10 hurt as Maoists attack protesting Pashupati temple staff

KATHMANDU: Some 100 Maoist cadres on Sunday attacked the Pashupatinath temple caretakers who were protesting the appointment of local priests in place of Indians, injuring 10 people in their latest assault on the shrine.
    
The attack came even as the ruling party activists faced much flak after storming the temple earlier this week to install Nepalese priests defying a Supreme Court stay order on the removal of Indian priests, who had been overseeing traditional rituals at the shrine for the past 300 years.
    
The local 'Bhandaris', or temple caretakers, who vowed to launch a struggle to save the temple from "Maoist intrusion", faced the wrath of the partymen as they were set to organise a press conference, Kantipur online reported.
    
Around 100 Maoists attacked the Bhandaris and some local devotees in the temple premises, injuring 10 people, including a member of the state-owned Nepal Television crew.
    
The fresh assault came hours after prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal 'Prachanda' said he did not intend to displace the South Indian 'Bhatta' brahmins, who had overseen rituals at the temple for the past 300 years.
    
The appointment of Nepalese priests in place of Indians was a "mere coincidence" and not targeted at the latter, Prachanda said adding, the issue has been "pointlessly politicised".