Sanjeeb Phuyal is the Nepali Editor of Newschecker based in Kathmandu, Nepal. He brings over a decade of experience writing and editing news. In his previous stint, he worked as online editor for The Kathmandu Post. With the growth of social media platforms—and the ever-growing competition amongst media outlets to churn out breaking news, he feels that fact-checking every piece of information has become more essential today than ever before.
Claim
CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli said Nepal’s former King Gyanendra Shah orchestrated the royal palace massacre in 2001.
Fact
No, viral video shows KP Oli’s remarks about the 2001 royal massacre in which he said then crown Prince Dipendra Shah didn’t carry out the shooting.
A video allegedly showing Chairman of Communist Party of Nepal (CPN-UML) KP Sharma Oli saying that deposed King Gyanendra Shah orchestrated Nepal’s royal palace massacre in 2001 is going viral on TikTok.
Nine members of Nepal’s royal family, including King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya, were killed in a mass shooting during a gathering of the royal family at Narayanhiti Palace in Kathmandu on June 1, 2001. An investigation committee formed to look into the palace massacre concluded that crown prince Dipendra carried out the shooting.
Against this backdrop, TikTok user @darsan_n_koktails posted a video showing CPN-UML Chairman KP Sharma Oli speaking about the royal palace massacre. In the video, Oli says, “The palace massacre was not carried out by Nepali political parties. Dipendra [then crown prince] didn’t carry out the massacre. Nepali people should lose their conscience. Did Dipendra kill himself after he was dead? Why would a person who is in line to become the next king? How could the same person run by carrying five rifles and a pistol? Who would believe that? The descriptions that Dipendra shot from behind and from the staircase are not convincing… Nepali people shouldn’t fall for the dramatic reports about the palace massacre.” Text superimposed on the video attributed to KP Oli reads, “Palace massacre was carried out neither by the political parties nor by then crown prince Dipendra. But the current king [deposed King Gyanendra] orchestrated it: Oli.”
The video posted on January 31 has garnered 18k likes, 229 users have shared it and 530 users have shared it. The archived version of the TikTok video can be seen here.
Newschecker found the claim to be misleading.
Fact Check /Verification
To check the veracity of the claim made in the viral video, Newschecker conducted a search on YouTube by using relevant keywords such as ‘KP Oli’ and ‘royal massacre’ and found a video, dated January 28, 2024, published on the YouTube channel named Hulak Sanchar. On checking the video, we found that the 15.55-minute video from the beginning to 1.44-minute exactly matched the viral video. We checked the entire video but we didn’t find Oli saying that Gyanendra Shah, who succeeded his brother Birendra in the aftermath of the royal palace massacre, orchestrated the massacre. He clearly said that there was a grand conspiracy behind the palace massacre. He further said that monarchy should have ended after the massacre as none of the then King Gyanendra Shah’s family members remained alive. “The appointment of Gyanendra Shah was like a symbolic ritual conducted by Brahmins.”
Further, we found an article, dated January 31, published on My Republica regarding the remarks made by incumbent Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ and former PM KP Oli about re-investigation of the palace massacre that killed the entire royal family in 2001.
The political leaders made the statements after the former King Gyanendra, at a program in Birgunj, said that there was a political conspiracy behind the royal palace massacre and his family members were being slandered and attacked by spreading misinformation regarding the palace massacre.
We also found another article published on onlinekhabar.com in which Oli remarked that former King Gyanendra Shah was only a symbolic king.
Thus, our findings clearly indicated that Oli didn’t say ex-King Gyanendra was responsible for the 2001 royal palace massacre.
Conclusion
No, the viral video claiming that CPN-UML Chairman KP Oli said ex-King Gyanendra orchestrated the royal palace massacre is misleading. Thus, the viral video is partly false.
Result: Partly False
Sources
Hulak Sanchar /YouTube, Jan 28, 2024
Online Khabar, Jan 28, 2024
My Republica, Jan 31
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Sanjeeb Phuyal is the Nepali Editor of Newschecker based in Kathmandu, Nepal. He brings over a decade of experience writing and editing news. In his previous stint, he worked as online editor for The Kathmandu Post. With the growth of social media platforms—and the ever-growing competition amongst media outlets to churn out breaking news, he feels that fact-checking every piece of information has become more essential today than ever before.
