The very next day, a lawyer challenged the oath-taking, calling it unconstitutional and last month, the court gave its verdict in his favour, ordering Jha to be sworn in again.

The humiliated vice president rejected the court decision, calling it biased, and said he would not be forced to take the oath again in Nepali.

However, the parties from the Terai, who had been supporting Jha, abandoned him and stood behind a cabinet decision this month to ask Jha to honour the Supreme Court directive.

Though the parties tried to soften the blow by agreeing to amend the interim constitution so that in future the president and the vice president can be sworn-in in the language of their choice, it is still a smarting verdict for Jha who will now have to eat humble pie or be removed.

The Jha incident emphasises the Nepali desire to be seen as an entity utterly different and distinct from its southern neighbour India.

Though Hindi films and songs do roaring business in Nepal and the language is spoken by many Nepalis, yet barring the Terai community, the republic is opposed to the use of Hindi for official work, regarding it as the official language of India.