Protesters demanding that Nepal be turned back into a Hindu nation scuffled with police Monday and threw chairs at the country’s deputy prime minister when he was collecting suggestions on a draft constitution.
About 200 protesters from Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal stormed into the national stadium chanting slogans asDeputy Prime Minister Prakash Man Singh addressed a crowd gathered as part of a campaign to collect public suggestions.
No one was hurt and riot police pushed the protesters out of the arena.
Nepal’s Secular Stand
Nepal was declared a secular state after its centuries-old monarchy was abolished in 2008 and was declared a republic. The monarchs that ruled Nepal promoted Hinduism and the kings were believed by some to be a reincarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu.
Nepal is a Hindu state and will remain a Hindu state. Almost all Nepalese are Hindus and we will continue to protest until the country is declared a Hindu state once again.
– Madhav Bhattarai, one of the protesters
He said that Nepal was declared a secular state only “because of foreign influence.”
The government sent lawmakers to their constituencies on Monday and Tuesday to collect suggestions on the draft, which was supposed to be prepared in 2010 by the first Constituent Assembly elected in 2008. The assembly failed to complete the task in four years and another assembly elected in 2012 has also struggled because of disagreements between political parties.
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