By Rabi Raj Thapa
My entire family has been Hindu by birth. That is natural. Anybody born into a Muslim family in an Islamic country will automatically be a Muslim. Anybody born into a Christian family in Europe, Latin America, or anywhere else in the world will be a Christian by birth. This is all loud and clear.
A change of faith, which we call religion, is minor compared to the change in the religion or identity of a country as a whole. The reason Pakistan was formed was mainly religious, and that division cost the lives of half a million people during the Partition of 1947.
Today, more than 40 countries around the world officially recognize a state religion or tie a specific faith directly to their government and constitution. Islam is the most common state religion globally, with more than 25 countries legally recognizing it. Several nations formally recognize a Christian denomination, ranging from fully theocratic systems to ceremonial established churches—whether it is the Church of England, Eastern Orthodoxy in Greece, Evangelical Lutheranism, Catholicism, and so on.
Then there is a small group of nations that formally recognize Asian belief systems in their legal frameworks or national identities. For example, Bhutan and Cambodia constitutionally recognize Buddhism and link it closely with their monarchies and national cultures.
Before 2008, Nepal was a country that constitutionally recognized Hinduism. It was the only country in the world with a Hindu monarch and with Hinduism and related Sanatana Dharma recognized as the national and constitutionally declared religion.
Historically and demographically, Hindustan—as the land of Hindus—has existed in South Asia since time immemorial. Nepal, therefore, took pride in claiming itself as an “ASALI HINDUSTANA,” a protector and preserver of an unmolested and undiluted Hindu monarchy in the face of rulers belonging to other faiths, whether Mughals or Christians.
But how did Nepal lose its identity as the only Hindu nation with a Hindu monarch in 2008, and who were the major players and instruments behind this transformation? Looking at the accelerating rate of proselytization among the Nepali people, it is not difficult to speculate about who the major players might be.
Practically speaking, however, India, being home to the world’s largest Hindu population, must also be considered in any discussion of the disappearance of Nepal’s Hindu Kingdom from the global map.
Interestingly, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) was founded on September 27, 1925, while the Communist Party of India (CPI) was founded in December 1925. If we look at the present status of the RSS, it appears to be rising by leaps and bounds, while the Communist Party of India seems to be faltering like a lame duck.
But how is it that communist parties remain among the largest and strongest political forces in the region, while the Sanatani Hindu Rashtra—which appears to be one of the RSS’s major goals in India—and the institution of monarchy are almost at the last stage of extinction?
Fundamentally, the RSS should have focused more attention on South Asia, where Hindus face persecution in the very land of their origin. The incidents involving Hindus in Bangladesh during the Gen-Z movement, as well as the current situation in South India, demand greater attention.
When Nepal was experiencing an armed subversive movement against the world’s only Hindu Kingdom, fugitives and senior leaders of the movement who were later listed internationally as terrorists were taking shelter in India.
The armed attacks by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (CPN-M) were carried out while its top leaders were living under a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in India. Similarly, when Nepal dethroned its monarch and abolished the world’s only Hindu Kingdom, there was again a BJP government in India.
But if, by any means, Bharat—as the world’s largest Hindu-majority country—could come up with an idea for a Commonwealth of Hindu Countries, it could attract and entice many Hindu-majority countries, including Nepal, Mauritius, and others.
It appears that the RSS needs to devote more focus and energy to protecting and supporting the declining power and status of Hindus in South Asia and other smaller countries where Hindus are suffering undue persecution, blame, and biased treatment.
In Europe and America, however, there are enough followers of Vedanta and Hindu philosophy who have been promoting, preserving, and maintaining Sanatani Hindu Vaidic civilization wherever they live around the world.
Today, many Hindus are looking to the RSS regarding its policy toward Nepal as a Hindu country with an institution of Hindu monarchy. If Indian Hindu friends, the BJP government, and the RSS can support Nepal in becoming a Hindu monarchical kingdom again, that could be a great achievement for the RSS and Hindus around the world.
Otherwise, just imagine a world in which there is a federal Hindu state without a king—that would be like having a Ram-Rajya without Rama, the King.
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