Click to play videoNew Delhi: Nepal’s Foreign Minister has blamed his Maoist allies for the removal of Indian priests at the Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu and accused Prime Minister Prachanda of not punishing the people who stormed the shrine on Thursday.
Workers of the Young Communist League (YCL), the youth wing of the ruling Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), on Thursday defied court orders and appointed their own priests at the temple in place of Indian priests who claim they have been conducting rituals at the shrine for 300 years.
“The Prime Minister and his cadres YCL are responsible for this. This is against Hinduism and this is against Hindu sentiment,” Foreign Minister Upendra Yadav told CNN-IBN from Kathmandu.
“This is an anti-religious move. They are trying to capture the Pashupatinath temple and disturb religious activities.” Yadav accused the Maoists of bringing politics into a “religious matters”.
“We condemn and criticise this. Protests are going on against Maoist activities,” he said.
Rift in Nepal government?
Nepal's Tourism Minister Hisila Yami rejected Yadav’s claims and said the Indian priests resigned voluntarily. “The priests themselves volunteered to resign. Both priests had resigned and so two Nepali priests had rightly taken their place. It should not be taken as anti-Indian,” she said.
The dispute at the temple began in December 2008 with three Indian priests submitting their resignation under pressure, allegedly from the Maoist government, and the Pashupatinath Area Development Trust (PADT) appointing two Nepali priests.
Nepal’s Supreme Court ordered a stay on the PADT order after aides of the Indian priests filed a petition, alleging that the trust had overridden all procedures to make political appointments.
Devotees, for the first time in the history of the temple, were unable to offer worship on January 1 because of the controversy, which now may snowball into a diplomatic dispute between India and Nepal because of the Maoist youth wing’s action.
BJP president Rajnath Singh on Sunday demanded that the Indian government take up the issue with Nepal. The removal of Indian priests has hurt the faith and devotion of Indians, he said.
Nepal’s former king Gyanendra, who was the patron of the temple, has urged that issue not be politicised. "I appeal all not to politicise the current Pashupatinath Temple issue and maintain the religious harmony for which Nepal is adored the world over" said the former monarch in a statement issued on Sunday.
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