By PR Pradhan It has been more than one decade that Nepal has been declared a republic. Still, the Nepali monarch is an attraction for the commoners. Either it is during the Dasain festival, when thousands of people gather at the former King’s private residence to receive tika from him, or on the occasion of the former King’s birthday, when people reach the former King’s residence to extend birthday greetings. Similarly, when the former King visits different parts of the country, always, crowds of thousands of people are present to greet him. Last week, former King Gyanendra was in Bhairahawa. By making Bhairahawa as the tour camp, the former King, during his one-week-long stay there, visited different shrines in different districts in the Lumbini Zone. In every district, crowds of thousands of people were seen waiting for the former King for hours. On Saturday, the former King visited Kamdhenu Gaudham in Debdaha in Nawalparashi and offered pooja there. Also, he mingled with the people gathered there to greet him, according to the Desh Sanchar Online Portal. The Portal has also published above a dozen photographs of the King mingling with locals. Meanwhile, Nagarik vernacular daily had published a long report on the former King’s visit to Kapilvastu on Friday. The daily has reported that former King Gyanendra on Friday visited the 11th Kapilvastu Festival organized at Buddha Stadium in Bandhganga Municipality in Kapilvastu District. After offering pooja at the Pashupati Temple in Gorusinghe, the former King had reached the Festival venue. He had spent about ten minutes at the Festival. He had enquired about the festival with Rajkumar Khand, chairman of the Bandhganga Welfare Society, reports Nagarik daily. The Society has organized the Festival. When it was informed that the former King was visiting the Festival, locals gathered at the Festival venue from 1 pm. At 3 pm the former King directly went to the Pashupati Temple in Gorusinghe without stopping at the Festival venue. Upon his return from the Temple, the former King had dropped at the Festival venue. Dinesh Chhetri, secretary of the Society, said that the former King extended best wishes for the success of the Festival. Although the former King stayed for a short period, locals were highly encouraged from the former King’s visit, said Chhetri. Thousands of people with national flags and welcome banners, had gathered at the venue to greet the former King. At the Pashupatinath premises in Gorusinghe also, thousands of people arrived from different villages to greet the former King from 12 noon. Around 15 thousand people were present there to greet the former King, said RPP’s district coordinator Bhisma Banjade. People also chanted slogans in support of monarchy. The former King returned to Bhairahawa after visiting the Festival. The former King had reached Bhairahawa on 1 December. While staying in Bhairahawa, the former King visited different shrines in Rupandehi, Palpa, and Kapilvastu. On Saturday, the last day of his stay in Bhairahawa, he has scheduled to visit Palhi Bhagawati Temple in Nawalparashi. The former King has visited different districts in the Western Region for the first time since 2006. The above reports published in vernacular media have been translated and reproduced in interests of English newspaper readers. Why is the media giving coverage on the former King, who is just a commoner now! Interestingly, one journalist friend said that readers are curious to read news related to the former King. It is related to increasing circulation of media. During the 2006 April uprising period, the Kantipur Publications Group had imposed the policy to black-out all the news related to the former King. However, when readers started to talk about the ill-intention of the publication house, it has now started to cover the former King’s activities by knowing readerships’ interests. Anyway, the presence of large crowds of locals in every occasion where the former King is present, itself is a referendum that how popular is the institution of monarchy in Nepal! Also, this is a clear message that the institution of monarchy was removed not because the Nepali people didn’t want the institution, but due to the conspiracy created by the foreign powers. The Nepali people are not happy with the present political system. They have now realized that the present system was introduced in the country to destroy Nepali identity. Our political leaders were instruments of different foreign powers while imposing a system favourable for the foreigners. Obviously, some of the political leaders have made personal gains, however, the nation has been defeated by adopting the present political system. Also, the Nepali people have started to recall the institution of monarchy and that how the institution had safeguarded Nepali sovereignty even during difficult periods!