There's growing concern among Christians in Nepal over calls for the restoration of the monarchy and of Hinduism as the state religion.

Thousands of supporters of Nepal’s former king rallied in the capital Kathmandu this week, amid rising unhappiness with successive elected governments.

They want the restoration of the constitutional monarchy that was abolished in 2008. The 239-year-old monarchy was voted out following weeks of bloody street protests.

The Hindu-majority nation became a secular republic at the same time, as part of a peace deal that ended a decade-long civil war in which more than 16,000 people were killed.

Megan Titley from the persecution watchdog Open Doors told Premier:

“People have grown discontent with the government. There have been 13 different governments since 2008 and people are fed up with the corruption and the problems they still find themselves in.

“So now, people are demonstrating to bring back the monarchy, to make Nepal a Hindu nation again, thinking that this will solve their problems. But what this means for Christians is slightly more nuanced, because they've been keeping an eye on India and they're very concerned about the kind of Hindutva ideology that people have taken up and have been following. It benefits the majority Hindu communities but massively persecutes the other minority religions, like Muslims and Christians.

“They’re very worried that the idea of a Hindu nation could mean there are more attacks against Christians.”

Nepal is home to one of the world’s fastest-growing Christian populations. Estimates of the exact number of Christians in the country range from around half a million to more than 3 million. However, Hinduism remains the dominant religion. Many of the Christians in Nepal are converts from Hinduism, but recent anti-conversion laws mean it is now illegal to try to convert anyone to a different religion.

The nation’s last king, 77-year-old Gyanendra, has lived with his family in a private house in Kathmandu since being toppled.