Former Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal, Kamal Thapa, has demanded an all party meeting to reinstate the Constitutional Monarchy in the country and declare Nepal a Hindu Rashtra once again. He said that there will be protests if the demands are not met.

“Initially, it was our agenda. But now, the general public has taken it as well,” Kamal Thapa said at a rally. “Whether people want it reinstated or not, they are talking about it so all parties must meet to discuss this issue.” Kamal Thapa is further reported to have said that he and and his party men are ready to kill and be killed to restore Nepal’s status as a Hindu Rashtra.

Demonstrations have been underway in Nepal since early December calling for the restoration of the Monarchy and Hindu Rashtra. Slogans such as “monarchy must return to save the country” and “country above party” were raised. Slogans such as “King, please come back and save the country,” were also raised.

Kamal Thapa also said that if political parties do not recognize the seriousness of the dissolution of the parliament, then the country is headed for a period of darkness. “Recently, we’ve had high-ranking officials from India and China come to Nepal to try and solve problems within the ruling party,” he said. “We cannot let others dictate what we want to do.”

Nepal was declared a secular state in 2008 after the success of the people's movement of 2006 that saw the abolition of monarchy.

The Rastriya Prajatantra Party, led by former deputy premier Kamal Thapa, organised a two-week-long Rastrya Swabhiman Yatra from Mechi in the east to Mahakali in the west.

Thapa accused both, the Nepal Communist Party-led government and main opposition Nepali Congress for the current "chaos" in the country.

He also criticised Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli for signing a pact with Madhesi leader C K Raut, who heads an Alliance for Free Madhes, last week.

Hinduism is the largest religion of Nepal. According to the 2011 census, 81.3 per cent of the Nepalese population was Hindu, 9.0 per cent was Buddhist, 4.4 per cent was Muslim, 3.0 per cent was Kiratist (indigenous ethnic religion), 1.4 per cent was Christian, 0.2 per cent was Sikhs, 0.1 per cent was Jains and 0.6 per cent followed other religions or no religion.

Image Source:Twitter