MINA, 14 January 2006 — Muslims in the only Hindu kingdom in the world, Nepal, are a tiny minority — about two million, or five percent of the total population — but as Abdullah Thakurai told Arab News that he’s not the only one in Nepal’s government that follows the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
Thakurai, the Nepalese ambassador to Saudi Arabia and the first Muslim ambassador from the Kingdom of Nepal, said from his tent in Mina that he is not the only Muslim official in the country as there is a Muslim minister in the Cabinet.
Thakurai said 254 Nepalese pilgrims came this year to perform Haj. The ambassador told Arab News that there are approximately 350,000 Nepalese workers in the Kingdom and most of them are women working as housemaids. The rest are men working in construction and heavy industries. The economic contribution of these workers in Saudi Arabia is significant to Nepal’s gross national product since “Nepalese workers’ remittances to their country is increasing yearly,” said Thakurai.
“It is not surprising to see this low participation of Nepalese Muslims in Haj because they are very poor, and most of them have to sell their land to raise the necessary funds that enable them to come,” said Thakurai, pointing out that most of Nepal’s Muslims work in agriculture. “Muslims mainly live in rural areas along the border with India.”
Thakurai served as an economic consular in the government prior to his recent post. Just before his interview with Arab News, the Nepalese minister was in a meeting with the president of the Islamic Development Bank (IDB), Ahmed Mohammed Ali, to discuss the conditions of Muslims in Nepal and the solution to their economic troubles.
“Nepal is looking for both aid and foreign investment, and I am trying to attract the attention of the Saudi private sector to invest in Nepal as we cannot depend only on the aid of international financial institutions, such as the IDB,” he said.
Nepal approached the World Bank for a developmental loan to help reduce poverty in the country, but the loan terms were not favorable for the Nepalese government and now the country is negotiating a better loan with the Asian Development Bank, according to Thakurai.
The economic conditions of Muslims in Nepal are harsh yet the political situation is improving substantially.
“The king is devoting a lot of attention recently to Muslims in the country,” said the ambassador.
The appointment of one Muslim minister in the Cabinet and an ambassador to Saudi Arabia is truly an achievement for a five-percent minority.
“The future is going to be brighter for Nepalese Muslims within the country,” said the ambassador.
