The Church in Nepal has expressed concern over the “freedom of religion” as the country hurries to promulgate a new constitution and Hindu nationalists clamour for it to declare itself a “Hindu nation”.
The Vicariate of Nepal presented a memorandum to major parties in the ruling coalition on 12 July urging that the word “secular” should be inserted in the preamble to ensure full religious freedom and demanded Christianity be recognised as a religion. The memorandum also demanded change to the “dangerous” clause 3 under Article 31 that deals with religious freedom. While clause 1 upholds individual freedom of religion as a fundamental right, clause 2 ushers in a “right to abandon religion”. But clause 3 bans proselytising or conversion by clerics.
Fr Silas Bogati, the Vicar General, after he presented the memorandum told The Tablet that Clause 3 “practically takes away the freedom brought in by Clause 1”. The third clause could be used against clergy and Church with “wild allegations of conversion”, he said.
Since the weekend, government officials and legislators from the 600-member Constituent Assembly have fanned out to far corners of Nepal with 200,000 copies of the draft constitution to gather people’s recommendations over the next fortnight. Lokmani Dhakal, one of the four Christians in Nepal's 601-member Constituent Assembly, reiterated the same concerns when he addressed a gathering of 60 Christian leaders at an ecumenical conference in Kathmandu on 6 July. "Without freedom to speak about one's faith, what is the meaning of religious freedom?" asked Mr Dhakal.
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