Thousands of people in Nepal took out a massive rally, demanding the restoration of constitutional monarchy and Hindu Rashtra status for the country. Protests have been underway across the country all week and on Saturday, thousands marched in Kathmandu, the national capital, calling for a Monarchical restoration.
Demands for the restoration of the Hindu Monarchy in Nepal has been steadily gaining momentum in recent times. In the rally, slogans such as “monarchy must return to save the country” and “country above party” were raised.
Slogans such as “King, please come back and save the country,” were also raised. RSN leader Keshar Bahadur Bista said that since the fall of the Monarchy, Nepal had become a country with many kings. He said, “King Gyanendra has no parallel in world history, where a monarch quietly gave up the throne to give leaders a chance, but what they did in the past 14 years was indulging in rampant corruption and plunder.”
Damodar Wagle, president of Nepal’s Opposition party Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) youth organization Bagmati, told Nikkie Asia on Wednesday, “We are supporting the royalists, and our movement will continue despite the directive of the home ministry. If they use force, we will retaliate.”
“Our aim is to reestablish the monarchy and a Hindu state in Nepal. We will gather support from the streets and also push for a referendum based on the 2015 constitution via winning the next general election,” Wagle said. The protesters are carrying flags and placards of Prithvi Narayan Shah, the founder of modern Nepal. They demand the restoration of the Hindu Monarchy for the ‘sake of the country’s national unity and well-being of the people’.
Nepal was declared a secular state in 2008 after the success of the people’s movement of 2006 that saw the abolition of monarchy. Earlier in December, a pro-monarchy march was held in Kathmandu. Participants of the march chanted slogans in favour of the Hindu Rashtra and demanded the reinstatement of constitutional monarchy in the Himalayan Nation which they claimed was for the sake of country’s national unity and well-being of the people.
