ELECTIONS '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ARCHIVES

Nepal king asked to sack Indian priest

Religious leaders, lawyers and legislators of Nepal have asked their monarch, King Birendra, to fire the country's most important Hindu priest, whom they accuse of corruption.

About 30 people submitted a petition to the king, with signatures of 128 members of parliament, asking him to remove Subramanyam Shastri, the head priest at Pashupati, Nepal's biggest temple. They want Shastri to be replaced with a Nepalese priest.

Shastri stands accused of taking for personal use cash and jewellery donations worth millions of rupees.

Pashupati priests are traditionally from the south Indian state of Karnataka.

The king is yet to respond to the petition. Shastri, for his part, preferred to keep his counsel on the allegations.

Though he is not directly responsible for appointing Pashupati priests, King Birendra has a great influence over the appointment panel.

Every year, worshippers from Nepal and India offer an estimated 30 million rupees in cash and jewellery for the temple's upkeep.

Shastri has been a priest at Pashupati for 28 years. He has been its head priest for the last four years.

UNI

Tell us what you think of this report