Pastoren skulle have siddet 12 år bag tremmer, men slipper med to i Himalaya-landet, hvor hinduerne er i flertal og køer hellige dyr – og hinduerne føler sig i forvejen trængte, skriver nyhedsbrevet Kirken Update mandag.
KATHMANDU, 29th August, 2014: Reverand Chhedar Lhomi Bhote, 37, was declared not guilty on 17 July and served only two years of his sentence.
Bhote was arrested in October 2012 after a Hindu mob attacked and burned down his home in north eastern Nepal, close to the border with Tibet, where he and his wife were ministering to Tibetans .
The mob accused him of eating beef, which is taboo in Nepal but not illegal for non-Hindus, and of killing a cow. Intentionally slaughtering a cow, sacred to Nepal’s majority Hindus, is punishable by up to 12 years in prison though the law is rarely enforced.
Voice of the Martyrs
Hindu society is very sensitive as to how other faiths regard their sacred animal and some Hindu groups have recently said that Christians have been encouraging new converts to show disrespect to Hindu symbols, such as the cow.
This is causing anger and accusations of forced conversion (omvendelse) in Nepali society.
Figures show that Christianity is one of the fastest growing faiths in a country where more than 75 per cent of the population are Hindu.
A Hindu protest group called Vedic Sanatan Hindu Rastha Nepal recently brought cow slaughter to prominence by carrying out a month-long hunger strike.
It was led by Hindu holy man Yuva Sant Shri Shrinevasacharya who said: “Hindus, Hindu gurus, and other organisations should unite to fight against the growing number of crimes against our identity and culture”.
“We will no longer sit aside and watch as cows are slaughtered in this sacred land of our ancestors”.
Christian population has doubled
Hindu groups are linking cow slaughter to faith conversion – both are issues that many Hindus find unacceptable in the Hindu-majority country.
According to Operation World, Nepal’s Christian population is 2.85 per cent, yet it is the rapid growth of Christianity – when contrasted with the declining numbers of Hindus – that is causing a major concern for Hindu leaders.
Between the two most recent censuses the Christian population has more than doubled. In 2001 it was 180,000 but by the 2011 census 375,699 identified as Christian.
Missionaries and Christian NGOs are repeatedly accused of promising money and education to lure poor non-Christians into the faith.
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https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org/2014/08/article_3324753.html
Begynd fra: “Kamal Thapa, the leader of the Hindu nationalist Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal (RPP-Nepal), has been vocal….”
