Twenty-five years ago, Indian socialist thinker Kishan Patnayak asked BP Koirala of the Nepali Congress if he thought it was necessary to declare Nepal a secular country. The latter replied that although Nepal was constitutionally a Hindu kingdom, secularity was practiced, intercaste marriages were accepted and religious extremism was rare. Koirala also said secularism was not something that had to be guided by law as much as it needed to be adopted by social institutions.
During the 1990 People's Movement the UML raised the issue of secularism again, but later decided the status quo should be maintained. A decade later, the rebelling Maoists and the agitating five parties have once again brought up the subject, except now they are brandishing it as a weapon against the king. They reason that if Nepal were to cast aside its Hindu status, it would make redundant the king's position as a Hindu ruler.
Secularism is commendable because it allows plurality of religions and teaches each to respect the other's faith. Nepali society showed a measure of its secular character when it elected GP Koirala, even after he refused to observe mourning rituals after his mother's death, and conversely by voting communist Man Mohan Adhikari into office when he underwent all the Hindu observances on his mother's passing. Similarly, despite being a communist, Madhab Kumar Nepal offered prayers at a south Indian temple nine years ago, because as deputy prime minister on a state visit he represented a Hindu kingdom. It is in this light that we can view Maoist leader Baburam Bhattarai's recent pilgrimage to Mankamana temple with his parents.
What we need now is for the political parties to explain and justify how their contradictory characters fit into the framework of secularism. Despite a few who encourage racism under the influence of Hindu extremist organisations, Nepali society is, by and large, secular in nature. Therefore demanding state secularism is irrelevant. If this is done to leverage political ambitions, be warned: Hindu extremism could taint our country.
