Date: Tuesday 13 May 2008
Subj: Malaysia: the Great Apostasy Debate stirs again.
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal
On 8 May, media across the world ran with the news: "Malaysian woman can leave Islam." (BBC headline) Jurist, which reports legal news, commented: "Religious rights groups hailed the decision as a landmark ruling for interfaith relations." (Link 1)
Judge Othman Ibrahim's 8 May 2008 ruling in Penang's Syariah High Court, whereby Siti Fatimah Tan Abdullah (Tan Ean Yuang) (39) was granted leave to revert from Islam to Buddhism, is indeed a landmark ruling. But before getting too excited, religious liberty advocates should consider the following:
1) The finer details of the ruling make it unlikely that it could be a precedent for many other cases.
2) A significant element of the ruling was the judge's castigation of the Islamic authorities for failing to save the plaintiff's faith.
3) This case is not over yet. The Penang state religious council, which is opposing the plaintiff's renunciation of Islam, has indicated that it is preparing to launch an appeal.
4) For religious liberty advocates it remains absolutely unacceptable that any Malaysian citizen should have to get permission from a Sharia (Islamic) Court before they can change their religious identity.
----------------------
THE PENANG RULING
The plaintiff, an ethnic Chinese Malaysian woman named Tan Ean Yuang (39), converted from Buddhism to Islam in 1998 in order to marry an Iranian Muslim named Ferdoun Ashanian. Tan subsequently took the Islamic name of Siti Fatimah Tan Abdullah and the couple married in 2004. The marriage only lasted four months and Siti claims that she has had no knowledge of her husband's whereabouts since he deserted her.
In May 2006 Siti filed an application to renounce Islam and revert to Buddhism. The court however "ordered that she learn more about Islam and undergo three months of counselling with the Penang Islamic Religious Department's unit ukhwah (brotherhood) to ensure she understood the religion. However, she only attended the session once and remained steadfast in wanting to revert to Buddhism." (Link 2)
On Thursday 8 May 2008, in the Syariah High Court in Penang, judge Othman Ibrahim ruled in favour of Siti Fatimah Tan Abdullah. While he noted that apostasy is a great sin in Islam deserving of severe punishment even death, he ruled that Siti was free to return to Buddhism on the grounds that she had never practised Islam, and therefore the court could regard her as a non-believer (kafir) and not an apostate (murtad). Siti's lawyer remarked that "the ruling was important because it accepted that Muslims could renounce Islam on the grounds that they had never practised the faith". (Link 3)
As the ruling rested on the plaintiff's alleged non-practice of Islam, it can be assumed that had any Muslim testified to the contrary, Tan's application would not have been successful.
Clearly this ruling will not provide a precedent for converts who have practised Islam -- converts like Soon Singh, a Malaysian Sikh who converted to Islam as a minor but in 1999, at the age of 21 years, sought redress through the courts to renounce Islam and return to Sikhism. Soon Singh's appeal was denied and the court ruled not only that all Muslims should have "Islam" printed on their identity cards, but that Sharia courts should have jurisdiction over all matters concerning Islam. This ruling became the precedent for all subsequent appeals against apostasy. (See link 4)
A SITUATION THE JUDGE BELIEVES SHOULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED
When delivering his ruling, judge Othman Ibrahim regretted that Siti's Iranian husband had failed her by failing to guide her in her new faith. He then castigated the Penang Islamic Religious Council for neglecting its duties and failing to "save" Siti's faith in Islam. "It is their obligation to encourage, support, help and ensure that new converts understand and follow Islamic teachings. However, in this case nothing was done until the last moment when it was already too late." (Link 5)
According to Malaysia's The Star online, PAS [Parti Islam se-Malaysia] is protesting the decision. "PAS vice-president Nasharudin Mat Isa said renouncing Islam was forbidden, unless one had been forced to embrace Islam under duress. 'If one has embraced Islam out of one's own free will, then one must be subject to Islamic law, and the law forbids the renouncing of Islam because it touches on one's faith in the religion,' he said." (Link 6)
The Malay Mail notes: "Only last week both BN [Barisan Nasional] and PAS members of Parliament had argued that once you enter Islam there is no turning back, not just for born Muslims, but also for converts." (Link 7)
Clearly PAS and the ruling BN government of PM Badawi are not interested in advancing religious liberty. It can therefore be expected that this ruling will not only stir the Great Apostasy Debate but initiate a debate about conversion procedures so that conversions to Islam are legally secure.
While Judge Ibrahim did 'tear up' Tan's certificate of conversion to Islam he did not grant her application to have a new identity card issued, saying that was a matter for the National Registration Department (NRD).
The NRD is unlikely to issue Tan a new identity card while the Penang state Religious Council is planning to appeal the ruling. "The council's counsel Ahmad Munawir Abdul Aziz said the council would appeal within the 14-day period, adding that among the concerns was the status of Siti Fatimah's marriage as her conversion did not dissolve the marriage." (Link 8)
If the ruling is appealed, then Tan may find she has injured her case by stating in her affidavit that she "stopped practising Islam" after her husband left her. (Link 7)
NO GAIN
Ultimately the ruling does not advance religious liberty in Malaysia -- it merely perpetuates the unacceptable status quo whereby in matters concerning Islam the religious liberty guarantees of the federal Constitution are deemed subordinate to the rulings of state-run Sharia Courts.
Malaysian lawyer A Sivanesan cautions: "This is a landmark decision and gives relief to Tan. However, non-Muslims should not be complacent with this decision. The real remedy for them is for the civil court to bravely uphold constitutional guarantees." (Link 7)
The best this ruling can do is to stir up Malaysia's Great Apostasy Debate once again.
Elizabeth Kendal
Links
1) Malaysian woman can leave Islam. BBC, 8 May 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7389874.stm
Malaysia Islamic Court Allows Reconversion from Islam
Jurist, 8 May 2008
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2008/05/malaysia-islamic-court-allows.php
2) Syariah court allows convert to renounce Islam
By Sharanjit Singh, New Straits Times
(Picture: Siti Fatimah Tan Abdullah with lawyer Ahmad Jailani Abdul Ghani.)
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Friday/National/2235294/Article/index_html
3) Malaysia woman scores rare legal win to quit Islam. 8 May 2008
http://www.reuters.com/article/sphereNews/idUSKLR29947320080508?sp=true&view=sphere
4) Malaysia: The Islamisation of Malaysia
WEA RLC News & Analysis. 8 June 2007
5) Judge: Council failed in duty to guide converts
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Friday/National/2235317/Article/index_html
6) MCA hails court decision. 9 May 2008
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/5/9/nation/21197271&sec=nation
7) A precedent for converts. Malay Mail, 9 May 2008
http://www.mmail.com.my/Current_News/mm/Friday/Opinions/20080509105658/Article/index_html
8) Syariah High Court lets Muslim convert renounce Islam and go back to Buddhism
http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/5/9/nation/21194502&sec=nation
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Bosnia: Catholic Church targeted for terror.
Date: Thursday 10 April 2008
Subj: Bosnia: Catholic Church targeted for terror.
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal
BOSNIA: CATHOLIC CHURCH TARGETED FOR TERROR
-- with implications for Western Europe
ISN Security Watch reports: "Bosnia and Herzegovina's Federation Anti-Terror Unit on 20 March arrested five men: Rijad Rustempasic, Muhamed Meco, Abdulah Handzic and Edis Velic, all in their early thirties and from Sarajevo, along with Muhamed Ficer, from the central Bosnian city of Bugojno, who was released from custody after questioning.
"The four arrested in Sarajevo were members of the local Wahhabi movement -- the Saudi-based and financed order following a strict interpretation of Islam. Some of the suspects were already well known to the police for their radical activities. The group had been under surveillance for several months by the Federation Anti-Terror Unit and the State Prosecutor's Office.
"Federation Anti-Terror Unit and the State Prosecutor's Office have strong evidence that Rustempasic's group was planning attacks on Catholic Churches and international forces within the country during the Easter holidays." (LINK 1)
The ISN report includes several details that are hugely important:
1) the suspects were very well armed, having "anti-tank mines, laser sights, electronic equipment, topographic maps and bomb-making manuals".
2) they were very well connected, "receiving financial and logistical support from Wahhabi figures in Western Europe". ISN reports: "The dots begin to connect in a radical network that reaches from Bosnia across Western Europe".
3) they were targeting hugely significant Catholic sites: Sarajevo's central Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the 700-year-old Franciscan Monastery in Central Bosnian city of Fojnica. (For more details on the size and strategic value of these targets, see LINK 2)
4) while the key militant leader, Rustempasic, is reportedly one of the most notorious and violent Bosnian radical Muslims the police have ever investigated, he has managed to evade prison for years because he is tolerated by local authorities.
These details together indicate a serious and rising threat to Christian, particularly Catholic, institutions not only in Bosnia, but across Europe.
THE CHURCH IN THEIR SIGHTS
Pope Benedict has become a thorn in the flesh of the dictators of Islam on account of his reasoned, definitive and very public stand for religious liberty and peace -- from his September 2006 speech in Regensburg which highlighted the unreasonableness of violence in religion, to his very public baptism of high-profile Muslim convert Magdi Allam in St Peter's on Easter Saturday 29 March 2008. (LINK 3)
On Wednesday 19 March (10 days before the baptism of Allam), Osama bin Laden released a new audio message that named Pope Benedict as a leader in the "new crusade" against Islam and threatened retribution in Europe. (LINK 4)
It is to be anticipated that Islamic jihadist forces and the apostaphobic dictators of Islam will undertake a strategic shift -- a widening of their sights -- to take in that which is to them the greatest existential threat of all: the church that is prepared to stand for religious liberty regardless of the cost.
Elizabeth Kendal
LINKS
1) Terror plot thwarted in Bosnia. 28 March 2008
By Anes Alic and Damir Kaletovic in Sarajevo for ISN Security Watch
http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?id=18795
2) Sarajevo's Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, also known as the "Sarajevo Cathedral", is the largest cathedral in all Bosnia. It was built in 1889 and is regarded as the centre of Catholic worship in Sarajevo (the capital of Bosnia). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_Jesus'_Heart (includes photo).
For a photo of the 700-year-old Franciscan Monastery in Fojnica, see: http://www.fojnica.ba/foto/displayimage.php?pos=-1874
official website: Franciscan monastery of the Holy Spirit in Fojnica
(Franjevackog samostana Duha Svetoga u Fojinci) http://www.samostan.ba/
NOTE concerning Fojnica: During the 1992-95 Bosnian war, Bosnia's Muslim Army (BiH Army) fought to secede from Yugoslavia in order to make Bosnia an independent, Muslim dominated and ruled state. In July 1993, an 8,500-strong Muslim force overwhelmed Croat defences in Fojnica (then population 16,227 -- 41% Croat (around 6,500 Croats), 50% Muslim, 1% Serb). The BiH Army ethnically cleansed the town, driving out the Serbs and some 6,000 Croat civilians. On 13 November 1993 four Muslim soldiers of the "Crni labudovi" unit ("Black Swans", a BiH Army unit), invaded the Monastery, which is high on the hill overlooking the town, and executed Rev. Nikica Milicevic, the monastery's 37-year-old abbot, and the Rev. Leon Migic, its 57-year-old vicar. According to the OHR some 3,500 displaced Croats have since return to Fojnica, thanks to the security provided by the NATO-led SFOR (Stabilisation Force).
Sources:
http://www.hercegbosna.org/engleski/fojni.html
ALSO in Bosnian Monastery Widen Croat-Muslim Divide
By Chuck Sudetic, 31 December 1993
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE7D9123FF932A05751C1A965958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all
ALSO Albanians and Afghans fight for the heirs to Bosnia's SS past
By Robert Fox in Fojnica (Bosnia)
Daily Telegraph, 29 December 1993
http://emperors-clothes.com/archive/tele.htm
ALSO http://www.ohr.int/ohr-dept/hr-rol/thedept/hr-reports/hrcc-hr-rep/98-99-monthly/default.asp?content_id=5094
3) Religious Liberty: the pivotal issue in these pivotal days
-- Apostasy, and the baptism of Madgi Allam
WEA RLC News & Analysis by Elizabeth Kendal. 4 April 2008
4) Bin Laden: Pope Helps Anti-Islam Crusade
By Paul Schemm, 20 March 2008
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h0arauyjLz9xhnBdnw6pEEOpKErwD8VHASDO0
Subj: Bosnia: Catholic Church targeted for terror.
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal
BOSNIA: CATHOLIC CHURCH TARGETED FOR TERROR
-- with implications for Western Europe
ISN Security Watch reports: "Bosnia and Herzegovina's Federation Anti-Terror Unit on 20 March arrested five men: Rijad Rustempasic, Muhamed Meco, Abdulah Handzic and Edis Velic, all in their early thirties and from Sarajevo, along with Muhamed Ficer, from the central Bosnian city of Bugojno, who was released from custody after questioning.
"The four arrested in Sarajevo were members of the local Wahhabi movement -- the Saudi-based and financed order following a strict interpretation of Islam. Some of the suspects were already well known to the police for their radical activities. The group had been under surveillance for several months by the Federation Anti-Terror Unit and the State Prosecutor's Office.
"Federation Anti-Terror Unit and the State Prosecutor's Office have strong evidence that Rustempasic's group was planning attacks on Catholic Churches and international forces within the country during the Easter holidays." (LINK 1)
The ISN report includes several details that are hugely important:
1) the suspects were very well armed, having "anti-tank mines, laser sights, electronic equipment, topographic maps and bomb-making manuals".
2) they were very well connected, "receiving financial and logistical support from Wahhabi figures in Western Europe". ISN reports: "The dots begin to connect in a radical network that reaches from Bosnia across Western Europe".
3) they were targeting hugely significant Catholic sites: Sarajevo's central Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the 700-year-old Franciscan Monastery in Central Bosnian city of Fojnica. (For more details on the size and strategic value of these targets, see LINK 2)
4) while the key militant leader, Rustempasic, is reportedly one of the most notorious and violent Bosnian radical Muslims the police have ever investigated, he has managed to evade prison for years because he is tolerated by local authorities.
These details together indicate a serious and rising threat to Christian, particularly Catholic, institutions not only in Bosnia, but across Europe.
THE CHURCH IN THEIR SIGHTS
Pope Benedict has become a thorn in the flesh of the dictators of Islam on account of his reasoned, definitive and very public stand for religious liberty and peace -- from his September 2006 speech in Regensburg which highlighted the unreasonableness of violence in religion, to his very public baptism of high-profile Muslim convert Magdi Allam in St Peter's on Easter Saturday 29 March 2008. (LINK 3)
On Wednesday 19 March (10 days before the baptism of Allam), Osama bin Laden released a new audio message that named Pope Benedict as a leader in the "new crusade" against Islam and threatened retribution in Europe. (LINK 4)
It is to be anticipated that Islamic jihadist forces and the apostaphobic dictators of Islam will undertake a strategic shift -- a widening of their sights -- to take in that which is to them the greatest existential threat of all: the church that is prepared to stand for religious liberty regardless of the cost.
Elizabeth Kendal
LINKS
1) Terror plot thwarted in Bosnia. 28 March 2008
By Anes Alic and Damir Kaletovic in Sarajevo for ISN Security Watch
http://www.isn.ethz.ch/news/sw/details.cfm?id=18795
2) Sarajevo's Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, also known as the "Sarajevo Cathedral", is the largest cathedral in all Bosnia. It was built in 1889 and is regarded as the centre of Catholic worship in Sarajevo (the capital of Bosnia). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cathedral_of_Jesus'_Heart (includes photo).
For a photo of the 700-year-old Franciscan Monastery in Fojnica, see: http://www.fojnica.ba/foto/displayimage.php?pos=-1874
official website: Franciscan monastery of the Holy Spirit in Fojnica
(Franjevackog samostana Duha Svetoga u Fojinci) http://www.samostan.ba/
NOTE concerning Fojnica: During the 1992-95 Bosnian war, Bosnia's Muslim Army (BiH Army) fought to secede from Yugoslavia in order to make Bosnia an independent, Muslim dominated and ruled state. In July 1993, an 8,500-strong Muslim force overwhelmed Croat defences in Fojnica (then population 16,227 -- 41% Croat (around 6,500 Croats), 50% Muslim, 1% Serb). The BiH Army ethnically cleansed the town, driving out the Serbs and some 6,000 Croat civilians. On 13 November 1993 four Muslim soldiers of the "Crni labudovi" unit ("Black Swans", a BiH Army unit), invaded the Monastery, which is high on the hill overlooking the town, and executed Rev. Nikica Milicevic, the monastery's 37-year-old abbot, and the Rev. Leon Migic, its 57-year-old vicar. According to the OHR some 3,500 displaced Croats have since return to Fojnica, thanks to the security provided by the NATO-led SFOR (Stabilisation Force).
Sources:
http://www.hercegbosna.org/engleski/fojni.html
ALSO in Bosnian Monastery Widen Croat-Muslim Divide
By Chuck Sudetic, 31 December 1993
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE7D9123FF932A05751C1A965958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all
ALSO Albanians and Afghans fight for the heirs to Bosnia's SS past
By Robert Fox in Fojnica (Bosnia)
Daily Telegraph, 29 December 1993
http://emperors-clothes.com/archive/tele.htm
ALSO http://www.ohr.int/ohr-dept/hr-rol/thedept/hr-reports/hrcc-hr-rep/98-99-monthly/default.asp?content_id=5094
3) Religious Liberty: the pivotal issue in these pivotal days
-- Apostasy, and the baptism of Madgi Allam
WEA RLC News & Analysis by Elizabeth Kendal. 4 April 2008
4) Bin Laden: Pope Helps Anti-Islam Crusade
By Paul Schemm, 20 March 2008
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h0arauyjLz9xhnBdnw6pEEOpKErwD8VHASDO0
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Nepal: Militant Hindutva raises its ugly head.
Date: Tuesday 8 April 2008
Subj: Nepal: Militant Hindutva raises its ugly head.
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal
NEPAL: MILITANT HINDUTVA RAISES ITS UGLY HEAD
- as historic elections approach.
HISTORIC ELECTIONS: THURSDAY 10 APRIL
On 10 April 08, Nepalis will vote in historic constituent assembly elections. And this is no routine election -- it is the culmination of three years of upheaval and peace process. The constituent assembly elected on 10 April will draft the new secular constitution which will replace the 1990 Constitution which describes Nepal as a Hindu Kingdom.
BACKGROUND
On 1 February 2005 Nepal's King Gyanendra, backed by the Nepalese Army, dismissed the Prime Minister and his government and seized absolute power in a bloodless coup. Anti-monarchy sentiment subsequently soared and in November 2005 the previously disparate opposition parties joined forces to form the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) in opposition to direct, totalitarian royal rule.
In April 2006, crippling mass demonstrations in Kathmandu ultimately forced King Gyanendra to step down and hand power to SPA. The Maoists then declared a ceasefire. On 18 May 2006 Nepal's new parliament publicly declared that Nepal would no longer be a Hindu Kingdom but would now be a secular state. An interim government was formed that included the Maoists.
On 21 November 2006 the Maoists and the SPA signed a Comprehensive Peace Agreement committed to advancing human rights and equity, bringing to an end the decade-long civil conflict. Constituent assembly elections were slated for June 2007, after which a new Constitution would be drafted. (See LINK 1)
Various setbacks, including insecurity and political fractures with the Maoist, forced the postponement of the elections in June 2007 and then again in November 2007.
Over recent months various anti-democratic, anti-secular and marginalised ethnic groups have been escalating their protests, militancy, and violent intimidation of voters in the run-up to the historic elections, forcing Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala to appeal to all political parties to put an end to the violence.
Security has been bolstered and some 135,000 police are being deployed to polling booths in Nepal's 240 constituencies. There is also considerable concern that after the elections, powerful, armed, not-so-democratic losers might undo Nepal's tentative peace.
MILITANT HINDUTVA RAISES ITS UGLY HEAD
Needless to say, not everyone was excited by the 18 May 2006 declaration of secularism. Nepal's Hindutva (Hindu nationalist) elements, with backing from Hindutva forces in India, immediately increased their intolerant rhetoric and exploited the confusion of the Hindu masses.
On 22 May 2006 some 5000 Hindus rallied in Birgunj, a southern town in the "Hindutva belt" on the border with India, protesting the parliament's resolution to turn Nepal into a secular state. The rallies were organised by activists from the World Hindu Federation (WHF) and Shiv Sena Nepal. The protestors blocked the Tribhuvan highway on the Bara-Parsa industrial belt near the Indian border. Shouting "Jay Shree Ram!" (Lord Ram is great!), they burnt tyres, logs and newspapers that supported the resolution. (See LINK 2)
A group calling itself the Nepal Defense Army (NDA) committed several minor acts of terrorism during 2007, primarily targeting Maoist institutions. It claims it is fighting for Nepal's reinstatement as a Hindu state.
On the evening of Wednesday 12 March 2008 a bomb exploded in the regional office of Kantipur Publications in Biratnagar, a city some 240 km south-east of Kathmandu in the Hindutva belt on the Indian border. Kantipur, a Nepali news service, reported that the explosion caused no harm to the staff or the office property. "Though it was not immediately clear who carried out the attack, the pamphlets found at the explosion site suggested that 'Nepal Defense Army' was responsible. The pamphlets read 'Nepal Defense Army for Hindu Kingdom'." (LINK 3)
MOSQUE BOMBING
On the evening of Saturday 29 March 2008, three powerful bombs ripped through the Sarouchiya Mosque in Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala's hometown of Biratnagar. A fourth bomb failed to explode and was later defused. Two locals were killed in the blasts, while two others were hospitalised with critical injuries.
According to Kantipur, "Two unidentified persons, who came on motorcycles, had lobbed four bombs while over 60 persons were busy reciting evening prayers inside the mosque.
"An eyewitness, Malik Alam Kuresi, said the unidentified men hurled the four bombs from the gate and fled the scene. 'However, only three of them (bombs) went off immediately.'
"Meanwhile, an underground group -- Nepal Defense Army -- took responsibility for the blasts. One R P Mainali aka Paribartan, who identified himself as 'supreme commander' of the group, owned up the group's involvement in the blast, in a press statement." (LINK 4)
In a statement sent to media outlets, the Nepal Defense Army vowed it "would continue such attacks until Nepal is reinstated as a Hindu nation."
The Times of India reported: "Soon after the attacks, Muslims began demonstrations on streets. Fearing a riot, the district administration clamped curfew from Saturday night. When the curfew was lifted in the morning, Muslims called a strike in Jhapa, Morang and Sunsari districts, ignoring [PM] Koirala's appeal to show restraint." (LINK 5)
An October 2007 article by Prashant Jha in the Himal SouthAsian entitled "Royal Hindutva -- The Hindu right in Nepal is currently down, but not out" provides insight to the relationship between Hindutva forces in Nepal and India. [In fact, Jha's article makes one wonder: what would it mean for Nepal if India's BJP won power in India's 2009 federal elections?]
Concern Nepal, Jha writes: "India's Hindu right does not like what it sees taking place in Nepal. Angry that the country is headed towards becoming a secular, democratic republic, it can see its traditional influence in Nepali politics waning. A terminal blow has now been dealt to the two pillars central to what the Hindutva-wallahs have cherished about Nepal: a Hindu rashtra [state] with a Hindu monarchy.
"But Hindutva leaders from both India and Nepal have not given up. They have been brainstorming -- at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) headquarters in Nagpur, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office in New Delhi, the Gorakhnath temple in Gorakhpur, and at the residence of royalist politicians in Kathmandu -- as well as with King Gyanendra at the Narayanhiti Palace. However, the Indian and Nepali Hindu right recognises the limits of its capacity, and does not have a clear rescue plan as yet [Oct 07]. ." (LINK 6)
Maybe the recent mosque bombing in Biratnagar signals a shift in Hindutva strategy. Perhaps the Hindutva agenda will be advanced, not through riots or minor acts of terrorism against Maoists and journalists, but, as in India, through the fomenting of sectarian strife.
Elizabeth Kendal
LINKS
1) Nepal: Peace, equity and religious liberty.
WEA RLC News & Analysis. By Elizabeth Kendal. 29 Nov 2006.
ALSO
Chronology of Nepal's peace process
http://thepost.com.pk/IntNews.aspx?dtlid=154137&catid=1
2) Nepal: Hindutva forces rally against Nepal's reforms.
WEA RLC News & Analysis. By Elizabeth Kendal. 26 May 2006
http://www.ea.org.au/ReligiousLiberty/NewsAnalysis/NEPALHINDUTVAFORCESRALLYAGAINSTNEPALSREFORMS.aspx
3) Blast at Kantipur office
Kantipur Report. BIRATNAGAR, 13 March 2008
http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?&nid=140608
4) 2 dead in Biratnagar mosque bomb blasts, 2 others critically injured
Kantipur Report. BIRATNAGAR, 30 March 2008
http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?&nid=142440
5) Muslims call strike after Nepal blasts. 31 March 2008
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Nepal_Muslims_call_strike_after_blasts/articleshow/2912369.cms
6) Royal Hindutva
The Hindu right in Nepal is currently down, but not out.
By Prashant Jha, October 2007
http://www.himalmag.com/2007/october_november/royal_hindutva.html
Subj: Nepal: Militant Hindutva raises its ugly head.
To: World Evangelical Alliance Religious Liberty News & Analysis
From: WEA RLC Principal Researcher and Writer, Elizabeth Kendal
NEPAL: MILITANT HINDUTVA RAISES ITS UGLY HEAD
- as historic elections approach.
HISTORIC ELECTIONS: THURSDAY 10 APRIL
On 10 April 08, Nepalis will vote in historic constituent assembly elections. And this is no routine election -- it is the culmination of three years of upheaval and peace process. The constituent assembly elected on 10 April will draft the new secular constitution which will replace the 1990 Constitution which describes Nepal as a Hindu Kingdom.
BACKGROUND
On 1 February 2005 Nepal's King Gyanendra, backed by the Nepalese Army, dismissed the Prime Minister and his government and seized absolute power in a bloodless coup. Anti-monarchy sentiment subsequently soared and in November 2005 the previously disparate opposition parties joined forces to form the Seven Party Alliance (SPA) in opposition to direct, totalitarian royal rule.
In April 2006, crippling mass demonstrations in Kathmandu ultimately forced King Gyanendra to step down and hand power to SPA. The Maoists then declared a ceasefire. On 18 May 2006 Nepal's new parliament publicly declared that Nepal would no longer be a Hindu Kingdom but would now be a secular state. An interim government was formed that included the Maoists.
On 21 November 2006 the Maoists and the SPA signed a Comprehensive Peace Agreement committed to advancing human rights and equity, bringing to an end the decade-long civil conflict. Constituent assembly elections were slated for June 2007, after which a new Constitution would be drafted. (See LINK 1)
Various setbacks, including insecurity and political fractures with the Maoist, forced the postponement of the elections in June 2007 and then again in November 2007.
Over recent months various anti-democratic, anti-secular and marginalised ethnic groups have been escalating their protests, militancy, and violent intimidation of voters in the run-up to the historic elections, forcing Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala to appeal to all political parties to put an end to the violence.
Security has been bolstered and some 135,000 police are being deployed to polling booths in Nepal's 240 constituencies. There is also considerable concern that after the elections, powerful, armed, not-so-democratic losers might undo Nepal's tentative peace.
MILITANT HINDUTVA RAISES ITS UGLY HEAD
Needless to say, not everyone was excited by the 18 May 2006 declaration of secularism. Nepal's Hindutva (Hindu nationalist) elements, with backing from Hindutva forces in India, immediately increased their intolerant rhetoric and exploited the confusion of the Hindu masses.
On 22 May 2006 some 5000 Hindus rallied in Birgunj, a southern town in the "Hindutva belt" on the border with India, protesting the parliament's resolution to turn Nepal into a secular state. The rallies were organised by activists from the World Hindu Federation (WHF) and Shiv Sena Nepal. The protestors blocked the Tribhuvan highway on the Bara-Parsa industrial belt near the Indian border. Shouting "Jay Shree Ram!" (Lord Ram is great!), they burnt tyres, logs and newspapers that supported the resolution. (See LINK 2)
A group calling itself the Nepal Defense Army (NDA) committed several minor acts of terrorism during 2007, primarily targeting Maoist institutions. It claims it is fighting for Nepal's reinstatement as a Hindu state.
On the evening of Wednesday 12 March 2008 a bomb exploded in the regional office of Kantipur Publications in Biratnagar, a city some 240 km south-east of Kathmandu in the Hindutva belt on the Indian border. Kantipur, a Nepali news service, reported that the explosion caused no harm to the staff or the office property. "Though it was not immediately clear who carried out the attack, the pamphlets found at the explosion site suggested that 'Nepal Defense Army' was responsible. The pamphlets read 'Nepal Defense Army for Hindu Kingdom'." (LINK 3)
MOSQUE BOMBING
On the evening of Saturday 29 March 2008, three powerful bombs ripped through the Sarouchiya Mosque in Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala's hometown of Biratnagar. A fourth bomb failed to explode and was later defused. Two locals were killed in the blasts, while two others were hospitalised with critical injuries.
According to Kantipur, "Two unidentified persons, who came on motorcycles, had lobbed four bombs while over 60 persons were busy reciting evening prayers inside the mosque.
"An eyewitness, Malik Alam Kuresi, said the unidentified men hurled the four bombs from the gate and fled the scene. 'However, only three of them (bombs) went off immediately.'
"Meanwhile, an underground group -- Nepal Defense Army -- took responsibility for the blasts. One R P Mainali aka Paribartan, who identified himself as 'supreme commander' of the group, owned up the group's involvement in the blast, in a press statement." (LINK 4)
In a statement sent to media outlets, the Nepal Defense Army vowed it "would continue such attacks until Nepal is reinstated as a Hindu nation."
The Times of India reported: "Soon after the attacks, Muslims began demonstrations on streets. Fearing a riot, the district administration clamped curfew from Saturday night. When the curfew was lifted in the morning, Muslims called a strike in Jhapa, Morang and Sunsari districts, ignoring [PM] Koirala's appeal to show restraint." (LINK 5)
An October 2007 article by Prashant Jha in the Himal SouthAsian entitled "Royal Hindutva -- The Hindu right in Nepal is currently down, but not out" provides insight to the relationship between Hindutva forces in Nepal and India. [In fact, Jha's article makes one wonder: what would it mean for Nepal if India's BJP won power in India's 2009 federal elections?]
Concern Nepal, Jha writes: "India's Hindu right does not like what it sees taking place in Nepal. Angry that the country is headed towards becoming a secular, democratic republic, it can see its traditional influence in Nepali politics waning. A terminal blow has now been dealt to the two pillars central to what the Hindutva-wallahs have cherished about Nepal: a Hindu rashtra [state] with a Hindu monarchy.
"But Hindutva leaders from both India and Nepal have not given up. They have been brainstorming -- at the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) headquarters in Nagpur, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office in New Delhi, the Gorakhnath temple in Gorakhpur, and at the residence of royalist politicians in Kathmandu -- as well as with King Gyanendra at the Narayanhiti Palace. However, the Indian and Nepali Hindu right recognises the limits of its capacity, and does not have a clear rescue plan as yet [Oct 07]. ." (LINK 6)
Maybe the recent mosque bombing in Biratnagar signals a shift in Hindutva strategy. Perhaps the Hindutva agenda will be advanced, not through riots or minor acts of terrorism against Maoists and journalists, but, as in India, through the fomenting of sectarian strife.
Elizabeth Kendal
LINKS
1) Nepal: Peace, equity and religious liberty.
WEA RLC News & Analysis. By Elizabeth Kendal. 29 Nov 2006.
ALSO
Chronology of Nepal's peace process
http://thepost.com.pk/IntNews.aspx?dtlid=154137&catid=1
2) Nepal: Hindutva forces rally against Nepal's reforms.
WEA RLC News & Analysis. By Elizabeth Kendal. 26 May 2006
http://www.ea.org.au/ReligiousLiberty/NewsAnalysis/NEPALHINDUTVAFORCESRALLYAGAINSTNEPALSREFORMS.aspx
3) Blast at Kantipur office
Kantipur Report. BIRATNAGAR, 13 March 2008
http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?&nid=140608
4) 2 dead in Biratnagar mosque bomb blasts, 2 others critically injured
Kantipur Report. BIRATNAGAR, 30 March 2008
http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?&nid=142440
5) Muslims call strike after Nepal blasts. 31 March 2008
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Nepal_Muslims_call_strike_after_blasts/articleshow/2912369.cms
6) Royal Hindutva
The Hindu right in Nepal is currently down, but not out.
By Prashant Jha, October 2007
http://www.himalmag.com/2007/october_november/royal_hindutva.html