Christmas of fear in Nepal due to growing anti-Christian hatred
The 12 parishes of the Apostolic Vicariate of Nepal have been asked to take additional security measures during Christmas due to possible attacks by Hindu extremists. "Christmas is a time of joyful celebration and we should celebrate it with joy and not with fear," said Father Silas Bogati, vicar general of the Apostolic Vicariate of Nepal.
Kathmandu (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Christians in Nepal have been advised to be on high alert during the Christmas period following a number of incidents of anti-Christian violence that have occurred in the country in recent months at the hands of Hindu extremist groups.
“There is a sense of fear and insecurity rippling through the Christian community amid Christmas celebrations. We feel exposed to hostility for being Christian,” said Father Lalit Tudu, parish priest at Assumption Cathedral in the capital Kathmandu, the country’s largest church. “The right to practise our faith peacefully is threatened to some extent,” he lamented.
The 12 parishes that come under the Apostolic Vicariate of Nepal have been asked to take additional security measures over Christmas. “Local administrations and security agencies are supportive of providing extra security” for Christmas services, the clergyman explained.
According to the 2023 national census, Christians number 513,000 or less than 2 per cent of the country’s population.
Worshippers who attend religious services have also been asked not to carry bags or packages as part of security measures to avoid the possibility that members of extremist cells might bring explosives into a church.
Kathmandu Cathedral has also installed security cameras on its premises.
Nepali Christians have experienced several violent incidents since last August, after a video that went viral on social media claimed to show members of a Christian community eating beef in a village near the city of Dharan in eastern Nepal.
Hindus constitute 80 per cent of Nepal’s population of about 24 million. The most orthodox among them consider the cow to be a representation of their mother goddess. That is why they hate anyone caught eating beef.
The specious accusations made in the video prompted radical Hindu groups to attack seven churches and some members of the Christian community in different parts of the country.
The right-wing Hindu nationalist Rastriya Prajatantra Party (RPP or National Democratic Party), in cooperation with extremist Hindu groups, has also organised protest rallies, calling for the restoration of the Nepali monarchy.
In 2006, the Nepali parliament voted to abolish the monarchy leading to the secularisation of the state. Christmas was eventually declared a national holiday, but since 2018, Christmas celebrations have been reserved for Christians only.
Following the August violence, local officials alerted the Kathmandu International Christian Congregation and local Christian leaders of a "possible bomb attack" against their main church.
Since then, Christian organisations have been on high alert, mindful of what happened on 23 May 2009, when a Hindu extremist group bombed a church, killing three Catholics and injuring another 14 at a prayer meeting. In April 2017 the cathedral was also damaged by arson.
Still, “Christmas is a time of joyful celebration and we should celebrate it with joy and not fear,” said Father Silas Bogati, vicar general of the Vicariate Apostolic of Nepal.
Nepalese Christians passing by the Catholic Church of the Assumption before Christmas celebrations in Lalitpur, on the outskirts of Kathmandu (Photo: AFP)
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02/01/2018 15:31
