Berkley Center

Background: This discussion preceded a consultation on faith and development in South and Central Asia in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on January 10-11, 2011. The interview was by telephone between Michael Bodakowski and Keshab Prasad Chaulagain, and expanded upon by email exchange on February 16, 2011. In this interview Mr. Chaulagain discusses the peace process in Nepal, the diverse actors, and the importance of engaging faith communities. He describes his collaboration with UN WOMEN and the crucial role of women in peacebuilding. Mr. Chaulagain describes his organization, the Nepal Interreligious Council, including work on the constitutional reform process in Nepal. He emphasizes that diverse groups in conflict situations must focus on common issues of humanity to initiate sustainable dialogue.

Can you tell us about your background and your personal journey? What path has led you to your present positions today?

I am a Nepali by birth and live in Nepal. I am deeply involved in the current peace process, and have been since 1986. Since last year, I have been increasingly involved in promoting peace at a global level. I feel strongly that the world is facing high levels of violence and conflict, and I am motivated to work for world peace. I have spent most of my life working towards achieving global peace.

In Nepal, there has been conflict across the country because of the Maoists. Many years ago I started to see the negative effects that violence and conflict are having on the country. I was so moved by what I saw that I started to work towards a peace process that involved leaders from different faiths. In the religions of Nepal, particularly in Hinduism, we pray for world peace as it is a deep commitment in our community; all religions emphasize peace. Thus I work with Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jains, and Buddhists on a common peace movement.

Specifically, what is the nature of the work you do?

We participate in each others’ religious functions and express our common interest and focus on peace and harmony in society. We release common press releases on issues of mutual concern, and we conduct workshops for peace, justice, and reconciliation that include the public media or are broadcase. We also occasionally organize joint peace rallies to show our solidarity on a specific issue.

Are women much engaged in the peace process?

Nepal is a very diverse country with multiple cultures and religions. Many religious communities and institutions are working in Nepal for gender equality. Hinduism has strong images of the Goddess, in both India and Nepal. We often pray to the Goddesses for power and strength. The engagement of women in the peace process is thus both a religious and a practical concept for me. My research, which is confirmed by my faith practice, suggests that the involvement of women in the peace process is important on both the global and local levels in achieving long-term peace.

Sadly, there are many instances where religious leaders of all faiths have preached religious tenets in such a way that their messages harm and isolate women from participating fully in civil society. These tenets are not really part of the religious traditions; it is rather how they are interpreted in their respective cultures. All religious communities need to be aware there is a certain amount of hijacking of religious texts that takes place in each tradition, creating social and theological inequality for women. If religious leaders are conscious of this, I think we can work together to take steps towards decreasing gender inequality and involving women in the peace process.

I am also involved with programs that raise levels of gender equality in Nepal more broadly. We participated in a conference to support women’s demand for gender equality. We organized religious functions to educate and support the woman’s voice in the temple and at religious sites.

Women are important for our society, for families, and communities, and it will be immensely beneficial for us to have women in our society cooperate and engage in the peace process. This means that religious leaders have to speak out against gender inequality, domestic violence, and assault. Women can be very helpful in the achievement of democratic governance because of their important role in the family and the community. They are more religious minded than men and they present themselves in larger number at most religious functions than their male counterparts.

Women spent more time than men at home. Thus, a woman’s role is important in building peace by allowing their male members to be able to participate outside their home freely. In our culture, women are largely involved in religious activities and they are connected to religious beliefs and rituals. Because of their engagement with religious activity, they are also connected to the ideology of peace that religions promote and teach. In the Hindu religion, for example, we have strong beliefs in the power of women and their role in the community.

In conjunction with UNIFEM, my organization, the Interreligious Council Nepal, has organized a network of women activists. All religious groups and interfaith groups work together on the issues that are mentioned in the UNICEF and UNIFEM report.

Could you expand on your work with UNIFEM?

UNIFEM is now called UN WOMEN, and has taken initiatives to involve religious leaders in working for gender equity. We organized the National Interfaith Leaders Network (of which I am chairman) to address issues of violence against women. This network is registered with the government. We have conducted trainings for women’s empowerment, and have visited religious sites to educate on the concept of gender equality. All faith groups accepted our vision and provided all kinds of help. Now we are working for gender equality with the help of religious communities. Civil society and political parties have also appreciated our initiatives. UN WOMEN has recommended me to be a member of UNITE NETWORK, headed by UN General Secretary.

How has faith inspired you personally to engage in peace building and development work?

Through all the long years that I have been working in the field of development and research, eastern philosophy has always inspired me. I believe that I can do something good for Nepal and I can do something good and positive for the rest of the world based on my religious beliefs. I am also an active religious practitioner and I live by my mantra. A mantra is a Hindu ritual, and I use the particular mantra for peace. My religious practice for many years has been to meditate for peace with the help of my mantra; it affects the way that I live my life. It is precisely my religious beliefs that convince me that I can do something positive for Nepal and that I can do something good for the world.

I have been involved in peace work for most of my life. I was involved with the peace process during the Cold War; I believe that war is a truly global issue. I was involved with a Hindu movement many years ago when I was researching the role of spirituality and religion in the peace process. My research has led me to believe that all religions have a role to play in restoring peace in the world.

You recently published a book, entitled Role of Religion and Spirituality in Peace Building Process. Can you briefly describe the main themes of the book, and your inspiration to write it?

The book is about the importance of interreligious dialogue to establish long-term peace. Religious engagement is necessary to stop violence and conflict in communities. There are no communities that are unaffected by violence and conflict and there are no communities that cannot benefit from religious engagement in the peace process. In this book, I describe the research that I have done on this topic; the book has been widely circulated in Nepal.

In the book, I talk about our movement and how we succeeded in uniting all faiths under one organization. We introduced an interfaith movement and build trust among the different faith groups. We have the support of the majority Hindu religion as well. We organized dialogues with political leaders including Maoist leaders, and now we are inviting participants from the international community, including human rights and other civil society organizations to our consultations to continue our research and learning.

Please tell us about your organization, the Nepal Interreligious Council.

We established our organization in 2004 in Kathmandu. We have five regional branches in five regions of the country. There are eleven executive members of the central council. We also have over 25 affiliated organizations across the country. During the peak period of the Maoist insurgency we had established our organization to help stop the violence and encourage peaceful transformation of the political conflicts through dialogue and democratic process.

We developed many programs to engage peace in our community. We also engaged the Maoist leaders during conflict in the past and tried to directly engage them in the peace process. We are also implementing programs in civil society to reduce the conflict and violence in different communities. We engage with the Human Rights Commission internationally and the Human Rights Commission in Nepal. We do not just work with religious groups but also with Human Rights groups, youth groups, and other organizations for peace.

We conducted a workshop on the “Role of Religion in the Constitution Making Process’’ in 2010 in five regions. Nepal is going to write a new constitution, and we collected the views from all religions and submitted them to the President of Nepal. We strongly demanded that religious freedom be explicitly mentioned in the new constitution. In the near future, we will conduct a workshop on “Intercultural Harmony for Peace, Justice and Reconciliation.” This is a new approach to prevent genocide that sometimes occurs during conflicts and ethnic tension globally.

We have multiple organizations and groups that work with us and are members of our organization. We work with many priests and other religious leaders and civil society activists. The organizations we work with include: Priest organizations; Astronomical and Astrological organizations; National Council of Churches, World Hindu Federation, NGO Federation, National Women Commission Nepal, and National Human Right Commission Nepal.

More generally, what are the key issues to successful peacebuilding in Nepal? What is the role of faith-inspired actors?

Part of building sustainable peace in Nepal will involve interreligious dialogue, because there is so much conflict created by the Maoists and their armies. In our organization, Maoist intellectuals are also working as vice president, and they are serving as members of the Human Rights Commission and the Constitutional Assembly. Nepal is faced with violence every day between different groups having different loyalties. There are hijackings, kidnappings, and strong political sentiments that lead to conflict. There are Maoist groups that are sitting in power in certain areas of the country and there is strong civil unrest. There are other armed groups working in the Terai region as well, and religious groups in these areas do not feel safe to openly engage in peacebuilding work because of the fear and threats of Maoists and other armed criminal groups.

There are many legacies from the Maoist conflict facing Nepalese society. The politicians have their own problems and do not take the time required to solve the larger problems facing the country. I think that in order to introduce harmony and peace we need to have a series of intercultural and interreligious programs throughout the country. We need to create dialogue between distinct groups that are trying to gain political power and do not interact with each other. I also think that religious groups will be very helpful during the reconstruction of the country including rebuilding civil society and will play a large role in creating harmony as well.

Many members of civil society are faith-inspired, and there are also donor groups working for peace. There are several programs in the country working for the sole purpose of alleviating conflict. Now Parliament is also involved with the peace process; there are multiple groups working for harmony but sometimes we are not aware of each other. I think we might accomplish more if we worked together. There is room for more coordination between groups.

Are there any coordination bodies working now?

No there are not. Though religious groups are well trusted in society and I think it would be best to work together and coordinate activities for peace. All religious leaders are engaged in this process but not all of them have the ability to coordinate activities across religious groups. This is one area that requires more attention.

How about education in Nepal? What are the issues and challenges? What is the role of faith-inspired education in the overall education system?

The Nepalese education system is based on a secular system, though there is some education on religion. We are working in colleges and introduce peace education and values based education in colleges and at younger levels as well. There are many religious schools in Nepal and the society in general is religious, so I think there are many ways to introduce religious teaching in school.

There are multiple religious schools and most are Hindu (gurukul) and Buddhist and there are many Swamis who are involved in education. There are several Islamic schools (madrasas) as well. There are also several Christian schools throughout the county. Within the schools, we have not yet been successful in introducing an interfaith curricular program, but we offer technical assistance. We have limited time and resources, but continue to work with schools throughout the country.

I see you have attended many international conferences? Have tangible projects/networks come out of these conferences?

The first conference I attended was the Christian Conference of Asia in Chiang Mai, Thailand in 2007. In 2008 I participated in a conference in Bangkok with interfaith leaders. In 2010, I participated in a conference in Delhi supported by Islamic Saudi scholars focused on dialogue between Islam and other religions. Last March, I was in Dhaka, at the Leaders of Influence Conference organized by the Asia Foundation; I am trying to organize a similar program in Nepal. I think it would be a useful exercise for the Hindu religious groups here in Nepal to encourage a similar program.

These conferences have helped me to develop my own insights and vision, and have increased my international exposure. In 2007 in Chiang Mai there was a major discussion centered on my research paper.

What were the findings of your research?

Peace, development and good governance are the main focus of the research. There are explanations of Knowledge of State, principal of politics, and religious solidarity in reference to peace building, which if given proper attention and implemented in society, may help to restore peace, justice and reconciliation.

I think that religious groups should lead the project on development and peace. I recently found out that in July 2008 the King of Spain and the King of Saudi Arabia organized an interfaith conference in Madrid, and a follow-up conference was held in Switzerland in 2009. Before I heard about these conferences, I was not aware of how many people from all over the world were engaged in this kind of work.

When I heard that the Georgetown University was organizing the consultation workshop in Dhaka, I was very pleased. I strongly feel that we need to bridge academic and the practical action for long term peace and development. We are not only faith groups involved, but we also have to have knowledge about the practical aspects of development in order to bring about positive changes. Our faith and our academic pursuits should connect and take us further along the process of development.

What networks do you belong to or do you know of and how are these helpful?

We, the religious communities and leaders, have the ability to use religious tenets and rituals to raise awareness about harmony and peace. For example, in Nepal I personally pray at every full moon according to my tradition in order to bring reconciliation. I think that nature is a thread shared by all people, and we can use this opportunity for interfaith harmony. The moon is a common thing between people, and the importance of the sun and moon is agreed upon by all religious traditions; we can use these common themes to create harmony between groups.

I wrote my book in Nepali, particularly addressing the Maoists who do not trust religion. But I think we must also bring the Maoists into the discussion. Perhaps they do not believe in God but surely they believe in the sun and the moon.

I think that we have to introduce this kind of knowledge and methodology to the religious groups in Nepal in order to counteract all the violence. The violence that is pervading our society is not justified and it is not an acceptable means of or expression of power. I am starting at a small level but working to develop relationships with other universities and introducing these methods to practitioners and peace educators.

Do you take part in any regular meetings with other development organizations?

Since development organizations do not invite us regularly, we participate only occasionally, but whenever they invite us we do participate. What we think is that development agencies do not usually recognize religious organizations as their partners.

What kinds of issues would you like to see addressed during the consultation? What are the most important gaps in knowledge?

At the consultation, I would like to see many different things. I am trying to introduce my methodology and raise common understanding about the good practices in the development field. We have to introduce the idea of a peaceful world using the knowledge of believers from different religious traditions. In order to do this we must show the people involved all the things that we hold in common, including the sky, the sun, and the moon.

I will try to introduce my ideas at the Dhaka conference and I hope to get feedback from other leaders in the development field and then introduce the idea to policy makers. People do not realize that culture and religious rituals are very important in Nepal, as well as in India, Afghanistan, and in South and Central Asia as a whole. People must understand and use religious rituals for the peace process to promote harmony.

At the policy level, committees, civil society groups, and the government should be introduced to the roles they can play in the peace process and how to work together to coordinate with the local peace committees. I think that for long-term peace, all levels of society need to be involved in the process; the government level, the local level, the international level, the civil society level, and then religious leaders and religious communities.

I want to take ideas from the research level and engage them with the practical level and the policy level of the peace agenda.