Nepal – Kathmandu

January, weekend of 22nd & 23rd

This programme's stimulus came from three Nepali participants in RFYN's South India project last year; they had become concerned to show solidarity with Nepali Muslims whose main mosque was attacked by a mob on 1 st September 2004, after news of the killings of some Nepali soldiers in Iraq. This was the first attack in the 800-year history of the Nepali Jama'at Mosque, the biggest in the country, where around 8 000 worship every Friday. Monetary loss was calculated at around 250 000 Nepali Rupees, and with hundreds of policemen simply looking on, more than 400 copies of the Holy Qur'an were destroyed.

On a pilgrimage to various holy places on Day Two of the programme, therefore, a Qur'an was donated in solidarity, and accepted by the Jama'at Mosque with great pleasure.

Other sites visited were: the Nepal Christian Association Church; one of the biggest & oldest Tibetan Buddhist temples; the Lalitpur temples, constructed by the Hindu kings & around 400 years old; and, the temple of the goddess Kali (Dhurga). The programe had begun the day before with a 98-member interfaith group (95% young adults, with substantial female participation) meeting in a vibrant self-conducted question-&-answer session lasting over an hour and a half. Leaders from the different religious traditions spoke.
Presenting a Qur'an at the Jama'at mosque

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