Maoist leaders, who have often been criticised for being insensitive to religious beliefs, are now taking care not to offend religious sentiments of people, especially Hindus.

Maoist leader and former Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda, an atheist, attended the closing ceremony of the Bhagvat Purana Yagya in Kathmandu on Sunday.

This was the second time that Prachanda attended a religious function in a month. Last month, he had attended a similar function that was held to raise funds for charity. The preacher of the ceremony happened to be the son of Pundit Narayan Prasad Pokharel, a Hindu preacher-cum-reformer, who had been gunned down by Maoists three years ago. During the function, Prachanda revealed that he used to worship Panchaya — the five principal Hindu gods — until the age of 14.

In January this year, Prachanda and his party (Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist) were criticized after they decided to remove priests from the Pashupatinath temple, obstructing daily prayers and rituals.

“I do not want to comment on why Prachanda attended the Bhagvat Purana Yagya, but the party does not object to people practicing their religion,” a Central Committee member of the Maoist party told The Indian Express.