Nepal (MNN) — Anti-conversion laws are going into effect this month in Nepal. According to David Curry of Open Doors USA, it’s part of a bigger push by India to “Hinduize” their neighbors.
“[India is] trying to ‘Hinduize’ their country, and Nepal has been under great pressure from India to strengthen their Hindu presence,” says Curry.
“There’s been increasing pressure and persecution of Christians in Nepal.”
As noted here, sharing the Gospel is forbidden under Nepal’s 2015 constitution. However, the enactment of last year’s Criminal Code – or, anti-conversion law – removes even more religious freedoms and adds new punishments for those who are convicted of these “crimes.”
By implementing these anti-conversion laws, Curry says, Nepali leaders are violating the rights of their people.
(Header and story photo courtesy Open Doors USA)
“It’s a religious and psychological caste system, so to speak, and it’s fundamentally against the most central human right: the right to decide for yourself what you believe.”
Now that the anti-conversion law is being implemented, believers fear another uptick in violence. Last month, Nepali believers told CBN News the government deported a Christian couple because they shared the Gospel with Hindus.
Curry says Christians in western nations “need to be speaking out more effectively against these blasphemy laws, against the anti-conversion laws.”
Learn more about Nepal’s anti-conversion law by reading our previous coverage.
“They (anti-conversion laws) are getting worse. They are a way that people can enforce a vigilante kind of justice in many parts of the world.”
Please continue praying for Nepali believers as they face increasing pressure. Ask the Lord to give Christian leaders wisdom and direction.
Pray also for people who are opposed to Christianity. Pray that the Holy Spirit would move in their hearts and open their eyes to the truth of the Gospel.
Read more about persecution in Nepal on Open Doors’ website.
