NEPALGUNJ, August 8

At a time when the demand for Hindu State identity has been gaining momentum, the Muslim community of Nepalgunj have also come forward to support the cause.

In order to show their solidarity with the campaign seeking to reinstate the country’s erstwhile Hindu identity, Rastrabadi Muslim Manch Nepalgunj organised a press conference here and cautioned the political leadership against any conspiracy in the country.

Justifying the support, most Muslim leaders argued that the country’s present secular status had added to the insecurity of the peacefully living Muslim population in the country.

“Turning the country secular is nothing but a design to break the longstanding unity among Muslims and Hindus. So there is no alternative to reinstating the country’s old Hindu State identity in order to allow fellow citizens to live with religious tolerance,” argued Babu Khan Pathan, chairperson of the forum.

“We don’t need a secular identity, but want to see the country called Hindu State as this ensures safety and peace for all,” he reiterated, adding, “We are Nepali Muslims and proud of it, because we have our unique culture of being the Muslims of this land.”

According to Pathan, around 80 per cent of Muslims in Banke are in favour of Hindu State identity.

“Everything was going well until we were ambushed by political parties’ sudden decision to declare the country secular, which is deplorable as it is clear that they acted at the behest of foreign agents,” he said, warning that failure to grant the country its age-old identity would only trigger a whirlpool of protests.

Around two dozen Muslim leaders attended the conference in the presence of five Maulanas (Muslim Dharmagurus).