“Secularism is about freedom of religion and importantly also from religion. People should have the freedom to practice their religion or non belief as long as this does not violate the human rights of other individuals. It is the responsibility of the state to ensure this freedom”, Babu Gogineni, international director of the International Humanist Ethical Union (IHEU), said at the opening of the eighth International Humanist Youth Conference.

Mr. King refers to an article and an interview. There was no article, just an interview, with the entire text being the words of Dr. Bhattarai. It was the first interview granted by Dr. Bhattarai after being sworn in as Deputy Prime Minister of the new Republic of Nepal.

Dear Editor,

I am writing with some thoughts and reflections in response to Babu Gogineni's article and interview, 'Nepal: Vision for a Secular Society', that appeared in IHN, November 2008.

The Executive Committee regrets to report that its routine reporting process on grants made to member organizations and others has led to concerns relating to funding given by IHEU to its member organization Humanist Association of Nepal (HUMAN).

Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal, speaks to Babu Gogineni, International Director, IHEU

In a landmark interview, Dr. Baburam Bhattarai, the new Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal has spoken to IHEU of the new administration’s commitment to secularism. “We will introduce Constitutional measures to protect Secularism”, he told Babu Gogineni.

Four new member organisations were admitted to IHEU at the 2008 General Assembly: the Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain; the Society for Humanism (SOCH) Nepal; the Tarksheel Society Punjab; and the Asian Rationalist Society Britain.

See: the list of IHEU Member Organizations

Nepal, the land of Buddha and Mt. Everest, is a small country sandwiched between two intimidating giants – India in the south and China in the north. This nation of about 25 million depends primarily on agriculture. Politically speaking, Nepal remained a sovereign kingdom throughout history.

IHEU member organization IHEYO is supporting a new South Asian Working Group to parallel is successful Africa Working Group initiative.