Is Nepal a Secular State? The Constitution, Article 26 & Anti-Conversion Law

Nepal is a secular state. Article 4(1) of the Constitution of Nepal 2015 (2072 Bikram Sambat) declares the country an 'independent, indivisible, sovereign, secular, inclusive, democratic, socialism-oriented, federal democratic republican state.' This is the supreme law of the land, so on paper the question is settled: Nepal is not a Hindu state and has no official state religion.

The unusual part is how the Constitution defines the word 'secular'. Rather than adopting a strict separation of religion and state, the explanation attached to Article 4 says that 'secular' means 'religious and cultural freedom, including protection of religion and culture handed down from time immemorial' (sanatana). In effect, the state promises both freedom of religion and active protection of the traditional faiths and customs practised in Nepal since ancient times.

Critics, human-rights bodies and minority faith groups argue this framing quietly privileges Hinduism and other long-established traditions (such as Buddhism and Kirat) over newer arrivals like Christianity and Islam. Supporters counter that it simply prevents the state from dismantling temple trusts, festivals and heritage that are central to Nepali public life. Either way, Nepal's secularism is best described as 'protective' rather than 'separationist'.

For most of its modern history Nepal was the world's only officially Hindu kingdom. The 1990 Constitution described Nepal as a 'Hindu Kingdom' (Hindu adhirajya) with a Hindu monarch, even though it did not make Hinduism a formal state religion in the sense of banning others.

The shift to secularism came out of the second People's Movement (Jana Andolan II / Loktantra Andolan) of April 2006, which forced King Gyanendra to hand power back to Parliament. On 18 May 2006 (Jestha 4, 2063 BS) the reinstated House of Representatives passed a proclamation stripping the monarchy of its powers and declaring Nepal a secular state.

That declaration was formalised in the Interim Constitution promulgated on 15 January 2007 (Magh 1, 2063 BS), which named Nepal a secular state. The monarchy was then abolished when the first Constituent Assembly met on 28 May 2008 (Jestha 15, 2065 BS), creating the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal.

The current Constitution of Nepal was promulgated on 20 September 2015 (Ashwin 3, 2072 BS). Despite pressure from pro-Hindu and pro-monarchy campaigners to restore Hindu-state status, the Constituent Assembly retained secularism, and the 2015 Constitution carries the definition described above.

Article 26 of the 2015 Constitution is the core religious-freedom guarantee. It has three clauses. Clause (1): 'Every person who has faith in religion shall have the freedom to profess, practise and protect his or her religion according to his or her conviction.' Clause (2) gives every religious denomination the right to operate and protect its religious sites and religious guthi (endowment trusts), subject to regulation by law.

Clause (3) is where the limits sit. It states that no person shall, in exercising this right, do anything 'contrary to public health, decency and morality', or which breaches public peace, 'or convert another person from one religion to another or any act or conduct that may jeopardise other's religion', and that such acts are punishable by law.

Two features stand out for anyone comparing Nepal to international standards. First, Article 26(1) protects the freedom to profess and practise a religion but does not expressly guarantee the right to change one's religion, unlike Article 18 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which Nepal has ratified. Second, the conversion of others is written directly into the Constitution as an outer limit on the right, not left to ordinary legislation alone.

The constitutional ban is given teeth by the National Penal (Code) Act 2017 (Muluki Aparadh Samhita, 2074 BS), which replaced Nepal's old civil-and-criminal code and came into force on 17 August 2018 (Bhadra 1, 2075 BS). Its Chapter on 'Offences Relating to Religion' contains the anti-conversion provision.

Section 158 provides that 'no person shall convert any one from one religion to another or make any attempt to or abet such conversion.' A related sub-clause forbids any act or conduct that undermines the religion, faith or belief of any caste, ethnicity or community, or that seeks to convert someone into another religion 'whether by inducement or not' in a way that damages or propagates a religion. The penalty is imprisonment of up to five years and a fine of up to Rs 50,000.

The chapter also criminalises related conduct: Section 155 punishes damaging, defiling or polluting places of worship or sacred objects (up to three years and Rs 30,000); Section 156 punishes outraging religious feelings by words, gestures or images (up to two years and Rs 20,000); and Section 157 punishes obstructing lawful religious rites and rituals (up to one year and Rs 10,000). Foreigners convicted under the conversion and place-of-worship provisions are additionally deported from Nepal within seven days of completing their sentence.

The practical dividing line is between personal faith and the conversion of others. Practising your own religion, worshipping privately or in community, running your own place of worship, celebrating festivals, and even choosing to change your own beliefs are protected under Article 26(1). Nepal is home to Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims, Kirats, Christians, Jains, Sikhs, Bahais and others who worship openly.

What is criminalised is actively converting someone else, attempting to do so, abetting a conversion, or offering inducements (money, jobs, aid, marriage) to persuade someone to change religion. Acts intended to 'jeopardise' or undermine another community's religion are also caught. In practice this creates a grey zone around evangelism, charitable work, and public sharing of one's faith, which critics say can be prosecuted as attempted conversion.

Enforcement has fallen most visibly on Christian pastors and missionaries. Cases such as the 2020-2021 prosecution of Pastor Keshav Raj Acharya, charged with proselytisation and outraging religious sentiment, drew international attention. The U.S. State Department's annual International Religious Freedom Report on Nepal and groups such as the International Commission of Jurists have repeatedly flagged the vague drafting of these offences and their potential for misuse against minorities.

Secularism has not changed the fact that Nepal remains overwhelmingly Hindu. According to the National Population and Housing Census 2021 (published 2023) by the National Statistics Office, out of a total population of about 29.16 million, 81.19 percent identified as Hindu, 8.21 percent Buddhist, 5.09 percent Muslim (Islam), 3.17 percent Kirat, and 1.76 percent Christian.

Compared with the 2011 census, the shares of Hindus (81.34 percent) and Buddhists (9.04 percent) declined slightly, while Islam, Kirat and Christianity each grew modestly. Christianity in particular has grown from a very small base, which is part of the political backdrop to the conversion debate.

This demographic reality helps explain the constitutional compromise. Secularism reassures Nepal's religious minorities and satisfies the country's international human-rights commitments, while the 'protection of ancient religion and culture' language and the conversion ban reassure the Hindu majority that the state will safeguard, not erode, traditional faith. Periodic campaigns to reinstate a Hindu state continue, but as of 2026 Nepal's secular status remains in place.