KATHMANDU, Nepal — Two years after an explosion shook one of the biggest Catholic churches in Nepal and killed three people, the underground group that orchestrated the attack claimed responsibility for another bomb blast in November.
A crude bomb went off Nov. 22 in front of the office of the United Mission to Nepal (UMN), a leading Christian charitable organization in Kathmandu. There were no casualties, but on the same day in the northeastern district of Sindhupalchowk, local residents of the predominantly Buddhist village of Danchhe assaulted two brothers for leading worship services at their home, leaving one unconscious. Panchman Tamang, 45, and his older brother Buddhiman were attacked by a mob with daggers and wooden batons. As Buddhiman was bleeding profusely, the attackers left him for dead. At the site of the UMN blast, police found leaflets asserting that the majority population in Nepal was Hindu and that therefore it should be a Hindu state.
Meanwhile, for the fourth time the government has extended by six months the deadline for putting forth a new constitution, which was due Nov. 30. A draft of the document says that though people would have the freedom to follow any religion, conversions would be prohibited. “With conversions still deemed a crime in the suggested constitution, we feel that the draft retains the bias toward Christians,” said Chandra Shrestha, pastor of the Nepali Evangelical Church in Bhaktapur Shrestha. “This is a direct violation of our fundamental right to practice whatever religion we want.”
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