Nepal’s president, Bidhya Devi Bhandari recently signed into law a bill making evangelism and conversion to another religion a punishable offense in the country.
Bidhya Devi Bhandari is the second and current President of Nepal and commander in chief of Nepalese army elected in 2015.
According to The Christian Post, she signed into law legislation that makes evangelism and religious conversion punishable by up to five years in prison.
It is reported that Bhandari signed the legislation on the 16th day of October 2017. Nepalese lawmakers initially passed bills against evangelism and conversion back in August.
Religious leaders in Nepal have decried the new law and said it is a step backwards for religious freedom.
Expressing how bad they feel about this new development, Pastor Tanka Subedi, the founding member and chair of Dharmik Chautari Nepal and Religious Liberty Forum Nepal says:
"We are deeply saddened that this bill is now law. Our appeals to the president and other policy makers to amend this have been ignored. Nepali government have taken a regressive step as this law severely restricts our freedom of expression and our freedom of religion or belief."
Reports have it that other countries, such as India and Pakistan, have also adopted anti-evangelism, anti-conversion, and blasphemy laws. Leaders in Nepal worry that their new anti-evangelism law will have similar results of restricting religious freedom and targeting religious minorities.
Image credit: Gyanopedia | National Geographic | Wikipedia
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