1 / 17

Nepal: The Rising Religious Intolerance and Communal Divide

Percentage of total population. 195219912001Hindu88.8 86.5 80.6Buddhism 8.6 7.8 10.7Muslim 2.6 3.5 4.2Kirant - 1.0 3.6Christian - 0.2 0.5Sikh - 0.1 0.0. History of Communal Harmony. Although a Hindu kingdom, Nepal enjoyed total harmon

marinel
Download Presentation

Nepal: The Rising Religious Intolerance and Communal Divide

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

    1. Nepal: The Rising Religious Intolerance and Communal Divide By Nishchal N. Pandey Director, Center for South Asian Studies, Kathmandu

    2. Percentage of total population 1952 1991 2001 Hindu 88.8 86.5 80.6 Buddhism 8.6 7.8 10.7 Muslim 2.6 3.5 4.2 Kirant - 1.0 3.6 Christian - 0.2 0.5 Sikh - 0.1 0.0

    3. History of Communal Harmony Although a Hindu kingdom, Nepal enjoyed total harmony between faiths in the past Hindus and Buddhists have been visiting each other’s religious shrines, there was no animosity between Hindus and Christians Militant Hinduism was deliberately curbed by the state; fanaticism never attracted common citizenry

    4. The South Asian Setting Politicization of Religion is a major cause of concern in South Asian states Babri Mosque demolition, regular clashes between Hindus-Muslims, violence against Christians in India Communal tension always high in North India Attack on Hindus in Bangladesh & Bhutan, Shia-Sunni clashes in Pak. & Buddhist intolerance in Sri Lanka Nepal remarkably remained unscathed from these events

    5. Christianity in Nepal No missionaries were allowed till 1950. Conversion was illegal, several episodes of arrests for acts of proselytism until 1990. Missionary schools- St. Xavier’s & St. Mary’s are respected institutions of learning; their products are today the cream of the society. Church of the Assumption is the 1st church. Pope Benedict elevated prefecture of Nepal to the rank of Vicariate. Fr. Anthony the 1st Vicar & 1st Nepalese Bishop.

    6. Vandalism of Mosques Sep. 1, 2004 First incident of its kind Protest against killing of 12 Nepalese in Iraq 2 Mosques, dozens of manpower & travel agencies were targeted

    7. Declaration of a Secular state It was done through a parliamentary declaration, no referendum. Minorities hail the decision saying it ensures justice & they no longer will be dominated by a particular religion, culture, language and caste group. Muslim influx from Bihar & Bangladesh. Hundreds of Madrasaas have sprung up in the terai

    8. Growing Schism between Hindus - Muslims Muslims also start to organize themselves. Rioting after murder of Moin Khan in Kapilvastu. 14 killed. Terai - a hotbed of extremism

    9. Demand for a status-quo-ante’ Various Hindu groups denounce ‘Secularism’. Protests, Sit-in programs. They are telling Hindus that they will lose their identity Nepali translation means state has become ‘atheist’.

    10. Controversy over govt. funds for Rituals & Festivals Govt. stopped allocation of funds for certain rituals like animal sacrifice Indra-Jatra festival disrupted due to protests by Newar community on Sep. 21, 2008. Govt. forced to retract decision

    11. Pashupatinath Fiasco Govt. sacked 3 Indian priests of the temple accusing them of misuse of funds. BJP “took note” of the decision Appointed Nepali priests. Court Case. Daily puja disrupted. Govt. retracted.

    12. Religion in Politics Ambitious & Intolerant cultists have started fanning conflict along religious lines Nexus between fundamentalists across the border Chapter office of the RSS.

    13. Dastardly attack on Assumption Church NDA blasts a bomb that kills 3 at the Assumption Church Most horrible crime by a Hindu extremist; condemned by the society at large Accused says, she regrets “not being able to kill more”

    14. State Apathy Hollow promises, no strategy to check militancy No comprehensive plan to maintain religious harmony Fanatics misusing the current political instability

    15. Prime Accused of Church Blast Sita Thapa Shrestha – (Main accused) 37 yrs. Kamal Bhattarai- 37 yrs. Ram Prasad Mainali – 38 yrs. Ganesh Lal Shrestha- 50 yrs. Tara Nath Luintel- 54 yrs. Bishnu Kumar Shrestha- 31 yrs. Anil Raya Amat – 26 yrs.

    16. How the International Community can Help Mere announcement not enough. Secularism needs to be taught in schools, colleges, communities. Fanatics that commit crimes against other religions need to be brought to justice without delay. Inter-faith dialogues, meetings should be encouraged.

    17. Thank You!

More Related