The Nepalese people have spoken: Dump the monarchy, institute a Hindu republic

[aneeshm]

The Nepalese seem to be in favour of dumping the monarchy but keeping the state officially Hindu. Quite sensible, I'd say.

Link

Kathmandu, June 08: Majority of the Nepali citizens want the monarchy to be abolished and the Himalayan nation be declared a Hindu state, a survey has said.

In the survey conducted by the Nepal chapter of South Asia Democracy Study Group, about 59% of the respondents favoured a republic, which was far ahead of the 15% who favoured the idea in the 2004 survey.

“During the first survey in 2004, the idea of a republic was favoured by only 15% of respondents,” the South Asia Democracy Group noted in a summary of the new poll.

The survey conducted between March and April in over 41 parliamentary constituencies of 40 districts, showed that the vast majority of the respondents (68.8%) supported Nepal as a Hindu state, with only 39.2% backing the parliamentary proclamation of a secular state, the Himalayan Times Online said.

Presenting the findings of the survey yesterday, political analyst Krishna Hachhethu expressed optimism about the expansion and deepening of democracy in Nepal due to increased political awareness and participation in the political process.

Over two-thirds of the respondents said "democracy is preferable to any other kind of government". A majority of respondents (92%) believe that "democracy is suitable for nepal".

Though 59% of the respondents were unclear about the role of the constituent assembly, 62 per cent of them believed that assembly polls to frame a new constitution can be held in a fair and free manner.

Majority of the people were upbeat over the peace process, with 67% believing that the Maoists would not return to war.

Bureau Report

[Arrian]

Democracy
State Religion

-Arrian

[Kuciwalker]

The Nepalese seem to be in favour of dumping the monarchy but keeping the state officially Hindu. Quite sensible, I'd say.

[aneeshm]

Originally posted by Arrian

Democracy
State Religion

-Arrian

So your opinion of the people of Nepal is something like ?

And in case you're not aware, even under the monarchy, people of different religions were equal under the law.

Let me quote the law (I don't know how current it is, however):

Right to Equality :

(1) All citizens shall be equal before the law. No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws.

(2) No discrimination shall be made against any citizen in the application of general laws on grounds of religion, race, sex, caste, tribe or ideological conviction or any of these.

(3) The State shall not discriminate citizens among citizens on grounds of religion, race, sex, caste, tribe or ideological conviction or any of these:

Provided that special provisions may be made by law for the protection and advancement of the interests of women, children, the aged or those who are physically or mentally incapacitated or those who belong to a class which is economically, socially or educationally backward.

(4) No person shall, on the basis of caste, be discriminated against as untouchable, be denied access to any public place, or be deprived of the use of public utilities. Any contravention of this provision shall be punishable by law.

(5) No discrimination in regard to remuneration shall be made between men and women for the same work.

I don't really think that the existence of a state religion as a problem as long as legal equality is present.

[BeBMan]

A Hindu republic?

[Arrian]

So your opinion of the people of Nepal is something like ?

Negative, Ghostrider. My opinion of the current political leanings of the majority of Nepalese is something like

I don't really think that the existence of a state religion as a problem as long as legal equality is present.

I'm distrustful of state religions. Well, let's be honest, shall we? I'm distrustful of religion, period. Coupled with the State, overtly, and my distrust increases.

-Arrian