Buddhists organised a protest rally in the capital on Wednesday demanding removal of Maoist chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal as the head of High Level National Steering Committee for Development of Greater Lumbini.

Hundreds of Buddhists, a number of them monks and nuns, staged rally, carrying banners and placards to protest "politicisation of religion" demanding his resignation from the panel. The placards read "No Politics in Religion".

The government had recently named Dahal as head of a high-level committee. The basic mandate of the panel is to coordinate the efforts to generate foreign aid for development of Lumbini as an international Buddhist hub.

The government has declared 2012 as the Visit Lumbini Year to promote tourism in Buddha's birthplace.

Dahal had visited New York in November and met United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, discussing possible international support to develop Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha.

At the invitation of Dahal, the UN Secretary General is scheduled to visit Nepal in March next year to chair an international conference on development of Lumbini. nepalnews.com