Surels have unique marital traditions

RSS

CHARIKOT, Oct. 19: The minority Surel community, the inhabitants of Suri village in Dolakaha district, have a unique and interesting marriage custom.

Marriage by elopement and arranged marriage are common among the Surels who prefer endogamy rather than exogamy, according to Abire Surel, a village elder.

It is learnt that cross-cousin marriage is not allowed in the Surel community. The Surels' wedding ceremony is complete with all the religious rituals performed by the Brahmin priest amidst the exchanging of gifts to the accompaniment of the traditional Nepali "Panchai Baja" band.

Along with the advent of modernism, the Surel wedding customs have also undergone some changes. Now-a-days many Surel men have married girls from castes other than their own. Similarly, many Surel girls have been married off to boys from other castes.

Many Surel men are now changing their surname from Surel to Sunuwar. Likewise, exogamous marriages are also becoming common in this tribe and this trend of culture change among the Surels has further pushed this indigenous tribe into minority, according to Lal Bahadur Khadka, former chairman of Suri VDC.Explaining about their marriage customs, Abire Surel says that if a married Surel woman decides to leave her husband or divorces him, she has to offer a pot of 'Raksi' or alcohol and some money to the parents and there is a tradition of the husband deserted by the wife collecting a minimum Rs 100 to a maximum Rs 1,000 as bridal price.

Not only their marriage customs, the Surels also follow a unique and interesting kind of birth and death rites. They perform what is called the "Ghasinghe" rites after a child is born and the new-born is given a name on the same day.

A woman who has recently given birth to a child is not allowed to go to the Granary or the store room of the house until the Ghasinge ceremony is performed. The ears and nose of the new-born child are pierced only after two years.

Upon the death of a person belonging to the Surel community, the body is immediately brought out of the house and placed on a straw mat at the corner of the Veranda of the house. The house is then cleaned and a coat of the cowdung mixed into a paste of clean and pure ochre soil is applied on the floor of the house.

The dead body is given a bath and dressed in new clothes. A coin is placed on the mouth and the corpse taken for funeral rites where it is consigned to fire. The funeral pyre consists of pieces of firewood equal to the age of the dead person.

The dead person is given a burial if he/she is under ten years of age. The mourning is observed for 12 days.

According to a research conducted at the local level, there are 30 Surel households with a population of 149 at ward No. 7 of Suri VDC.

Kojagrat Poornima being observed

RSS

KATHMANDU, Oct. 20: The Kojagrat Poornima, the last day of Bada Dashain festival, is being observed by worshipping Mahalaxmi, the gooddess of wealth.

On the day of "Kojagrat Poornima" meaning "who is in vigil", housewives pass the night in vigil invoking the goddess with worship and prayer in accordance with time honoured tradition.

It is believed that a visit to earth by the goddess of wealth takes place on this day every year to bestow blessings of wealth and prosperity on her devotees.

According to religious tradition, this day marks the winding up of the Tika and Jamara or barley shoots grown at Dashain Ghars and Khotas.

Another month long festival of lighting a sky lamp known as "Aakashdeep" and offering of worship to the Tulsi as homage to Lord Vishnu started througout the Kingdom in accordance with time honoured tradition today.

Buddhists offer prayers to the Swayambhu Chaitya througout the night on this day in the belief that the "Swayambhu Jyoti" emerged on this auspicious day.

Parents sending children to work for circuses

Our Correspondent

MAKWANPUR, Oct. 19: The trend of sending children to work in Indian circuses growing in the district, but, there is no data as how many of them go there every year.

The prevention camp of Maiti Nepal, Hetauda, had rescued 10 children last year. Maya Lama, coordinator of the camp, said that eight of them were rescued while being taken to India, while two were rescued from the circuses. The NGO has involved in preventing trafficking of girls.

Dil Bhadur Gole, a resident of ward No. 10 of Hetauda, was taking his own daughter and a seven-year-orphan Santoshi Sangtan to India to 'sell' them to a circus. He had already sent his elder daughter there.

Lama said that Santoshi is presently living with Maiti Nepal, and said that they were looking for a guardian.

There are gangs who are active in luring parents to send their children to work in the circuses. Poor parents are given false promises of good jobs and money for their children. And they lack knowledge of what might happen to their children.

In fact, children are forced to do hard and risky work. They are even exploited physically and sexually. Many are even forced into prostitution.

A DSP of the district police office said that there is no clear law and policy to punish those involving in taking children to India under the pretext of giving them work in the circuses.

Most of the children have the consent of their parents, making it difficult to nab the traffickers, he said, adding several children from Basmadi and Chatiyan VDCs and even from the municipal areas are taken to work in the circuses.

But, Lama said if the victims file a petition against those involved in sending the children to circuses they could be brought to book under the anti-trafficking act.

Woman beaten up on charge of witchcraft

RSS

SIRAHA, Oct. 19: Ram Sati Devi Yadav, 60, of Rajpur VDC-2 of Siraha district sustained injuries after being beaten up mercilessly at a public place for alleged witchcraft.

Aggrieved Yadav who lodged a complaint at Siraha District Administration Office narrated the brutality meted out to her by Bishudev Yadav and his son of the same locality who have been accusing her of practicing witchcraft since long time back. They have been accusing Yadav of practising withcraft to finish off the life of their daughter-in-law.

She, eventually, made up her mind to seek a legal recourse to have justice after no one from her neighbourhood who were present on the spot during the manhandling turned up to her rescue.

Income generation scheme run in Jhimruk beneficial

By Sanjay Rijal

PYUTHAN, Oct. 19: The income generation programmes run by the Jhimruk Industrial Development Centre (JIDC) has proved beneficial to the people affected by the Jhimruk Hydropower Project. The JIDC was established through the joint investment of the United Mission to Nepal and the Butwal Power Company in 2054 B.S.

The programmes are run in nine Village Development Committees (VDC) of the Jhimruk area in Mid-West Development Region. These VDCs include Khaira, Nayagaon, Ramdi, Dhuwang, Raspurkot, Pakala, Dangwang and Bijuli.

The centre has been providing a two-year mechanical and electrical training to children, who have passed high school, says JIDC manager Prem Singh Thapa. These youths are employed both at home and abroad, he added.

The local people also say they have benefited from the employment-generation programmes run by the centre. The JIDC has encouraged the youths of the area to enroll in the employment-oriented training to involve in creative and productive activities.

I did not face any problem to get a job after completing two years of mechanical training, said Santa Acharya, one of the trainees of the Centre. She says the training programme has been beneficial to the youths, many of whom remain unemployed because lack of any skills.

Report on children yet to be submitted to UN

By A Staff Reporter

KATHMANDU, Oct. 19: The periodic report on the situation of children in Nepal has still not been submitted to the United Nations. The report was due by the end of January 2001.

Nepal as a signatory of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) since 1990 was obliged to submit the first national report two years after its ratification and then after every five years. Nepal submitted the national report in February1995.

A committee to prepare the report was formed three years ago. Representatives from various NGOs working for children were involved in the committee. Although the draft was ready by January 2001, it has not been finalised.

The CRC committee has asked several times to submit the report.

The report that was prepared contains the achievements of Nepal in the field of children, the strategies for the next five years and the problem faced in implementing the CRC. It also has issues related to education and health of children, child exploitation, child labour and the impact of the Maoist insurgency on children.

The report contains data up to the year 2000 only. "The report needs to be amended as the situation has changed in the past three years," says Gauri Pradhan, President of Child Workers in Nepal (CWIN). "Because of this delay, Nepal is being criticised in the UN," he said.

Sarad Sharma of Child Development Society questions the implementation of the commitment given the delay in submitting the report.

Secretary at the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare Bijaya Raj Bhattarai has refused to comment on the issue.

According to CWIN, there is only one paediatric hospital for children in the country. About 56 per cent of the children are malnourished and only 53 per cent have access to primary education.