Christian communities demand Khanal’s Resignation

Hrishita Deo
Kumaripati, Lalitpur
15th Feb, 2011

Christian communities have demanded for Prime Minister Jhala Nath Khanal’s resignation as the present government did not provide the burial land for them.
C B Gahatraj, General Secretary of Christian Advising Committee for the New Constitution (CACNC) said that they would ask Prime Minister Khanal to resign if he fails to provide burial land across the country. “We are going to submit a memorandum to the Prime Minister, the government, local bodies of all 75 districts and human rights organizations to draw their attention,” he added.
Christian communities have been demanding that land for burial since the Pashupati Area Development Trust (PADT) restricted non-Hindu burials at Shleshmantak forest.

About 180 representatives of Christian communities from 63 districts gathered today in Kathmandu and formed a 125-member Graveyard Management Struggle Committee headed by Dr Sundar Thapa, president of CACNC.
However, the government is not interested in providing public land for different communities to bury bodies. “This is against international tradition and system,” said government sources. “They should buy land for their burial sites,” they said.

The Hindus bury or cremate bodies on the banks of rivers as per their tradition. If non-Hindus want to bury or cremate their bodies on river banks, they can, said government authorities.

Gahatraj said the government should provide land on charitable grounds. “We are Nepalese and the government can’t intervene in our tradition by presenting international instances,” he said. All Christian members of political parties will resign, said Gahatraj. “Neither the PM nor political parties have responded to us. We will therefore ask them to resign from the parties,” he said.