Who Would Bomb A Church?

@ MBR: Hang in there. It is only just the end of May. You have June and July for the papers, August to prepare yourself for September. I do hope your papers arrive soon.

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The Nepal Defense Army, a fundamentalist Hindu group, bombed a church in Lalitpur this morning. The blast killed 2, injured more than a dozen. Pamphlets left in the church indicate that the incident was orchestrated by the fundamentalist group who oppose the designation of Nepal as a secular nation.

But, why target a Church? Because churches are perceived as the "enemies" of Hinduism, more so than a madrassa or a Buddhist monastery. Buddhism doesn't count as an "other," Muslims in Nepal have lived for long enough without any major religious conflict. But Christians are seen as actively trying to destabilize the Hindu "harmony," converting people, eating beef.

Returning from Kumaripati to Ratnapark yesterday, I heard a couple from outside Kathmandu talk about how the milk of different types of cows taste different. The lady then turned sad. She said--we used to have a cow, but they ate it. The man asked--who?

I think the subtext was: how did it die? Because, if the lady had said it was one of the "lower-castes," it would have been understood that the cow had died of a disease or accident.

But the lady said--"those who cut a cow while it is still alive." Two possibilities: Maoists during the war, because they used to appropriate people's cattle and slaughter it on the eve of a campaign, to feed the fighters a protein-based diet so that they can fight long, hard hours; and Christians, who seem to be slaughtering cows in order to reinforce their new faith.

The man added--"They are Christians, they eat cow," but I couldn't shake off the feeling that the cow had been slaughtered by Maoists. From what I understand, there isn't yet so large a population of Christians in any part of Nepal that they would so pointedly offend through such an act. I have never heard of Muslims killing a cow in Nepal, even as a part of a Kurbani.

But, why bomb a church? What kind of support can that get you? I don't doubt that Nepal Defense Army--which has sadhus for flag-bearers--will gain some media space through this inhumane act. But what kind of people are going to support them? Has Nepal started producing such fanatics already?

Now dumbass Americans from Missouri or Kansas some other hick-state will pour in money to send more missionaries, to redeem the names of their "martyrs."

Like I mentioned earlier elsewhere on the blog: if you have converted away from your ancestral religion, the constitution doesn't guarantee your right to practice your faith in peace. Fuck Nepal. It pisses off even an atheist like me.