Nepal: Worship Without Cruelty letter writing campaign

[Guest guest]

Dear AAPN members,

 

SPCA Nepal has launched a Worship Without Cruelty campaign and asks for

your help in letter writing. Please take 10 minutes to copy the draft

letter and send to Nepalese authorities. You can confirm your cooperation

by sending a mail to friendsofspcan

 

Thanks!

 

Friends of SPCAN

 

Can you imagine a live goat being thrown in a pond and torn apart by young

men? Can you picture 7000 young buffaloes being rounded up and killed by a

thousand drunk men carrying khukuri knives? A festival where 200.000

animals are killed to please a goddess? Mass sacrifice with financial

support by the government?

 

Perhaps you cannot. However, events such as these take place regularly in

Nepal. We at Friends of SPCAN have launched the ‘Worship Without Cruelty’

campaign in order to raise awareness about these practices and to try and

stop them. Please take 10 minutes of your time to write a letter to the

Nepalese authorities and/or Nepalese Embassies.

 

The Gadimai Mela takes place every five years in Bariyarpur, Bara district,

in the south of Nepal and is scheduled for Kartik (October-November) this

year. The fair is infamous for the large number of animals (up to 200.000)

which are sacrificed to appease the Gadimai goddess. The fair reaches its

climax on an ‘auspicious’ day, when thousands of buffaloes are sacrificed.

The blood letting that takes place turns the entire area into a marshy land

of blood. It is expected that this year some 60.000 young he-buffaloes will

be killed, as well as an additional 140.000 chicken, goats, pigs, birds and

other poultry.

 

The first ritual during Gadimai is to worship the weapons which are used in

the sacrifice. The priests chant different hymns to appease the Goddess

Gadimai. Once the pre-sacrificial rituals end the animals are brought in

for the kill. The sacrifice starts with the offering of five different

animals: pig, buffalo, goat, wild rats and birds which include chicken and

pigeon. The different animals represent the mental obscurations sacrificed

by the community including anger, stupidity and desire.

 

After the sacrifice of the first animal, a goat, thousands of pigeons are

sacrificed by severing their heads. Next three wild rats are brought and

sacrificed before a comb like pole. After this more than 250 people

carrying naked swords and axes wrapped in red clothes, all with a license

to kill, approach the temple. They frantically rush towards the field where

more than 7,000 young buffaloes are kept. Before the beasts are

slaughtered, seven buffaloes tied to a pole undergo the sacrificial ritual.

In the end, only the heads of those gentle animals who were alive just a

few moments ago, remain.

 

The Khokana festival is held every year in August, the day after Gai Jatra.

A 5-6 month old goat is thrown in a pond close to Rudrayani temple in

Khokana, a village in the south of Kathmandu Valley. Nine young men enter

the pond and start to tear the goat apart by grasping its legs, ears, hoof

or tail. The one who manages to kill the goat is the ‘hero’ and leads the

Shinkali dance which is held afterwards. Khokana residents have witnessed

the barbaric scene year in year out and think it provides religious merit.

It is not clear why and when the cruel goat-killing was introduced. Locals

believe that when children started to drown in the pond in the 12th

century, residents started to drown a live goat to appease the gods.

However, there is evidence showing that devotees in former times offered

fruits and flowers in the temple and that the act with the struggling goat

was introduced to create a spectacle.

 

The campaign against the Gadimai and Khokana cruelties will include letter

writing to Nepal’s political leaders, awareness raising programmes in

schools following by signature campaigns, meetings with Bara officials and

possibly a demonstration. Anyone who wants to support the campaign is

invited to send letters to Nepal’s government and local Embassies, and/or

to forward contributions to our website bank account.

 

More details and pictures can be found at www.fospcan.org.np

(see under Activist's Corner) and www.geocities.com/stopsacrifice

 

Draft letter to Nepalese Authorities

 

“I would like to express our my deep concern about extreme cases of animal

cruelty being conducted within the Kingdom of Nepal.

 

One such is on the occasion of the Khokana Festival, held after Gaijatra

(August), during which a terrified goat is thrown in the Deu-pond close to

the Rudrayani temple, after which it is torn apart whilst still alive by a

group of young men, fighting for the dubious and cowardly honour of

becoming a 'hero'.

 

Another is the Gadimai Festival in Bara District which is 'celebrated' by

sacrificing around 200,000 animals (including 6,000 young male buffaloes).

Here innocent creatures are killed en masse in a very unorganised manner by

drunk devotees who enter the temple area with knives to cut off the heads

of frightened buffaloes. Gadimai is held once in five years, and is

scheduled to take place in Kartik 2060 (October/November 2003).

 

A third similarly touching event is the Sasarimaiko Mela in Mahottari which

is held every twelve years and witnesses the killing of 10,000 animals.

Both Terai festivals have been ‘transfered’ from India, possibly during the

11th century, and therefore are not indigenous celebrations of Nepalese

culture.

 

A fourth event we want to highlight is the annual sacrifice taking place

during Chaite and Kalratri Dasain. With the support of your government, in

April, 108 buffaloes are killed in the Royal Palace in Gurkha, while in

October the priests of Taleju Temple kill waterbuffaloes throughout the

night, followed by the sacrifice of 108 buffaloes by the Royal Nepalese Army.

 

No one can adequately explain why these practices are carried out year

after year and why His Majesty’s Government financially supports some of

them except to say they are ‘traditional’. This however is not a valuable

argument to commence these practices; Nepal, realising the adverse effects,

has abolished a number of ‘traditions’ in the past, including human

sacrifice and widow burning.

 

We feel the time has come to abolish the above practices for the following

reasons:

 

1. Nepal is concerned about the welfare of its precious flora and

fauna, and has signed a number of international Wildlife Treaties followed

by the introduction of the Meat Act, which introduces humane killing of

livestock and poultry. The cruelty displayed in these so-called traditions

completely contradicts the spirit and gestures of these treaties and acts.

2. As tourists are abhorred by such practices, the festivals will have

an adverse effect on tourism, an industry which provides the country with

much-needed financial returns. Those foreigners who experience or come to

know the extent of sacrifice in this country leave Nepal confused and with

a heavy heart, rather than uplifted by its paradoxical beauty and friendliness.

3. Cruelty against animals harms society as a whole; it signals and

normalises insensitivity in children who can become numb to the suffering

of living beings, it is also known to influence certain people to commit

violence on other humans.

4. Sacrifices often strengthen the vested interest of those who

benefit from superstition-based beliefs and rituals. As Nepal is moving

ahead to become a more fully democratic, egalitarian society, it is crucial

to challenge age-old beliefs which are not beneficial and drain the

resources of the poor and needy.

 

We urge you to end the violent practices and help Nepal move towards a

truly peaceful country, and in keeping with its international image. This

can be done by introducing and enforcing a much-needed Animal Welfare Act

to curb animal cruelty and by promoting genuine animal welfare activities

across the country.

 

We trust that you will support these measures (which are becoming more

popular by the day, around the globe and thus promote non-violent cultural

practices in the Kingdom.

 

Your Name & Address

 

 

Please send the letter to the following addresses:

 

Hon. Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur Chand

Office of the Prime Minister

Singha Durbar

Kathmandu, Nepal

Telegrams: Prime Minister, Kathmandu, Nepal

Faxes: + 977 1 227 286 or 428 570

Salutation: Dear Prime Minister

 

To His Majesty King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev

Narayanhiti Royal Palace

Kathmandu

Salutation: Your Majesty

 

Royal Nepal Embassies:

GERMANY

Ambassador: H.E.Balram Singh Malla

AddressGuerickestrasse 27 ( 2nd floor ) 10587 Berlin - Charlottenburg

CityBerlin

Phone030-34359920

Fax030-34359906

Emailrnebonn,RNEBERLIN

Web Sitehttp://www.nepalembassy-germany.com/

UNITED KINGDOM

Ambassador: H.E. Dr. Singha Bahadur Basnyat

Address12A, Kensington Palace Gardens, London, W84QU

CityLondon

Phone2291594, 2296231, 2295352

Fax44-171-7929861

Emailrnelondon

Web Sitehttp://www.nepembassy.org.uk/

USA

Ambassador: H.E. Jaya Pratap Rana

Address2131 Leroy Place, NW, Washington D.C. 20008

CityWashington

Phone(202) 6674550, 6674551

Fax202-6675534

Emailali

Web Sitehttp://www.nepalembassyusa.org/

AUSTRALIA

The Consulate General

AddressSuite 501, Level 5, 203-233 New South Head Road, EDGECLIFF NSW 2027

(Sydney) Australia

CitySydney

Phone(612) 9328 7062

Fax(612) 9340 1084

Emailinfo

Web Sitehttp://www.nepalconsulate.org.au/

FRANCE

Ambassador:

Address45, Bis Rue des Acacias, 75017, Paris

CityParis

Phone46224867

Fax331-42270865

Emailnepal

INDIA

Ambassador: H.E. Bhekha Bahadur Thapa

AddressBarakhamba Road New Delhi 110002

CityNew Delhi

Phone3329969, 3327361, 3329218

Fax91-11-3326857

Emailramjanki

 

What else can you do to help?

 

When you live inside Nepal:

 

· Join Friends of SPCA Nepal and become part of the campaign

· Visit political, business and social leaders and raise the issue.

If you need more information on how to do this, send us a mail.

· If you are a student, borrow the documentary on the Gadimai

Festival from our office, and organise a screening and discussion.

 

When you live outside Nepal:

 

· If you travel to Nepal please don't travel with tour companies who

organise tours to temples where animals are sacrificed.

· While in Nepal rise the issue during your discussions with those

you meet.

· In your own country if you meet any Nepalese or have Nepalese

friends ask them what they are doing to stop animal sacrifices in Nepal.

· Please do write to the Nepalese Embassy in your country, to the

Nepalese Government and Nepalese media to enact laws to stop these extreme

practices.