Narayan Prasad Pokharel (1958–2005) was president of the

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

branch of the World Hindu Federation. He was killed by gunfire while attending a religious festival after being attacked by six gunmen who belonged to the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) led by Pushpa Kamal Dahal (Prachanda) during the country's civil war in Dudrakshya village,

Rupandehi District Rupandehi District (; ), a part of Lumbini Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal and covers an area of . The district headquarter is Bhairahawa. As per the national census 2011, the population of Rupandehi was 880,196. Etymo ...

, Nepal (near

Butwal Butwal (), officially Butwal Sub-Metropolitan City (), previously known as Khasyauli (Nepali: खस्यौली), is a sub-metropolitan city and economic hub in Lumbini Province in West Nepal. Butwal has a city population of 195,054 as per t ...

) about 300 kilometers west of

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

Maoist Maoism, officially Mao Zedong Thought, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed while trying to realize a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic o ...

rebels perpetrated the killing. The killers descended on the festival in motorcycles at dawn and shot Pokharel nine times as he stood outside the guest house where he was staying. The Maoists issued a statement condemning Pokharel for "indulging in sexual exploitation, amassing property illegally, misusing the name of

Dalit Dalit ( from meaning "broken/scattered") is a term used for untouchables and outcasts, who represented the lowest stratum of the castes in the Indian subcontinent. They are also called Harijans. Dalits were excluded from the fourfold var ...

s and trying to garner popular support in favour of monarchy". The killing was reportedly carried out by the Dalit Mukti Morcha, an underground, banned organisation affiliated to the Maoists whose members are mostly Dalits, the Untouchables at the bottom of traditional Hindu caste-system. The Maoist rebels have been waging a violent campaign to topple the

Hindu monarchy In Hinduism, kingship was a monarchy institution guided by the religious laws of Hinduism, with corresponding complex and hierarchical structure. Hindu monarchies headed by Hindu kings were widespread in South Asia since about 1500 BC and later i ...

. The conservative World Hindu Federation is headquartered in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and has branches in many countries throughout the world. Narayan Pokharel is survived by his two wives and ten children. Nepal's government in June 2009 announced it would honor him as a 'religious martyr'.

References

External links

Hindu leader shot dead in NepalMaoists gun down priest

Suspected Maoists kill top Hindu leader in Nepal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pokharel, Narayan 1958 births 2005 deaths Nepalese murder victims Deaths by firearm in Nepal Nepalese Hindus People murdered in Nepal Hindu martyrs People from Gorkha District Civilians killed in the Nepalese Civil War