With India strongly taking up the attack on two Indian priests at Pashupatinath Temple on Friday, Nepal’s Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal said that stern action would be taken against those responsible for the assault.

Indian priests Raghavendra Bhatt and Girish Bhatt were on Friday beaten up by Maoists, who have been demanding that Nepali priests, not Indian, be appointed at the Pashupatinath Temple.

Both the priests joined duty at the temple on Saturday after the government’s promise to protect them.

Indian Ambassador Rakesh Sood joined Nepal’s Minister for Culture Minendra Rizal for a meeting with the priests after Union Minister for Foreign Affairs S M Krishna expressed concern over their safety in the neighbouring country.

Sood is said to have spoken to Maoist leaders Prachanda, Baburam Bhattarai and K B Mahara and told them that India would not believe that Maoists cadres were not involved in the assault. The Maoist leaders apparently said that they would restrain their cadres.

On Saturday, pro-Maoist activists rallied and shouted slogans against India’s hegemony over Nepal’s cultural and religious affairs. Some of them were arrested.

The Prime Minister took up the issue with Prachanda who, sources said, claimed that his party was not opposed to right to religion of any individual, but was clearly in favour of Nepali priests being appointed.

The area committee of the CPN-M declared later in the day that “it would extend moral support to the movement for nationalism”.

“It is not for an atheist Party to take control of the religious shrine and assault the priests. If at all there is need for some change in the existing rules and procedure for appointment of the priests, let there be a consensus,” Minister Minendra Rizal for Culture told The Indian Express.