Maoists turn priest escorts

Head priest Bishnu Prasad Dahal (right) at the Pashupatinath temple in Kathmandu. (AFP)

Kathmandu, Jan 3  (PTI): Prayers at Nepal’s holiest temple were disrupted for the first time in over 250 years after Maoists stormed it to install a Nepalese priest in place of Indians in defiance of a Supreme Court order.

The intrusion into Kathmandu’s Pashupatinath temple drew angry reactions from locals and the Opposition Nepali Congress, which saw yesterday’s incident as an attempt by the Maoist-led government of Prime Minister Prachanda to interfere in the shrine’s affairs.

Over 100 Maoists and Young Communist League cadres broke the temple’s locks and took Bishnu Prasad Dahal to the head-priest’s seat last evening, Narottam Vaidya, a former member of the Pashupati Area Development Trust, said.

The south Indian priests, who were fired by the government earlier this week, have led prayers at the shrine, revered around the world, for the past 300 years. Their ancestors had been brought to Nepal during the reign of the Malla kings in the 18th century. The Supreme Court had stayed the appointment of Nepalese priests, whom the Maoists forced the authorities to appoint.

The customary worship, Nitya Puja, hasn’t been held for the past two days, the first halt in 262 years, according to Ram Prasad Adhikari, a 72-year-old who lives near the shrine. He expressed fears of a backlash in India, where many Nepalese Brahmins are priests.

The government has deployed riot police to stop protests by local pro-Hindu groups and residents near the temple.

The court stay had come on an appeal by the local Bhandaris and other members of the public who demanded that the Indian priests be allowed to continue.

The row is being seen as another instance of “cultural invasion” by the Maoists who, as part of their attempts to turn Hindu Nepal into a secular nation, earlier cut the funds for Kathmandu’s famous Kumari chariot festival.

Yesterday’s intrusion also came a day after Prime Minister Prachanda agreed with the Nepali Congress to stop the unruly activities of the Young Communist League.