Urban intrusion threatens age-old tradition in Maitidevi

By Birodh Pandey

KATHMANDU, Sept 20 – Cremation in the heart of the capital city is certainly not ethical considering the environmental and other hazards associated with it. However, when expansion of cities infringe the rights of people, that too in a sensitive issue like cremation, what else can one expect – except controversy.

And that is exactly what is taking place at Maitidevi, in the heart of the city. Poor urban planning coupled with rapid physical infrastructure, addition and haphazard growth of the Kathmandu City has caused friction between the locals and the guthiyars, the traditional owners of the land and guardians of the Maitidevi temple.

The ghutiyars, who mainly comprise of the Newars and mainly come from five communities - Shrestha, Munikar, Gubhaju, Khadgi and Maharjan, traditionally cremate the dead at the backyards of the centuries old temple ever since it came into being. But now, since many concrete buildings have come up in the vicinity of the temple the ghutiyars are in their sore eyes.

What is happening at the temple vicinity is a classic example of how unplanned and haphazard urbanization is threatening traditions in the city of temples, rich cultures and traditions that are followed by its various ethnic communities.

Today, it is not just the locals and the ghutiyars of Maitidevi who are debating upon the rights of the guthiyars to cremate their dead bodies near the temple, even environmentalists and proponents of culture and tradition are arguing in favor of the ghutiyars. The big question is: should the guthiyars be allowed to continue their tradition or shift the crematorium itself and let the neighbors breathe in peace?

"It’s totally unethical to cremate body in the heart of the settlement," says Mohan Bahadur Shrestha, Chairman of the Kathmandu Valley Cultural and Religious Area Development Project, which looks after the temple. "According to the Hindu mythology ashes should flow with a river (like in Pashupatinath) which sits on the banks of the Bagmati, but they are piled up at the temple premises here."

But the traditional guardians of the temple who cremate the bodies of their near and dear ones when they pass away are not ready to give in that easily. "We can’t stop our customary practices and walk away", says Nuche Munikar, 67, of Maitidevi. "Maitidevi is our family deity and she needs the aroma from the burning corpses which, we believe, will please her."

Fumes Tulsi Narayan Munikar, 73, of the same locality, "Those who are telling us to stop cremating our bodies here are the real culprits. They are the ones who encroached upon the land areas and green fields here, with a small stream – called the Ghattekulo, which would wash away all the ashes from here. Why did they purchase lands near a cremation site? They could have gone elsewhere."

Thanks to urban encroachment that has completely erased the Ghattekulo, the guthiyars of Maitidevi locality, who want to keep their tradition alive, have been forced to carry dispose off the ashes to the Dhobikhola, the Bagmati or the Bishnumati rivers.

"We used to criminate near the canal but it dried up 30 years ago due to the rapid urbanisation. And the place from where the Ghattekulo flowed, several residential and commercial complexes have been raised," Munikar says as several other guthiyars standing near him try to recall what the stream was like.

The ministry of population and environment (MOPE) has given permission to carry out the Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) of the crematorium that is being renovated by the guthiyars – a move termed ridiculous by environmentalists. "The environmental law does not provide for any such thing as an IEE of a crematorium, it’s ridiculous," says Dr Shree Govinda Shah, an EIA specialist at the New Era Consultancy. "And the crematorium is something which has been existing there since time immemorial."

Cultural experts point out that it is the customary right of the guthiyars to cremate their bodies in the place where they had so long been doing. Says Dr Safalya Amatya, Cultural Scientist, " Cremation sites are monuments and an integral part of people’s life. The government should help preserve these areas."

Experts like him and proponents of culture and heritage argue that it is due to these reasons that the Kathmandu Valley with its three historic durbar squares, Buddhist stupas and monasteries, Hindu temples – both big and small – has been enlisted as a UNESCO (United Nation’s Education, Science and Culture Organization) world heritage site.

Norvic to begin major heart surgeries

Post Report

KATHMANDU, Sept 20 - Norvic-Escorts Health Care and Research Centre Ltd has decided to start all types of heart surgery, including open heart surgery, and to establish it as the largest heart research and training institute in Nepal.

Dr Ravi.R Kasiwal, senior cardialogist and consultant, talking to The Kathmandu Post today, said, "The hospital has excellent preparations and necessary procedures to start all types of heart surgery of all age groups."

"Surgical team that includes doctors from Delhi have committed to train doctors in Nepal and to improve the infrastructure so that all kinds of heart surgery like angioplasty can be carried out," added kasiwal.

So far the hospital has conducted more than 150 major operations involving angiography and installation of pace maker, an artificial device which helps the heart to pump blood.

Like wise, Dr Bharat Raut, Senior Cardialogist at the Institute, said, "Due to the lack of advance heart treatment facilities, patients from here have to go India or travel to various other places. Now, the health service facilities can be availed by not just the well to do class but even the common people."

Dr Raut also added that heart diseases are preventable and are curable if detected at an early stage. Males above 35 years and females above 45 years should have a regular health checkup and good physical exercise, at the same being careful with their diet, he said.

Ousted parents find solace at Pashupatinath

By Tashi Dolma Thinley

KATHMANDU, Sept 20 – The temple vicinity of Lord Pashupatinath is not just a famous pilgrimage for Hindu pilgrims from around the world, but also an abode for frolicking monkeys and sadhu santas with tangled hairs who come from across the Indian subcontinent.

And that is not all. It is also a home to those unfortunate elderly people who are either kicked out of their houses by their offspring or feel neglected at home. Seventy-year-old Dhana Laxmi of Terai Region is one of them. She says, "I am very happy here. They give us food, clothing and take care of us, which is all we need because after all we are going to die one day".

She is not the only one. The Pashupati Briddhashram, a old-age shelter home run by the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare Council, since B.S 1938, shelters around 180 elderly people with its homes dotting the Pashupati area landscape. Most of them are genuinely happy for the basic fact that they have "no problems, no tensions and an easy life".

Adds 80-year-old Shombare Giri, who has been living in the shelter home since 1946 says, "Our daily routine is so simple and peaceful. We are served good food and then we go for prayers in the morning and in the evening. It’s better to live here on the lap of Lord Pashupatinath than at my sons house which is filled with hatred."

On the right hand side flows the holy Bagmati River, on whose banks sit the crematoriums where the funeral of dead Hindus is carried out.

With the change in time and attitude of new generation, sociologists say, more and more elderly people are finding it difficult to stay at their homes and thus landing in such shelter homes and even in the streets. It is due to this fact that certain number of elderly parents has been at the receiving end of sorrow and pain.

Says Chaitanya Mishra, a renowned sociologist: "Though the number is very low compared to the west, it is growing due to rapid urbanization, social changes, economical reasons and the generation gap."

The situation here too is resembling like that of some western countries where parents have to go and live at old age homes like the Pashupati Briddhashram when they become old and helpless. General people having the notion that old age homes are "pathetic places" meant for neglected parents is slowly turning into a shredded notion today.

Many still feel sorry for those parents who live in these old age homes as they are the ones who are not cared, and not looked after and have landed there as if they are burden to the society. But those who are there in the Pashupati Briddhashram have left their past and bitter memories far behind and getting on with life in a zest.

Shambu Singh Basnet, 72, was of a well-off family of 16 members. He thought he was the happiest person in the world as his family grew. But with time, his own family members made him feel unwanted and a burden in his own home. It was his nightmare when his sons suggested him stay in the Ashram.

But today, he says, "Had I not left my family, I would be disturbing their peace of mind and hurting myself too, today there is nothing that bothers me, there is hundred percent peace here".

The Pashupati Briddhashram is not the only shelter home in the capital city. Experts say there are about 15-20 charity homes that are run by various non-governmental organizations. The Mother Teresa Charity Home (MTCH), in Mitra Park run by the Missionaries of Charity is also one of them, which provides shelter to about 200 aged and 45 children. The MTCH also sends volunteers - both Nepalese and foreigners – to the Pashupati Briddhashram for services.

But it comes as a surprise to many that the Briddhashram is the only one old age home run by the government. But to actually seek shelter in the Briddhashram, ‘grandfathers and grandmothers’ need to go through a lengthy and hectic process of verification from the District Administration Offices, Municipalities or Village Development Committees and even the Social Welfare Council.

The bitter truth is that there are much more people out there who need such services in the country. Says Sister Celia of the MTCH, "There are ample number of people who are in need of help and shelter and they are just neglected because there is no place for them."

Even the government officials at the ashram are more than keen to extend their services to more people by adding more beds in the Ashram. "This is more like a service-oriented organization than a government office, " says Arjun Prasad Gautam, the Office Chief of the Briddhashram. "Our staff members here work day in and day out. Though they are supposed to work between 9 a.m to 5 p.m. they start working from as early as 6 a.m. in the morning till 8 p.m. at night."

Refugees warned of death threats

Post Report

BIRTAMOD (Jhapa), Sept 20- The Bhutanese refugees in the Beldangi camp are frightened after some unidentified people put up posters, threatening to the lives of some noted cadres of the exiled Bhutan People’s Party (BPP) over the last few days, a report received here said.

The refugees said such death threats have started appearing in the camp after the brutal assassination of the BPP chairman, R K Bhudhathoki, at Damak on September 9.

Of the seven refugee camps in Jhapa and Morang, the Beldangi camp is the biggest one, where around 50,000 people have been languishing since they were forcibly evicted by the Druk government from Bhutan.

On Tuesday night, the unidentified group strung up some posters inside the camp warning the death threats of some BPP cadres. Ghanashyam Kattel, one of the refugees in the camp, said some masked-men warned of attacking the BPP supporters.

Conceding the prevailing cloud of terror inside the camp, chairman of the Bhutanese Refugees Repatriation Committee, SB Subba, said that his committee had organised youth for patrolling the camp at night time. Subba also admitted that people were scared of sharing their views with the visitors due to the death threats to some of the BPP cadres. "The refugees would no longer feel secure to live in the camp if there is no guarantee of security of lives inside the camp," said Subba.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Govinda Niraula said a large number of policemen had been mobilised around the camp following the murder of leader Bhudhathoki.

Niraula said police was searching for those who created panic in the camp. Though police have arrested four persons, prime suspect of Budhathoki’s murder remains still at large.

Truck driver ‘fails to get salary for 8 months’

Post Report

BIRGUNJ, Sept 20 - Ram Bahadur Rana Magar, an employee of Truck Container Service of Nepal Transport Corporation which is fully owned by the government has started driving a rickshaw after he failed to get his salary for 8 months.

"It is my compulsion, not a fond desire, to drive a rickshaw instead of a truck container so that I can support my nine-member family including seven children and my wife," he said.

"I dreamt of being promoted into a senior driver but I ended up becoming a rickshaw driver," he added. This is the condition of not only Ram Bahadur Rana Magar, but also of all the 130 employees on the payroll of the Truck Container Service of Nepal Transport Corporation.

Manish Shankar, a mechanic and Jaya Shankar, a driver of the Truck Container Service have removed their children from schools as they were unable to pay their fees.

For two or three months I could somehow manage. I paid school fees of my children by selling ornaments of my wife, but as I could not get salary continuously for seven months I was compelled to remove them from school," Jay Shankar said.

Nepal Transport Corporation has four divisions - Trolley Bus, Janakpur-Jayanagar Railway, Truck Container Service and Hetauda Ropeway. The former two are functioning while the latter who have stopped functioning.

At one time , the service was earning a good income. But now it has been badly affected after the commission system was introduced with very little prospect of rising. Therefore, employees of the corporation say the ‘golden handshake’ is the only answer to the problem.

5 held for beating woman on charges of being witch

Post Report

BIRGUNJ, Sept 20 - Police today arrested five people including an elected representative on charges of manhandling a 60 years old woman, who was alleged of being a witch.

Police said that Sirsiya Khalbatol VDC Chairman, Ramchandra Chaturbedi, handed over all the accused to the police after much pressures from the women’s organisations for action against them.

Those arrested by the police are ward member of the VDC Lal Babu Raut Kurmi, Shiva Dhari Raut Kurmi, Shyam Raut, Ramdhari Raut and Ram Babu Kankar.

The accused had beaten up widow Manturiya Devi Turahin on charges of being a witch and had fed her human excreta about a month ago. All of the accused had remained absconded since the incident took place. Victim Turahin filed a complaint at the police seeking legal actions against those involved in the incident on September 5.

The victim had argued that the accused were at large as they were under political protection. Their arrest could become possible after all the district level women’s organisations warned the administration of taking out a massive rally protesting against the incident.

It is learnt that the accused were handed over to the police station on condition that the victim would reach a compromise with them, instead of taking the issue to court. Member of the Jagriti Bikas Manch and advocate Rama Rani Shrestha said that there was no question of any compromise in such an inhuman behaviour to the old helpless widow.

Another advocate and chairman of the Community Law Research Centre, Rajeswor Tiwari, said, "There is no room for a compromise and the accused should be punished at the maximum level as allowed by law."