Monday, February 12, 2007

Nepal tightens border security to prevent Naga sadhus entry

Nepal government has beefed up security on the border to prevent thousands of Naga sadhus from India joining Nepalese Hindu activists during Shivratri to demand that the Himalayan nation be again declared a Hindu state.

A secret circular has been issued to the administration in the border areas to check the entry of sadhus from India during the Hindu festival, which falls on February 16, Home Ministry sources said.

The World Hindu Federation and other Hindu fundamentalist groups are planning to bring some 30,000 Naga sadhus or Naga babas from India to Kathmandu to stage sit-in and demonstrations to save the world's only Hindu monarch and revive the Hindu state, WHF said in a statement.

"The government has reportedly received information about the infiltration of thousands of fundamentalist Hindu activists from India to join the pro-Hindu demonstrations in KathmanduThe Kathmandu Post. aimed at reviving the Hindu state," the sources told

Nepal was converted into a secular state through the Parliament Declaration on May 18, 2006 and the major parties have virtually agreed to abolish monarchy through Constituent Assembly election slated for June.

The local administration in the district bordering India have been instructed to tighten the flow of the sadhus through the open border during the festival

The administration in the border areas have informed their Indian counterparts about the plan and sought necessary cooperation, the report said.



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