Nepal’s Constituent Assembly (CA) was unable to agree a draft of the new Constitution for the new secular Republic of Nepal by the 22 January deadline, raising fears among religious minorities that the constitutional negotiations, which also include provisions for guaranteeing secularism and religious freedom, may collapse altogether.
A new Constitution was stipulated by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement which ended Nepal’s ten-year military conflict in 2006. Prior to this, Nepal was the only official Hindu Kingdom in the world.
In a recent meeting of key inter-religious leaders of the main faiths present in Nepal, concern was expressed that the planned programme of demonstrations by opposition parties may lead to conflict in the streets and a police crackdown on demonstrators similar to that on 22 January, during which the Terai Human Rights Defenders Alliance identified ‘excessive use of force’.
