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Nepal was until recently the only country in the world which had Hinduism as the official state religion. This is no more. In May 2006, Nepal was officially declared a secular country after the overthrow of the monarchy.

Later, in April 2008, the Maoists (communists who have as their figurehead Chinese communist leader Mao Tse-Tung), emerged as the largest party, and formed a coalition government with several others. The Maoists had been particularly staunch proponents of abolishing Hinduism as the country’s state religion, and

If the examples of other countries where Maoist style regimes have come to power, Hinduism in Nepal will be virtually obliterated in the coming 10-20 years. Mao Tse-Tung regarded all religion, especially the indigenous religion of his country, as a form of bondage keeping people attached to regressive ways of life and thinking.

Hence communists of the Maoist variety have always targeted the major religions in their countries through both legislation and violence. China and Cambodia are two cases where this was particularly devastating. In what was known as the Chinese “Cultural Revolution” of 1965-1975, at least 40,000 Buddhist shrines were destroyed and much of its Confucian heritage obliterated. In Cambodia, the communist Khmer Rouge tried to obliterate Buddhism. By 1979, virtually every Buddhist library and shrine had been destroyed, and virtually every Buddhist monk and intellectual had been murdered or forced to flee.

But Hinduism still has a hold on the hearts and minds of the majority of the Nepali people that makes the Maoists have to refrain from fulminating against Hinduism most of the time.

A recent incident over the “Pashupatinath” temple, one of Nepal’s most celebrated shrines, situated in the capital of Kathmandu, gives a flash of future struggles which are to inevitably arise in the future.

The current temple complex was built at least 1500 years ago. It is one of four great temples that every devotee of Lord Shiva wishes to visit at least once. Millions of Hindus from all over the world travel to see the temple every year.

The head priests at the Pashupatinath temple have been South Indian pandits, for at least the past 300 years. It is a tradition in many temples in India that Hindus from different regions act as the main priests for a temple in a different region.

The Maoists said that this tradition (of having Indian priests at a Nepali temple) was insulting, and they took steps to oust the priests from their positions. This led to various protests, some demanding that Maoists stay out of religious matters and for the old priests to be reinstated. However the nationalist feeling in Nepal is very strong and India is often the target of this nationalism, so there were also rallies in support of the decision to remove the Indian priests.

Matters took a violent turn when a mob of Maoist youth attacked a group who were protesting for the reinstatement of the Indian priests. This was the first time in known history that fighting and bloodshed had taken place on the hallowed temple premises.

Various groups petitioned Nepal’s Supreme Court regarding the Maoist interference in the temple, which decided that the ousting of the priests was illegal. The Maoists initially said that they would not abide by the Supreme Court ruling, but eventually mounting public pressure put the Maoists in the back foot, causing them to eventually backtrack and allow the reinstatement of the Indian priests, on January 9th 2009. "It is a victory for Hindus worldwide," said Bharat Jangam, a social activist and regular visitor to the temple, who was among the three groups that had asked Nepal's Supreme Court to intervene.

Points to ponder

While violence and disruption affected the Pashupatinath temple in the first week of January, many Indians cancelled their trips to the temple. Famous actor Amitabh Bachchan was amongst those who cancelled a pilgrimage to the temple.

But the Maoists brought Bachchan into the controversy whether he liked it or not. They made a valid point that rich and famous Indians are often treated like special superhuman beings when visiting such great monuments of Hinduism in Nepal. The Maoist press commented that one year Amitabh Bachchan and his family visited the temple during the Ram Navami festival, and had a special four-hour ceremony personally for them, while worship was disrupted for the “normal worshippers”. While parts of the stories in the Maoism dominated Nepali press may have been exaggerated (e.g. they accused the Bachchans of stealing jewels from the temple), the story is likely to strike a chord or grievance with the Nepalese masses.

Maoism as an ideology is scarcely understood by the Nepali masses. But they have certain grievances which has led them to lend significant support to the Maoists. These grievances are mainly socio-economical. In Nepal, one of the poorest countries in the world, the rich have generally stayed rich, and enjoyed privilege without trying to improve the lives of the toiling masses. If Hindu authorities do not take heed of these feelings they will further drive the young of Nepal into the irrational violence of Maoism.

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