http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/003200805221940.htm

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/003200805221940.htm

Kathmandu (PTI): A global pro-Hindu organisation has threatened to organise a massive protest at the site of the key Constituent Assembly meet on May 28 to step up pressure on the political parties in Nepal to hold a referendum on the abolition of the 240-year-old monarchy.

The World Hindu Federation (WHF) has demanded a referendum before the abolition of the monarchy and asked the political parties to restore Nepal as a Hindu state, failing which it has threatened to stage a sit-in at the Birendra International Convention Centre on May 28, when the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly is expected to declare Nepal a republic by abolishing the centuries old monarchy.

The only Hindu nation in the world, Nepal was declared a secular state two years ago shortly after the restoration of democracy through the 'peoples' movement' in 2006 that sliced the powers of King Gyanendra.

"The political parties of Nepal have committed a blunder by declaring the world's only Hindu kingdom into a secular nation and it has posed a big challenge to all the Hindus of the world," said WHF International President Hem Bahadur Karki at a press meet here.

"We will organise an intensified non-violent movement beginning from May 28 till our demand for restoring Nepal as a Hindu nation is fulfilled," he noted.

Karki also demanded that some role should be alloted to the monarchy instead of completely abolishing the institution.

The WHF chief stressed that "Either ceremonial or cultural monarchy should be retained in order to maintain national unity" in the country. "There should be a referendum on whether monarchy should be abolished and whether Nepal should remain a secular state or restored as a Hindu nation," Karki observed.

Karki said the eighth general council meeting of the WHF held at Devipatan in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on April 27, 2008, "had passed a resolution condemning the unconstitutional and illegitimate decision by the interim Parliament of Nepal to declare the only Hindu kingdom of the world as a secular state".

"The 8th convention also authorised (the body WHF) to go to any extent to accomplish the goal of restoring Nepal into a Hindu kingdom," the chief of the WHF added.

The special assembly was the main demand of Nepal's political parties and the fiercely republican Maoists, who teamed up in April 2006 and orchestrated weeks of protests and unrest that resulted in King Gyanendra giving up dictatorial powers he had seized the year before.
Gyanendra was crowned king seven years ago in June 2001 after the killing of King Birendra and his family members, for which an official probe commission had held crown prince Dipendra, who committed suicide after the tragedy, responsible.

In a week from now, King Gyanendra will most probably be reduced to the status of an ordinary citizen as the special assembly will endorse the parliamentary motion to declare Nepal a republic and abolish the centuries old monarchy.