Nepal: India's Ultra Right Behind Terror Attacks Says Leader

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By Sudeshna Sarkar

Kathmandu, (IANS) Three months after being caught for masterminding attacks on churches and mosques in Nepal, the chief of an underground organisation that persecuted Christians and Muslims says he was funded by India’s ultra-right organisations and armed by outlawed Indian militant group United Liberation Front of Asom (ULFA).

Source: Thiaindian News

Ram Prasad Mainali, a 37-year-old Hindu, metamorphosed from a ticket booking clerk to a ruthless, menacing shadowy figure who directed attacks that killed at least five people while praying in mosques and a church after he was aided by at least four Indian organisations.

“I was opposed to the idea of Nepal becoming a secular republic,” he told IANS, sitting behind bars in Kathmandu valley’s Nakhu Jail where he has been transferred since his arrest from southern Nepal Sep 5.

“There are over 50 countries that are Christian and more than 40 that are Islamic. Nepal was the only Hindu country.”

However, the sleepy Himalayan nation lost its unique identity in 2006 when a pro-democracy movement unseated the army-backed government of King Gyanendra and parliament declared it a secular nation in a bid to cut off the popular power base of the monarch who was regarded by many as an incarnation of a Hindu god.

In February 2007, when it was clear that Nepal was heading towards an election to abolish the world’s only Hindu monarchy as well, Mainali says he and his followers held a meeting in the Birla Temple in New Delhi to discuss forming an organisation that would strive to restore Hinduism as Nepal’s state religion.

“The meeting was between us and members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Shiv Sena, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Bajrang Dal,” he claimed.

“They approved and agreed to fund us. The meeting also discussed resorting to violence if our effort failed and endorsed it. Every month, the Indian groups sent us money - between NRS 200,000-500,000 through secret channels.”

Initially, Mainali says his Nepal Defence Army (NDA) ran rallies for nine days in Birgunj, Nepal’s industrial hub and the main trade route between India and Nepal, opposing secularisation and the abolition of monarchy.

However, after the ruling parties ignored the call, despite the public support it enjoyed, Mainali said the NDA decided to go underground and begin a campaign of violence targeting Christians and Muslims.....MORE