Nepal/India: Is India’s BJP influencing politics in Kathmandu?

On 21 May 2023, the Kathmandu Post published an article which looked in depth at the US State Department’s newly published International Religious Freedom Report 2022 for Nepal. It focused in particular on the report’s following statements:

• “Civil society leaders said influence from India’s ruling party, the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and other Hindu groups in India continued to pressure politicians in Nepal, particularly the [nationalist Rastriya Prajantantra Party] RPP, to support reversion to a Hindu state.”
• “Civil society leaders said what they characterized as right-wing religious groups associated with the BJP in India continued to provide money to influential politicians of all parties to advocate Hindu statehood. According to NGOs and Christian leaders, small numbers of Hindutva (Hindu nationalist) supporters endeavored to create an unfriendly environment for Christians on social media and encouraged ‘upper-caste’ Hindus to enforce caste-based discrimination at local political rallies.”

World Watch Research analyst Rolf Zeegers comments: “It is no surprise that politicians and leading pressure groups such as the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh, an offshoot of India’s nationalist RSS movement, denied receiving any ‘donations’ from India’s ruling BJP for the purpose of supporting Nepal’s return to being an official Hindu state. Indeed, some see the claims in the US State Department’s report as part of a smear campaign against the BJP in an attempt to influence the general elections in India scheduled for 2024. Meanwhile, Christians in Nepal remain uneasy and church leaders continue to be worried by the RPP’s openly anti-Christian sentiments.”