Growing violence against Christians in Nepal 'must be tackled'

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) new report is calling upon Nepal and the international community to tackle the threats posed by the Hindu extremist groups working against the country's peace and security.

The new report on Nepal specifically mentioned the two Hindu extremist groups - the Nepal Defence Army (NDA) and the Ranbir Sena, and their continued violence against the tiny Christian and other minorities like Muslims in the country should be taken seriously.

"It is essential that every possible step should be taken to maintain inter-religious harmony in the new Nepal. We strongly encourage the international community to actively engage with the Government of Nepal over this issue," Tina Lambert, CSW's Advocacy Director said in the news briefing.

The news briefing states that Nepal, which declared itself as a secular state in May 2006, needs to seriously address its human rights issue as well.

"One of the greatest concerns for those seeking a peaceful, democratic Nepal is the current spate of human rights abuses and murders, symbolised by the brutal slaughter of the young journalist, Ms Uma Singh, at Janakpur on 12 January 2008," the report said.

"Although some arrests have been made in the Uma Singh case, it is by no means certain that the true culprits have been identified or that they will be prosecuted and convicted," the report lamented.

The report said, attacks against Christians have increased ever since the last and only Hindu nation was declared a secular state by the restored parliament's declaration in May 2006. The Hindu monarchy was abolished officially in May 2008.

Ever since the country became secular, the two Hindu extremist groups have been attacking and intimidating the minority Christians and Muslims, the statement said.

On 26 April 2007, a bomb exploded in a Christian orphanage, the Grace Children's Home in Birganj that injured a child, NDA had claimed for the responsibility.

On 29 March 2008, the NDA violence turned against Muslims, when a socket bomb was detonated at Choti Mosque, Biratnagar, killing two Muslim men and leaving two others critically injured. Mainali claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that the NDA "would continue such attacks until Nepal is reinstated as a Hindu nation".

On 1 July 2008, Father Johnson Prakash Moyalan from Kerala state in India, Roman Catholic priest was shot dead by a group of masked men. The extremist Nepal Defence Army (NDA) left pamphlets at the site of the murder, saying Nepal should again be a Hindu state and warning that Hindu suicide squads were being trained for this mission.

On 23 May 2009, in the Lalitpur area of Kathmandu known as Dhobighat, a bomb exploded in the crowded Roman Catholic Church of the Assumption, killing three persons and injuring fourteen in a congregation of 150.

Later NDA's claim of responsibility dated May 25 was found warning people of "selling the Hindu country for dollars" and warned Christians to "end all forthcoming anti-Hindu activities", threatening to explode thousands of bombs in the homes of Christians in Nepal, unless all Christians had left the country within one month. It was confirmed with the arrest of 27-year-old Nepali woman, Sita Shrestha Thapa, who confessed to the police.

The Dhobighat bomb blast and the subsequent statement by the NDA, warning all Christians to leave Nepal, have been followed by demands for protection money from Christian leaders in Kathmandu. The leaders of the largest church in the city, the Gyaneshor and Patan Church, have received demands for 7.5 million rupees (approximately U.S. $98,000).

The other group Ranbir Sena, founded in India on 27 and 28 December 2008, exploded two bombs in Kathmandu, the first in front of Tribhuvan International Airport and the second in the Durbar High School area.

In February 2009, the accused were arrested by police, but some self-styled human rights activists and political leaders invoked by the very serious issue of press freedom to secure their release, by claiming that the arrested men were journalists, the report said.

Recently, On 6 September 2009, Vinod Pandey, leader of Ranbir Sena, was arrested in eastern Nepal. The outcome of his case remains to be seen, the report said.

The report said that there are fears that the extremist and violent Hindu nationalism of India may increasingly fuel the corresponding agenda of Hindu extremism in Nepal.

The CSW briefing concludes that "it is vital that freedom of religion is guaranteed strongly in the new constitution of Nepal, and it is equally important that those responsible for religiously motivated killings and violence be brought to justice."

Therefore, CSW is calling upon Nepal to "take immediate action to bring justice to the killers of Father Moyalan and the perpetrators of the Dhobighat bombing.

And to "negotiate and democratically approve a new constitution which guarantees all the rights and freedoms to which Nepal acceded in ratifying the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR)," among others.

CSW is also calling upon the international community to "raise concerns about the growing threat of religiously-motivated violence against Christians and Muslims in Nepal, and cases of threats and extortion, and the trend of impunity for perpetrators of this violence.

And to "urge the government of Nepal to give a high priority to the implementation of full religious freedom in the new constitution, including all the rights guaranteed in constitution of Nepal."

According to the 2001 census, the population of Nepal was 80.6 percent Hindu, 10.7 percent Buddhist, 4.2 percent Muslim, 3.4 percent Kirat (an indigenous Nepali religion) and 0.4 percent Christian. That translated into the total number of Christians at about 100,000, whereas the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office notes that other estimates suggest there are 400,000 Christians.