It's Bad to Be the King

摘要

Rohit bhandari isn't a natural rebel. He has a good job as a technician in a Kathmandu medical laboratory and is the son of a bureaucrat and mid-level leader for Nepal's pro-monarchy Rashtriya Prajatantra Party. And yet Bhandari, 26, found himself in a mob of thousands last week demanding "King Gyanendra, leave the country, or we will kill you," part of a tide of violent protests ripping across the mountain kingdom. Bhandari isn't sure why he is risking his life, beyond an unformed belief in "freedom" and a burning sense that Gyanendra, Nepal's absolute monarch, is keeping his country in the dark ages. "Everybody feels Nepal is being left behind," he says, as a Royal Nepalese Army helicopter buzzes overhead. "This is the 21st century. We can't have a God King. It's impossible to resist this."