Paras the Perennial

However,for the better part of his adult life,Paras has hit the headlines for all the wrong reasons — for being involved in an accident that led to the death of a popular singer; for drunken brawls at pubs; and now for threatening Koirala’s son-in-law.

Those who know him say Paras has just one vice — drinking — and that most of the trouble he finds himself in stems from that. They say he has been off alcohol for a year,but reportedly downed a few on December 11,his daughter Purnkia’s birthday.

What may help Paras bounce back this time is that Koirala’s son-in-law,a Bangladeshi national,hasn’t won himself many friends in Nepal. Rubel Chowdhary is accused of major “wheeling-dealing”. Paras has fed into the anger with Chowdhary by claiming that the shooting was provoked by a “Bangladeshi national” abusing his country.

The support Paras has is reflected on the streets,which are seeing for the first time protests in his favour. There are also demands of a “fair trial”,which many believe would not reflect too well on the Koiralas.

The shootout took place at Hotel Tiger Tops lodge in Chitwan,where Paras was holidaying,as were Chowdhary and his wife. An altercation apparently took place,after which Paras fired a shot in the air.

Even before Chowdhary had filed a complaint,Paras issued a statement that a Bangladeshi and an Indian abused “me,my family,monarchy and my country… In a fit of anger,I fired a shot in the air,which was not aimed at any individual or hotel property at all.”

On December 13,Chowdhary,who chose not to go to the police,told the media his side of the story: Paras had put a revolver to his head with the threat to terminate the family (Koiralas) that he held responsible for the abolition of monarchy,but ended up firing a shot in the air. “I would have killed him had I had a weapon on me,” Chowdhary said.

As pressure built up,Paras was arrested and taken to Chitwan.

The incident came at a time when Paras was reinventing his image. He has been away from the country for nearly two years,mostly in Singapore. He has confessed to “past mistakes and sins”,including the accident that killed the singer eight years ago,and sought to apologise.

With the current Nepal government standoff making many look back at the monarchy with nostalgia,Paras’s star has been on the ascent. His wife Himani has set up a charity organisation to help the needy. Paras has been attending religious and cultural functions where he has apparently drunk nothing more potent than rice wine.

Nepali media has projected Paras as a “victim” and pressure is being mounted to arrest Chowdhary too. Says chairman of the YOUNG Communist League — the youth wing of the Maoist Party—Kul Prasad K C ‘Sonam’: ‘If Paras used a revolver against someone insulting the country,that should be supported.”

Paras admits having met Maoist chief Prachanda twice — though it is too early to say if that means emergence of a new politics in the state. Paras has reportedly told the police that G P Koirala had spoiled the country economically,and “sold” all the profit-making industries gifted by countries like China,Russia and the US.

His father Gyanendra,recently in India for the marriage of the son of Maharaja Gaj Singh,is believed to have told high-profile leaders there that post-monarchy politics in Nepal had almost taken the country to an abyss,and that many people were coming and telling him to play an active role — “something I don’t want to do”.

Interestingly,he had added: “But I should not be blamed if my son or close relatives react in certain ways.”