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Priest attack: Nepal Minister assuages India's hurt feelings | | Nepal
's Culture Minister Manindra Rijal on Sunday said his government is taking all
steps to ensure the security of Hindu priests inside the Pashupatinath Temple
and ruled out reports that the two priests who were allegedly attacked by Maoists
were wanting to return to bangalore , their hometown. Rijal told a private television
channel that he had gone to the temple with India 's Ambassador to Nepal , Rakesh
Sood, on saturday to apologise to the Indian priests and had assured them of their
security. He also said his government has promised to take stern action against
the perpetrators of the attack. Nepal has "regretted" the attack by Maoists on
two newly-appointed Indian priests. The police has arrested about two dozen people,
including the leader of the group that beat up the priests -- Girish Bhatta and
Raghavendra Bhatta. However, tension prevails around the temple area inspite of
the placatory moves. The Unified CPN (Maoist), however, has denied its involvement
in Friday's attacks. A statement issued by the party's International Department
in-charge Krishna Bahadur Mahara says, the party does not have a policy of jeopardizing
religious harmony and intervening in religious issues. "Our party believes in
people's religious independence and respects the rights and sentiments of the
people to support or oppose any issue," the statement mentions. Mahara also mentioned
that the Nepali public has been demanding Nepali priests in the Pashupatinath
temple for a long time. Demonstrators protesting against the appointment of Indian
priests had attacked the priests, who were undergoing a ritual of fasting and
isolation inside the temple premises, and attempted to break their sacred thread,
on Friday India on Saturday described the attack as an unprovoked and criminal
act of violence that goes against ‘‘the grain of the civilisational ties of friendship
that have existed since time immemorial between the peoples of Nepal and India
’’. Indian External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said New Delhi has already done
enough to ensure the safety and security of the two Karnataka-based priests. ‘‘
Nepal is a sovereign country and we have had traditionally good relationships
with Nepal . I am sure they will do enough to ensure such incidents don’t recur,’’
Krishna said. ‘‘ India shares historical bond with Nepal , in Kashi priests from
Nepal perform the pujas and in Pashupatinath it is the Indian priests. It is a
tradition being followed from centuries. So I think there should no problem between
us,’’ Krishna added. He said he was aware of Maoist pressure on temple authorities
to prevent Indian priests from conducting religious ceremonies and Nepal government
had no role in it. External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said: ‘‘The
matter was immediately taken up through our embassy in Kathmandu at the highest
levels in the government of Nepal and our concerns conveyed. The safety and security
of Indian citizens abroad is an abiding and core concern of the government of
India and we continue to closely monitor the situation surrounding the unfortunate
incident in Kathmandu.’’ |
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