Thousands gather to welcome Nepal’s former king

KATHMANDU: Nepal´s former king Gyanendra Shah was welcomed back to Kathmandu on Sunday by thousands of supporters who have been staging pro-monarchy demonstrations in the Himalayan republic.

The Hindu-majority nation became a secular republic in 2008 after parliament abolished the monarchy as part of a peace deal that ended a decade-long civil war in which more than 16,000 people were killed.

However, support for the restoration of the monarchy and a Hindu state has grown amid dissatisfaction over political instability, corruption and slow economic development. Shah´s supporters cheered and waved Nepal´s flag, chanting “Come king, save the nation” as he greeted them at the Kathmandu airport gate. The former king had been touring the country in recent weeks and returned to the capital from Pokhara in central Nepal.