Kathmandu (AsiaNews) - Nepali Muslims have launched
campaign to defend and respect the rights of all minorities in the new
constitution. They
threaten protests if the new constitution does not comply with such requests. In
view of the deadline for submission of the text intended for May 27, Muslim
community leaders have launched the National
Muslim Alliance (Nmsa). The
group consists of 31 representatives of various organizations and politics. Among
them are also members of the Maoist and the Nepali
Congress Party (Conservative Party). Yesterday,
leaders of Nmsa handed over a memorandum to the Constituent Assembly complaining
about the marginalization of minorities, including Christians, Catholics and
Protestants.
Rahamutullah
Miya, Nmsa secretary, said that "for years Muslims and Christians, were
the country's most affected minorities. The new constitution must secure our
identity and our rights in the name of the secular state. Nepal is a confessional country,
but the religions other than Hinduism continue to be persecuted. " "The
various religious groups - he adds - must unite into a single force. We invite
all religious minorities, including Christians, to fight this battle with
us."
With
the fall of the Hindu monarchy in 2007, Nepal became a secular state. The
interim constitution guarantees freedom of worship, but prohibits proselytizing.
However
in recent years there have been several murders and attacks against religious
minorities, usually at the hands of Hindu extremists. In
2008, gunmen of Nepal Defense Army
(NDA) shot dead Fr. Prakah
John, a Jesuit priest. On
26 April 2008, the NDA detonated a bomb inside the Birantnagar mosque, killing
two people. On
May 23, 2009, the same group, placed a bomb in the Catholic Cathedral of the
Assumption in Kathmandu. The toll was two dead and 13
wounded. The
threat of anti-conversion laws, proposed by some conservative parties, are also
hanging over minority communities, which if approved will be included in the
new penal code under consideration in parliament together with the
constitution. The
penalties include arrest and sentence of five years for those who preach and
disseminate religious material that might offend the Hindu religion. Among
the acts that could lead to arrest is the slaughter of cattle near Hindu sacred
areas.
Before
proposing the new laws the government failed to consult the religious
minorities. The
Catholic Church has learned of the law from the Nepali media. To
lobby the authorities and raise public awareness, Catholics, Protestants,
Muslims and Baha'is organized several events in 2011 and handed over a
memorandum to the authorities asking for a revision of laws. In
August, the Catholic Church translated the drafts of the new code and
circulated the articles that violate religious freedom on the Internet.