Prime Minister Balendra Shah Issued Anti-Muslim Statement? No, Viral Claim Is False

In the wake of the communal tensions that broke out after a dispute in Sunsari district, several videos claiming that Prime Minister Balendra Shah has issued a statement saying that Nepal is a Hindu country and there should not be any civil employees from Islamic faith in Nepal is going viral on TikTok.

The tensions spread to four Terai districts in the last week of July, killing three people, and prompting the government to mobilise Nepal Army personnel to contain the situation.

Against this backdrop, TikTok user @ramram772481 posted a video report in Hindi regarding Prime Minister Balendra Shah’s statement against Muslim community.  The video report carries a purported statement of Prime Minister Balendra Shah and his statement. The purported statement reads, “”Nepal is a Hindu state and Nepal should not have a single Muslim civil employee. Leaders should inspect their respective states and stop the government benefit in case any Muslim people are taking it.” The content creator goes on to narrate about the purported statement by Nepal’s PM Balendra Shah. “Nepal’s Prime Minister is saying that Nepal is a Hindu country, thus there should not be a single Muslim employee. If there is any Muslim staff, they should be sacked because Nepal is a completely Hindu country. What do you think of this decision of Balen Shah?” the narrator says in the video.  

The video posted on July 31 has garnered 20.1k likes, 1230 users have shared it and 1621 people have commented until the last count.

Likewise, a Facebook page named ‘cricket book by naveen prajapati‘ has also posted a similar claim with a poster matching the viral video. The post reads, “Balen Shah said, Once again I want to tell all the troublemakers of Nepal that if any attempt is made to spoil the atmosphere of Nepal again then the consequences will be very bad. Also, till now all the people from the Muslim community who were holding any government post in Nepal have been dismissed. Also, all the Muslims of Nepal will not get any kind of government facilities because Nepal belongs only to Hindus and not to Muslims.” 

The poster carried in the post reads, “Curfew in Nepal after Hindu-Muslim tension following a dispute over religious procession.”

The post has garnered 790 likes, 58 users have shared it and 70 people have commented until the last count.

Fact Check /Verification

To check the veracity of the claim, Newschecker checked the statements issued by the Prime Minister after the spread of communal tensions in Sunsari. On checking his Facebook account, we found a post, dated July 29, in which Balen Shah expressed his sadness over the Sunsari incident and appealed to everyone to remain calm and maintain social harmony. However, we did not find anything against Muslim community in his statement regarding the Sunsari violence.

Further, we found a news article, dated July 30, 2026, posted on Khabarhub online. The article noted that PM Balen was criticised for his handling of the unrest in Sunsari district, with opposition leaders and political analysts questioning the government’s response to the violence that left one person dead and more than 20 injured.

Further, it was widely known that Prime Minister Balendra Shah addressed the nation in a video message on July 30. On checking PM’s Shah’s video message posted on the YouTube channel of Gorkhapatra, we found that the PM appealed for calm after deadly unrest in different districts left three people dead. He appealed to the citizens, civil society, religious leaders, political parties and the media to exercise restraint and work together to maintain peace, communal harmony and national unity.

He also warned of strict action against anyone attempting to disrupt public order, incite unrest or undermine Nepal’s long-standing social harmony. He added that the government would ensure a transparent investigation into the recent violence and hold those responsible accountable.

However, we could not find any credible content to substantiate the claim that the prime minister has issued anti-Muslim statement.

Nepal is not a Hindu country but a secular republic under the Constitution of Nepal 2015.

Conclusion

Thus, our findings clearly indicate that Prime Minister Balendra Shah has never stated that Nepal is a Hindu state and that Muslim should not be allowed to serve as civil employees and should be removed even if they are found to be. Thus, the viral claim is exaggerated and false.

Sources
Kathmandu Post, July 30
Gorkhapatra/YouTube, July 30
Balendra Shah /Facebook, July 30