Tag: Nepal

For persecuted Christian women, violence is compounded by ‘shaming’

March 8, 2019 Global News -- No Particular Country Algeria, Colombia, Converts, Eritrea, Iraq, Islamic State, Jordan, Kenya, Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Women, Yemen

Women to women conference in Ethiopia, February 2018.

It would be hard to argue the world is unaware that Islamic State fighters used rape and sexual violence as a weapon of war against Iraq’s Yazidi women: Nadia Murad shared the 2018 Nobel Prize after she told the world of her personal ordeal at their hands. However, testimonies from . . . Read More

Political party campaigns for Nepal to become a Hindu state

March 1, 2019 Nepal Hindu nationalism, Minorities, Nepal, Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal

Christians are concerned about a campaign to make Nepal a Hindu nation. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

A pro-Hindu political party in Nepal has launched a campaign calling for the country to become a Hindu theocracy, reports Asia News. The right-wing pro-Hindu Rastriya Prajatantra Party launched the initiative in all seven provinces with a conference in the capital Kathmandu on 27 February. The party has been calling . . . Read More

Nepal ‘anything but progressive’ on religious freedom

December 6, 2018 Nepal Anti-conversion law, Churches, Hindu nationalism, Nepal, Proselytism, Religious freedom

The situation for Christians in Nepal has “worsened” since a new criminal code came into effect earlier this year, writes human rights activist Prakash Khadka for the Catholic news site UCAN. Nepal only became a secular country in 2007. Until that time it had been a Hindu monarchy for centuries . . . Read More

Nepal: 4 women arrested for ‘attempting to forcefully convert people to Christianity’

November 8, 2018 Nepal Anti-conversion law, Dalits, Kathmandu, Nepal, Proselytism

Nepal Entry, Meeting Sonam Tsering (guitarist, leads tours up to Annapurna, surprisingly a Christian Tibetan), Intro to everything, Pema Wangdi Lama recording studio, Boudhanath 1 (Flickr / Damien KR / CC)

Four Christian women were arrested earlier this week in Nepal on suspicion of attempting to convert people to Christianity by force, Asia News reports. The women – two of whom are Japanese – were accused by residents of proselytising door-to-door. They were followed and filmed, and the footage was passed . . . Read More

Nepal’s criminalisation of conversion a ‘direct infringement’ of religious freedom

September 20, 2018 Nepal Anti-conversion law, Churches, Human rights, Minorities, Nepal, Religious freedom

The clause in Nepal’s constitution that prohibits religious conversions was added to “protect Hinduism at the expense of other religions”, says advocacy group CSW, on the third anniversary of the amended constitution. As World Watch Monitor reported, Nepal’s Christian minority feared that the so-called “anti-conversion” measure, which came into force . . . Read More

Nepali law criminalising ‘hurting of religious feelings’ comes into force

August 17, 2018 Nepal Anti-conversion law, Charikot, Hindu nationalism, India, Minorities, Nepal, Proselytism

A law criminalising religious conversions and the hurting of religious feelings comes into force in Nepal today, a year after the bill was passed. As World Watch Monitor reported last year, Nepal’s Christian minority fears the new law will be abused by those seeking to settle scores – as has . . . Read More

Nepal: Couple deported for ‘converting Hindus into Christians’

July 13, 2018 Nepal Kathmandu, Nepal, Proselytism, Religious freedom

Proselytism is a crime in majority-Hindu Nepal. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

A Christian couple have been deported from Nepal after they were accused of proselytism, a criminal offence in the country, reports national newspaper The Himalayan Times. De Vera Richard, from the Philippines, and his Indonesian wife Rita Gonga had been staying in Nepal on business visas and were running a . . . Read More

Nepal: 4 more churches attacked

May 16, 2018 Nepal Hindu nationalism, Maoists, Nepal, UN

A church in Nepal has been bombed and three other churches attacked by arsonists over a five-day period, reports Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW). Arsonists attacked Hebron Church in Hilihang Rural Municipality, in Nepal’s eastern district of Panchthar, on 9 May; Emmanuel Church, Doti, in the country’s far west, on 10 . . . Read More

Nepal: Catholic church interior ‘entirely destroyed’ after arson

May 11, 2018 Nepal Catholics, Hindu nationalism, Human rights, Kohalpur, Minorities, Nepal, Religious freedom, UN

A Catholic church in Nepal’s western Banke District has been left badly damaged following an arson attack last week, according to Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW). A group of between eight and ten unidentified arsonists reportedly warned locals to stay inside their houses, before breaking into St. Joseph’s, in the town . . . Read More

Report: UN weakness on religious freedom undercuts its authority on human rights

May 9, 2018 Global News -- No Particular Country Anti-conversion law, Apostasy, Bhutan, Blasphemy, Human rights, India, London, Minorities, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Religious freedom, Sam Brownback, Southeast Asia, Sri Lanka, UN, USA, Uttarakhand

Dressed in the saffron colour, groups such these are promoting the nationalist cause for India to be a Hindu-nation. (Photo: World Watch Monitor)

The UN cannot strengthen, promote and protect human rights if it does not prioritise religious freedom, a report published by the Washington-based human rights alliance, ADF International has argued. The 73-page report, titled “Anti-Conversion Laws and the International Response”, claims that “some UN entities, especially special rapporteurs, have highlighted the . . . Read More

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