Some political parties in Nepal want to turn the Himalayan country into a Hindu monarchy. And they have found many takers among the Nepali populace.
On a blistering afternoon in the north Indian town of Ayodhya in early April, Mahant Kamal Nayan Das—a white-robed seer and a spokesperson of the Ram Temple Trust—spoke on the expansion of Hinduism before an audience of saffron-clad devout Hindus.
Amid the surge in Hindu nationalism in India, Das and other votaries of majoritarianism are not only campaigning vigorously to reinstate Nepal as a Hindu kingdom but are also finding wide support among local Nepalese. In April, protesters demanding the restoration of the Hindu monarchy clashed with the police in Kathmandu. The incensed demonstrators marched to a prohibited area and hurled stones at the police, according to local news reports. In the ensuing chaos, at least 14 protesters were injured, while one died a week after the violent outbreak.
The parliament then voted to make the country a republic in 2008. Still, the Constituent Assembly, elected to promulgate a post-war constitution, failed to make any headway amid bickering and divergent visions for Nepal. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has visited Nepal five times, an unprecedented number for an Indian leader. During his trips, he has paid obeisance to Hindu deities at all major religious sites to influence Hindu voters back home.
Bhandari accused Western missionaries of undermining their campaign for Hindu monarchy and lashed out against Nepal’s 2021 national census, which, she said, undercounted Hindus by classifying them as Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jain and Nature worshippers. According to the census, the Hindu population is 81.3 percent whereas Muslims are 4.4 percent. The indigenous Kiratis 3 percent and Christains 1.4 percent.
In 2001, Crown Prince Diprendra, reportedly under the influence of drugs and alcohol, massacred his family and five other royal members because his mother had denied his marriage request. He then shot himself. “The changes haven't delivered on promises of peace, stability, and economic prosperity,” he said. “Hinduism forms Nepal's core identity, and we feel it is essential to revive it for the sake of peace and harmony,” he said.
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