Nepal Gearing Up for a Hindu Revolution

Even though the term modern nationalism was coined by Johann Gottfried Herder in the late 1770s, the origin of Nepali nationalism can be traced back to the early 1990s



By Dipin Damodharan

Every nation has its own identity or what we called soul, and only that identity it can nurture its society. As far as the Himalayan country Nepal is concerned, that identity or soul lies in the very concept of Hinduism. When Nepal lost the Hindu statehood three years ago, it marked the decline of nationalism also. When the King had failed to serve the country, that space was hijacked by the deadly ideology of communism/ Maoism. They have succeeded in brainwashing a particular group of Nepali society and now the command of this old Hindu nation lies in the hands of the so-called revolutionaries.

But the great Nepali citizens who bear the legacy of Buddha not seem to be happy in the instable, timid rule of Prachanda and Co. who has been wiping out their indigenous traditions and cultural symbols with their alien communist ones. A survey conducted in 2010 clearly depicted the Nepali mood. 52.2% of people participated in the survey called for the restoration of Hindu Statehood.

The signs of displeasure have becoming evident now as more and more protest symbols, that show the insecurity of Nepal citizens, appeared on the walls of Nepal streets recently. The Communist endeavours to control and capture the Hindu cultural centres came out to irritate the budding nationalists and traditional Royal loyalists in the same manner. Nepal is slowly but concretely gearing up for a Hindu revolution. The youth has realized that it is the time for them to rise from lethargy to a national renaissance. It has to be happened also. When we look at the history of Nepal it is crystal-clear that the country has its roots in Hindu culture. The great Indian King Janaka’s Mythila Kingdom that mentioned in Indian Hindu scripture Ramayana now belongs to Nepal, the Kingdom of Gautam Buddha’s (the founder of Buddhism) father, Kapilavasthu, now located in Nepal. Along with India Nepal also shares the legacy of the grand Indian Mourya Empire.

The mountain people share a lot of cultural similarities with the Indian people, in terms of worship, way of living, etc. When they cross the borders, they never feel that they are in an alien land. But the Maoists have ruined all these bonds with the support of China by inculcating the drastic ideology of communism. How can the land of Buddha be a Communist citadel? How Nepali people can consider their real brothers, the Indians, as their unforgivable enemy? Unfortunately, all these happening in Nepal under the tutelage of Communist rule.

To add-on, the dragon nation China is rapidly expanding their tentacles across Nepal in diverse fields in the guise of companies like Huawei. The recent incident, Nepal’s rejection of India’s appeal to start a second consulate in the Himalayan Republic, also points out the growing Chinese influence there. But the Nepali students and youth are not ready to give up their land.

Inspiration from RSS

Even though the term modern nationalism was coined by Johann Gottfried Herder in the late 1770s, the origin of Nepali nationalism can be traced back to the early 1990s. It assumed an organized form in 1992 when some college students had given life to Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS), an organization akin to that of India’s powerful Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Since its origin HSS has been getting the mental and ideological support from the RSS.  When RSS was founded by great visionary Dr Keshav Rao Baliram Hedgewar in 1925, it succeeded in attracting people of all ages. Similar to that HSS is attracting people of all facets of society cutting the barriers of age, caste etc.

Like RSS, HSS also believes and propagates that selfless service to nation is the highest form of worship. They aimed at extending Hindutva to a comprehensive concept from just a religious identity. Many political thinkers have the opinion that HSS will soon become a common platform for anti-Maoists. A substantial cog of Nepali society is of the view that the 2006 Jan Andolan movement was only against King Gyanendra, not against Nepal’s Hindu state hood. But in the backdrop of that movement Nepal was declared as a secular state also.

When most of the Muslim nations and Christian nations in the world have been curtailed the freedom of other religions, the erstwhile Hindu Nepal was an exception. All other religions were free to propagate their ideology here, yet the so-called secular world joined their hands with inhuman Maoists to declare Nepal as secular. Since then the people have been feeling unsafe in the country. The Hindu nationalists should exploit this annoyance very well, then only they will be able to take their movement forward.
 
(The author can be contacted at [email protected]

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