Off the Record 108: The specter of Hindutva

Issue 108 • 01 September 2023

It’s September 1, 2023, and you’re reading Off the Record.

I’m Pranaya Rana and in this newsletter, we’ll stop, take a deep breath, and dive into one singular issue that defined the past week. 

You can read Off the Record for free by visiting this linkﾠand subscribing to receive this newsletter in your inbox every Friday.ﾠAll posts are free but you can pledge a subscription if you like my work.

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Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening from Kathmandu in the final throes of the monsoon. Let’s get right down to the week that was without any of the customary preamble as this week’s newsletter looks to run quite long.

On Wednesday, August 30, the Nepal national cricket team played Pakistan in its first-ever appearance at the Asia Cup. The Nepalis bowled first and as someone who doesn’t really follow cricket at all, I thought they were putting up a pretty good show, given that they were going up against the team ranked number 1 in the world. It was only when it was their turn to bat that it became very clear how outclassed they were. Pakistan trounced Nepal pretty thoroughly by 238 runs, but you have to give it to the Nepalis for playing a good game and not folding too badly under the pressure. This is, after all, only the beginning. Nepal plays India next on September 4 and that is certain to be another thrashing but at least our players will learn from the experience and come back stronger the next time.

All of that said, the elephant in the room must be mentioned — Sandeep Lamichhane, the spin bowler who remains accused of rape back home in Nepal. Quite a few folks boycotted the match entirely because the Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) has continued to include Lamichhane on the team despite the heinous nature of the crime he has been accused of. The courts have even allowed him to leave Nepal and take part in tournaments like these, all for the sake of national glory. Well, Lamichhane played pretty badly against Pakistan. Maybe he’s not as essential to the team as CAN and Nepali cricket fans seem to think. Playing in the Asia Cup should be a privilege, one that all the other members of the team have earned through their hard work in quite depressing conditions. Lamichhane squandered all of that when he chose to leave the closed camp and rape a minor. Now, because of his actions and those of the authorities, the entire Nepali cricket team is facing the blowback.

The justice system appears to also be in thrall to Lamichhane as his case keeps getting delayed time and again, allowing him just enough time to play internationally. It’s almost as if the judge knows Lamichhane is guilty but is choosing national glory over justice. And while Lamichhane gets to play international games and represent the country, the rape survivor has had to go into hiding and even attempted suicide.

Then, there’s more cartographic controversy as China unveiled an updated version of its political map on Monday, much to both India and Nepal’s chagrin. Regarding India, China has included disputed territories in both Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin within its own borders, leading Indian Foreign Minister S Jaishankar to remark: “Making absurd claims doesn’t make other people’s territories yours”. Oh irony of ironies. For Nepal, what is missing in the new China map is the pointy bit to the far northwestern end of Nepal, added with so much bravado in 2019 by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli. Back then, India had released its own political map, which included portions that Nepal claims as its own, namely Kalapani, Lipu Lekh, and Limpiyadhura. India initially proclaimed the “unjustified cartographic assertion” would not be “accepted” and then went on to largely ignore the issue. Oli and subsequent prime ministers have all claimed that they will “bring back” the disputed territory into Nepal’s fold but India has not even deigned to discuss the matter.

Now, it appears China too doesn’t subscribe to Nepal’s unilateral expansion of its map. And why would it, when it has long recognized Lipu Lekh as a border trading point with India and the boundary agreement signed with China in 1960 does not recognize Nepal’s northwestern limit as Limpiyadhura. General Sam Cowan’s 2015 article, ‘The Indian checkposts, Lipu Lekh and Kalapani’, sheds much historical light on the thorny border dispute, arguing that “under the terms of the Sugauli Treaty … Nepal had strong claims to Kalapani and to shared access to Lipu Lekh, though both claims have been greatly weakened by over 150 years of silence, amounting to acquiescence, by the rulers of Nepal in different incarnations.” Contrary to the assertions of many nationalists in Kathmandu, General Cowan actually has the historical evidence to back up his claims.

While the government has decided to pursue the matter with China through diplomatic channels, others have not been so circumspect. Kathmandu Mayor Balen Shah, ever the nationalist, canceled his planned five-day visit to China and took to social media to denounce the new Chinese map. A few lawmakers too have made pointed comments but nothing has been made official. Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has refrained from commenting on the issue and is going ahead with his own visit to China, planned for September 22. He can’t risk antagonizing the Chinese as he plans to ask them to waive the $215.96 million loan incurred in the building of Pokhara International Airport.

And finally, let’s take a nice long look at the lavish new homes that the federal government has built for the chief ministers and governors of the provinces in Lalitpur. Here’s a photo feature from Online Khabar. There are seven large buildings for each province, with each divided into two halves for the chief minister and the provincial head. Each building comes with a garden and a water fountain, along with all other amenities like groundwater pumps, solar water heaters, and electricity backups. These buildings were criticized the moment they were unveiled to the public on Sunday by Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal for being too extravagant. There’s a fear that with such nice homes to live in, that too in the Capital, provincial chiefs and chief ministers could end up spending more time in Kathmandu than in their own provinces. Temporary housing can be provided to provincial officials when they come to Kathmandu but to build such permanent facilities goes against the spirit of federalism, say many detractors. I side with these latter folk.

With that, let’s wrap it up for the week and move on to our deep dive.

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The deep dive: The specter of Hindutva

Late last week, on Saturday, it looked like eastern Nepal was headed down a dark and dangerous path. Hindus from across the country had planned to march into Dharan in a show of force against citizens of the city who had earlier filmed themselves eating beef. There was widespread fear that the rally could result in a clash between the two opposing groups, as tensions have been high for quite some time now. Upset with the majoritarian politics of their provincial government, Janajatis publicly ate beef and filmed it for all to see on social media. In truth, it was not the most brilliant move but they knew what they were doing. Their stunt was certain to rile people up and bring their cause attention, both of which happened. But it also angered a lot of Hindus who consider eating beef a sin. Their beef (pun very much intended) with the Janajatis was that a public show had been made of eating their sacred animal just to provoke them.

Fortunately, nothing untoward happened. Despite the frankly bizarre antics of Dharan Mayor Harka Sampang, the district authorities were quick to institute a prohibition on all public rallies. Local political parties and activists preached reconciliation and the planned rally was called off. The clash that had been expected was fortunately avoided. Things remain tense but the outward threat of violence seems to have thankfully dissipated.

This episode bears repeating even simply the fact that such communal clashes remain rare in Nepal. Despite all its ills, Nepal remains a largely tolerant society where people of various backgrounds live in general harmony with each other. Even when values tend to collide, the rule of thumb seems to be to live and let live. This is surprising to many, especially those folk from south of the border who bristle at the fact that Nepal is no longer a Hindu kingdom. Nepal is a majority Hindu country — nearly 82 percent of the population — larger than India’s nearly 80 percent. (Although, some dispute this number saying that many Nepalis default to Hinduism on official documents even when their beliefs might be different). And yet, these Hindus did not take to the streets in large numbers when Nepal became a secular state. By and large, there was a peaceful transition and a majority of Nepalis have accepted the non-denominational identity of the country.

There is, however, a minority that remains dissatisfied with Nepal’s transition to secularism and wants to reverse course. These elements have coalesced into the Rastriya Prajatantra Party, led by Rajendra Lingden with Rabindra Mishra as an important party leader. The RPP espouses a return to the Hindu monarchy and Nepal’s identity as a Hindu state, although Mishra has argued in the past for a Hindu-Buddhist state. Although the party claims that a silent majority supports its platform, its poll numbers tell a different story. The RPP is the fifth largest party in the federal parliament with 14 seats, an improvement on its past performances under Kamal Thapa but by no means emblematic of the widespread support it claims to have.

The RPP, however, is no BJP. India’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the ruling party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and in recent years, its influence has become pervasive. Under Modi and the BJP’s tenure, Muslims have been hounded and policies put in place to disenfranchise them. Violence against Muslims and other minority groups has become endemic. Majoritarian politics have led to the rise of a yogi, Adityanath, to chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, one of India’s poorest states. Under him, Muslim persecution has reached new heights. The RPP is by no means as brazen as the BJP is, even though they might share the same platform. Despite its right-wing rhetoric and platform, the RPP in Nepal has remained a peaceful and tolerant party that respects the rule of law. I might disagree with its beliefs but I am not going to pretend that the RPP is anything like the BJP.

Perhaps this is why the Indian right wing is seeking new allies. It seems to have lost faith in the RPP and its leaders, perhaps believing them too soft. The new party that is being increasingly promoted from across the border is a little-known outfit called the Nepal Janata Party, not to be confused with the Rastriya Janata Party led by Mahanta Thakur. The Nepal Janata Party, of NJP, is led by one Tribhuvan Nath Pathak, who I’ve never really heard of. Its election symbol is a lotus that bears a striking resemblance to that of the symbol of the BJP, and it has adopted saffron, the BJP’s color, as its own. The party claims to have won 17 seats in the 2022 local election but according to Nepal’s Election Commission, it only won 10 seats — 1 ward and 4 ward members each in Province 1 and Gandarki Province. Nepal has 35,000 such seats so 10 wins are really just a drop in the ocean. For comparison, the RPP won 305 seats while even newly formed parties like Resham Chaudhary’s Nagarik Unmukti Party and CK Raut’s Janamat Party won 99 and 96 seats, respectively.

The NJP was just one among the hundreds of parties that contested the elections and won a handful of seats here and there, mostly at the ward level. These parties have little influence even in the areas from where they were elected, ceding much of their authority to mayors and federal/provincial parliamentarians, the overwhelming number of whom are from the three large parties — the Nepali Congress, the CPN-UML, and the Maoists. Most Nepalis — I would bet a very large sum of money — have not even heard of this party.

And yet, as I pointed out in a previous newsletter, there was a strange tweet (I refuse to call it X) on August 17, 2023, from Monica Verma, whose bio states that she holds a Ph.D. in foreign relations. Verma, who has 104,000 followers, states, “After decades of experiencing communist politics, people in Nepal are looking for an alternative. Meet Nepal Janta Party- A new political party that is making waves in the country.” I deign to question, what waves? Verma’s tweet was roundly ratioed, with a vast majority of Nepalis expressing ignorance over the very existence of this party. One choice tweet from Vijay Kant Karna, a former diplomat and current foreign affairs scholar, states: “Good humor. Even nepali people don't know the name of this party.”

Verma’s tweet was accompanied by an image bearing the BJP lotus and saffron color with a portrait of one Anil Kumar Agrawal under whose name is written in Devanagari script: ‘candidate (direct), constituency no. 1, Parsa’, meaning he was a first-past-the-post candidate for the federal election from Parsa district’s constituency number 1. However, no such name appears on the Election Commission’s list of candidates who actually contested the Parsa-1 election. In fact, the Nepal Janata Party’s candidate is named Surendra Prasad Sah and he received 84 votes against the winning candidate, Pradeep Yadav from the Janata Samajbadi Party’s 22,537 votes. So I’m not sure who exactly Anil Kumar Agrawal is and what he was contesting. Perhaps the image is from the 2013 Constituent Assembly elections, which I was unable to verify as the Election Commission website does not appear to archive election results beyond the most immediate. But even in that election, the Nepal Janata Party came 34th with just 15,650 votes in total; just for comparison, the largest party, the Nepali Congress, received 2,418,370 votes.

Verma cites an obscure YouTube video from a right-wing Indian channel called ‘Nationalist Thoughts’ as one source. The video, uploaded on August 8, 2023, currently has just 170 views so it is unlikely that Verma came across this video by accident. The second source is from jagran.com, a Hindi-language media outlet that basically states everything Verma shared in her series of tweets. Both sources feature Khem Nath Acharya who is apparently the vice-president of the NJP. Acharya was reportedly in Delhi in August and met with a number of BJP functionaries, including BJP party chief JP Nadda.

During and after his visit, numerous articles have appeared in the Indian media, all of them repeating the same ‘facts’ and opinions, all playing up the image of the NJP as a new force in Nepali politics that will restore Nepal’s identity as a Hindu state. Here’s a sample of just the English-language article:

There are many more in Hindi and other Indian languages and all of them have appeared within the last two weeks. None of them have made any attempt to fact-check the claims made by Khem Nath Acharya or even provide a dissenting view. In fact, the talking points are so similar across all of the articles that they read like they were all cribbed from the same press release. Even articles that claim to have interviewed Acharya, like one in The Print, say basically the same thing.

Acharya might actually be more well-known than his party. He’s long been active in the Hindu nationalist movement and identifies himself as a ‘Sanghi’, a member of the Sangh Parivar, which includes the political Bharatiya Janata Party, the paramilitary Rastriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the internationalist Vishwa Hindu Parishad, and the militant Bajrang Dal. He’s been affiliated with the Nepal wing of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Rastriya Hindu Yuwa Manch Nepal. For more than a decade, Acharya has been attempting to mount a political campaign to bring back Hinduism as the state religion but to little effect. In 2015, he even went on a hunger strike but ended when no one gave in to his demands. At least he received a letter of support from the Hindu Janajagruti Samaj, another militant right-wing Hindu organization that has been linked to protests against the painter MF Husain, anti-LGBTIQ legislation, boycotts of Muslim traders, and even the murder of Indian activist and journalist Gauri Lankesh.

Acharya’s visit to Delhi might have kicked off the flurry of articles about the NJP but the manner in which the reports were produced and disseminated leave me skeptical that any real journalism was done. The manner in which news about Acharya and NJP spread across the Indian media landscape is suspect, as is their content. It is also telling that larger media houses, such as The Times of India or The Hindu, seem to have ignored Acharya and the NJP. To me, this looks like a carefully orchestrated media blitz by the Indian right wing in order to create press for the NJP to garner more support and funding for the party trying to bring back Nepal’s status as the only Hindu state in the world.

This is troubling, to say the least. It shows that the Indian Hindutva lobby is very much interested in Nepal and is looking for allies. Perhaps it has concluded that the RPP is not strong enough or radical enough and seeks to support a different party more aligned with the Sangh’s ideology. If that’s what’s going on, that is even more troubling, especially when coming on the heels of the visit of Dhirendra Kumar Shastri, the ‘Bageshwar Dham Sarkar’ about whom I wrote two weeks ago. That baba too preaches Akhanda Bharat, which sees Nepal as an integral part in its ‘true’ avatar as a Hindu rashtra.

Nepal has so far managed to avoid the communal violence that has plagued India for so long. Tensions build to the surface sometimes here too but such instances are thankfully rare. I would like to think that any party that seeks to import Hindutva into Nepal will rightfully fail. Nepalis by and large have little tolerance for intolerance. However, recent incidents have shown that Nepal’s political class is very willing to get in bed with the Hindutva lobby. Take, for instance, Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba’s wife, Arzu Rana Deuba, meeting with the BJP’s foreign department chief Vijay Chauthaiwale and tying a rakhi around his wrist. Or Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal, a staunch communist, shedding his safari suit for a saffron robe to worship at the Mahakaleshwar temple in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh. More recently, the afore-mentioned Nepal visit of the dhongi baba from Bageshwardham at the invitation of Nepali Congress parliamentarian and billionaire Binod Chaudhary.

Let’s make no mistake, the shroud of Hindu nationalism looms over us now and unless we reassert our diversity and tolerance for difference, there is always the danger that this specter from the south will swallow us too.

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That’s all for this week. I will be back next Friday, in your emails, for the next edition of Off the Record.

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