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 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.
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.