Nepali Christians take part in a church service in Lapa village in Dhading, some 100 km northwest of Kathmandu, on Oct. 8, 2017. Despite strict laws that ban religious conversion, Christianity has spread rapidly over the last two decades in Nepal, where many see it as an escape from the deeply entrenched caste system. (Photo: AFP)
By UCA News reporter, Kathmandu
Sep 9 2023
Christian groups in Nepal have appealed for peace and religious harmony in the Hindu-majority country, following a spate of attacks against their people in the past two weeks.
The growing “incidents of attacks and abuse, particularly targeting Christian minorities, is worrisome,” said Father Silas Bogati, vicar general of the Vicariate Apostolic of Nepal, which covers the entire nation on the foothills of the Himalayas.
At least seven churches were attacked in Nepal in the last two weeks, Christian leaders say.
The latest attacks happened on Sept. 5 in Nepal’s Lumbini province when two churches were vandalized in the southern Nawalparasi district of Lumbini, along the border with India’s Uttar Pradesh state, leaders said.
“We have been raising our voices for religious harmony. Nobody should harm the feelings or sentiments of others’ religion,” Bogati told UCA News on Sept. 7.
The harassment and attack against Christians began after a video went viral on social media on Aug. 15, claiming the visuals showed members of an indigenous community eating beef in a village near Dharan town in eastern Nepal.
The cow slaughter and beef eating have hurt the religious sentiments of Hindus, who consider the cow a revered animal, said Mohan Shrestha, spokesperson of Hindu right-wing party Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP or National Peoples’ Party).
“Some people from outside are inciting ethnic violence and disturbing the existing religious and social harmony in their attempt to push the country towards ethnic violence,” he said.
‘Protest against discrimination’
Hundreds of ethnic people in Nepal have become Christians in the recent past. Several Christian missionaries, including from South Korea, are active among ethnic groups, that local Hindus resist.
Forums of ethnic groups such as the Nepal Federation of Indigenous Nationalities and Indigenous Cultural Rights Forum claim the video was a form of protest against the discriminatory law that criminalizes cow slaughter and consumption of beef.
Slaughtering of cows, also Nepal’s national animal, is a crime punishable with imprisonment.
The situation became tense when both groups – those fighting the law against cow slaughter and those wanting to protect cows – engaged in hate speeches and threats of violence against each other.
“The situation was scary. We feared that ethnic violence could take place anytime if measures to de-escalate the situation weren’t taken urgently,” said the former Mayor of Dharan Manoj Kumar Meyangbo.
“Extreme viewpoints can aggravate fractures and threaten the existing social harmony,” said Professor Tanka Neupane, a socio-cultural activist, who is mediating the religious conflict in the Dharan area.
Slaughtering cows and consuming the meat for religious and cultural practices is prevalent among some ethnic communities in Dharan and everyone knows about it, he said.
He said that the public display of the video of consuming beef made the matter worse. The hate and threats of extreme violence could have been avoided had it not been publicly shared on social media, he said.
Religious and ethnic minorities say the cow protection law is used to harass people. Although Nepal adopted secularism nearly a decade ago, religious and ethnic minorities have remained on edge and increasingly subjected to discrimination.
The constitution enshrines freedom of religion and cultural beliefs but “ethnic minorities face persecution for practicing their indigenous culture and freedom,” said Tanka Yakthungba, a youth activist advocating for indigenous cultural movement in east Nepal told UCA News.
Indigenous communities such as Kirat, Limbu, and Tamang have been consuming beef. “It is their cultural right, it should be allowed to practice freely without any repercussions or discrimination,” Yakthungba said.
‘Re-establish Hindu monarchy’
The video appeared amid simmering tension in the Dharan area between radical Hindus and ethnic groups.
In May, the indigenous Christian community built Holy Trinity Believers Eastern Church just across a Balgopal Temple, a place of worship for Hindus in Dharan.
Hindu groups opposed it saying it was an illegal construction and petitioned the local administration to relocate the church. The Christian group also appealed against it seeking permission for them to continue worship in the church.
The dispute gained national interest when RPP intensified their voices for the re-establishment Hindu monarchy in Nepal.
Various Hindu groups along with the RPP have been organizing mass rallies protesting against cow slaughter and beef eating in different parts of Nepal.
The Hindu groups have also scheduled a mass protest rally in the capital Kathmandu on Sept. 13 demanding the reinstatement of the Hindu monarchy and dissolution of democratic systems in the state. – UCA News
