Nepal | April 19, 2024
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Christians in Nepal are currently experiencing pressure from two sides: From a secular government that prohibits conversion activities and from Hindu extremists who want to turn Nepal back into a Hindu kingdom. As reported by UCA News on 5 April 2024, on 12 March 2024 four Nepali and seven Australian Christians were detained for 24 days and taken to court for allegedly carrying out forced conversions.
According to The Kathmandu Post reporting on 13 April 2024, the Ministry of Home Affairs has instructed all 77 district administration offices to prevent forced religious conversions from taking place and asked them to track the movement of foreign nationals inside the country without permits. According to the ministry, various individuals and organizations have been holding religious conferences and promoting conversion. Pro-Hindu groups and individuals have therefore been concerned about illegal forced conversion taking place.
World Watch Research analyst Rolf Zeegers comments: “Nepal’s 2015 Constitution declares Nepal to be a secular country and clearly prohibits virtually all activities that could lead to conversion. Article 26 (3) of the Constitution states (as quoted in The Kathmandu Post article):
No person shall, in the exercise of the right conferred by this Article (26), do, or cause to be done, any act which may be contrary to public health, decency and morality or breach of public peace, or convert another person from one religion to another or any act or conduct that may jeopardise other's religion and such act shall be punishable by law, states the constitution.
The growing influence of Hindu extremist groups in Nepal is a further problem for Christian activities. An article in Christianity Today provides more insight into this issue and states:
More than 15 years after Nepal officially became a secular democracy, the former Hindu monarchy may have a religious extremism problem, incited and aggravated by its closest neighbor (India). In an ‘alarming’ development, Indian Hindutva ideology and politics have begun to spread throughout the country, as local experts and journalists report. This proliferation has resulted in a recent spate of attacks and restrictions on Christians reported within the country of 30 million (Christianity Today, 12 April 2024).”
Rolf Zeegers sees a worrying trend regarding growing Religious nationalism: “Whereas the level of violence against Christians from Hindu extremists in Nepal has not reached the same level as in neighboring India, there is a clear increase in violence happening. Altogether, the Christian community finds itself in a very difficult situation.”
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