At last, a bandh to remember

By Meena Kaini

KATHMANDU - Strolling down the streets of Kathmandu on Thursday, an unprecedented relief crept within me. The city today does not have burning tyres in every nook and cranny...people seem to be enjoying the open streets and pollution-free environment. No more of the aggressive mob with zombie-like look on their faces that wreaked so much havoc for the past two days. Thursday felt nothing more than a regular bandh.

A regular bandh? I hate bandhs, that weapon which unscrupulous politicians to punish us regular folks whenever it suits their whims. But Thursday’s bandh had a welcome feel about it. Things were much calmer in this bandh. The streets were deserted, yes, but not violent. The vehicles and the technology that came with it deserted the city. A bandh that came from nowhere... and materialized "successfully" only out of the fear that prevailed for the past two days.

Just a day earlier, with fires on every street corner it looked more like some place in a war-torn country. What was astonishing was to see small children more excited with the whole idea of lighting the tyres without understanding what it meant.

Most of the people who reveled in the mayhem of the past few days seemed oblivious both to the reason behind their actions and the consequences arising out of it. For them it just had to go on ...this protest against a teeny-bopper of a star.

Almost everybody had a different version to tell and a different perception about the whole incident and implications of Hrithik Roshan’s alleged remarks.

The country has seen aimless sacrifices of lives in the past two days of violence which erupted on the basis of as yet unproven remarks by Roshan. What started from Chitwan came up to take the lives of innocent people and that too on so trivial a matter. The spread of such a hearsay has given way to serious doubts about the motivations with which it was spread.

It has also made me question the media, which plugged the story and the "remark" that was never made. Had it ever been made, why cannot the media provide the evidence, which Hrithik is now demanding?

The past two days have reminded me of a saying by Allen Drury, the American author who said "people defend nothing more violently than the pretenses they live by." Could it be that Drury saw, through some sort of a crystal ball, what would happen this week in Kathmandu?

Blankets to ex-Kamaiyas

Post Report

MAHENDRANAGAR, Dec 28 - Nepal Christian Community (NCC) distributed 500 pieces of blankets to the former Kamaiya (bonded labourers) families on the occasion of Christmas Eve.

The Kamaiyas have been staying in various camps in five mid-and far-western Terai districts since they were liberated from the age-old bonded labour system more than six months ago.

The relief materials were handed over to the former Kamaiya families in five camps in the presence of pressmen, representatives of the Dhangdhi-based NCC and Nepal Rastriya Social Welfare Association, an NGO working for the liberation of the Kamaiyas.

NCC representative Sukalal Singh said his organisation would extend support for health and education to the freed Kamaiya children in the future.

‘Performance of German NGOs satisfactory’

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Dec 28 - The government of Nepal is greatly satisfied with the performance of the German Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) working in Nepal, said Nepalese Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany, Balaram Singh Malla.

According to a press release received here today from Cologne, Germany, Malla made these remarks in his keynote address at the start of the sixth annual meeting of Non-Governmental Organizations for Nepal last week.

"The German NGOs’ contribution to uplift the standard of the needy people through various socio-economic activities is certainly a matter of sincere appreciation," the press release quoted him as saying. "They also establish a linkage, relationship between Nepal and Germany..."

German Ambassador to Nepal, Ruediger Lemp, said in a message to the meeting that the number of German associations involved in Nepal shows the diversity and liveliness of our bilateral relationship with the Kingdom of Nepal.

Roja ends with zeal among Muslims

By Razen Manandhar

KATHMANDU, Dec 28 - Hundreds of thousands of Muslims around the country, as well as the world over, celebrated the greatest Muslim festival of Eid-ul-Fitr, today, ending the month-long Roja, strict daylight fasting, with the sighting of the new moon.

For the whole month of Ramjan, Muslims do not eat or drink anything till the sun sets.Even swallowing saliva is considered to be a sin for the strict observers of Roja, compulsory to all adult Muslims of both sexes, they say. Eid ends in a delightful festival symbolising tolerance, love, friendship and hospitality.

On this day, the Muslims hug one another, brush away past enmity and promise one another a happy and friendly year to come. All Muslim households prepare sumptuous feasts and invite friends and relatives in a cheerful mood of sharing.

Eid-ul-Fitr marks the end of Roja fasting. On this day, they invite guests, eat various dishes together and buy new clothes and give money to hermits and beggars. "Even the poorest of Muslim wishes to buy new cloth to mark this great festival and show his faith in Allah," they say.

Twenty-two years old Matin Uddin Shekh, who runs a clothes store at Khichapokhari said that following the strict rules of the month-long fast is just like climbing a mountain. "For the first half of the month, each day becomes difficult to pass and the second half is full of joy. The nearer you reach the end, your heart begins to fill with a holy excitement and you do your best to complete the cycle," he says.

"Naturally, we feel hungry. But, we do not seem to take notice of any foodstuff. A strange energy comes from within which keeps our sinful desires away," he adds.

Roja is compulsory only for adults, but his two-year-old nephew Nazir Shekh is also following it religiously.

Jaffar Uddhin of Nepali Jame Masjid said that the Muslims chose this month because it is the holiest in the whole year. "This month is chosen by Allah," he says.

Muslims believe the Koran, their holy book, was revealed to Mohammed over the Ramjan period, 1400 years ago. They say that this is a holy month by many means and any virtue done during this month is equal to doing it seventy times more during the rest of the year.

The month of Rajman is fixed according to Muslim calendar. But, the daily fasting period and the month also changes every year.

This month-long ritual teaches the people to live a modest and religious life. "The rules remind us of the roots of Islam, which should be the guidelines for the rest of life. Observing Roja for a month purifies us for the world’s betterment for the next 11 months," Uddhin said.

Shekh says, some may even escape by making some excuses,in cities, but in rural areas the whole village follows the fasting of Roja strictly. Only sick, elderly and new mothers are excused by the religion. "Nothing like modernisation has ever affected the people’s zeal to remain hungry for a month and celebrate the end of it as a great festival."

All religions consider fasting as a way of regular, religious life. The Muslims take fasting as one of the five basis of Islam; other four being faith, prayer, pilgrimage and donation.

According to 1991 national census, Muslim population in Nepal is around 665 thousand.