Vishwa Ekata Parishad set two buses and a motorcycle on fire in Kailali district in farwestern Nepal

A little-known Hindu organisation's call for reinstatement of a Hindu
state in Nepal received an unexpected support here from a visiting top
leader of India's Bharatiya Janata Party.

Former BJP president Rajnath Singh, who had arrived in Nepal Sunday to
attend the last rites of former Nepali prime minister Girija Prasad
Koirala, who was also the architect of a secular Nepal, said at a
press conference in Kathmandu Monday that he supported a Hindu state
in the Himalayan republic.

'We used to feel proud that Nepal was the only Hindu kingdom in the
world,' Singh said. 'I will be happy when Nepal is a Hindu state
again.'

The Indian leader said that there were other theocratic countries in
the world - including in the European Union and in South Asia.

'But no one is opposed to them,' Singh said. 'No one is appealing to
(the Islamic states of) Pakistan and Bangladesh to become secular. But
it was done in Nepal.'

Singh, who met Nepal's Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal and President
Ram Baran Yadav Monday prior to his departure, said Hinduism was a way
of life and tolerant of other religions.

'That is why India is secular,' he said. '(But) Pakistan separated
(from India) to become theocratic and look at the state of the country
today.'

Asked about the sectarian riots in western India's Gujarat state under
a BJP government, the BJP leader said his party condemned violence.

Singh also made a veiled attack against Nepal's former Maoist
guerrillas, who waged a 10-year war for a secular state and are now
the biggest party in Nepal following the election in 2008.

'Weapons belong to defenders of the state, not the masses,' he said,
obliquely referring to the allegation against the Maoists that they
have still retained weapons.

'In a healthy democracy, there shouldn't be arms in people's hands.'

The Indian leader said he had urged Nepal's leaders to implement the
new constitution on the basis of consensus within the May deadline.

Singh's remarks are likely to fuel a controversy in Nepal at a time
when several Hindu organisations are calling for a Hindu state.

A little-known group called the Vishwa Ekata Parishad set two buses
and a motorcycle on fire in Kailali district in farwestern Nepal
during a general strike called by them in western Nepal Monday.

The group is seeking to reinstate Hinduism as the state religion. An
anti-monarchy campaign led to parliament declaring the country secular
in 2006.

The new constitution is expected to consolidate the nature of the
secular republic.

However, ahead of the new constitution, Hindu groups have begun
raising demands for a Hindu state.

Last week, a National Religious Revival Campaign kicked off in
Kathmandu, attended by lawmakers and veteran politicians, making the
same demand.

There has also been a series of visits by Hindu preachers, including
controversial Indian Chandraswamy, who have been attending rituals
calling for a Hindu state.

The last of them, a nine-day ritual, was attended by three former
prime ministers of Nepal and deposed Hindu king Gyanendra himself.

Nepal's only openly royalist party, Rastriya Prajatantra Party
(Nepal), is demanding a Hindu kingdom.

Kamal Thapa, who was home minister in king Gyanendra's regime and
heads the royalist party, has warned of protests against the new
constitution unless the government holds a referendum ahead of it.

Thapa says people should be allowed to decide if they want a king and
a Hindu state through the referendum.

In the past, the party called a general strike in Kathmandu valley to
show its clout and also blockaded major ministries.