President Bidhya Devi Bhandari In Brief
Nepal has enacted a law criminalising religious conversion, joining neighbours India and Pakistan in a regional bloc in which Christian minorities face increasing government threats to their Faith.
The bill was signed into law last week by President Bidhya Devi Bhandari and enshrines additional constitutional protection for Hinduism, which 80 percent of the population follows.
The new law restricts religious conversion, bans the “hurting of religious sentiment” and blasphemy.
Offenders face a punishment of five years imprisonment and penalty of fifty thousand rupees (€410,000). 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.