Nepal has enacted a law criminalizing religious con-version, joining neighbours India and Pakistan in a regional block in which the small Chri-stian minority faces increasing government threats to their faith and beliefs.
The “Nepali government [has] taken a regressive step as this law severely restricts our freedom of expression and our freedom of religion or belief,” said Tanka Subedi, chairman of Nepals Religious Liberty Forum.
The bill was signed into law by President Bidhya Devi Bhandari and enshrines addi-tional constitutional protection for Hinduism, which 80 percent of the population follows, the Christianity Today website reported.
The new law restricts religious conversion, bans the “hurting of religious senti-ment,” and blasphemy.
Offenders face a punish-ment of five years imprison-ment and penalty of fifty thousand rupees.
The new law comes a decade after the ousted Hindu monarchy declared Nepal a secular state, and two years after the country adopted a new constitution.
Article 26 of the consti-tution says that, “No one shall attempt to change or convert someone from one religion to another, or disturb/jeopardize the religion of others, and such acts/activities shall be puni-shable by law.”
Christian Solidarity World-wide founder Mervyn Thomas said anti-conversion laws often target religious minorities and worsen religious tensions.
