Almost half of the mahasamiti members of the main opposition party Nepali Congress (NC) are in support of reinstatement Hindu state.
A total of 752 mahasamiti members, more than half of the total of around 1,500 members, participated in the signature campaign carried out at the Yogamber Party Venue for four days and urged the party to include Hindu state in its statute and lead the campaign to include the same in the constitution.
The party cadres, who feel pride in promulgation of the constitution by the government led by its then president Sushil Koirala, are demanding Hindu state in a way that violates the very constitution.
Mayoral candidate for Kathmandu Metropolitan City in the last local election Raju Raj Joshi, who led the signature campaign, said Nepal should be defined as a country with religious freedom instead of a secular state.
"Secularism was not an agenda of the Janandolan II of 2006. The leaders inserted secularism on a whim," Joshi told Setopati. "The constitution promulgated under leadership of NC mentioned secularism. Republicanism is an achievement but secularism is not. The party included it as a compromise with other parties."
Pointing that one of the four stars in the party's flag represents religious freedom, he argued "Where did secularism come from when the symbol of religious freedom is included in the party's flag? The star in the flag means religious freedom, not secularism. Let us not misinterpret."
The signature campaign, however, was not started after a formal decision inside the party. Joshi revealed that the campaign was started to make the people's demand the party's agenda. "We will submit the signatures of eight central committee members including Shankar Bhandari and Pushpa Bhusal, 30 district presidents, over 750 mahasamiti members and 1,800 observers to either the party president or the mahasamiti meeting secretariat Thursday itself," he added.
Late leader Khum Bahadur Khadka had started the campaign for Hindu state, and most of the central committee members and mahasamiti members in the then Khadka camp are in support of Hindu state now.
NC General Secretary Shashank Koirala, who talks about referendum about Hindu state, did not sign despite expressing verbal support. "The agenda of Hindu state is getting stronger. Friends with other political ideologies, and not just those in NC, also want this," Joshi claimed. "We cannot say if the party will own the agenda or abandon it."
NC cadres from other religious groups, however, demand that the party should not step back from secularism. But Joshi claims that a few Muslim cadres are also in favor of Hindu state.
A few mahasamiti members have talked about Hindu state while speaking during the meeting but none of the central committee members and office-bearers has spoken about the issue. The eight who have signed in support of the campaign have yet to get time to speak.
The political document prepared by the committee led by Vice-president Bimalendra Nidhi also mentions Nepal is a secular state, and adds that the party will move forward in accordance to the constitution.
