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The Nepal Digest Thursday 28 July 94: Shrawan 13 2051 BkSm Volume 29 Issue 5
Today's Topics:
Topics not printed due to time constraints.
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Date: Thu, 21 Jul 1994 17:34:07 EST
From: tilak@maple.circa.ufl.edu
To: Nepal@mp.cs.niu.edu
Dear friends,
I got some comments on my letter regarding my collection of
articles 'Perspectives on Christianity'. I really appreciate your
comments on my letter. Instead of answering individually please
allow me to use this forum of 'Nepal Digest' to respond. I take
many of your points very well, however I need to clarify a few
things. I am not a religious person. To me religion is simply a
component of our culture. In my letter I did not write any thing
about Hinduism one way or the other. So my letter could not be
construed to be biased toward Hinduism (neither against). I
believe ours is a multicultural and multireligious world, and we
should live with mutual respect toward all. I am a proud Hindu,
that also means I respect all others. However that does not mean
I will play dead and let some crazy christian fundamentalists
insult me or our heritage. I believe 'all good people will go to
heaven and all bad people will go to hell, regardless of their
gender, race, nationality, age and of course religion'. You may
like to compare that with christian doctrine -'All christians, no
matter how evil, will go to heaven. All the others, no matter how
virtuous, will go to hell'. 'Extra ecclesiam nulla salus - there
is no salvation outside church'. Here in lies the problem.
I need to tell you the incident which prompted me to write
the letter. A few years ago, I was invited to 'The First Baptist
Church - Orlando, Florida', to listen to a lecture on 'Hinduism'.
This is one of the biggest church I ever saw. The programs
presented here are nationally televised and I believe carry heavy
influence in the American society. What they taught about
Hinduism there is most unbelievable. According to these enemies
of Galileo - "Hinduism is created by Satan to counter
christianity ... The mantra evokes the names of demon Gods ...
The main theme of Hinduism centers around the endless rebirths
... Karma marga is the way to do nothing ... Hinduism is no good
because there is no blood atonement and no salvation by grace,
and no hope ... India, source of Hinduism, is poor ... Westerners
go to India to see Gurus, and often never returns ... Jim Jones
cult leader is typical of Hindu devotion ... Hindus force
destruction of the family units ... Celibacy is often demanded -
results 40 % divorce rates ... Gurus often leads wholesale sex
orgies ... Females must serve males, and only males get salvation
... Children are separated from parents ... Gurus are
diabolically hypocritical ... There is no sin. Morality is
relative, all is O.K. ... Law of Karma teaches that present evil
must be ignored ... Yoga is the link to the occult world". They
were also showing a documentary called 'Gods of New Age', with
footage dealing with poverty and ignorance in India and Nepal,
and playing up as Hinduism. I have collected their printed
'Notes'. If any body is interested please let me know, I shall
make them available. This kind of program is not a single
incident. There is a organized and powerful movement within
church to discredit Hinduism and to convert hindus to
christianity. Let me quote Reverend Patrick Robertson, the
premier television evangelist, ex-presidential candidate and
leader of powerful religious right in USA, "In Nepal they teach
that evil men come back as dogs, so they beat the dogs
unmercyfully ... Reincarnation is a Hindu concept that has been
totally discredited ... Meditation, Yoga etc. are ways to touch
demons ... Demons lurks behind the Hindu and other oriental
religions". Let me quote Professor H.Wayne House, "Since the
resurrection of Christ is a highest attested fact of history,
then reincarnation is a lie". As a comparison, do we teach bad
things about other religions in our temples ? It is not only an
issue of religion. This is how public opinion and perception
against people of a particular religion or race is created. It is
a slow process, neverthless very powerful and devastating.
Holocaust is not a creation of an individual.
Contrary to the assertion of some of you I did not write
anything against Jesus, and let me express my deepest
appreciation of him loving all the poor and destitutes. However
let me also point out his shades of chauvinism when he said "It
is not right to take the children's (Jews) food and throw it to
the dogs (Gentiles) (Mark 7.27)"; and that his prophecy "There
are some standing here that shall not taste of death till they
see the kingdom of God coming with power (Mark 9)" evidently did
not pass. The crucial issue is that the present church activities
have very little to do with taking care of poor and destitutes.
Such activities are merely a window dressing. Churches are simply
institutions to hold on to and propagandize, not contemplate,
their respective doctrines. And the doctrine happens to be that
if (only if) you are a christian, then all your sins are forgiven
and after death you go to heaven. Their fundamental motivation is
their imperialistic desire to impose their religion on to others,
and to convert natives by any means. Such desire is the result of
their basic intolerance and disrespect of other cultures and
religions. A quick study of their history would tell volumes of
their behavior. As per the definition of 'Christ or Messiah'
please refer to any of the Jewish or Christian theologians. The
'Perspectives on Christianity' is simply a collection of writings
from authors of different background. I presented them merely as
a tool for better understanding. If any body is interested to
know the sources of the different statements, let me know. I will
make them available.
Regarding some of your questions on inconsistencies in
stories like 'Swasthani', 'Mahabharata' etc., I did not write
them,
so I would not care to defend them. As far as I am concerned they
are simply myths and legends, and to be treated merely as such.
If you think, they may have some bad influence (along with good),
then I am with you. However I must point out that in our society
no body goes around thumping books like 'Swasthani' and try to
force 'the teachings' on to every body like Bible thumping
Christian preachers do. Hinduism, like democracy, is a market
place of spiritual ideas; and like US constitution (or Nepalese)
guarantees free thinking; but does not, unlike Christianity,
espouses only a particular paradigm and doctrines. Any ideas or
doctrines has to stand on its own merit. Bad ideas or doctrines
will die natural death in due course of time. We do not have to
resurrect a dead and gone bad idea. Only eternal truths
(Sanatana) will survive the test of time (Kal). Perhaps you might
like to contemplate, not believe, the teachings of Upanishad,
Gita, Buddhist sutras, or for that matter Christian doctrines.
Once again, let me express my respect to all religions, and
that my letter is merely my response to the aggression of
churches against the Hinduism/Buddhism. It remains an open
challenge to any sundry Christian (or any other kind) bigots that
God, if exist, is not a monopoly of any religion or people.
Thank you very much. Sincerely yours, Tilak B. Shrestha.
*************************************************************
Date: Sat, 23 Jul 1994 14:20:00 EST
From: tilak@maple.circa.ufl.edu
Reply-To: tilak@ufcc.ufl.edu
To: Nepal@mp.cs.niu.edu
Dear Subas,
Kudos for your effort to present an aspect of our Nepalese
history. Please allow me to present some of my thoughts. Perhaps,
as you wrote, 'influential' is better term than 'great', since
the term 'great' normally means good. I have difficulty in
applying unqualified term 'great' to King Mahendra and Mr. Surya
B. Thapa. I agree with you that King Mahendra was a true
nationalist, and I would like to mention his achievements like
promoting nationalism in our society, east west highway, land
reform, Nepalese law reforms, etc. However we also need to note
that he is the person who single handedly relegated democracy in
Nepal. He crushed democracy and imprisoned legitimately elected
government of Nepalese people. Then Nepali Congress had own
almost three fourth of the popular vote. We are still suffering
from his creations of Panchas, Panchayats, and Mandales (No
disrespect to the traditional Nepalese institution of Panchayat)
to disenfranchise democratic right of the Nepalese people. The
net effect of the Panchayat system was to deprive off our society
a whole generation of social and political leaders. As per Mr.
Surya B. Thapa is concerned he is merely a puppet. To see a
puppet as a distinct personality is simply an illusion. I
believe, to put a master and his puppet in the same bed would
make both squeamish. Last but not least, what about Sarvamanya
Loh Purush Mr. Ganesh Man Singh ? Perhaps you might like to
consider him as one of the truely great sons of Nepal.
Regards. Sincerely yours, Tilak B. Shrestha.
*****************************************************************
Date: Sat, 23 Jul 1994 16:40:31 EST
From: tilak@maple.circa.ufl.edu
To: Nepal@mp.cs.niu.edu
Dear Editor,
Please refer to the letter by Mr. Prakash Bhandari dated July 8, 1994
on the subject of women in Hinduism. Perhaps you should edit out his offensive
and foul language. I am not objecting to the content of his letter. That is his
personal opnion and he is free to have them. My request is simply to keep any
debate and the forum of 'Nepal Digest' in good taste. I agree some of the pointsMr. Bhandari, but amazed by his statement 'I would not let my wife do it..' by
such a proponent of women's right. By the way what is the connection between
women's position, SLC result and enslavement of our sons, daughter and wives ?
Thanks and regards. Sincerely yours, Tilak B. Shrestha.
****************************************************************
From: Abi Sharma <Abi@fraser.sfu.ca>
Subject: Proposal regarding the G. election
To: soc.culture.nepal@sfu.ca
Date: Sun, 24 Jul 1994 14:00:27 -0700 (PDT)
A Proposal on the Civic Education program Regarding the Coming
General Election
1. Introduction
The abrupt dissolution of the House of Representatives in Nepal by
the king declaring the mid-term poll has brought the country to a
serious political and constitutional crisis. The king has also
entrusted prime minister Koirala to hold the election. This action
has evoked widespread public criticism and protests.The critics of
the aforesaid action are of the opinion that the Article 42 of the
constitution has been totally overlooked. This has deprived the
dissolved parliament from the parliamentary exercise in seeking the
alternatives to form another govt. while the PM had resigned. One of
the main criticisms is that instead of leading the country according
to the peoples' mandate expressed during the 1990 Jan aandolan, the
govt. got involved in rampant corruption and irregularities. As a
result, the public has been expressing its discontent vehemently
through various forms including street demonstrations. These protests
have been organised both by a faction of the ruling Nepali Congress
and the opposition parties. The crisis, in sum, pose a serious threat
for the fledgling democracy in Nepal. The need to protect and promote
democracy in Nepal is greater now than ever before.
2. Rationale
During the 1991 general election it was very essential to help the
people educate themselves about the importance of democratic rights
and active partHicipation in it. Similarly, the dissemination of
information about the constitutional rights and practice was also
equally important. After decades of the autocratic Panche rule when
the multi party democracy was established the country was in need of
various democratic institutions and expertise. Among them, though
still young, some organisations had launched the voters (civic)
education campaign which had proved to be very beneficial. Although
the campaign was not sufficient enough to cover all necessary aspects
of civic education and awareness, it has gathered some valuable
experiences. These experiences show that without the wider, deeper
civic education campaign peoples' active participation and expression
of free will and free choice is not possible in Nepal. It is
especially when there are only 40 percent of the population is
literate and the women literacy is even under 22 percent.
Moreover, many new issues relating to the organisation of free and
fair elections, functioning of the Parliament and the government,
interpretation of the constitutional rights of the people and the
Council of Ministers and running of public administration in a
multiparty system have come up during the past three years. These
issues have somewhat confused the people in general regarding the
efficacy of the multiparty system and plularity. The declaration of
the midterm {_poll and the division in the ruling party and the
nation-wide debate on the constitutional question ralating tothe
dissolution of the House of Representatives have furtheraggravated
the confusion among the people. Nation-wide civic educaion campaign,
therefore, is essential to eliminate such confusions from the minds
of people about the multiparty democracy and enable them to
participate actively in the forthcoming general election. The
question of civic education is interlinked with the question of
empowerment of the people. The lack of education of the importance of
civil and political rights among the people has always been a hurdle
on the path of development of democracy in Nepal
The mass media,e.g. newspapers, TV and radio, is not accessible to
the overwhelming majority ofthe Nepali people. More than 90% living
in the rural areas and about 50%, in general, live below the
povertyline according to the official estimation (the world bank's is
71%). The mobility of the people is extremely difficult due to the
poor condition of public transport system. The political parties,
especially those which lack the commitments and accountability to the
people, often try to take advantage from these weaknesses. It makes
the question of free and fair election very complicated and difficult
and people find themselves in a difficultposition to cast their votes
independently. This sort of situation is very unfavorable for the
institutionalisation and consolidation of the young democracy. The
country has bitter past in this regard. The civic education campaign,
therefore, has been a part and parcel of elections in Nepal. In the
absence of such programs the election would be a luxury exercised
only among }ithe powerful sections of the society who are not much
concerned about the grassroots democracy and empowerment of the
people.
3. Objectives
a) To disseminate information and impart knowledge among the
public about the importance of civil as well as the
constitutional rights, to strengthen democracy.
b) To help the people about the importance of free and fair
election to insure their effective participation in it.
c) To increase awareness among the people about the institu-
tionalisation of democracy through the exercise of their
rights in an independent way.
d) To discourage the irregularities and use of unfair means in the
election promoting the public vigilance.
e) To contribute in achieving fair, free and peaceful election.
Most of us Nepalis living/studying/working here in N. America have
heard of/known of/ talked to the people/organisations who have been
active in North - South solidarity movements through various programs
and participations. A good example of this is also in the areas of
civic eleciton education programs and obsevations. Such programs
have proven very effective whether in Africa, Latin America or Asia.
Namibia, S. Africa or El Salvador, Chile are just to name a few.
There is growing awareness in this regard also in the forth coming
presidential election in Mexico, particularly after the Zapatista
movement began, where electoral fraud has kept the ruling party
continuously in power for decades.
In these circumstances, we together with an organisation in Nepal
have worked out a proposal mainly in two areas to help in (1) civic
electoral education programs through various means and ways, e.g.
indigenous cultural programs (2) election observation programs.The
work has already began in Nepal in this respect.Among other things
needed is of course financial support. We are delighted to learn that
many individuals/groups have already began their initiatives to raise
funds and supports whatever they can in places like India, HK, Japan
and Europe. We believe, we too can do something about it here in N.
America.
Let's talk to friends, students, professors or any
liberal/progressive individuals/organisations willing to listen or
interested in participating in any way. Even just a talk will
produce an awareness and moral support for the cause. It is another
opportunity to all of us to contribute to build a better Nepal.
Together we can make a difference. We are open to and invite any
suggestions, criticism or participations as long as it serves its
purpose.If interested in getting more info please contact me at
(604) 738-1397, ( Tel & fax). or fax (604) 737-7647. or e-mail to
abi@sfu.ca
Thanks. abi
***************************************************************
Date: Sun, 24 Jul 1994 16:27:43 -0500 (CDT)
From: Padam Sharma <sharma@plains.NoDak.edu>
Subject: Article
To: Nepal Digest <nepal@cs.niu.edu>
Glimpses from our Neighbors ...I. Darjeeling.
by Padam Sharma
For every two Nepalis inside Nepal, there is at least one in India of
which probably 75% live in Darjeeling, Sikkim and Bhutan. Under varying
adversity of immigrant subsistence, they have made significant social,
political and economic progress (except for Bhutan) in their respective
geographical niches. Besides general socio-economic cross-boarder
interdependence, most of the households in bordering districts of Nepal
(east-west-south) have their blood relatives in adjoining districts of
India. Our Nepali neighbors in India have one advantage over us. They
have gained more experience of democracy (however participatory the Indian
model may be). I will try to narrate my perspectives on our neighbors in
the hills because the socio-political culture of Nepalis in India has a
direct bearing on Nepal, Nepali culture, resource management, and of
course, the tricky issues of citizenship, ethno-centric struggles, and
the problems of refugees.
*****************************
KALIMPONG in Darjeeling: Frustration with self-rule!
Most of you know Darjeeling which is a city as well as an administrative
district in West Bengal state of India. Within Darjeeling district, at
about 4000 ft above MSL, Kalimpong is a city of about 50,000 people as well
as the eastern sub-division adjoining Bhutan. Kalimpong, can be reached
from Nepal via Siliguri, the next big town in Terai (plains) of India.
Usually, the trip involves taking a taxi from Kakarvitta (east end of the
East-West highway in Jhapa) to Siliguri and a bus or a jeep from Siliguri
to Kalimpong. A direct bus service from Panitanki to Kalimpong is often
available. The bus route passes through Siliguri which is a strategically
located, very busy and growing bottle-neck city with its transport industry
supplying goods to Sikkim, Bhutan, Assam, and Nepal. All that tea from
north-eastern India passes through Siliguri. Contrary to Nepal, the
mountainous roads from Siliguri to Kalimpong, Darjeeling and Gangtok are
very well maintained.
The reason I am describing Kalimpong instead of Darjeeling is two fold.
First, I grew up there and most of my relatives are still there. Hence, I
have a special personal attachment with Kalimpong. Second, and the most
important, reason is that Kalimpong offers a microcosm of rural Nepali
setting (with its constraints and successes) which could be a model of
rural development for hills of Nepal.
While Darjeeling is a favorite tourist destination with tea gardens,
private schools and colleges, Kalimpong is agrarian with its rice
terraces, a few private schools and Indian military installations.
Darjeeling is famous for its tea; Kalimpong is less famous for its flower
industry. While Darjeeling is culturally hip, Kalimpong is simple.
Darjeeling has a showbiz personality; Kalimpong has character.
The population of Kalimpong is about 90% Nepali with the rest
comprising of Nepali speaking very friendly Biharis, Marwaris, Tibetans,
Chinese, and the ever-stiff Bengali bureaucrats. In its golden days,
Kalimpong was prosperous with its strategic location in the wool-trade
route between India and Tibet. With Chinese take over of Tibet in 1959, the
wool trade collapsed and Kalimpong lost its glitter. The serenity of the
music of the caravan of donkeys transporting goods between Kalimpong and
Tibet was then replaced by the noise of the convoy of gas-guzzling, green
fatigued, Shaktiman monsters (Indian Army transport vehicles).
Historically, I was told that Kalimpong subdivision belonged to Sikkim
while Darjeeling (originally part of Sikkim) subdivision was conquered by
the expansionist Gorkha army. From Sikkim, and Nepal, the British
consolidated the present boundaries of Darjeeling district and linked it
with West Bengal for their need of a summer capital.
During Indian independence, again I was told that, Damber Singh Gurung the founding
leader of the Gorkha League which represented the interests of Nepalis in
Darjeeling district went to Kathmandu to offer a possible linkage of
Darjeeling with Nepal. The then Rana regime, scared of India and the
elites in Darjeeling, gave a cold shoulder to Mr. Gurung.
With passage of time and growth of post-independence political culture, the
Gorkha League disintegrated and Darjeeling district was represented in the
Indian Parliament sometimes by Congress and other times by Communists. One
MP of special note was Mr. Ratan Lal Brahman (Maila Baje) of CPM (Communist
Party - Marxist) who caused a stir in the Indian Parliament by insisting on
speaking and taking oath in Nepali. Whatever party they belonged to,
Nepalis in Darjeeling were united to have Nepali language enlisted as one
of the main languages in the Indian Constitution. It was a common and
symbolic goal of struggle for cultural identity.
Politically and economically, the people of Darjeeling district were always
short-changed by the state government in Calcutta and the central
government in Delhi. Due to lack of clout in state and the center, they
did not get proportional appropriations for district development programs.
People were educated but unemployed. Whenever there was a vacancy in the
next door post-office, bank, or other government agency, the appointees
came directly from Calcutta.
The frustrations were also fueled by the emergence of Sikkim (more on
Sikkim later) as a separate state with about 5 times less population than
Darjeeling and getting about 10 times more appropriations from the Central
government. Consequently, Darjeeling struggled with the Marxist government
of West Bengal for independent Gorkhaland and asked for direct
administrative linkage with New Delhi. With increase in militancy among
the agitators and its violent suppression by the Indian paramilitary
forces, the Gorkhaland movement did not sustain and a compromise was
reached for a semi-independent Hill District Council still under the
supervision of the state government.
With the new format, the hill districts received some autonomy in paper but
the appropriations did not increase. All the youths who gave their energy
(some of their friends gave their life) during the Gorkhaland struggle did
not get any rewards. They got more frustrated and agitated. As a result,
Subash Ghising, the architect of the Gorkhaland movement lost his
leadership cool. The Ghising leadership and its entourage now thrives on
threats of intimidation to the general public by his cadre of political
thugs. Recently, with his intimidation tactics, Ghising foiled the
Panchayat elections (a decentralized rural development authority) in
Darjeeling for fear that he will further loose his clout.
It is interesting to note that by asking for self rule, ordinary
citizens in the villages of Darjeeling district lost their opportunity
for decentralized self-government. In summary, Nepalis in Darjeeling
district are more desperate and depressed than ever before. Consequently,
more and more educated people are looking for jobs and entrepreneurial
opportunities in Sikkim and Nepal.
Let me come back to the potential of Kalimpong as a model for rural
development in Nepal. Similar to middle hill settings of Dhankuta or Illam
towns in eastern hills of Nepal, Kalimpong produces rice, maize, millets
on bench and gently sloping terraces. Besides the traditional agricultural
crops, farmers in Kalimpong (depending on proximity to the town) produce
fruits, vegetables and milk. The agro-ecosystem is self-sustainable with no
apparent pressures on adjoining forest areas.
Except at road construction sites, there are no visible signs of landslides.
All local streams and adjoining areas of downstream river and old
landslides are covered with trees and bamboo. All the steep slopes and
walls of sloping maize terraces are covered by fodder trees or grasses.
A multi-purpose grass locally called `amliso' (whose floral tassel
is collected and dried for kucho (indoor sweep), the green leaves are
fed to animals, and stalks are used for fencing, stakes and fuel) has
significantly increased in acreage over the last three decades.
The most significant stabilizing factor and driving force for the rural
economy of Kalimpong is its efficient market system. Farmers from far and
near villages bring their produce on their backs twice a week during the
bazaar. The market allows the farmers to take a risk of self-retail or
selling the produce to middle-merchants. Nobody returns home with unsold
products. Farmers can sell a produce as small as a left-over piece of
pumpkin to as large an item as the holy cow. The market culture allows an
orthodox Bahun to sell his unproductive cow (alive of course) to the Muslim
butcher without feeling guilty about doing so.
The main success story of Kalimpong is its flower industry. According to
my floriculture book (that I read in 1969), India exports about $5 million
dollars worth of flowers abroad from Kalimpong alone. The business is
sustainable and booming due to rapid emergence of affluent bourgeois in
Indian metropolitan cities. The main species exported through a network of
privately owned nurseries are gladiolus, orchids, and indoor cacti. The
market infrastructure is so efficient that a cut-flower of gladiolus
harvested early morning in Kalimpong is sold at Connaught Place in New
Delhi in the afternoon. The silk-worm cultivation is another agro-industry
that has taken its root in Kalimpong.
Let me site an enlightening encounter I had with a high-school dropout
friend of mine. As most of the high-school dropouts do, he joined the
Indian army, sustained an injury during duty and was discharged. He came
home and took over the cultivation of about 0.5 acre of dry-land
agriculture (corn-millet-pulse mixture during summer) with about two
terraces of rice paddy from his father. It was not enough for his growing
family's subsistence. He got a job in a local hospital, and in his spare
time, he gradually converted his land into a vegetable-fruit-flower-animal
system. Instead of rice, corn and millets, he started growing early
varieties of vegetables to beat the market. He contacted flower nurseries
in Kalimpong and got a contract for growing gladiolus bulbs and cut flowers
to their specifications.
In two-three years, he had enough money to buy a highly productive (15
kg/day) jersey cow. Now he sells milk, makes compost, and has completely
stopped using chemical fertilizers in his vegetable and flower garden. He
quit his job and now manages the farm with a few regular hired hands.
When I visited him, he had cabbage in his garden which were too late for
harvest. He said, "I don't send cabbage to the market when every body else
does. They sell at less than Rs. 1 per kg. I feed it to the cow and make
compost with the left over leaves; it is more profitable than buying the
feed."
Obviously, he is a success story and there are not many of those. On our
further discussion, he was almost philosophical, " The key to breaking the
cycle of poverty in the hills is learning how not to plant rice and maize
or millet as an annual ritual". Is not this the gist of simple sustainable
rural development solutions that the Harvard-Stanford-Cornell pundits are
failing to advocate despite billions of dollars spent in rural development
projects in Nepal. Perhaps, the message is not getting through due to the
westernized paradigms and the language barrier of multi-variate socio-
economic models.
In summary, Kalimpong offers a unique learning place of rural production
and marketing infrastructure run by the Nepalis that can be adapted in
Nepal. It also offers a demonstration of productive watershed management
system for optimum sustenance of the ecosystem. Nepal can look for answers
to its production and environmental problems not in the west or the
far-east but in its own neighborhood.
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Jan 11 2000 - 11:15:29 CST