Christians Fear Religious Persecution Could Return to Nepal

Concerns
were heightened after Nepal’s deposed King Gyanendra Shah, once regarded as a
Hindu god, broke the silence he has observed since Nepal abolished monarchy in
2008. During his visit to a Hindu festival this month, the former king said that
monarchy was not dead and could make a comeback if people so
desired.

Jason Maehl / IstockPhoto: Durbar Square in Kathmandu, Nepal, housed the royal residence
until the 19th century.

Soon after that, Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, a former prime
minister and respected leader of the largest ruling party, said that instead of
getting a new constitution, Nepal should revive an earlier one. The 1990
constitution declared Nepal a Hindu kingdom with a constitutional
monarch.

There is
now growing doubt that the ruling parties will not be able to fashion the new
constitution they promised by May.

“We feel
betrayed,” said Dr. K.B. Rokaya, general secretary of the National Council of
Churches of Nepal. “The Constituent Assembly we elected to give us a new
constitution that would strengthen democracy and secularism has frittered away
the time and opportunity given to it.”

The
clamor for a Hindu state has been growing as the May 28 deadline for the new
constitution draws near. When a Hindu preacher, Kalidas Dahal, held a nine-day
prayer ritual in Kathmandu this month seeking reinstatement of Hinduism as the
state religion, thousands of people flocked to him. The throng included three
former prime ministers and top leaders of the ruling
parties.

“The
large turnout signals that Hinduism is enshrined in the hearts of the people and
can’t be abolished by the government,” said Hridayesh Tripathi, a former
minister and Constituent Assembly member whose Terai Madhes Loktantrik Party is
the fifth-largest in the ruling alliance. “It was a mistake to abolish Hinduism
in a hurry.”

Another
blow for a Hindu state was struck by the Rastriya Prajatantra Party-Nepal
(RPP-N), the only party that fought the 2008 election in support of monarchy and
a Hindu state. It is now calling for a referendum. As a pressure tactic, it
paralyzed the capital and its two neighboring cities in February by calling a
general strike.

“The election gave the Constituent Assembly the mandate
of writing a new constitution, not deciding issues of national importance,” said
Kamal Thapa, the RPP-N chief who also was home minister during the brief
government headed by Gyanendra. “Most people in Nepal want a Hindu state and a
constitutional king. If their demand is not heeded, they will feel excluded and
refuse to follow the new constitution. We are asking the government to hold a
referendum on the two issues before May 28.”

With only
two months left, it is clear the demand can’t be met if the constitution is to
come into effect within the stipulated time. Now the specter of anarchy and
violence hangs over Nepal. 

Nepal’s Maoists, who fought a 10-year war to
make Nepal a secular republic and who remain the former king’s most bitter
enemy, say attempts have begun to whip up riots in the name of a Hindu state.
The former guerrillas also allege that the campaign for the restoration of
Hinduism as the state religion is backed by ministers, politicians from the
ruling parties and militant religious groups from
India.

Effectively Hindu

None of the church
members have been able to return to their homes. They feel completely unsafe and
at risk.Even if a new, secular
constitution is approved by the deadline, there is still no guarantee that the
rights of religious minorities would be protected.

Nilambar Acharya, who
heads the committee that is drafting the new constitution, said it would be
merely a broad guideline for the government; compatible laws would have to be
drafted to protect rights.

“The previous constitution abolished
‘untouchability’ [a practice among Hindus of treating those at the bottom of the
social ladder as outcasts],” Acharya told Compass. “But untouchability still
exists in Nepal. To achieve all that the constitution promises, the mindset of
society has to be changed first. For that, you need political
will.”

Though Nepal became
secular in 2006, Hinduism still gets preferential treatment. The state allocates
funds for institutions like the
Kumari, the tradition of choosing prepubescent
girls as protective deities of the state and worshipping them as “living
goddesses.” The state also gave money to organizers of a controversial,
five-yearly religious festival, the Gadhimai Fair, where tens of thousands of
birds are slaughtered as offerings to Hindu gods despite international
condemnation.

There is no support, predictably, for Christian festivals.
When the Constituent Assembly was formed – partly though election and partly by
nomination – no Christian name was proposed even though the prime minister was
authorized to nominate members from unrepresented
communities.

Christian
leaders want such religious bias abolished. Rokaya of the National Council of
Churches of Nepal said Christians have recommended full freedom of religion in
the new constitution: allowing one to follow the religion of one’s choice, to
change one’s religion if desired or have the right not to be associated with any
religion.

The churches have also asked the state not to interfere in
religious matters.

“We are
asking the government not to fund any religious activity, not to be part of any
religious appointments and not to allow public land for any religious event,”
Rokaya said.

The recommendations, however, may not be heeded. During
their brief stint in power, the Maoists tried to stop state assistance for
the Kumari.
It led to violence and a general strike in the capital, forcing the party to
withdraw the decision.

In its 2009 report on religious freedom in Nepal,
the U.S. Department of State notes that while the interim constitution
officially declared the country secular, “the president, in his capacity as head
of state, attended major Hindu religious ceremonies over which the king
previously presided.”

It also
notes that there were reports of societal abuses and discrimination based on
religious affiliation, belief, or practice.

“Those who converted to a
different religious group occasionally faced violence and were ostracized
socially,” it states. “Those who chose to convert to other religious groups, in
particular Hindu citizens who converted to Islam or Christianity, were sometimes
ostracized. They occasionally faced isolated incidents of hostility or
discrimination from Hindu extremist groups. Some reportedly were forced to leave
their villages.”

Dr. Ramesh Khatri, executive director of Association for
Theological Education in Nepal, has experienced such persecution first-hand.
When he became a Christian in 1972, his father disowned him. Then in 1984 he was
arrested for holding a Bible camp. Though the case against him was dropped in
1990 after a pro-democracy movement, Khatri said hatred of Christians still
persists.

“Christians can never sleep peacefully at night,” he said
wryly. “The new constitution will make Nepal another India, where Christians are
persecuted in Orissa, Gujarat and Karnataka.” The Oxford University-educated
Khatri, who writes a column in a Nepali daily, said violent responses to his
articles show how Nepal still regards its Christians.

“I am attacked as a
‘Rice Christian,'” he said. “It is a derogatory term implying I converted for
material benefits. The antagonistic feeling society has towards Christians will
not subside with the new constitution, and we can’t expect an easy life. The
Bible says that, and the Bible is true.”

Christians continue to face persecution and harassment. In March,
missions resource organization Timeless Impact International (TII) noted that a
church in northern Nepal, near the foothills of Mt. Everest, was attacked by a
local mob.

The newly established
church in Dolakha district was attacked during a fellowship meeting in January.
An ethnic mob headed by religious leaders destroyed the church meeting place,
assaulted participants and warned them not to speak about Christianity in the
village, TII said.

The situation, even
now, remained unchanged.

“None of
the church members have been able to return to their homes,” TII stated. “They
feel completely unsafe and at risk.”