Banishment of Buddhist monks from Nepal

The banishment of Buddhist monks from Nepal was part of a campaign by the Rana government to suppress the resurgence of Theravada Buddhism in Nepal in the early the 20th century. There were two deportations of monks from Kathmandu, in 1926 and 1944.

The exiled monks were the first group of monks to be seen in Nepal since the 14th century.^{[citation needed]} They were at the forefront of a movement to revive Theravada Buddhism, which had disappeared from the country more than five hundred years before. Newar Buddhism is traditionally Vajrayana based. The Rana dynasty disapproved of Buddhism and the Newar language. It saw the activities of the monks and their growing following as a threat. When police harassment and imprisonment failed to deter the monks, all of whom were Newars, they were deported.

Among the charges made against them were preaching a new faith, converting Hindus, encouraging women to renounce and thereby undermining family life, and writing books in Newari.^[1][2]