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Article: Nepal faces Hindu backlash over declaration as secular state; Nepal's Hindu majority is denouncing the recent move to end Nepal's longtime status as the world's only Hindu state.(WORLD)
- Article from:
- The Christian Science Monitor
- Article date:
- May 30, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 The Christian Science Publishing Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Bikash Sangraula Correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor
KATHMANDU, NEPAL -- 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" ...