Nepal faces Hindu backlash over declaration as secular state

The May 18 declaration by Nepal's parliament ending the country's distinction as the world's only Hindu state was one of the several hard decisions taken by the new government to coax Maoist rebels to join in a peaceful political process. But the move has bred new conflict with the country's Hindu majority.

Hindu groups in Nepal - which have strong backing from powerful Hindu fundamentalist organizations in neighboring India - have termed the declaration of a secular Nepal as "defamatory" and "dangerous," and have said that it could provoke a "religious crusade" in this tiny Himalayan nation.

Following the announcement, Hindu groups organized rallies in at least four districts here, and forced the southern industrial town of Birgunj to close for two days last week. Hindu holy men in saffron gowns have been taking to the streets in the capital, Kathmandu, and other cities demanding the reversal of the declaration. Hindu leaders warn that this is just the beginning of what would be a nationwide campaign in the country, which is 80 percent Hindu.

"How can a 250-member parliament decide on something as serious as this? A referendum would have been the best way to go about it," says Diwakar Chand, general secretary of the World Hindu Federation (WHF), UN-registered umbrella body of Hindu groups around the world.

There may not be a better example of the importance Hindu groups around the world - especially in India - lay on Nepal than the fact that the WHF is customarily headed by an individual recommended by the King of Nepal. The country's kings are believed to be the incarnations of Vishnu - one of the top three gods in the extremely populous Hindu pantheon that theoretically has 330 million gods. Currently, the federation is headed by Bharat Keshari Singh, a top aide of King Gyanendra.

Rajnath Singh, president of India's Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), told a Nepali delegation in India last week that Nepal ought to remain a Hindu state. "The BJP would not appreciate a situation where Nepal loses its true identity and buckles under Maoist pressure," he told the delegation, according to a report carried by the Indian daily, The Hindu.

The biggest worry for Hindu groups is whether the sanctity of cows will be protected in a secular Nepal. Cow-slaughter is illegal. Hindus worship cows as incarnations of Laxmi, the goddess of wealth and the better half of Vishnu. The cow is also the national animal of Nepal.

Hari Bhakta Neupane, president of Sanatan Dharma Sewa Samiti, the oldest Hindu group in Nepal, says that if people begin slaughtering cows in secular Nepal, communal riots are inevitable.

Page: 1 | 2