Kathmandu (AsiaNews) – Between late July and early August, violent clashes between Hindu and Muslim communities flared up in Sunsari, a district in southeastern Nepal, resulting in at least three deaths and dozens of injuries.
The violence began on 26 July in Kaptanganj, in the rural municipality of Dewanganj, during a Hindu pilgrimage.
Unrest apparently broke out over loud music, after a Muslim flag placed on a power pole was replaced with a Hindu flag, local sources report.
Things escalated when the procession passed through an area also inhabited by Muslims, requiring police intervention.
At least two people died in Sunsari and one in Siraha, where tensions had risen as well. A fourth young man died later from injuries sustained during protests in another district.
The police imposed a curfew and security forces were deployed in the most troubled areas.
From Sunsari, within a few days, the unrest spread to other parts of the country, including the districts of Dhanusha, Parsa, and Saptari.
Following the clashes, peace marches were held in various areas of Madhesh province.
A 13-point agreement was also reached in Dhanusha between the government and local religious organisations, with the aim of restoring peace in the region.
The government also established a commission of inquiry into the violence. Prime Minister Balendra Shah spoke out after several days of violence, urging people to remain calm and promising a transparent investigation into the clashes and police actions.
Cross border Hindutva influence
The violence has reignited debate over the country's growing religious polarisation.
The Tarai-Madhesh, a lowland region that extends along the border with India, is particularly vulnerable to tensions given its close cultural, family, and commercial ties with neighbouring Indian states.
The region saw clashes in the past, but now has witnessed a growing politicisation of religious identity in recent years. The way communities express their faith has also changed.
Saffron flags, increasingly visible in homes and during Hindu celebrations, have become a symbol of collective identity. In response, Muslim communities began to raise green flags.
Processions accompanied by loud music, now commonplace during celebrations of both communities, have also contributed to increasing opportunities for confrontation.
In India, Hindu nationalism and Hindutva have become a central aspect of political life in recent years, thanks primarily to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the paramilitary organisation from which the BJP emerged and which is one of the main ideological references of the ultranationalist movement.
In Nepal, the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS), an organisation related to the Indian RSS, has been active for decades. It is particularly present in the Tarai. As is the case across the border, it defines politics and national identity based on Hinduism.
Symbols and the language of Hindu mobilisation are increasingly used in Nepal, and anti-Muslim rhetoric emanating from India has been taken up by extremist groups.
In the Tarai-Madhesh, however, religious tensions overlap with older social, economic, and political divisions. The region has historically marginalised by central authorities in Kathmandu and suffered from insufficient political representation.
Secularism under pressure
In Nepal, where Hindus are around 81 per cent of the population, and Muslims just over 5 per cent, religion is part of a broader political and social framework.
In particular, religious nationalism is intertwined with the demands of movements challenging the secular nature of the state and, in some cases, calling for the restoration of the monarchy.
At the same time, especially in Madhesh, discontent continues over the devolution of power and political inclusion, which are still considered insufficient.
Unemployment, economic hardship, and political distance from Kathmandu add further fuel to the tensions.
For centuries, Nepal was a Hindu kingdom and remained so until it became a republic in 2008.
The 2015 constitution confirmed the country's secular nature, but also defines secularism as the protection of religion and culture "transmitted from time immemorial."
Some groups in the country are now calling for the return to the Hindu monarchy or the abandonment of the federal system introduced with the new constitution.
Although there is no evidence that the Indian government is directly backing a return to the monarchy, prominent Indian Hindu nationalists have openly expressed support for the idea.
One of them is Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, whose state borders Nepal. A large poster bearing his image even appeared during a pro-monarchy rally in 2025.
Balendra Shah's government, which took office in March 2026 after Gen Z protests, has firmly declared itself in favour of secularism and federalism. But other forces within the country are pushing against this.
In fact, the interior minister received a memorandum from the Joint Hindu Front in Janakpur, calling on political forces to formally discuss the restoration of a Hindu state within three months.
The government noted that receiving the document issued by a group of Hindu nationalist groups did not amount to acceptance of their demands.
A fragile Madhesh
After days of unrest, Shah addressed the country on television, urging citizens to preserve peace, harmony, brotherhood, and national unity. He promised an investigation into the violence and the actions of the police, accused of using firearms during the unrest.
For their part, security forces had already warned of the risk of increasing religious divisions in the Tarai.
According to the Kathmandu Post, three years ago, the Armed Police Force submitted a confidential report to the government, highlighting attempts to fuel religious and ethnic divisions in the region and calling for coordinated action.
Eleven years ago, when the Madhesh province sought greater autonomy and inclusion within the framework of the new federal constitution, protests resulted in the deaths of 45 people.
The province remains one of the poorest parts of Nepal. At present, 22 per cent of its population lives below the poverty line with one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, as well as an illiteracy rate of 63.5 per cent.
INDIAN MANDALA IS THE ASIANEWS NEWSLETTER DEDICATED TO INDIA. WOULD YOU LIKE TO RECEIVE IT EVERY FRIDAY? TO SUBSCRIBE, CLICK HERE.
