On Nepal Being Declared a Secular State

June 8, 2006

"Born as an ‘untouchable’ in Nepal, I should have been the most critical to Sanatana Dharma due to the oppression meted out to my people by ‘upper caste’ Hindus. However, a deeper understanding tells me that Hindu Dharma has nothing to do with social evil of casteism practiced today in our society. I blame the people not the Dharma for this social behavior."

Swadeshi Nepal

Recently Nepal’s re-instated House of Representatives made a historic declaration to make changes in the government of Nepal. Most of the changes in this declaration are related to the curtailing of the power of the King. However, many are stunned to know also that Nepal has been declared a secular state. Before this, Nepal used to be the only Hindu state in the world if you do not know it already. Was Nepal being a Hindu state a reason behind the political problems facing the country? Had followers of other faiths no freedom in Nepal to practice their religion, and that is why politicians thought to make Nepal secular? Did politicians give a serious thought before passing this declaration? I could not come up with a positive answer to any of the above questions.

Nepal’s culture is one of the most important characteristics defining her identity in the world. Nepal without the cultural identity of her people would become like any other mountainous country in the world. It is important to note that Nepal’s culture has been shaped pre-dominantly by the Dharmic traditions (i.e., Sanatana Dharma, popularly called Hinduism) with their roots in Nepal over thousands of years. I am grateful to my ancestors (and so should be all Nepalese), who developed and preserved the most tolerant of spiritual traditions for the benefit of humanity. Born as an ‘untouchable’ in Nepal, I should have been the most critical to Sanatana Dharma due to the oppression meted out to my people by ‘upper caste’ Hindus. However, a deeper understanding tells me that Hindu Dharma has nothing to do with social evil of casteism practiced today in our society. I blame the people not the Dharma for this social behavior. I have all praise for the

superior philosophy and universal brotherhood preached in Sanatani scriptures. Therefore, I would like to see Sanatana Dharma preserved in its pure form for my children in the way my ancestors preserved it for me in my country. I was assured that my culture would be preserved since Nepal was the only Hindu state in the world, and therefore protected from the mischief of predatory religions. After reading the news of Nepal being declared a secular state, I felt as if this assurance of mine would hold no more.

There are countries in the world declared for each of the major world religions where the particular religion is held supreme. Many secular sounding countries have a particular religion as a guiding ideology to shape the policies of the nation. Americans proudly pledge ‘ONE NATION UNDER GOD’, and their currency carries ‘IN GOD WE TRUST’ to emphasize the supremacy of Christianity. The King of the United Kingdom is the head and the protector of the Church of England. Australians invoke ‘God’ in the preamble of their constitution as per their majority religion. Vatican is a state solely created to promote Christianity by converting ‘non-believers’ into their fold by hook or by crook all over the world (including Nepal). There are about 57 Islamic states. Practice of other religions (including Hinduism) is illegal even at a private shrine in Saudi Arabia, the protector of Islam. The same Saudi Arabia is permitted to construct and run hundreds of Mosques in

Nepal. Malaysia is an Islamic state even though only 60% are Muslim there, and the king is the leader of Islam.

Some people argue that there was no religious freedom in Nepal since it was a Hindu state. However, a look at hard data suggests us other wise. In Nepal, Abrahamic religions not only enjoy freedom but also flourish through conversion business. As per Census data, the Christian population increased by 82.4% and Muslim population increased by 18.7% during 1991-2001. During the same period, the Hindu population declined by 6.8%. Over the past two decades, more than 275 mosques and madarsas have been built in just the four districts of Rupandehi, Banke, Kapilvastu and Bardiya. Christian missionaries convert Hindus to Christianity for as little as a bicycle per convert. Now where is the problem created by the Hindu State? Those who advocated for the secular state probably wanted a faster way to destroy the millennia old culture of Nepal through unchecked religious conversion. Unchecked religious conversion is a worst form of terrorism, which uproots the

people culturally. This form of secularism leads to communal conflict and unrest as seen in our neighbor, secular India. We do not want that to happen in Nepal, do we? Hindu Dharma is inherently secular and tolerant. A tradition that preaches ‘the whole world as a family’ (vasudhaiva kutumbakam) and ‘truth is one but wise ones call it by different names’ (ekam sat viprah bahudha vadanti), cannot deny religious freedom to anyone following any spiritual tradition.

Some other ‘scholars’ claim that since Hinduism is the root cause of social oppression in Nepal, the problem will be solved once Nepal is declared a secular state. As I said before, this oppression is created by people and has nothing to do with the Dharma. Now, even if we declare Nepal a secular state, we cannot expel the casteist Hindus out of Nepal same as the racist people are not expelled from their respective countries. Therefore, the proper solution to the problem would be to implement strict laws to punish people who practice caste discrimination. Let’s not throw away the baby (Hindu Dharma) with the bath tub (the casteism practiced by some)!

Many see Hindu Dharma as a shield for monarchy in Nepal. They argue that since monarchy creates political problems in Nepal, we should get rid of Hindu identity of the nation. However, the Hindu identity of Nepal and monarchy are two separate issues, and cannot be lumped together. There may be some elements who try to misuse Hindu Dharma for their personal benefit same as casteist Hindus justify casteism. Simply, we cannot blame Hindu Dharma for political problems in Nepal simply because the King is a Hindu.

I hope that you are familiar with news reports on the oppression of Hindus world over. Hindus are killed with no fault of theirs while praying in temples, their temples are destroyed/vandalized, their gods/goddesses ridiculed, they are targeted for religious conversion, their womenfolk kidnapped, raped and forcefully converted. Hinduism appears to be an ‘endangered species’ in the world today. Environmentalists argue to establish sanctuaries to save endangered animals/plants for nature conservation. Can we also declare a sanctuary for one of the oldest civilization of humankind that is Hindu Dharma? Can we have place where Hindus can practice their tradition without fear and intimidation, and Hindu Dharma is protected? Until now, Nepal was such a sanctuary. Can we again make Nepal (a ‘tapo bhumi’) a sanctuary for Hindu Dharma? Can we make Nepal, the birth place of Sita and Buddha, as a representative of Dharmic traditions? Can we save Nepal from losing

her identity? It appears that Nepal has been declared a secular state in a hurry under some pressure inimical to Hindu culture. I hope that Nepalese people and the members of the House of Representatives will understand this, and will correct their mistake.

Swadeshi Nepal

Email: swadeshi_nepal