ICC Note: A Hindu nationalist leader has been accused of faking an assassination attempt reportedly to stoke communal violence against Christians in Nepal. On April 8, Acharya Shree Niwas instructed one of his followers to shoot him in the arm to look like an assassination attempt. Christians in Nepal claim this was done to falsely blame Christians and stoke communal violence. Niwas has since been arrested and the fake assassination plot has been uncovered.

06/11/2018 Nepal (UCAN) – A self-styled religious leader in Nepal linked to hard-line Hindu nationalists has been accused of faking an attempt on his life by instructing a bodyguard to shoot and wound him.

Dinesh Pandit, 25, revered as “Acharya Shree Niwas” by Hindu devotees, was shot on April 8 in the country’s east shortly before he was scheduled to address a mass religious gathering.

Some devotees, seeking to fuel street protests, claimed that it was a premeditated attack by Christians.

The government said it would pay for Acharya’s medical treatment while the main opposition political party called for an upgrading of protection for religious leaders.

Acharya was discharged from hospital after 21 days, but on May 8 police detained him before he could board a flight to India. Subsequently, Acharya was charged with staging his own shooting and attempting to incite communal violence.

The initial investigation carried out by police indicated that Acharya had instructed his bodyguard, Madhav Chaudhary, to shoot him in one arm so that it would look like an assassination attempt.

Chaudhary, who was arrested 26 days after the attack, reportedly confessed his role.

Last week, the administration office in Morang district remanded Acharya in custody.

“He is likely to be tried for possessing firearms, but we are yet to find any link suggesting his intention to provoke communal violence in the country,” said Ram Prasad Acharya, who is the chief district officer.

“The investigation is ongoing, so we can’t say more now about this case.”

But Deo Narayan Sah, a local journalist, noted Acharya’s strong links with nationalist Hindu groups, including the Nepal chapter of Shiva Sena that has close ties to Nepal’s former monarchy.

A week before the allegedly staged shooting, Acharya was seen with deposed King Gyanendra Shah who was visiting various religious sites in the eastern region.

Acharya lived for 15 years in the Barahkshetra area, a famous Hindu pilgrimage site in Sunsari district, and was frequently visited by followers from both India and Nepal.

Some Christians suspect that Acharya’s shooting scam was part of a wider conspiracy to suppress religious freedom and spur attacks on non-Hindus.

BP Khanal, Nepal chapter coordinator of the International Panel of Parliamentarians for Freedom of Religion or Belief, said that despite Nepal being officially secular, the state still encouraged the notion that Nepalis had to be Hindu.

“Religious minorities are often persecuted and attacked,” he said.

Khanal added that just a day after police arrested Acharya, an unidentified group attacked a church in the west of Nepal.

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