Nepal Pro-Monarchy Protests and Demand for Hindu State Status
Nepal Pro-Monarchy Protests and Demand for Hindu State Status
Kanako Mita and Michiyo Tanabe
Modern Tokyo Times
Protests erupted in the capital of Nepal after huge crowds called for the monarchy and former King Gyanendra to be restored within the body politic of this country.
People in the crowd chanted, “We love our king and country more than our lives. Bring back the monarchy. Abolish the republic.”
Protesters also demand the status of Nepal being a Hindu state be returned. Hence, the ruling political elites utilized the police to stem the protesters from reaching important areas of Kathmandu.
Voice of America reports, “Riot police used batons and tear gas to halt tens of thousands of supporters of Nepal’s former king who attempted to march to the center of the capital on Thursday to demand the restoration of the monarchy and the nation’s former status as a Hindu state.”
Monarchists from all over the country protested against political corruption and the failure of the political system to support the people of Nepal.
Channel News Asia (CNA) said, “A specially elected assembly abolished the 239-year-old monarchy in 2008 under terms of an accord that ended a Maoist insurgency, which killed 17,000 people between 1996 and 2006, and established a federal republic.”
The Kathmandu Post reports, “This was the first major demonstration in Kathmandu demanding the reinstatement of monarchy and Hindu state after Nepal became a secular republic in 2008.”
Many Nepalese have sought work in Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, and further afield. This concerns the economic and political malaise of Nepal.
Durga Prasai (Citizens’ Campaign coordinator) said, “We want the republican system abolished and the monarchy to be restored.”
It remains to be seen if pro-monarchists and pro-Hindus who seek a return to the traditional legal status of Hinduism in Nepal will gain momentum.
Christianity is also growing in Nepal – notably because of missionaries from South Korea.
https://kathmandupost.com/national/2023/11/24/prasai-s-protest-uml-demo-see-no-major-incidents
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