{"id":29824,"date":"2026-08-16T15:42:40","date_gmt":"2026-08-16T09:57:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/?p=29824"},"modified":"2026-08-16T16:08:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-16T10:23:09","slug":"deuba-affirms-hindu-faith-backs-secular-nepal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/?p=29824","title":{"rendered":"Deuba affirms hindu faith, backs secular Nepal"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Kathmandu [Nepal], August 16 &#8211;<\/strong> Former Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba has publicly affirmed that he is a Hindu, while reiterating his personal preference for Nepal to remain a secular country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Addressing the closing ceremony of a two-day gathering of the party\u2019s rival faction in Kathmandu on Sunday, Deuba said his family traditions and religious practices were rooted in Hindu customs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He said his Bratabandha, a Hindu coming-of-age ceremony and marriage were both conducted according to Hindu traditions. Deuba also said he visits temples and worships Pashupatinath one of Nepal\u2019s most revered Hindu shrines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI am Hindu,\u201d Deuba said repeatedly while explaining his religious identity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Deuba clarified that although he personally wants Nepal to remain a secular state the final decision on the country\u2019s religious status should rest with the people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He said he addressed the issue after leaders and party workers attending the gathering asked him to speak about Hinduism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Deuba also praised Buddhism alongside Hinduism saying both religions are compatible with science and nature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>His remarks come amid continuing public and political debate in Nepal over secularism religion and the country\u2019s constitutional identity. Nepal became a secular republic under the 2007 interim constitution following the end of the monarchy and the status of religion remains a subject of political discussion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Deuba\u2019s statement therefore combines a personal declaration of faith with support for allowing the public to determine Nepal\u2019s future religious framework.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kathmandu [Nepal], August 16 &#8211; Former Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba has publicly affirmed that he is a Hindu, while reiterating his personal preference for Nepal to remain a secular country. Addressing the closing ceremony of a two-day gathering of the party\u2019s rival faction in Kathmandu on Sunday, Deuba said his family traditions and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":29825,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,5,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking","category-nepal","category-politics"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Deuba affirms hindu faith, backs secular Nepal - KathmanduPati<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/?p=29824\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Deuba affirms hindu faith, backs secular Nepal - KathmanduPati\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kathmandu [Nepal], August 16 &#8211; Former Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba has publicly affirmed that he is a Hindu, while reiterating his personal preference for Nepal to remain a secular country. Addressing the closing ceremony of a two-day gathering of the party\u2019s rival faction in Kathmandu on Sunday, Deuba said his family traditions and [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/?p=29824\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"KathmanduPati\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kathmandupatienglish\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-16T09:57:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-16T10:23:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_7475.JPG.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1100\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"619\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"KathmanduPati\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"KathmanduPati\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/?p=29824#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/?p=29824\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"KathmanduPati\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bbe4e117cde7a3a56af3321608bf6b37\"},\"headline\":\"Deuba affirms hindu faith, backs secular Nepal\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-16T09:57:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-16T10:23:09+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/?p=29824\"},\"wordCount\":245,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/?p=29824#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_7475.JPG.jpeg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Breaking\",\"Nepal\",\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/?p=29824#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/?p=29824\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/?p=29824\",\"name\":\"Deuba affirms hindu faith, backs secular Nepal - KathmanduPati\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/?p=29824#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/?p=29824#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_7475.JPG.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-16T09:57:40+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-08-16T10:23:09+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/?p=29824#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/?p=29824\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/?p=29824#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_7475.JPG.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_7475.JPG.jpeg\",\"width\":1100,\"height\":619},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/?p=29824#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Deuba affirms hindu faith, backs secular Nepal\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/\",\"name\":\"KathmanduPati\",\"description\":\"voice of a changing era\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"RB Media House Pvt. Ltd\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/cropped-kp-icon.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/cropped-kp-icon.jpg\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"RB Media House Pvt. Ltd\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kathmandupatienglish\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bbe4e117cde7a3a56af3321608bf6b37\",\"name\":\"KathmanduPati\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2699dbc3337f2585abec1155f4432d9c79967e6f836949fbd4e187c84bc3ebc8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2699dbc3337f2585abec1155f4432d9c79967e6f836949fbd4e187c84bc3ebc8?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"KathmanduPati\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Deuba affirms hindu faith, backs secular Nepal - KathmanduPati","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/?p=29824","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Deuba affirms hindu faith, backs secular Nepal - KathmanduPati","og_description":"Kathmandu [Nepal], August 16 &#8211; Former Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba has publicly affirmed that he is a Hindu, while reiterating his personal preference for Nepal to remain a secular country. Addressing the closing ceremony of a two-day gathering of the party\u2019s rival faction in Kathmandu on Sunday, Deuba said his family traditions and [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/?p=29824","og_site_name":"KathmanduPati","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kathmandupatienglish","article_published_time":"2026-08-16T09:57:40+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-08-16T10:23:09+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1100,"height":619,"url":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_7475.JPG.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"KathmanduPati","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"KathmanduPati","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/?p=29824#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/?p=29824"},"author":{"name":"KathmanduPati","@id":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bbe4e117cde7a3a56af3321608bf6b37"},"headline":"Deuba affirms hindu faith, backs secular Nepal","datePublished":"2026-08-16T09:57:40+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-16T10:23:09+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/?p=29824"},"wordCount":245,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/?p=29824#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_7475.JPG.jpeg","articleSection":["Breaking","Nepal","Politics"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/?p=29824#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/?p=29824","url":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/?p=29824","name":"Deuba affirms hindu faith, backs secular Nepal - KathmanduPati","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/?p=29824#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/?p=29824#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_7475.JPG.jpeg","datePublished":"2026-08-16T09:57:40+00:00","dateModified":"2026-08-16T10:23:09+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/?p=29824#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/?p=29824"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/?p=29824#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_7475.JPG.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/IMG_7475.JPG.jpeg","width":1100,"height":619},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/?p=29824#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Deuba affirms hindu faith, backs secular Nepal"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/","name":"KathmanduPati","description":"voice of a changing era","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/#organization","name":"RB Media House Pvt. Ltd","url":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/cropped-kp-icon.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/cropped-kp-icon.jpg","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"RB Media House Pvt. Ltd"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kathmandupatienglish"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/#\/schema\/person\/bbe4e117cde7a3a56af3321608bf6b37","name":"KathmanduPati","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2699dbc3337f2585abec1155f4432d9c79967e6f836949fbd4e187c84bc3ebc8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2699dbc3337f2585abec1155f4432d9c79967e6f836949fbd4e187c84bc3ebc8?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"KathmanduPati"},"url":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29824"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29824\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29826,"href":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29824\/revisions\/29826"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english.kathmandupati.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}