KATHMANDU: With the rising tension in the Pashupatinath Temple far from waning, the row over appointment at Monastery Management and Development Committee under Ministry of Local Development has already begun to stir up.

The Joint Struggle Committee of the MMDC has demanded that the government revoke its recent decision to appoint former mayor of Lalitpur Sub-Metropolitan City Bekha Ratna Shakya, who they claimed was going against the 33-year old tradition of the Monastery.

The Ministry of Local Development on September 4 appointed Shakya as the chairperson of the MMDC.

Organising a press conference in the capital today, Shyam Tamang, coordinator of JSC said, “We are saddened by Minister of Local Development Purna Kumar Sherma’s move to appoint a a retired politician, tarnishing the image of Buddhists.”

He claimed that the appointment had violated the 1990 order for the formation of monastery management and development committee. “Tradition has it that, it requires the government to appoint any one from Khenpo, Tulku, Acharya or Rempochhe as the chairperson of MMDC,” he retorted.