WEA-RLC Research and Analysis Report

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*Religious Freedom at Risk in Nepal*
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September 13, 2010

The Constituent Assembly of Nepal is to draft a new constitution to replace the
2007 interim constitution currently in force. While many progressive changes
have been proposed by the Assembly ¢â‚¬â„¢s committees on key areas of governance, the
committee on fundamental rights wants the country to retain the ban on
activities aimed at religious conversion.

Until 2006, Nepal was world ¢â‚¬â„¢s only Hindu kingdom, which survived sporadically
for 239 years. The Himalayan nation, situated between India and China, is
currently in transition from a monarchy to a republic. To formalize this
transition, the Assembly, which was formed by an election in 2008, was mandated
to draft the new constitution within two years while also acting as Nepal ¢â‚¬â„¢s
parliament. The Assembly ¢â‚¬â„¢s term was, however, extended by one more year as it
could not meet the May 28, 2010 deadline.

The delay was due to a lack of consensus among Nepal ¢â‚¬â„¢s political parties on some
 ¢â‚¬Å“key ¢â‚¬  provisions in the new constitution such as federalism. Religious freedom
was seemingly a non-issue. Although none of the major political parties  ¢â‚¬“ the
country ¢â‚¬â„¢s largest United Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist), the Communist Party
of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) or the Nepali Congress  ¢â‚¬“ is against
religious minorities, their views on religious freedom do not seem progressive.

The 2007 interim constitution  ¢â‚¬“ which was drafted by a committee representing
all major parties to replace the one promulgated by the monarchy in 1990 and
which currently governs Nepal  ¢â‚¬“ restricts religious freedom. It states that a
person may only practice religion as passed down to him/her from ancient times
and bans proselytization.

WEA-RLC spoke to Ms. Binda Pandey, who heads the Assembly ¢â‚¬â„¢s Committee on
Fundamental Rights and Directive Principles (CFRDP) and is a member of the
Unified Marxist Leninist party, to ask her if the limits on religious freedom
are likely to be lifted.  ¢â‚¬Å“We had a detailed discussion on religious freedom
provisions and we came to the conclusion that one can convert from one religion
to another individually, but any activity aimed at converting someone else may
not be allowed, ¢â‚¬  she said.

The Preliminary Draft Pandey ¢â‚¬â„¢s committee presented to the Assembly seeks to make
any attempt to convert a punishable act.

Chapter 2 of the Draft defines the  ¢â‚¬Å“Right to Religious Freedom ¢â‚¬  as:  ¢â‚¬Å“Every
person shall have the freedom to profess, practice and preserve his or her own
religion in accordance with his or her faith, or to refrain from any religion. ¢â‚¬ 
But a clause that follows sets the ground for restrictions. It states,  ¢â‚¬Å“Provided
that no person shall be entitled to act contrary to public health, decent
behaviour and morality, to indulge in activities of jeopardizing public peace or
/to convert a person from one religion to another/, and no person shall act or
behave in a manner which may infringe upon religion of others. ¢â‚¬ 

The rationale behind the restrictions, as per the draft, is:  ¢â‚¬Å“This right cannot
be claimed by any person engaged or making [an attempt] to get indulged in any
activity contrary to public health, decent behaviour and morality, get indulged
in activities of jeopardizing public peace or converting a person from one
religion to another, and acting or behaving in a manner which may infringe upon
religion of others. /This provision has been made in order to make such an act
culpable/. ¢â‚¬ 

The Draft was prepared after 478 hours of discussion and considering over 28,000
suggestions sent by organizations and individuals to the committee  ¢â‚¬“ and also
after making a study of  ¢â‚¬Å“international covenants to which Nepal has been a party
(signatory), and after making a comparative study of the constitutions of
different countries, as well as on the basis of the constitutional exercise of
Nepal and /special circumstances/. ¢â‚¬ 

None of the members of the 43-member committee on fundamental rights is
Christian while there are a few Muslims and people from Nepal ¢â‚¬â„¢s ethnic minorities.

 ¢â‚¬Å“We received a few suggestions from some missionaries who wanted the freedom to
convert, but that was not what the majority wanted, ¢â‚¬  Pandey said.

This shows that religious freedom is seen as an issue of interest to Christian
missionaries alone, and not as part of people ¢â‚¬â„¢s fundamental or human rights.
Many non-governmental organizations are advocating for the rights of
marginalized communities in the new constitution, but there is little visible
effort by Nepal ¢â‚¬â„¢s civil society or the international community, barring a few
Christian lobby groups, to ensure religious freedom.

Nepal is a member of the United Nations and has signed the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights as well as ratified its Optional
Protocol. The Human Rights Committee, the body of independent experts that
monitors implementation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights by its State parties, holds that the right to manifest one ¢â‚¬â„¢s religion
includes carrying out actions to persuade others to believe in a certain
religion. Even otherwise, an individual can exercise his or her right to convert
to another religion  ¢â‚¬“ which is permissible in the proposed scope of religious
freedom in the new constitution  ¢â‚¬“ in a substantial manner only when there is
freedom for all religious communities to propagate their religion.

According to the 2001 Census, 80.6 percent of the 29.5 million people in Nepal
are Hindu. Around 10 percent are Buddhist, 4.2 percent are Muslim, and 3.6
percent followers of indigenous faiths. Christianity is practiced by less than
0.5 percent of the population. However, it is believed that since the Census was
conducted during the Hindu monarchy rule, people of other faiths did not reveal
their religious affiliations out of fear.

It is also believed that over 20 percent of Nepal ¢â‚¬â„¢s population is Dalit
(formerly  ¢â‚¬Å“untouchable ¢â‚¬  according to the caste system in Hinduism)  ¢â‚¬“ according
to the Census, Dalits comprise around 13 percent of the population. To escape
societal discrimination and atrocities, many Dalits have converted to
Christianity. The religious restrictions in Nepal could be targeted at Dalits
converting to Christianity.

Nepal ¢â‚¬â„¢s lawmakers are seeking to make religious restrictions even more severe
than in some Indian states that have enacted anti-conversion laws for similar
reasons and have faced international criticism  ¢â‚¬“ for example the states of
Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Orissa. The Indian anti-conversion laws have
survived scrutiny of courts only because they seek to ban conversions carried
out by force or fraudulent means, at least on paper. But the proposed clause in
Nepal ¢â‚¬â„¢s new constitution treats even conversion by religious persuasion as unlawful.

India ¢â‚¬â„¢s experience with anti-conversion laws, some of which have been in force
for over 40 years, serves as a warning that legislation concerning conversion
can be grossly misused by State as well as non-State actors. For it is tricky to
define a religious conversion or gauge someone ¢â‚¬â„¢s intention to convert someone
else. Numerous Christian workers in India have been arrested and harassed on
charges of conversion even when they engaged in social work, as any charitable
act can wrongly be misconstrued as allurement. However, none of the numerous
cases filed against Christian workers in India has resulted in conviction.

Like in India, several right-wing Hindu groups operate in Nepal and have
targeted Christian and Muslim minorities in the recent past.

The deadline for Nepal ¢â‚¬â„¢s new constitution is eight months later, but the
committees assisting the Assembly have submitted their proposals, many of which
will find space in the new constitution. Moreover, the Maoists in Nepal are
inching closer to politicians who favor restoration of monarchy, as both are
against the intervention of India  ¢â‚¬“ South Asia ¢â‚¬â„¢s largest and most influential
nation  ¢â‚¬“ in Nepal ¢â‚¬â„¢s domestic politics. This can weaken the case for religious
freedom. However, there is still time for international advocacy and lobby
groups to hold consultations with members of the Assembly and its committee on fundamental rights on the need for the expansion of religious freedom in a country that is now a democratic and secular republic.

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The World Evangelical Alliance (WEA) Religious Liberty Commission (RLC) sponsors
this WEA-RLC Research & Analysis Report to help individuals and groups pray for
and act on religious liberty issues around the world.
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