Nepal’s Hindu state protests linked to India’s Hindutva push

March violence raises fears over return of monarchy, with civil society warning of growing cross-border Hindutva influence

KATHMANDU, Nepal (MNTV) — A wave of violent pro-monarchy protests that erupted on March 28 has left two people dead and over 100 injured, as demonstrators demanded the restoration of the Hindu monarchy and the declaration of Nepal as a Hindu state.

Thousands of protesters took to the streets in Kathmandu, waving royal flags and chanting religious slogans. What began as a symbolic show of loyalty to former King Gyanendra Shah quickly escalated into street clashes, arson, and attacks on journalists and media outlets. 

Police were forced to fire tear gas as the situation spiraled into the most serious unrest over monarchy since its abolition in 2008.

The protesters called for Nepal to abandon its secular constitution and reinstate a Hindu kingdom — a demand that has gained traction in recent years among right-wing political groups and conservative religious organizations.

Former King Gyanendra, who has kept a low public profile since his abdication, has recently re-emerged in political and religious events, fueling speculation that the push for monarchy is more coordinated than it appears.

In a public statement on March 24, a group of leading Nepali democracy activists warned that Gyanendra’s return to the political spotlight was “against the Constitution, aimed at sowing lawlessness for the benefit of opportunists, and carried out with the backing of religious fundamentalists in India.”

Among the signatories was senior journalist and publisher Kanak Mani Dixit, who later told Rediff that “Gyanendra was encouraged in his ambitions by power brokers and leaders in the Indian establishment, particularly in New Delhi and Lucknow.”

This suggestion of external influence has raised concerns in Kathmandu and beyond, especially amid growing evidence of India’s ideological footprint in Nepal’s religious and political revivalist movements.

Growing Hindutva footprint

While the current protests are framed as domestic demands for cultural restoration, analysts and civil society actors say they are deeply tied to India’s Hindutva project — the majoritarian Hindu nationalist ideology championed by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its affiliates.

The Hindu Swayamsewak Sangh (HSS), the Nepali wing of India’s Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), was established in the early 1990s and has quietly expanded its influence. Through morning drills (shakhas), religious festivals, and grassroots training, the HSS mirrors the organizational blueprint of the RSS and promotes a vision of Nepal as a Hindu state.

BJP leaders have openly endorsed Nepal as a Hindu nation. In 2015, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath sent a letter to the Nepali prime minister urging restoration of Nepal’s Hindu identity. In 2021, BJP spokesperson Vijay Sonkar Shastri declared that “Nepal was and will always remain a Hindu Kingdom.”

Militant affiliates like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal have also found ground in Nepal. In 2024, these groups led public campaigns advocating for laws such as the death penalty for cow slaughter, a ban on religious conversion, and the restoration of the Hindu monarchy.

Their rise, observers note, reflects a transnational agenda — one that seeks to extend Hindutva’s ideological boundaries beyond India’s borders.

Historically, Nepal’s monarchy has long drawn legitimacy from Hindu symbolism. As early as the 18th century, Prithvi Narayan Shah declared Nepal the “asal Hindustan” — the true land of Hindus — and from the 1960s onwards, kings were openly deified as incarnations of Vishnu. In this light, the push for monarchy is inseparable from the push for religious nationalism.

Hindutva Ties to extremist violence

More troubling are the patterns of violence linked to Hindutva-aligned groups — both in Nepal and India — that reveal a shared ideological agenda and strikingly similar tactics.

In Nepal, the National Defense Army, a Hindu Extremist outfit, was responsible for the 2009 bombing of a Catholic church in Lalitpur that killed two Indian nationals and injured over a dozen others. The group also placed explosives near the UN Mission in Kathmandu and has repeatedly called for the establishment of a Hindu state through armed struggle.

Across the border in India, the Abhinav Bharat terror network — whose members were charged in multiple attacks including the 2008 Malegaon bombings — offers a disturbing parallel. Transcripts from Indian court proceedings reveal that one of its key figures, Lt. Col. Prasad Purohit, claimed to have met Nepal’s former King Gyanendra and sought his backing to train Hindutva cadres and procure weapons.

While the groups operated independently, their convergence around religious nationalism, militarization, and political disruption speaks to a broader regional pattern. Militant Hindutva is not confined by geography — its methods and messaging transcend borders, threatening both secular institutions and regional stability.

Nepal, once the world’s only Hindu kingdom, transitioned into a secular federal republic through a hard-fought people’s movement. Its 2015 constitution enshrined secularism, democracy, and federalism — all of which now face renewed threats from political opportunists and ideological actors.

The rise of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP) — a royalist party advocating for Hindu statehood — and the support it receives from India-aligned religious networks has amplified the danger.

What’s unfolding is not merely a cultural revival, but a calculated rollback of hard-won secularism — one shaped as much in Kathmandu as in New Delhi.