Nepal Hindus in Secular Protest

May 25, 2006

Author: Charles Haviland

Source: BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5015456.stm

Thousands of people in southern Nepal have been protesting against a parliamentary decision to declare Nepal a secular, rather than a Hindu kingdom.

The mainly Hindu protestors in the southern town of Birgunj have declared a general strike in their area.

Eyewitnesses in Birgunj say the town has been closed down by an alliance of local Hindu groups, with some 6,000 marching in protest.

The country has been officially a Hindu kingdom for the last 40 years.