Kathmandu: The row over the storming of Nepal's holiest temple Pashupatinath by the Maoists is set to take the form of a sustained agitation, with a 'struggle committee' being formed to step up pressure on the Prachanda-led government to implement an apex court order.
The former guerrillas stormed the shrine on Thursday defying Nepal's Supreme Court order staying the appointment of Nepalese priests following the sacking of Indian Brahmins involved in the traditional rituals at the temple for the past 300 years.
Maoists and cadres of the Young Communist League (YCL) stormed the temple on Thursday escorting the new priest to replace Indian Brahmins, a move that triggered immediate protests from main opposition party Nepali Congress and Hindu bodies and people residing in the vicinity of the temple.
The local 'Bhandaris', who have been linked to the centuries-old worship at the Pashupatinath and the civil society people on Saturday formed a 32-member 'struggle committee' to launch an agitation if the CPN-Maoist-led government fails to abide by the Supreme Court verdict that directed the authorities to allow the Indian Priests to conduct the traditional rituals at the historic shrine.
We have set two pre-conditions for dialogue with the government which includes allowing the Indian priests to resume their worship until new arrangements and to guarantee the assets of the Pashupatinath temple, said Shiv Sharanraj Bhandari, the coordinator of the 'struggle committee'.
He said the assets of the Pashupatinath temple including a storehouse of abundant gold and other valuables were being protected by the Bhandari community residing around the temple after the Maoist cadres stormed the main shrine.
Bhandari said the government has politicised the issue by interfering in the affairs of famous temple.
Apprehending trouble for their appointees, the Maoist-led government has deployed riot police in large numbers to act tough with protesters.
Bhandari said the government should accept the court's interim order. He was concerned that the authorities are not respecting the court verdict.
We are not against appointing Nepali priests, but it should be done in proper manner by fulfilling all traditional requirements, Bhandari underlined.
He said the sudden appointment of new priests by haphazardly sacking the Indian priests is not acceptable to them.
Bhandari expressed concern that failure of the government to properly deal with the "sensitive issue" may damage the friendly relationship between Nepal and India.
He pointed that there are thousands of Nepalese working as priests at various Indian temple and the incident may also affect their employment across the border.
The customary worship, 'Nitya Puja' at Pashupatinath has been disrupted for the past three days, Bhandari said, adding it was the first instance in over 250 years that the worship was discontinued.
The Pashupatinath Temple has been the national God of Nepal since the 6th century, said former Vice Chancellor of the Sanskrit University Sri Krishna Acharya, who is also the son of renowned Nepalese historian Baburam Acharya.
There has been a tradition of appointing priests from South India for the past 300 years.
The present chief priest, Mahabaleshwor Bhatta, is from Karnataka and he has been performing the worship for the past 15 years, he said.
We will launch an agitation programme on Saturday if the government does not show its commitment to fulfill our demands, he said.
The move to replace the Indian priests has also been sharply rejected by the dominant opposition party Nepali Congress, but despite the apex court restrictions, Maoists went ahead to install their appointed priests.
Comments
0 comment