NEPAL, September 17, 2015 (Baptist Standard): HPI Note: This news report is coming from a Baptist Church publication.
Lawmakers in Nepal rejected an effort to declare the Himalayan nation a Hindu state, adopting a new constitution Sept. 14 defining Nepal as a secular republic but retaining a controversial anti-conversion clause.
Elijah Brown, chief of staff with the 21st Century Wilberforce Initiative, had spearheaded an international coalition–with significant Baptist involvement–calling on Nepal’s 601-member Constituent Assembly to reject language in the constitution that criminalizes “any act to convert another person from one religion to another.”
Brown expressed disappointment the constitution retained Section 31(3), which says: “No one shall behave, act or undertake activities that breach public order or break public peace/peace in the community; and no one shall attempt to change or convert someone from one religion to another, or disturb/jeopardize the religion of others, and such acts/activities shall be punishable by law.”