Amid criticism from various quarters over his suggestion to the Constituent Assembly (CA) members to ensure the right to change one’s religion under the new constitution, the government has decided to seek clarifications from United Kingdom (UK) ambassador to Nepal Andy Sparkes and caution him against making such ‘unwarranted suggestions’.

The government’s decision comes after lawmakers and central working committee (CWC) members of the ruling Nepali Congress (NC) took strong exception to the envoy’s suggestion and cadres of the Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal (RPP-N) even took to the streets. While a section of NC leaders are for declaring Nepal a Hindu state again, RPP-N has made the ‘Hindu state’ its key demand, arguing that over 80 percent of the people in Nepal follow Hinduism reports Republica.

According to report cited to Minister for Foreign Affairs Mahendra Bahadur Pandey, the government will first seek clarifications from envoy Sparkes to learn in detail about his suggestion in regard to religion.