समाचारहरु NEWS

GADHIMAI FESTIVAL: Is it our Pride or a SHAME?

Published by Hamrosamaj on November 29, 2009

GADHIMAI FESTIVAL: Is it our Pride or a SHAME?

BY: Amar Raj Rai

Oh God! What is the world thinking of Nepalis?

Nepalis have hardly digested the shock of animals slaughtered on Desain Festival, barely two months ago, yet another far more horrifying mass butchery of animals of stupendous proportion has taken place again. Ironically, these savageries are being done in the land where the gentle Buddha was born.

It seems that there’s a competition between the Pahades and the Madeshes to prove, their devotion and fidelity to their grotesque and mindless deities. Some of us cannot help feeling sorry for both the hapless animals and the deluded devotees at the same time. One has been robbed off the ability to think and the other has been made to suffer for it.

Are these festivals for paying respects to benevolent Devis or appeasing blood-thirsty devils?

Gadhimai festival is basically an outrageous spectacle of animal atrocity unmatched anywhere for its magnitude and ferocity. It’s a commercial venture with a religious veneer in which the organizers make fat money fast,

Many of us were not aware of such happening, until fairly recently. How strange that it has been going on for so long right under our very noses.

For those who have little or no knowledge about the festival, here is a brief synopsis on it.

The festival is dedicated to Gadhimai Devi, a later avatar of a powerful ancient goddess. She is yet another addition to the pantheon of God and Goddesses in the Hindu mythology. She relishes drinking hot blood. The more blood she is offered the happier and more generous she becomes, consequently, the bigger and better the boons the offerers expect to get, and pronto their wishes would be fulfilled.

Buffalos, lambs, goats, pigs, ducks, chickens, pigeons, and even rodents become the victims of this wanton worship. A staggering number, as much as half a million of animals and birds are slaughtered in two days in late November every 5 years. This happens at the Gadhimai Temple in a small Tharu town, not far away from the Nepal-India border, in Bariyar VDC in Bara District.

The founding father of the festival, as hearsay goes, is a Tharu named Bhagawan Chaudhray. The time was mid 18th century during the British raj in India . For reason known not too well, Mr. Chaudhray found himself a guest of The British East India Company prison in Makwanpur Gadhi. Hence the name of the Goddess: Gadhimai.

While in the prison, one feverish night, the vision of the Gadhimai came to him. She consoled and instructed him to do things to receive her blessings. He soon got out of the prison and diligently carried out her instructions – the same instructions which millions of her followers still carry on to this day – the sacrifices of animals and birds to appease the Devi who would fulfill their wishes.

It’s estimated that no less than 5 millions visited the festival, and as much as quarter of a million of animals and birds were slaughtered this time around. Most of the devotees are from the neighboring states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in India

In fact, the festival is of Indian origin. Due to strong advocates of animal rights; campaigners and organizations of cruelty against animals in India, the practice was kicked out across the border to Nepal. India has laws against cruelty to animals. Nepal desperately needs to have the same.

After the festival is over the Indians return to their homes in India . While they sit smugly in their side of the border, Nepalis get the rap – and the world looks at us with utter disbelief and horror.

There are many Nepalis who see it as an imported subculture of sheer idiocy committed by isolated people of medieval mentality. It’s a prime example of how the power of ignorance fuelled by greed; outmoded cultures based on ancient lore; and superstitions assisted by blind faith can propel a mass of ill educated people to unconscionable act of brutality.

Considerable hues and cries were made by many international as well as national animal rights organizations and individuals against this event. Notable among them are: Menuka Gandhi, daughter-in-law of Indra Gandhi; Brigitte Bardot, a famous French film star of the 60’s and our own Buddha boy, Rambahadur Bomjan.

There is not a single person of high authority who raised a voice against this barbaric act on dumb and hapless animals from our side.

It’s reported: Ms. Bardot actually wrote a personal letter to President Yadav who chose to ignore it. Menuka Gandhi wrote an official letter to Prime Minister Madavkumar Nepal who did the same.

Our own brassy lady ministers were surprisingly quiet. No doubt, they were too busy worrying about other pressing matters, than to be bothered with such a trifle thing as cruelty against animals.

Honorable Ms.Sujata Koirala, staying in a Presidential Suite of a luxurious hotel, was very much occupied with attending to her sick father. He was receiving a deluxe medical treatment in Singapore , for a seasonal flu on the tax payer’s money. The total expenditure incurred in this one-week Singapore venture of the Koiralas could be NCR.30 lakhs (US$40,000) or more. In a donor dependant country where half of the population lives on less than US$1 a day this extravagant spending is not only inappropriate it is flagrantly irresponsible and grossly obscene.

Honorable Ms.Bidhya Bhandari is engrossed in trying to destabilize the Peace Accord. She little realizes that messing with the accord at this juncture, and derailing the peace process could invite a political backlash, create civil unrest and could well result in Janandolan 3.

Honorable Ms.Karima Begum was tied up in a case in which she slapped an unwary CDO in his own office; not once but 5 times with the help of her goons. Reason: for making a mistake of sending an old crock of a car to pick her up to attend a function.

It highlights the pathetic state of affairs of our country as they stand at the moment. It’s like the blind leading the blind. It makes some of us want to cry. With leaders like these do Nepalis have any chance of a new Nepal !

We look upon our leaders for guidance and leadership. We expect them to have a vision, aims, and goals – plans and strategies to achieve them. These, they must explain to us, set it in motion, lead us and set examples. Their lack of understanding of the situation and assessing the gravity of the problems, makes many of us wonder about their competence, priorities, values, and their understanding of the management and administrative demands of the fast changing world.

If Nepalis are to free ourselves from the shackles of superstitions, practices based on thousands of years of old myths, and to move forward with changing times, our leaders need to do better than this. Keeping mum and playing dumb do not educate people and bring about a change.

It’s anybody’s guess as to what kind of an image of ourselves, we as Nepalis are projecting to rest of the world with the Gadhimai Festival. There are among our so-called leaders, some in powerful and influential positions, who are not only allowing this barbaric festival, but aiding and abetting it.

We Nepalis must do an earnest soul-searching – introspection of ourselves is long overdue. I personally think some our traditions, cultures and practices need to be overhauled. The very religion itself calls for re-evaluation, review and reform if not rejection.

Some of us fly thousands of miles and spent millions to treat a bad cold, but callously ignore the plight and misery of our animals at our very backyard. Somehow, this story doesn’t sound right and the picture doesn’t look good.

There are amongst us who are well-traveled, well-read, better informed, therefore more knowledgeable. It now behoves these enlightened people to do whatever they can, however small it may be to change the mindset of our isolated, misled, deceived and fanaticized fellow countrymen who are still in the grips of millennia-old myths.

Such primeval peculiarities and practices as animal sacrifices have no place in this time and age anywhere.

It’s time we put a stop to this contemptible religious rot.

Spread the word around. Let your abhorrence be known.

Talk about it. Write about it. Rally against it.

It’s about time we had our own “Age of Enlightenment”.

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