A law criminalizing religious conversions and the "hurting of religious feelings" has gone into effect in Nepal, a year after the bill was passed. Nepal's Christian minority fears the new law will be abused by those seeking to settle scores, as has happened frequently in neighboring India. Nepal’s 2007 interim Constitution declared the country a secular state that maintained neutrality in religious affairs. That language was included in the 2015 Constitution, despite protests from Hindu nationalists, who wanted a return to Hindu statehood and who continue to protest over the word “secular” – a word they say is inappropriately adopted from the West.
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