{"id":3800,"date":"2006-09-20T08:09:42","date_gmt":"2006-09-20T13:09:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com?p=3800"},"modified":"2006-09-20T07:04:58","modified_gmt":"2006-09-20T12:04:58","slug":"secularizing_th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/2006\/09\/20\/secularizing_th\/","title":{"rendered":"Secularizing the last officially Hindu country"},"content":{"rendered":"

With democratization in Nepal comes secularization. Nepal has been a Hindu monarchy for close to 250 years:<\/p>\n\n

Since it was unified by King Prithvi Narayan Shah in 1768, Nepal has been ruled by a Hindu dynasty. Its kings have bound themselves into a litany of Hindu rituals. [Link<\/a>]<\/blockquote>\n\n

<<\/p>\n\n

p><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td><\/tr>\n
\n

This man has no connection to the protests, I just liked his photo.<\/p><\/td><\/tr><\/table>\n\n

However, soon it will be neither if the Nepalese parliament has its way. These changes have more than mere symbolic significance – they affect the balance of power within the country. For example, control of the military will no longer be reserved for Hindus:<\/p>\n\n

the army – hitherto ruled by top Hindu castes – will now be “inclusive and national” in character<\/font>. [Link<\/a>]<\/blockquote>\n\n

<<\/p>\n\n

p>Official broadcasts will have to be more even handed between faiths:<\/p>\n\n

the state broadcaster gives … [Buddhism] 10 minutes a week compared with three-and-a-half hours for Hinduism. [Link<\/a>]<\/blockquote>\n\n

<<\/p>\n\n

p>And more non-Hindu houses of worship will be built:<\/p>\n\n

Pastor KB Rokaya heads a church which meets in a private flat because churches are not allowed to register with the authorities. [Link<\/a>]<\/blockquote>\n\n

<<\/p>\n\n

p><\/p>\n\n

<<\/p>\n\n

p>However, not everybody is pleased with these changes. The head of Shiv Sena Nepal said, at a recent rally:<\/p>\n\n

“Nepal is a Hindu country,” he says. “It is the playground of God and a very holy country. If Nepal is not a Hindu kingdom then there is no Nepal. We are entering into a holy war<\/font>,” [Link<\/a>]<\/blockquote>\n\n

<<\/p>\n\n

p>One of the demonstrators at this rally promises worse:<\/p>\n\n

“In secularism it will be very difficult for … [religious minorities]. The churches will be destroyed, the mosques will be destroyed. The people who are very much [of a] religious mind, they will spontaneously blow up these churches and mosques. The fight between the religious communities… is not going to stop. It has been ignited<\/font>…” [Link<\/a>]<\/blockquote>\n\n

<<\/p>\n\n

p>At this point, it is too early to tell if this is the usual windbaggery by people resistant to change. There have only been a few dozen protestors at these rallies<\/font> thus far. The question is whether his movement will pick up steam or lose wind or further mix metaphors as time goes on.<\/p>\n\n

<<\/p>\n\n

p><\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With democratization in Nepal comes secularization. Nepal has been a Hindu monarchy for close to 250 years: Since it was unified by King Prithvi Narayan Shah in 1768, Nepal has been ruled by a Hindu dynasty. Its kings have bound … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3800"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3800\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sepiamutiny.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}