Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09KATHMANDU788
2009-08-25 08:41:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Kathmandu
Cable title:  

NEPAL: MUSLIMS SEEK RECOGNITION IN NEW CONSTITUTION

Tags:  PGOV PHUM KDEM SOCI NP 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO0469
PP RUEHCI
DE RUEHKT #0788/01 2370841
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 250841Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0669
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 7089
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO PRIORITY 7407
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA PRIORITY 2738
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD PRIORITY 5449
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 6573
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 3187
RUEHSA/AMEMBASSY PRETORIA PRIORITY 0278
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA PRIORITY 4721
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 2393
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK PRIORITY 3628
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHMFISS/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI PRIORITY
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 000788 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/24/2019
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM SOCI NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL: MUSLIMS SEEK RECOGNITION IN NEW CONSTITUTION

Classified By: Charge d' Affaires, a.i., Jeffrey Moon. Reasons 1.4 (b/d
)

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KATHMANDU 000788

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/24/2019
TAGS: PGOV PHUM KDEM SOCI NP
SUBJECT: NEPAL: MUSLIMS SEEK RECOGNITION IN NEW CONSTITUTION

Classified By: Charge d' Affaires, a.i., Jeffrey Moon. Reasons 1.4 (b/d
)


1. (SBU) Summary: Nepal's Muslim community is seeking
official recognition in the new constitution as a way to
guarantee their religious rights. Muslim leaders in Nepal
see India as a model for structuring religious affairs in a
democracy. Madrasas throughout the Terai operate through
loose, independent endowments (primarily from India) that
lack standardized curricula or Ministry of Education
supervision. Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca is fraught with
difficulty and frustration. End Summary


2. (SBU) Charge hosted a lunch August 19 for four senior
Muslims, including Akbal Ahmad Shah, Constituent Assembly
(CA) Member from the Madhesi People's Rights Forum (MPRF);
Mohammad Mikrani, Chairman of the Center for Development and
Research (CEDAR); S.M. Habibullah, Member of the MPRF's
Military Integration Committee; and Mohammadi Siddiqui, CA
Member from the Nepali Congress (NC) Party.

Muslim Origins in Nepal
--------------

3. (SBU) Nepal's last census (2001) officially recorded a
Muslim population of 4.27 percent, though Muslim leaders
argue they traditionally have larger birth rates and have
historically been under-counted in the Hindu-dominated
nation; they estimate that 8-10 percent of Nepal's population
is Muslim. The Muslim population is almost exclusively Sunni
and based in Nepal's southern Terai region bordering India.
The first wave of Muslim migration to Nepal (via India) began
in the 14th century with much smaller waves arriving after
eradication of malaria in the Terai in the 1950s.

Equal Rights as an Ethnic Group
--------------

4. (C) Muslim leaders told Charge that, unlike Nepal's other
minority groups, they are not interested in gaining an
autonomous state in Nepal. Their main ambition is explicit
recognition in the new constitution as an official
traditional ethnic group with rights equal to those of other
Nepali ethnic groups. They said the major political parties
were only considering Muslims as a religious group, whereas
being Muslim in Nepal is an ethnic identity as well. MPRF's
Habibullah said that during 240 years of Hindu monarchical
rule, Muslims endured both cultural and institutional
marginalization and discrimination. The Muslim community now
looks forward to a new era of democracy and inclusiveness.
Habibullah and Siddiqui believe India is a useful model for
religious pluralism, one that guarantees Muslim rights
allowing them to practice a limited form of shariah,
specifically for family law issues such as marriage, divorce,
inheritance, and property rights.

Islamic Education
--------------

5. (C) The madrasas spreading throughout the Terai currently
operate through a loose, donation based system with most
financial endowment from private Indian donors and some
limited financial support from Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Shah
told Charge that he recently traveled with UNICEF to visit
and assess the status of madrasas in the Terai. He described
the current situation as largely unregulated. He and other
Muslim leaders envision a state-sponsored system through the
Ministry of Education that would centralize Islamic
curriculum and standardize teaching.

Pesky Pilgrimage Problems
--------------

6. (C) Shah, who was formerly head of the Hajj Central
Committee, told Charge the government does not take Muslims
seriously. He gave an example of the Hajj Committee and told
how despite best efforts getting Nepali government
cooperation to charter planes to Mecca, there was always a
last-minute crisis and subsequent scramble that resulted in
flying Pakistan International Airways as a substitute
solution.

KATHMANDU 00000788 002 OF 002



Comment
--------------

7. (C) Muslim leaders, like all of Nepal's historically
disenfranchised minorities, are eager to codify their rights
in an emerging democracy that theoretically promises them
better representation. They are still minor players though
their immediate goals are perhaps more tangible than those of
other ethnic groups who have hopes of independent provincial
states.
MOON