanquin while those of others, including the King, were placed on bamboo stretchers.

The procession winded its way from the military hospital to the cremation site covering nearly a 10-km route lined by mourners who had hailed the royalty. It stopped briefly before the palace. Mounted bodyguards and other defence personnel escorted the flower-bedecked cortege as women threw flowers and rice coloured in red.

Police had a tough time controlling emotionally-charged crowds surging forward to have a last glimpse of the royal couple. Angry demonstrators demanding exemplary punishment for the guilty dispersed after police made a lathicharge in front of Raj Parishad, King's nominated council.

- PTI

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