KATHMANDU, NEPAL, January 8, 2009: Bending down before the mounting pressure, Nepal’s Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Wednesday scrapped the appointment of new priests at the revered Pashupatinath Temple. Addressing the Legislature-Parliament session that resumed after three weeks, Prime Minister and CPN (Maoist) chairman Dahal said the priests’ appointment issue at Pashupatinath had aroused waves in “Nepal as well as in India.” “Being the Prime Minister and patron of the Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT), I nullify the decision to appoint Nepali priests effective from today,” Dahal said.
Dahal also announced that he had accepted the resignation tendered by old priests. Expressing commitment to abide by the directive issued by the Supreme Court, Dahal said: “Till the new dispensation is not decided, I ask the previous Mul Bhatta (who had recently resigned) to continue to perform traditional duties beginning today.” Besides, the Prime Minister has directed the PADT officials to recommend the names of the possible candidates to be appointed as the new priests in accordance with the existing rules and traditional rituals at the earliest. It may be recalled that the public and most of the political parties, including senior leaders of Indian political parties like the Bharatiya Janta Party and the Samajwadi Party, had expressed resentment against the government’s decision.