Allegations of India’s ‘expansionist designs’ and big-brotherly approach towards neighbouring South Asian countries are not new. Nowadays, this is often discussed with reference to the corporate involvement of Indian crony capitalist Adani, who is having the closest nexus with Modi regime. Recent mass protests against Adani in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, followed by the winding up of certain strategic Adani investments in them got much media attention too. However, in the case of Nepal, apart from the economic dimensions of Indian penetration as manifested in Adani’s infrastructure projects in electricity and airport construction, the qualitative turn in Indian expansionism in Nepal is in relation to the surging Hindu nationalist, pro-monarchy movement there.
After the abolition of monarchy in 2008, Nepal was declared a “secular” state and Article 4 of the 2015 Constitution of Nepal had incorporated it as a basic feature of the State. Since then, Rashtriya Prajatantra Party (RPP), formed in 1990, Nepal Janata Party (NJP) formed in 2004 with the same flag and color as the BJP, Hindu pro-monarchy organizations such as the Vishwa Hindu Mahasangh, etc., have been working overtime to restore monarchy in Nepal. In this effort, according to reports, Hindutva right wing groups or Parivar organisations from India led by RSS through its Shakas in Nepal, the largest number outside India, and its political tool BJP, have been directly and indirectly influencing and encouraging pro-monarchy Hindu organisations through material and ideological backing. It is said that all these efforts have got a further boost following the ascendance of BJP regime in India in 2014, that inspired all the pro-monarchy organisations to intensify their struggle for establishing a Hindurashtra in Nepal. As it’s manifestation, the Hindu nationalist landscape in Nepal, unlike in the past, has started displaying non-tolerance to eating beef including targeting of Christians and Muslims. This is a new trend in Nepal, where political Hinduism is successfully infiltrating even into the leadership of mainstream parties and even among many self-professed Nepali communists, who earlier had an uncompromising secular approach. And, when the far-right and multi-dimensional Hindutva offensive intensified, all the mainstream parties ranging from Maoists to Nepali Congress became apologists or even proponents of political Hinduism and “sanatan dharma”. Though secularism was inserted into the Constitution after the Maoists came to power, even they took no initiative for politicising or conscientizing the people regarding the idea of secularism and a secular way of life. It provided enough space for the reactionary forces to take advantage of the far-right shift in politics with their appeal to Hindutva.
In the same vein, casteism and ethnicity, which were inalienable components of erstwhile monarchy are also bouncing back with intensified vigour in Nepal. During the time of monarchy, for instance, it was the upper castes, who dominated the corridors of power, and who defined Nepal’s national identity, according to which, Nepal remained a Hindu state led by King as an avatar of Lord Bishnu, the Hindu god. The marginalised ethnic communities who disagreed with this formulation were targeted, and even disenfranchised for being disloyal to nation. These vulnerable sections who once wholeheartedly supported the anti-monarchy movement and upheld parliamentary democracy are once again driven to the peripheries with the resurgent Hindutva offensive. In this setback, the depoliticisation and degeneration of Nepali Left has a major role. Earlier, the political base of Maoists was the discriminated, lower caste ethnic groups together with the working class. Later, the embrace of neoliberalism and its ideology by Maoists demolished all those advancements of yesteryears.
It is in this context that, as noted above, the ideological and material penetration of the Sangh Parivar from India, whose leaders on several occasions have stated their preference for Nepal as a Hindu state, assumes significance. Rajnath Singh, current Indian defence minister, who was the president of BJP in 2010 had expressed his wish of Nepal regaining it’s true identity by again becoming a Hindu state. Yogi Adityanath had even wrote letter to the Nepali prime minister in 2015, asking him to declare Nepal a Hindu nation. Hence the resurgence of the pro-monarchy Hindu nationalist movement in Nepal needs to be seen in the broader neofascist context of the patronage from the strengthening Hindutva regime in India. It’s latest manifestation has been the display of India’s UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s poster alongside a poster of ousted Nepali King Gyanendra at a pro-monarchy rally in Kathmandu on 9 March 2025. Of course, the close ties between Adityanath’s Gorakhnath Mutt, located in Gorakhpur in India, and Nepal’s royal family are widely known. Yogi is an open proponent of a Hindu state in Nepal. He called the Nepali parliament that declared Nepal a secular state as “kangaroo parliament” and termed the declaration as “unconstitutional”. Since Yogi had already made his reactionary stand clear, this was not a new thing. However, when the display of his poster with that of King went viral in social media, it led to widespread condemnation even among pro-monarchy sections and triggering a war of words among the Nepali political circles and even in international media, against Indian expansionist designs in Nepal. This has revived the traditional anti-India sentiment among many a section in Nepali society too. Still, in the absence of a powerful progressive, democratic and secular alternative, the current situation in Nepal does not augur well for the days ahead.
(Editorial, Red Star Monthly – April 2025)
